Nodding his agreement, Thornton added, “I understand that Miss Elizabeth enjoys reading, long strolls observing nature, and family. If you do not mind me saying so, I believe Pemberley will be the perfect situation for the young lady.”
“I appreciate your insight, Thornton. Indeed, as I learned shortly after her arrival, the distance between her family’s estate and this one is three miles. Her considerable effort to reach her sister impressed upon me that she is exactly the sort of woman I need to wed.” Darcy mused, then grinned. “Far better would it be to have a loving wife care for me as my illness progresses than you, correct?”
With a small smile, Thornton departed.
Inking his quill, Darcy considered all that he needed to say, then began to write.
Chapter 3
Elizabeth Bennet had just finished repeating the conversation from downstairs to Jane when there was a soft knock on the bedchamber door. Surprised to see an unknown male standing on the other side with his hand extended, Elizabeth instinctively reached for the parchment he held.
“For you, miss.” He bowed and left.
Turning the folded paper over, front to back, she found both sides were blank. There was no seal. Whoever sent the missive trusted the delivery man not to peek at the contents. Looking down the hallway, she waited until he tapped on the fourth door down from where Jane rested. The door opened, and the mystery man stepped inside. Elizabeth stepped back and returned to Jane’s bedside.
“Who was it, Lizzy?” Jane’s raspy voice came from the bed.
“I do not know,” Elizabeth replied honestly.
Was the man Mr. Bingley’s valet? Was the note for Jane from their host? If so, it was highly improper.
No, the man had specifically indicated the parchment was for her.
Returning to her sister’s bedside, Elizabeth teased, “Perhaps it is a note from Father. Or it might be a summons from the butler to break my fast earlier than my usual time. Mayhaps it is an order from our esteemed hostess to vacate the premises forthwith.” Elizabeth chuckled. “What information do you imagine it might contain, Jane dear?”
“I cannot know. Pray open it so we both discover the tidings.” Jane eagerly sat up in bed, adjusting the pile of pillows behind her for comfort.
Exaggerating her need to clear a throat that did not need cleared, Elizabeth unfolded the paper and began to read aloud.
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy
Pemberley (currently of Netherfield Park)
Dear Miss Elizabeth,
“What? He calls me dear?” Elizabeth glanced at Jane, who slapped her hand over her mouth to contain her surprise at the identity of the sender.
“Continue,” Jane pleaded.
“Very well.”
Pray do not be disturbed by the method I have used to contact you. My valet, Thornton, is discreet. I imagine you will share this with Miss Bennet, who I assume is trustworthy as well.
Before I make my official request, I would tell you of myself.
Due to the loss of both of my parents, I am master of a vast estate in Derbyshire. Pemberley and its accompanying properties encompass almost ten square miles. In addition, I hold smaller parcels in Scotland, Ireland, and an estate in Kent. As late as two years ago, I purchased a large stand of timber in northern Canada. I have no debt.
When my father died five years ago, I became guardian to my young sister, Georgiana. She is eleven years younger than I am. There is no one on this earth dearer to me than her.
The Darcy family has lived in Derbyshire for three centuries and specifically at Pemberley for two. Perhaps one of my ancestors knew Sir Martin Frobisher.
Elizabeth snickered.
What I will tell you now I ask that you hold in confidence. Not one person outside of Thornton knows my current trial. Not even my sister is aware.
“Lizzy, perhaps you should read the rest quietly to yourself. I would not want Mr. Darcy to be disturbed at my knowing his problems.” Jane slumped back into the bedclothes. “I will rest until you finish.” Closing her eyes, her breathing was steady within a few minutes.
Elizabeth waited until Jane was asleep before continuing, her curiosity burning inside.
My father was diagnosed with a cancer of the stomach less than two years before his death. His symptoms included burning and tightness in his chest. Toward the end, he coughed blood.
An event occurred three months ago that caused an upset in my family. Almost immediately after, I began experiencing the same symptoms as my father. Over the past se’nnight, my condition has worsened. I...
Elizabeth folded the paper into the same shape she had received it from the man who must have been Mr. Darcy’s valet, Thornton. Standing, she paced the floor until her mind was settled with how best to proceed.
Tucking the letter into her pocket, she quietly let herself out of the room. Striding to where she had witnessed Mr. Darcy’s valet enter his rooms, she knocked. Thornton answered.
“Mr. Darcy recommended a book I might enjoy reading to my sister. I failed to take note of the title or the author.” Elizabeth kept her voice level so the footman in the hallway would overhear. “If it would not be too much trouble, would you ask him the specifics, please? I am on my way to the library now.”
Stepping back into the hallway to await the reply, Elizabeth was unsurprised when both Mr. Darcy and his valet joined her.
“Miss Elizabeth, my friend does not enjoy a good book as much as some do. Thus, the offerings in Netherfield Park’s library are sparse. Nevertheless, since I left my own book in the room earlier, I would be pleased to direct you to the exact shelf where the particular volume is located.”
“I thank you, sir,” Elizabeth replied.
Once they were in the room, Thornton moved to a corner reading nook, leaving them in privacy.
“You read my letter?”
