Mrs. Bennet's Favorite Daughter

by Jann Rowland

  “That is astonishing,” replied Elizabeth. “When I spoke to him, I was angry and spoke without thinking. There was no purpose in my criticisms other than to inform him I found him to be a repugnant creature.”

  “There, I suspect, is the reason for the efficacy of your words, Miss Elizabeth,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam with a chuckle. “For as long as I have known him, Wickham has possessed supreme confidence in his abilities, and, in particular, in his ability to charm women. To hear your criticisms delivered in a manner which made clear your disgust for him must have been no less than a shock.”

  William nodded and said: “That is my thought too. It showed to Wickham not only what you thought of him but informed him what a woman who knows something of him other than his charm and gentlemanly manners would find wanting in his character. That, as much as anything else, must be intolerable.”

  Unable—and not wishing—to refute what they were saying, Elizabeth nodded. “When will Mr. Wickham leave these shores?”

  “We have not decided the exact time of his departure,” replied William. “I have sent for a schedule of departing ships and destinations from Bristol—once I have that, we can make some choices. As Wickham is going to the New World of his own free will, I am allowing him to choose his own destination, which he has determined will be Baltimore.”

  Colonel Fitzwilliam grinned and added: “What our friend Wickham does not know yet is the assistance Darcy has agreed to provide is in the form of a bank draft which Wickham cannot cash until he arrives in Baltimore. It will at least ensure he retains the funds until he sets foot on the Americas, denying him the ability to gamble them away on the ship.”

  Knowing this was Colonel Fitzwilliam speaking from experience, Elizabeth accepted his words without comment. She allowed herself to feel gratitude that Colonel Fitzwilliam had been on hand to control Mr. Wickham, for given what they were saying about him, an unfettered Mr. Wickham could have caused great havoc in their small community.

  The most amusing part of Mr. Wickham’s upcoming emigration to the former colonies was the man’s behavior in the days leading up to his departure. Mr. Wickham was no more liked than any other officer of the militia. As he had gained no great notoriety in the neighborhood, there were those who appreciated his company and his handsome countenance; there were as many young ladies who favored Lieutenant Denny or Captain Carter or other members of the regiment.

  And yet, when the time of his departure approached, Elizabeth saw the true measure of the man unleashed, for the way he acted, one might have thought he was the most beloved officer in the company, such that his departure would cause the heartbreak of every young maiden in town. Though Elizabeth was not present at every visit, Mr. Wickham went on a tour of the houses of the district, saying his farewells amid self-congratulation and false regret.

  The one occasion at which Elizabeth was present was the visit the man paid to Netherfield, and while she could not say how the other visits proceeded, his leave-taking there provided much amusement for all. Or perhaps not for all, for there was one who did not appreciate his resolution.

  “It is a hard decision to make,” said Mr. Wickham to the company which included the regular Netherfield inhabitants, along with Elizabeth and Jane, who had been invited to spend the day with their future families. “Though the welcome I received here in Meryton is far more than I might ever have expected, new lands and adventures call me away. There is little I can do but succumb to the calling.”

  Exchanging a look with William, Elizabeth covered her mouth, trying to stifle a laugh. With such words as these, he seemed to fancy himself the equal of Columbus or Magellan, rather than a man bound for a tamed land filled with many who would seem little different from those of England.

  “Is that so?” asked Anne, herself diverted by his dramatic retelling. “Well, then we must wish you luck, Mr. Wickham, and pray for your safe arrival there. We would not wish you to run afoul of the hydra or other such monsters of the deep and untamed sea.”

  It was clear that Mr. Wickham caught the ironic undertone in her comment, for he smiled and said: “It is said that large sections of the Americans are yet wild and untamed, Miss de Bourgh, but I shall brave the vast wilderness nonetheless.

  “There is only one thing I shall regret leaving behind, and that is the lovely countenances of all the young ladies, especially you, Miss de Bourgh, and you, Miss Bingley. I shall pine for your smiling faces for many months.”

