She inclined her head. “Thank you, sir. Colonel Fitzwilliam,” she acknowledged before heading for their room. Wilkins followed her as closely as her shadow, clearly not at all comfortable that Mr. Darcy’s wife was in such quarters.
The interview with Lydia, who was indeed far from being ready to receive visitors, was even more unsatisfactory than Elizabeth had imagined. Her sister was in no wise prepared to leave her situation with Wickham. She was sure that they would marry some time or other, and it did not much signify when. She did not care for any of her friends or her family, and refused to see that her behavior had materially affected anyone in her family, nor that it was even a cause for concern. She laughed as she spoke of what good fun it all had been, and attributed Elizabeth’s dour expression to jealousy that her dear Wickham had chosen Lydia over her. When she reached the point of congratulating herself on being married before all of her elder sisters, Elizabeth’s patience was at an end, but she denied herself the satisfaction of correcting Lydia’s view for fear that it would reinforce such foolish thinking.
Elizabeth was apparently not the only one who found the situation difficult to bear, as Wilkins, who had been standing quietly with his eyes on the floor up until this time, cleared his throat and said pointedly, “Mrs. Darcy, I believe that it is time that we returned below.”
Not trusting herself to say a word, Elizabeth swept out of the room, leaving behind her a confused Lydia, who after a moment shrugged at what obviously must have been a mistake on the part of the servant.
The tumult of Elizabeth’s mind after this interview was great, and she paused for a moment on the stairs, feeling unequal to encountering Wickham while in such an agitated state. A few deep breaths were enough to restore her composure, though not without a resolution, having seen the circumstances, to support Colonel Fitzwilliam in whatever stratagem he might devise.
She entered the tiny sitting room to find Colonel Fitzwilliam.
“So, together with paying your debts, and the amount settled on Miss Bennet, that would bring the total to over twelve thousand pounds. That is preposterous, Wickham! I begin to think that this is a waste of my time. I could purchase the lady a
Wickham turned his most amiable countenance on Elizabeth, clearly anticipating that she would do whatever necessary to procure her sister’s marriage to him. “Mrs. Darcy, we are having some difficulty reaching an understanding here. Perhaps your gentle influence might be of assistance,” he said with a charming smile.
Elizabeth felt herself growing more angry by the moment as she approached the colonel. “She is completely unrepentant,” she said in a low voice. “I would rather spend a few thousand pounds to dower Mary and Kitty to counteract the effects of this scandal on their chances of marrying, and leave Lydia to her own devices.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam turned to her. “You cannot seriously be proposing that we leave your sister in these straits? Wickham will abandon her, you know, and more likely sooner than later.”
Elizabeth leveled on him the kind of withering stare she had seen Darcy use with great effect. “While I would
Looking unperturbed, Colonel Fitzwilliam suggested that she might be more comfortable waiting in the coach. Elizabeth accepted the opportunity to take her leave. No sooner was she safely ensconced in the privacy of the coach, however, than she gave in to distress over her sister’s hopeless predicament. Clearly Wickham would be willing to marry her once the proper price was negotiated, but what kind of life could Lydia ever expect to have with him? She would not have thought it possible for her opinion of Wickham to fall, but she was forced to admit that she had not expected such assurance from him, and she resolved within herself to draw no limits in future to the impudence of an impudent man.
It was not long until Colonel Fitzwilliam joined her, and they lost no time in quitting the disreputable quarter in which they found themselves. No sooner had they pulled away than Colonel Fitzwilliam said with admiration in his voice, “Madam, I must recall never to be on the wrong side of a dispute with you! For someone who was concerned about misrepresenting herself, that was rather brilliant improvisation, if I may say so.”
She smiled ruefully. “You give me too much credit, sir. I fear that when I am angered beyond reason I tend to make comments that I would not otherwise, and in this case I simply gave myself free rein to do so.” She thought with some amusement that Darcy would have recognized her performance from the Hunsford parsonage; she had said some equally egregious and intemperate things that day. She wondered what report Wilkins would give to his master on the events of the day.
“Well, it may have turned the trick. He was much more reasonable in his demands at the end, and I expect that once we have let him worry over it for a day, it might improve still more,” he said with satisfaction.
When they returned, it was obvious that Darcy had been waiting impatiently for them. That he had been worried about her was apparent from the fact that he took her in his arms in front of the colonel and held her tightly, his cheek resting against her hair. Although the impropriety of the situation made Elizabeth uncomfortable, she was beginning to learn that it was best to let Darcy have the reassurance he needed, however unreasonable it might seem.
“How did it go?” Darcy inquired of Colonel Fitzwilliam when he finally released Elizabeth.
“Well enough, I would say. He was surprised to see me instead of you, but was willing enough to state his price, which naturally was ridiculously high. Fortunately for us, he is apparently in severe financial straits, and not likely to refuse immediate relief. I did not have a great deal of luck in arguing him down until your lovely wife was rather forthright in her opinions of the matter. By the end, he was down to demanding payment of his debts, which he claims to amount to nearly a thousand pounds—though I will personally be surprised if it is that low—his commission purchased, and three thousand pounds for him. I counter offered to pay the debts up to a total of two thousand pounds, the commission, and to settle another thousand pounds on Miss Bennet in addition to her own, and said I would return tomorrow for his answer.”
Elizabeth could not help but be shocked by the sums involved; they would have ruined the Bennets, and even for Darcy, would take up a substantial amount of his yearly income. She cast her eyes down in humiliation over what her foolish sister was going to cost him.
“He must be fairly desperate. It could certainly have been a great deal worse,” said Darcy, not seeming in the least dismayed.
“I thought so as well,” replied his cousin. “I would suggest that we begin some investigation as to the true extent of the debts in Brighton—could we contact the colonel there?—and the town in Hertfordshire.”
“A good plan; I will ask Mr. Bennet tonight if he will handle that. I believe that he will be happier if he has some role to play in this,” Darcy said, causing Elizabeth to look up at him with a question in her eyes. “I invited him to dine with us,” he said by way of response.
She knew he had made the invitation for her sake; Mr. Bennet had been anything but gracious to him since their arrival, despite all that Darcy offered to do. She smiled her thanks to him, then looked away again, thinking that her family had become even more of a liability to him than either of them could have imagined.
After Colonel Fitzwilliam had left, Darcy took both her hands in his. “What is it, my love?”
She looked up to see concern in his eyes. With a sigh, she said, “My sister is a thoughtless fool who does not care who is injured by her actions, my father is behaving badly towards you when you are doing everything in your power to save our family, I myself was once taken in by a scoundrel of boundless impudence, and this is all going to cost you a great deal of money. You are being graciousness itself about it, but I cannot help being quite ashamed of my family.”
“Elizabeth, we have been through all this before, have we not? You have done nothing wrong except to have been misled by a man who is an expert at it. Your father—well, I certainly have not done anything that would make him trust me.” He paused, and regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, then said in a gentler voice, “I would imagine seeing your sister this morning must have been upsetting.”
As soon as he had spoken the words, she knew that he was correct about what was truly troubling her. Wrapping her arms around him, she leaned her head against his shoulder, accepting the comfort and feelings of security that she felt in his embrace. “You are right, of course,” she said. “She was so unrepentant, and did not even seem to notice her surroundings, while below Wickham was freely admitting he had no intention of marrying her unless his price was met. And speaking with
She could feel him stiffen slightly at her last words. “What did he say to you?” he asked, trying to keep his