“Not all,” she admitted. “Sir, I am sorry for your troubles.”
Elizabeth examined his face closely. Besides the pinched quality to his lips, Mr. Darcy was far too pale for a healthy man. The skin around his mouth and under his eyes was a greenish hue.
She knew that look. Not a se’nnight prior, Kitty and Lydia, in an attempt to appear far more mature than they actually were, over-indulged in their father’s brandy. The results had been disastrous for the girls. Elizabeth had held Lydia’s head over the chamber pot while Jane held Kitty’s.
“Tell me, I pray you,” Elizabeth asked.
The man ran his hand through his hair, causing it to stand on end.
“I will be blunt,” he promised. “Should I die without a male heir, Pemberley will pass to a distant cousin on the Darcy side. He is a gambler and a rake who has never concerned himself with my sister. He would destroy all that my ancestors have worked for—that I have worked for.”
“I see,” she murmured.
“You do?” he exclaimed. “For this I am grateful. I had planned to wait until I had reached thirty before searching for a wife, the future mistress of Pemberley. With this...this illness, I cannot wait.”
“I do understand.” Elizabeth tapped her fingers over her mouth. “You could not have chosen better, Mr. Darcy. Jane is everything kind and good. I do believe she would need someone to guide and support her after you are gone. And I suspect her heart has already formed an attachment to your friend. Those would be the only issues I could foresee that would prevent her accepting your offer.”
“Miss Bennet?” Darcy stepped back from her. “Why would I offer for her?”
His words sounded remarkably like an insult. Did the man despise all the Bennets? “Then, who?” Resting her fists on each hip, Elizabeth balked. “If you are wanting me to help you attach yourself to Miss Bingley, I do not think you needed to trouble me at all. She already follows you around like a hungry puppy begging for a slight crumb from you, sir.”
“I would never offer for Miss Bingley. Ever!” He approached her with one giant step, leaving him far too close to her for comfort. “You, Miss Elizabe
th, are the only female who has caught and captured my attention. You speak of Miss Bennet’s kindness. What of yours? Not one other lady I know would walk three miles to help a sister. You have a reputation, according to Thornton, for being kind to all. Would I have that sort of care for myself and Georgiana before and after I am gone, I would be at peace when I pass.”
His choice left her stunned. Her? He was offering for her, Lizzy Anne Bennet?
“Miss Elizabeth, before you reject me outright, I pray you allow me to tell you what else is in the letter.” At her nod, he continued. “Our marriage would not be in name only. My desperate need for an heir cannot be denied. Therefore, you would need to bear my attentions regularly until you were increasing. You would have the freedom of choosing where you would want to live after I am gone, as long as you raise my son to know his heritage. Your marriage settlement will be generous; I am not stingy. How you choose to use your funds would be your decision alone. Because of this, after raising our child to adulthood, you will have complete independence.” He hesitated. “Do you have any questions?”
Her mind was spinning. For a certainty, her heart was touched. His placing the interest of others ahead of himself was exemplary. Would that her own father cared about Longbourn to that extent.
But marriage? To him? They did not know each other well.
“Sir, this was not how I imagined things would be when I seriously considered marriage to a gentleman. Empathy for your situation begs me to help ease your way. Yet the lack of love and affection between us disturbs me greatly.”
Darcy visibly relaxed. “Your opinion is, in truth, refreshing. That you do not jump at the opportunity to become wealthy, to help your family in ways you never could without my offer, to gain freedom to choose, which is rare for a woman, tells me more than anything else that I have made the right decision.” He touched his hand to the back of hers before clasping it in his own. “Marry me, Miss Elizabeth.”
The storm in his light green eyes attested to his lack of confidence, as well as his troubled mind. When his other hand went to his chest, Elizabeth assumed he was preparing to make an additional promise. Once he started to cough and his stomach began to heave, she knew better.
Thornton rushed for a bowl at the same time Elizabeth helped him to a chair.
Within minutes, it was over. As she had done for Lydia, Elizabeth held Mr. Darcy’s head, wiping his forehead and the back of his neck with the damp cloth the valet miraculously provided.
Pity blended with sympathy. To see a powerful man brought to his knees by circumstances not of his choosing was devastating to observe.
As she held him close, she knew what she had to do. She would marry Mr. Darcy.
Chapter 4
Darcy cared not that he had humiliated himself. The only emotion identifiable after his tumult was relief. Relief to have the bitter taste of bile rinsed out of his mouth, the relief of being held in a tight embrace while at his weakest, and the relief of her agreement to his plan. He was overwhelmed.
“When do you want the wedding to take place?” she asked after Thornton had attended him.
“As soon as is possible.” Bracing himself on the arms of the chair, he stood, his knees shaking. Walking carefully toward the fire, he tossed his handkerchief into the flames. The last thing he saw before it shriveled and burned was red.
“I will go to Longbourn on the morrow to speak with your father. My solicitor in London has prepared my final Will and Testament along with the wedding articles. He has only to fill in your name for them to be complete. With your agreement, I will send a note via express so the documents can be delivered no later than tomorrow evening.”
“You are rather well-prepared, sir.”