  “Well, that is unfortunate for you,” said Anne. “But I am certain you shall rally tolerably. As your mind is made up, I shall not attempt to persuade you. Rather, I shall wish you Godspeed and good fortune and future blessings of health and prosperity.”

  The smirk with which Mr. Wickham regarded Anne suggested some suspicion she might be laughing at his expense. He fixed her with a gracious smile and turned to Miss Bingley, who had remained silent.

  Uncertainty was something Elizabeth had not expected to see in Miss Bingley’s response to Mr. Wickham’s flirting. The woman had so often met his overt attentions with caustic comments and innuendo that Elizabeth might have thought she would greet news of his going with relief, if not eagerness. None of these were present, however, and Miss Bingley’s response was all that was surprising.

  “I am surprised to hear of your departure, Mr. Wickham,” said Miss Bingley. “Your actions of late had led to the belief of . . . Have you no reason to remain in England?”

  “Many reasons,” said Mr. Wickham with the ease of a man who believes he has the upper hand. “The more pressing reasons, however, propel me on. As for our connection, Miss Bingley . . . .”

  Mr. Wickham trailed off, though Elizabeth had thought his mien had suggested he was about to say something caustic. His glance at that moment at Mr. Darcy had revealed to him that the gentleman was not pleased, and he amended whatever he had been about to say.

  “There is no lady in the land more tempting than you, Miss Bingley,” said Mr. Wickham with all the charm at his disposal. “But fate, it appears, will not allow us to come together. My future is in the Americas. I hope you will wish me good fortune and allow me to go with no ill will; my own wishes for your future happiness, I give without reservation.”

  Miss Bingley responded with a monosyllabic answer, unintelligible, which Mr. Wickham took as the highest praise anyone had ever afforded him. The man’s flattery continued for some moments toward them all, including some choice comments for both Jane and Elizabeth. Then he excused himself and went away to the relief of them all. When he was gone, however, Miss Bingley was not her usual voluble self, instead caught in some well of introspection which consumed her every thought.

  “I will own that I cannot understand Miss Bingley,” said Elizabeth after some moments of observing the woman. “She never received Mr. Wickham’s attentions with anything approaching acceptance, and yet she appears unhappy to learn he is going away.”

  “I believe you are failing to consider this from her perspective, Elizabeth,” replied William. When Elizabeth glanced at him askance, William considered his words for a moment before speaking. “I have never had any ill will toward Miss Bingley, and I do not dislike her. However, it is nothing less than the truth that she thinks well of herself and possesses ambition aplenty.

  “My defection to you—as she must see it—must be a blow to her vanity, one I believe she struggles, even now, to understand. In Miss Bingley’s mind, I was her door to high society, all she ever wanted to have. When I did not fall in for her schemes and chose someone she considered unsuitable, it caused her to question her own worth. Mr. Wickham, in a way, vindicated her perception of herself, for even if she had no interest in accepting his overtures, it proved to her that someone who was not only handsome in his own right, but also possessed a connection to me, albeit nebulous, could find her irresistible.”

  “In that way, Mr. Wickham was you,” said Elizabeth, understanding Mr. Darcy’s point.

  “Perhaps he was,” replied Mr. Darcy. �
�Wickham upheld her belief in herself, that had matters differed only a little, she would have succeeded in her quest to elicit a proposal from me. Miss Bingley does not wish to consider where her plans went awry, but she did not need to if she could assume there was nothing lacking in her.”

  “Now that Mr. Wickham has withdrawn his attentions, it is causing her to consider that which she does not wish to consider.”

  William chuckled and shook his head. “Yes, I expect that is so. But you should not concern yourself for Miss Bingley, Elizabeth. There is little doubt she will right herself and continue on as she has, though this time she will need to find someone else upon whom to pin her hopes.”

  “Do you believe that is likely?” asked Elizabeth.

  “Bingley has many friends, though most are not as close as we are. There are several who are single and looking for a wife, and even if those will not suit her, Miss Bingley’s twenty thousand pounds will ensure some interest. I suspect that she will settle for less than she wishes; that might just make her happier in the end.”

