Consequences (32 page)

“I have already sent a note to my solicitor,” Darcy said, “informing him not only to specify Elizabeth’s income in the marriage articles but also to include a provision for the support of your wife and your unmarried daughters after your death. That will ensure their financial security even if I die before you.”

“Yes, Lizzy mentioned that, Mr. Darcy. It is very generous of you,” Mr. Bennet said, his face flushing in embarrassment. He heaved another sigh. “That is all my fault, and I feel it badly. I never thought to set aside an annual sum to pay worthless young men to marry my silly daughters, for I intended to terminate the entail by having a son. Even after the birth of my youngest daughter, we still hoped for a son. By the time it was obvious that none would be forthcoming, it was too late to begin saving—especially with a wife whose tendency to exceed my income has to be watched carefully. I am regretful about that, Mr. Darcy.”

Darcy shrugged in embarrassment at the older man’s discomfort. “We will talk no more about that, sir. I understand your distress, but, as I explained to Elizabeth, her sisters will be as much my sisters as my own sister, Georgiana, will be Elizabeth’s. I could not see my sisters living in penury while I lived in luxury at Pemberley.”

“I do thank you, Mr. Darcy,” said Mr. Bennet firmly. “I will rest easier when my time comes knowing my daughters are secure. Next, I would imagine you and Lizzy have had no time to discuss the where and the when of the marriage ceremony.”

“That is correct, sir. I needed to talk to you first before we could discuss the topic.”

“If it were up to my wife,” said Mr. Bennet wryly, “she would say Longbourn chapel, for I am sure she will want to make an exhibition before all the neighbourhood. She would also not want to set a date earlier than December or even January, for she would want to spend months making sure everything was done properly.”

Darcy squirmed in agitation, for he certainly did not desire to wait seven months or more to marry Elizabeth!

Mr. Bennet chuckled as he saw Darcy’s reaction. “I tell you this, young man, so you will be fairly warned of what could await you if you do not take a firm stand. I would suggest you settle on a date and a location before my wife is informed. That way, she will know from the beginning what schedule she has to work to. If she is allowed to make her own selections, it will be much harder to get them changed! So take a firm stand, and do not allow yourself to be swayed by any arguments!”

“I take your point, sir,” said Darcy with a slow smile, “and I begin to believe your advice most sound. Now, I have no objection to Longbourn for the site, but I will not wait seven months! In fact, let me think on this—today is the eleventh of April, and Miss Elizabeth will be returning to London next Saturday, the eighteenth. She said she would be staying for a few days in London before returning home, so let us say she would be back at Longbourn on the twenty-fifth. Four weeks from that date would seem reasonable to plan a wedding—short enough to meet the preference of the groom, without being so short it appears rushed.”

“That is the spirit, young man!” encouraged Mr. Bennet. “Pick a firm date and stick to it! Now, let me think, four weeks from April twenty-fifth would be—ah, yes, May twenty-third.”

“Then May twenty-third at Longbourn chapel it shall be,” smiled Darcy.

“Excellent! Now, Mr. Darcy, as a sign of special approval on my part, I will volunteer to inform my wife of the glad tidings. You will have many chances to observe her silliness in the future, but I would not want to send you into premature shock before you are safely married.”

“I do appreciate your offer, sir, but perhaps she will have to restrain herself if we both tell her together?”

“Such boldness!” exclaimed Mr. Bennet sardonically. “But are you sure, Mr. Darcy? I have had twenty years and more of experience with her nerves, and I tremble at your remembering that Lizzy is her daughter. I should not want to frighten you off!”

“But I must begin to develop some resistance to your wife, Mr. Bennet. No, I feel very uplifted to have everything agreed, and there shall never be a better time to test my courage. Have her join us. We can provide mutual support since we will outnumber her!”

“Very well, but remember you were warned!” said Mr. Bennet as he pulled the cord. When a stout, aged lady entered, he said, “Hill, please ask Mrs. Bennet to join us.”

“Very good, sir,” Hill responded. It was not more than five minutes before a rather faint knock came at the door.