“Yes, well.” He cleared his throat, raw from its recent abuse.
“Papa will want to know why you are in a hurry to marry me.”
“Although my preference is to have no one else know of my illness, I will tell Mr. Bennet the truth.”
Elizabeth nodded. When he had reseated himself, she went to the library shelves and randomly selected a book. “I believe your valet has tasks he needs to attend which will remove him from the room. It would not do for the two of us to be alone. I want no reproach to come upon either of us before we marry. With that said, I bid you goodnight.”
Darcy shifted his eyes so he would not watch her walk away from him.
His heart pained him. Her tenderness toward him, the way she had held him was...it almost robbed him of his breath. The last female to give him the same level of care was his mother before she became ill. For over sixteen years he had held himself aloof, allowing no one close.
In his marriage, he vowed to himself to do the same. For if he came to love his wife, their parting would be all that more devastating. No, he would not...he could not allow himself to feel anything more for Elizabeth than gratitude.
Jane was sleeping soundly when Elizabeth let herself back into the room. Moving to the window, she pulled the heavy curtain back to survey the darkness.
From her earliest years, her father had taken Elizabeth outside to study the night sky. On that night, there was barely a hint of the waxing crescent in the far distant heavens. The next night would bring a new moon, a fresh beginning for a new orbital phase.
Tomorrow promised a new beginning for her as well. What had she been thinking? In truth, she had not been thinking at all. Feeling his agony in her own heart, she considered what the next few months would entail by accepting him.
With the assets available to the Darcys, Elizabeth’s task to manage his investments would be monumental. As well, he had a sister who was completely unknown to her.
Elizabeth shook her head. Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy was placing a tremendous amount of trust in her. Was she qualified to see things done as he would like? Not at all, she easily admitted to herself.
Could she be a good wife to a man she barely knew, one who viewed her as merely tolerable?
Realistically, marriages of this sort happened often, especially in his circles. However, Elizabeth wanted more than a cold business arrangement. Yet the fact that she would not be married for long urged her to use caution in matters of the heart. It would be better for her future if she viewed herself being united with Mr. Darcy as a short-term contractual agreement with long-term obligations outside of Mr. Darcy’s person. She would marry him. But she would not allow herself to fall in love with him.
With that determination, Elizabeth was finally able to find rest. Despite the next day being Sunday, with Mr. Darcy traveling to Longbourn to fulfill his intended purpose, it promised to be unsettling to her father. He knew of Mr. Darcy’s insult from the assembly. He also knew Elizabeth held the gentleman in disapprobation. Mr. Darcy would not be the only one who needed to provide a thorough explanation. Elizabeth would also be required to justify her reason for accepting the man. She would need to remain alert.
Mr. Bingley handed Jane into Mr. Darcy’s carriage. Their parting was touching. Easily seen was the couple’s growing affection for each other.
Glancing at Elizabeth, Darcy noticed a wistful look upon her countenance. Surely she felt the same about their marriage, did she not? A love match was not to be for either of them.
When her eyes flicked up to his, she nodded once, evidence of her determination to at least see her elder sister happy.
Guilt tore at him at the cost to Elizabeth. He knew she had not yet reached her majority. The pressures and responsibilities he would be heaping upon her young shoulders had crushed strong men, causing them to abandon their estates and families to the so-called freedom of loose living. What would it do to her?
When Elizabeth’s chin lifted as those very shoulders pressed back, Darcy knew that she, too, had considered all that would be asked of her. With that motion, she clearly signaled acceptance.
His sigh of relief as he assisted her into his carriage was louder than he had planned.
The conversation with her father had gone as she expected. By th
e time Darcy and Elizabeth both explained their reasons for desiring to proceed with the marriage, Mr. Bennet had given his consent and blessing.
Her father moved a pile of books from one corner of the desk to the other, leaving one volume behind. It was a newer tome covered in unmarked brown leather. Picking the book up in his large hands, Thomas Bennet opened the journal, then laid it out on the desk before them. The pages were blank.
“I do believe this will be my wedding gift to you.” Mr. Bennet busied himself with gathering writing materials to place in front of the groom-to-be. “I assume you have much information and instructions you will need to share with my Lizzy. Making a permanent record of these periods of education will give my daughter something to look back upon when you are no longer able to speak for yourself.”
To Elizabeth, he said, “Of all my girls, you are the most qualified to take on this immense task. When Mr. Darcy tires of writing, it would benefit you should you take up wherever he leaves off. The questions you will ask now will be the same ones you will face in the future. With my responsibilities here in Hertfordshire, I will not be as available to you as either of us would prefer. Nevertheless, I promise to be a faithful correspondent. I would never want you to fail or for you to feel less than capable.”
“Thank you, Papa.”
Darcy nodded his agreement. “Sir, might we make use of your study, in your presence, of course, to do exactly as you suggest? That you thought of this tells me that your insight will be greatly appreciated.” Darcy picked up the quill and dipped it into the ink bottle. “As I am to be your son for whatever length of time I have left, I would ask that you call me Darcy as my close friends do, or William as my sister refers to me.”
A Reason to Hope Page 2