  “Then I can do naught but wish her the best,” replied Elizabeth. “For I have already found that which will make me happy; I am relieved she did not pluck it from me before I even found it.”

  The smile with which Mr. Darcy regarded her made Elizabeth feel warm all over. “That was never an option, Elizabeth. But I join you in your happiness. I believe we shall do well together, for I cannot imagine a better mistress for Pemberley.”

  Epilogue

  In the months and years that followed, Elizabeth’s thoughts only returned to Mr. Wickham when her husband’s thoughts directed her there. That William thought of his erstwhile friend often was not a surprise, though, with distance, such occurrences lessened. It was also very much a surprise to Elizabeth that Mr. Wickham wrote to William at various times to inform him of the happenings in his life.

  “No, I never would have expected Wickham to be so thoughtful,” said William one day after finding a letter from Mr. Wickham in his morning mail. “If anything, I would have expected to receive requests for more funds, for that has ever been a characteristic of our relationship.”

  Grinning, Elizabeth motioned at the still unopened letter and said: “Are you certain it does not contain such a request?”

  With a laugh, William agreed and broke the seal. “Right you are, my dear. Just because his first letter did not, does not mean this one is not more typical of his correspondence.”

  For a few moments, William was silent while he read the missive which appeared to comprise only one piece of paper, written on only one side. When he finished, he looked up at her and returned her grin with one of his own.

  “Perhaps Wickham has learned some prudence, for there is no mention of requiring funds. It seems he has decided to make his way south from Baltimore toward the Carolinas; he mentions some opportunity in that direction, though he is not explicit.”

  “Then I wish him the best,” said Elizabeth.

  Word from Mr. Wickham was sporadic over the years, a letter here and there when least expected, most containing only snippets of news and no actual information. It soon became clear that Mr. Wickham had settled in the Carolinas, though much of his doings there remained shrouded in mystery. Then one day above three years after his departure from England came a letter which shocked Mr. Darcy.

  “Wickham is to be married!” blurted he after opening Mr. Wickham’s letter.

  “Is he?” asked Elizabeth, looking at her husband with interest.

  “According to Wickham,” said William, still perusing the letter, which appeared longer than most of Mr. Wickham’s missives, “he has found a woman without whom he cannot live. Given the dates he mentions, it seems he is already married, for the letter took some time to arrive.”

  Mr. Darcy then paused and smiled, shaking his head. “It seems Wickham found a woman whose father owns a substantial plantation south of Charleston; she the man’s only child.”

  Elizabeth could not help the laugh which escaped her lips. “Then he has obtained his life’s wish.”

  “It would appear to be so,” replied William. “He was correct, to an extent—a woman here was not likely to accept him, given his descent, whereas a woman there would have fewer reservations over the same. It seems, from his words, that Wickham might actually have some affection for this woman, rather than just her father’s money.”

  “That is well then,” said Elizabeth. “I can only wish Mr. Wickham the best.”

  As congratulations, Mr. Darcy shipped his former friend two bottles of French brandy, for which a thank you note arrived in due course. Communication remained sporadic thereafter, limited to announcements of the birth of children and other significant events. Neither Elizabeth nor William noticed when a few years later word stopped coming from the now-successful and wealthy Mr. Wickham, and thereafter they never heard from him again. Word arrived some years later of a massive hurricane that swept through the area, and while Mr. Darcy hoped his former friend was well, there was no way of knowing. That letters had ceased long before suggested there was no correlation between the two events.

  As for the eastern side of the great divide, life went on for all concerned. Elizabeth took to her new life with aplomb and assumed the reins of the Pemberley’s management with skill and dedication, leading William to exclaim that the house had never run so well as when Elizabeth was managing it. In time, they were blessed with children—three strapping boys and two lovely girls, who lived to adulthood—and the family grew in happiness and contentment.

  Jane married Mr. Bingley, and they settled not far distant from Pemberley, adding this happiness to all others in Elizabeth’s life. While the Bingleys were not as blessed with as many children as the Darcys, they had two fine boys, both of whom grew to be a credit to their father and adored their mother.