“Enter!” called Mr. Bennet, and a visibly nervous Mrs. Bennet entered. She was awash with curiosity to find what had kept Mr. Bennet closeted with Mr. Darcy for all that time.

“Hello, my dear,” Mr. Bennet said enthusiastically. “Here, have a seat. Good, good. Now, sir, would you like to inform Mrs. Bennet or shall I?”

“If you would not mind, Mr. Bennet, you may go ahead.”

“Very good. Now, Mrs. Bennet, you have undoubtedly been curious as to why Mr. Darcy has paid us a call, have you not?”

Mrs. Bennet looked nervously over at Darcy before nodding.

“I thought so. You see, my dear, Mr. Darcy had a request to make of me. Can you venture a guess what that request was?”

Mrs. Bennet looked back and forth between the two men in confusion before shaking her head.

“No guesses, my dear? Not even one? Very well, then—I will tell you. He came to make a request for the hand of our daughter Elizabeth! What do you say to that?”

Mrs. Bennet was not able to say anything, so great was her shock. Her eyes widened until whites were visible all around, and her mouth opened slightly, but not one single sound did she make.

After a minute or so, Darcy looked over at Mr. Bennet in concern. “Is your wife unwell, sir? She appears almost to be in a trance.”

Mr. Bennet looked at her appraisingly. “I must admit her reaction is not what I expected. I thought she would jump from her chair and be out in the hall this moment calling for the carriage to be prepared and for a chambermaid to come help her dress so that she could ride over to Meryton to see her sister Philips. But I did not anticipate absolute silence.”

After another minute of silence, Darcy suggested Mr. Bennet inform her of the date and location of the wedding. It was Mr. Bennet’s thought that she was in a trance due to the unexpectedness of the news, but he did as Darcy suggested. The news seemed to make no impact on her.

“I believe that we have accomplished our task, sir,” Mr. Bennet said. “I am sure that you are anxious to get back to your home in London.”

“I am, Mr. Bennet. I need to inform my sister, of course, and I also have a letter for Miss Bennet at her uncle’s house. Miss Elizabeth asked me to deliver that as well.”

“Then I will detain you no longer,” said Mr. Bennet, rising and leading him out of the library while his wife remained in stupefaction behind them.

“I look forward to seeing my Lizzy again, if only for a short while, before she is taken from me forever,” said Mr. Bennet, offering his hand at the door.

“Keep thinking of the libraries, Mr. Bennet,” said Darcy, taking the offered hand. “Your daughter said that would provide a measure of relief for your loss.”

Both men shared a companionable laugh, then the door closed, and Darcy turned to mount his horse, which had been brought around by the same stable boy. He had barely gained the saddle when he heard from inside Longbourn, “Hill! Hill! Where are you? I must get dressed and go to Meryton immediately. Lizzy is to be married, and you will never guess to whom!”

Darcy was shaking his head in admiration at the stamina of Mr. Bennet at having withstood those ‘nerves’ for more than twenty years. He was glad to be back on the road, and his watch said it was a few minutes before two o’clock. There should still be time to call at Gracechurch Street if he hurried, and if Marlborough was up to the task.

Chapter 19

“Tell me whom you love and
I will tell you who you are.”

—Arsène Houssaye, French novelist,
poet and man of letters

Saturday, April 11
to Thursday, April 16, 1812

After Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam left Rosings, Lady Catherine felt their absence so severely she assuaged her distress by inviting all of the Hunsford party to dine with her. Of course, her first subject of discussion was how much she felt the absence of her nephews and the attachment of both of them, especially Darcy, to herself and to Rosings. By this, Elizabeth understood her ladyship was really making reference to Darcy’s supposed increasing affinity to the estate and to her daughter as his future wife. Despite Elizabeth’s unsettled feelings regarding the continuing astonishment of her engagement, she could not see and hear Lady Catherine continue in this manner without indulging in a certain degree of inner amusement. In fact, if she had not dissuaded him, he might already have presented her to his aunt as her future niece. She had no doubt her ladyship’s indignation would have been extreme, and despite its amusing aspects, she was quite relieved that Darcy listened to her advice and avoided that particular incident.