  The remaining Bennet sisters all found their own paths in life, which resulted in families and situations for them all, Kitty and Lydia remaining in the south not far from their childhood home, while Mary followed her elder sisters northward. If the reader might assume cynically that Lydia never outgrew her tendency toward wildness, they might be forgiven, for it was true. Lydia’s husband adored her, and her vivacity and good cheer did not mislead him. On the times they were in company with her, Elizabeth could see that he encouraged that vivacity and acted to ensure her behavior never exceeded that which was proper.

  For Georgiana’s part, she continued to grow in confidence and maturity, entering society the year after her brother’s marriage to Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth was accepted in society and provided much guidance to her young sister, such that Georgiana determined to find a situation akin to that of her brother with a man she could love and respect. When Georgiana left Pemberley for her husband’s home, she did so with happiness, knowing her association and friendship with her sister-by-marriage would last her entire life.

  Anne de Bourgh too found her own way in life, proving William’s words about her capabilities were no less than prophetic. While it was true she would never be robust, she found a man who filled all her dreams and married several years after her cousin set her free. While Lady Catherine was not enamored of the match, she too came to appreciate the man, and even more that her daughter was happy, which was all she ever wanted. If Lady Catherine was obtrusive and meddling in Elizabeth and Darcy’s lives, they recognized the lady’s actions as benign and remained close to her throughout the rest of her life. Her brother, the earl, commented on several occasions that the dissolution of her hopes had rendered his sister easier to bear than she had been before.

  To his family’s great relief, those few months spent as the colonel of the regiment in Meryton were the last of Colonel Fitzwilliam’s career. Soon after the New Year, the colonel informed his friend and former superior, General Berger, of his intention to resign his commission, to which the general sent him a lengthy letter, wishing him well and abjuring him to stay in contact. What influence Miss Charlotte Lucas had on t
his decision shall be left up to the reader’s imagination to determine. What is not in question is that the colonel married Miss Lucas six months after his cousin’s marriage, after which they retired to his estate to live out their lives with children and love of their own. At long last, Elizabeth induced her friend to relent and agree that she was a romantic after all. If one thought Elizabeth would ever allow her smugness to recede, it is clear they did not know her at all.

  Miss Bingley also found the great blessing and felicity of marriage, though it took her some months of finding her way after the shock of being rejected by Mr. Darcy. Though the man she married was, by all accounts, one who adored her, he remained unknown to the Darcys. Word of the former Miss Bingley came to the Darcys via her brother, and the Darcys wished her well, though neither wished to associate much with her.

  Of Mr. Collins, they knew much but cared little. The parson continued as Lady Catherine’s parson for many years after his ill-fated visit to Longbourn. Mr. Bennet, blessed with good health and long life, prevented Mr. Collins from exacting his vengeance until long after there was anyone upon whom to revenge himself. The parson remained unmarried for some time as he stubbornly held to his desire to marry a woman of fortune, long after it became clear none would have him. He was finally forced to acknowledge the truth when he proposed to a young lady of a situation much like Miss Bingley’s, several years later. When the lady laughed in his face and told him in no uncertain terms what she thought of him, Mr. Collins slunk away and married a young, unintelligent lady of the neighborhood some months later. Perhaps the only agreeable things which could be said of that union were that the lady gave him two sons and that neither took after their parents, being both sensible and intelligent.

  For her part, Mrs. Bennet took great delight in informing Mr. Collins as each of her daughters married, punctuated by one final missive which reminded him they all entered that blessed union, contrary to his prediction. Mrs. Bennet was beloved by all her daughters and spent much time with them over the years with her husband by her side. Elizabeth remained her favorite, and of her second daughter, she was often heard to say that she would not be the woman she became if not for her. Elizabeth, who had always esteemed her mother, credited her with her own fortunate situation, for Mrs. Bennet had raised five good and beautiful girls and taught them well. It was her mother’s influence, great throughout the course of her life, that had made Elizabeth Darcy the woman she was.