Her discussion of her nephews’ departure continued through dinner, and afterwards Lady Catherine moved to discuss Elizabeth’s silence during the meal. “You seem unusually silent, Miss Bennet, though you seemed to be deriving some amusement just now. It must be you enjoy the climate at Rosings more than at home, for who would not?”

This statement seemed designed for Mr. Collins to add another of his usual compliments, which he was more than pleased to offer, but Lady Catherine was not finished and impatiently waved him to silence. “It would not do for you to be deprived of the opportunity for such enrichment, Miss Bennet. No, it would not do at all.”

Taking Elizabeth’s silence for assent, she continued in the same vein with growing enthusiasm. “Yes, yes, that is the very thing. You must write to your mother to beg that you may stay a little longer. Mrs. Collins will be very glad of your company, I am sure.”

“It has been very pleasant to visit with Charlotte and see how well settled she is in her new establishment, your ladyship, but I have been here six weeks. My sister awaits me in town with my aunt and uncle, and our schedule has been settled for many weeks. The two of us along with Miss Lucas shall return to Hertfordshire after a few days’ visit with my relations in town.”

“This is very distressing, Miss Bennet. Six weeks is too little time to visit—I expected you to stay two months at the least, as I told Mrs. Collins before you came. You and Miss Lucas must stay a little longer—a fortnight or even a month.”

“Your ladyship is all kindness to desire more of our company, but our schedule has been long planned, and I must hold to it. I must be in town next Saturday.”

Lady Catherine was loath to accept that anyone’s schedule could possibly take priority over her own desires, and Elizabeth found it quite disagreeable to have to evade her litany of suggestions for what she and Maria should do. At the moment what she really desired was solitude and a chance to meditate on what she had done when she accepted Darcy’s offer, but she was determined not to be swayed to change her schedule. Darcy had urged the opposite of his aunt: to end her visit early and join her sister in town. She resisted his urgings, arguing that it would draw more attention to change their plans than to keep to their respective schedules, even though she privately wished to do as he urged and send an express to her Uncle Gardiner so she might leave as early as might be.

Even though she found the task disagreeable, Elizabeth felt obliged to respond to all of Lady Catherine’s counsels and questions regarding their journey. She forced herself to put her distractions aside and pay close attention to the conversation until it was time for them to leave.

For the next few days, she paid strict attention to act similarly when in company; she reserved recollection for solitary hours; she would not draw attention by having a mind so occupied she forgot where she was. She looked forward to time alone, especially her daily walks, with the greatest relief, though many of her remembrances were perplexing and some of them were not at all pleasant. But her solitary walks led her gradually to dismiss many of the worries that plagued her, for they were worries based on emotion rather than rational analysis. Already she had valid evidence that Mr. Darcy was not going to treat her or their future family with disrespect and contempt, and how many other young ladies could hope as much when they accepted marriage? It was, as Charlotte said, not sound to believe otherwise—not sound at all.

As for Charlotte, she often looked on Elizabeth with a reflective gaze, but she had not inquired further into what transpired between Mr. Darcy and her friend. Elizabeth was cognizant of Charlotte’s duties as a wife, and she did not volunteer any hard information as to whether she actually accepted or refused Mr. Darcy. Such knowledge would put Charlotte in a difficult position since she would believe it was her duty to inform her husband. She might have her suspicions and suppositions, but Elizabeth did not volunteer information, and Charlotte did not ask.

As Elizabeth walked through the Park, she often dwelled on the manner of Mr. Darcy’s proposal, and her feelings toward the speaker were at times widely different. When she remembered the style of his address and his interference between Jane and Bingley, she could still rise to indignation. But when she remembered the warmth he showed after her acceptance—the broad smile and discourse only a man violently in love could share—she could feel a hope of optimism in their future life. She also felt a sense of gratification at having been able to inspire such an attachment, and there was even hope, she believed, for a future reconciliation between Jane and Bingley. At least they would be able to meet, and then events could take what course they would. She could not believe Mr. Darcy would intervene further; surely, all of his objections had been made irrelevant by his proposal to her! Perhaps, she thought, she might even be able to convince him to repair the harm he had done Mr. Wickham!