Darcy’s eyebrows went up. Not old enough? Georgiana had known the importance of caring for her reputation at a much earlier age. Perhaps she had learned more fully the meaning of that goal after her encounter with Wickham, but it was not a new idea.
“When do you believe a person is old enough to care for their reputation?”
Elizabeth blushed. “I agree that it is important knowledge, however, in the country, they are seen as but children and so do not understand.”
“Miss Elizabeth, I do not wish to pain you, but I must disagree. If they are old enough to be ‘out,’ they are old enough to care for their reputation. It is not a burden, but merely a responsibility that all must take up when they reach the appropriate age.”
“Regardless, I am not sure that they believe Wickham poses any true threat to them,” Elizabeth said quickly.
“Oh?”
“Though whispers of Mr. Wickham’s misconduct circulate, many of the officers have countered such gossip and my sisters are more likely to listen to the officers’ opinions than anyone else’s.”
Darcy’s shoulders drooped. His poor behaviour was once more coming back to haunt him. If only he had been as congenial as Bingley when they first entered Hertfordshire—others might give more weight to his words if he were as charming as Wickham.
Elizabeth put a hand on his arm. “You have done your best. You cannot force people to believe the truth.”
Darcy straightened his spine. “Fitzwilliam has lately taken to haranguing me for my cautiousness and inaction. Perhaps it is time to take a more active role with Wickham. I could prove my claims with the bills he has signed, the debts I hold, and the letters from house servants.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “You cannot.”
“I cannot?”
“Wickham will only counter with Miss Darcy’s reputation—as you yourself have pointed out. I am certain his true colours will show, eventually.”
“But how many lives will he destroy before then?” Darcy murmured.
“People have to make their own choices. You have given them the truth.”
“Do you know if the merchants and servants are aware of his proclivities yet?”
“I believe so. I have spoken to several of our tenants, warning them against him and asking them to warn their sons and daughters who work anywhere they might come into contact with Mr. Wickham.”
“Thank you,” Darcy said in heartfelt tones. The tenants would believe Elizabeth and take the necessary steps. Even if the upper class did not believe Wickham’s perfidy, those whom Wickham most often preyed upon would be safe.
“I believe it is I who ought to thank you,” Elizabeth said quietly. “You did not have to unveil his character to me.”
“I could not bear to have you hurt by him.”
“Still, Mr. Wickham is not your responsibility, and I am grateful that you have chosen to protect those who are neither neighbours nor friends.”
Darcy smiled down at her. “Miss Elizabeth, certainly we are friends and, as long as I am staying at Netherfield, we are neighbours. Besides, are not we all neighbours? We are all human.”
“In this, as in many other things, you have an unusual perspective, Mr. Darcy.” She glanced up at him. “You are quite the conundrum.”
“So you have said. I hope my unusual perspectives may entertain you for quite some time.”
Elizabeth’s gaze shifted to her feet, her cheeks turning rosy. “I—I believe I would enjoy that.”
Darcy’s heart rose in his chest as though it had just grown wings. Elizabeth had not rebuffed him! He glanced up at Fitzwilliam who held the two other Bennet sisters engaged in conversation. The two youngest Bennets had rushed ahead and were no longer visible on the trail. The moment was right. He steeled himself to walk through the door Elizabeth had left open.
“I too have enjoyed our conversations greatly these past months. However, I have found that as much time as I spend with you, I am always left wanting.” He pulled Elizabeth to a halt. “I greatly desire to spend more time with you. Would you—”
“Lizzy!” Miss Bennet called as she hurried over.
Fitzwilliam cast him an apologetic look. Darcy suppressed a groan of frustration and focused on appearing interested in Miss Bennet.
“I do not see Lydia and Kitty anywhere,” Miss Bennet said, a hint of tension peeking through her calm tone. “Did you see where they went?”
Elizabeth took a deep breath. “They were ahead of us.”
“Would you like me to ride ahead and look for them?” Darcy offered, deciding he would be more likely to be able to finish his conversation with Elizabeth if he simply dealt with the problem as quickly as possible.
“If you would not mind, I would be most grateful,” Miss Bennet said, her brow furrowed. “I do not know why they would not stay in sight. They know better than to disappear like that.”
“They are probably just far enough ahead as to be out of sight,” Elizabeth said.
Sending Elizabeth a warm smile, Darcy mounted Apollo and cantered ahead of the group. He had expected the two girls to be just down the path, but even after some 10 minutes, he did not encounter them. He considered whether to ride to Longbourn or to return to the group. It seemed unlikely that they would have already reached home, but if he returned to the group and did not find them, he would only have to ride to Longbourn.
A moment’s consideration of Elizabeth’s probable disquiet sent him riding to her first. He would ride to Longbourn after that if she so desired.
Darcy dismounted “I did not find them,” he said gravely when he reached the group. They had continued walking and were now some distance closer to Longbourn than they had been when he left.
The furrow in Miss Bennet’s brow deepened.
He exchanged worried looks with Fitzwilliam. Could Wickham have done something to them? But he had returned to the barracks, and the girls had been in sight for the entirety of their walk until only a few minutes before Miss Bennet had grown concerned. The road had been winding, but the section they were on now gave a clear view for several hundred yards.
“I did not ride all the way to Longbourn, however, I can do so now if you desire,” Darcy offered.
Miss Bennet looked relieved. “Perhaps they simply ran ahead. I do not know why they might have done so, but it is possible.”
“Perhaps,” Elizabeth said, her tone conveying her skepticism.
A shriek of laughter in the woods to their left sent the whole group moving towards it.
Darcy could just make out a flash of pink through the tree trunks—had not the youngest Bennet been wearing pink?
Elizabeth strode off into the woods. Darcy handed Apollo’s reins to Fitzwilliam and followed, unwilling to let her enter a potentially dangerous situation alone. Before long, the two youngest Bennet girls came into view, Miss Lydia capering around her sister, laughing uproariously.
“Kitty! Lydia!” Elizabeth called.
Both girls froze, then burst out laughing again.
“La! We have been missed, Kitty, as I said we would,” Miss Lydia said.
“What were you doing?” Elizabeth asked severely.
Miss Kitty looked conscious as though she were uncomfortable with the question, but Miss Lydia smiled radiantly.
“Maria Lucas told us that there were the most excellent late-season berries down by the stream. We thought we would see if it were true before asking if you wanted to come with us.”
Elizabeth lifted an eyebrow. “And were there?”
“No!” Miss Lydia laughed again. “Is it not the best joke? I do not know if she meant to send us on a wild goose chase or if they have simply all fallen by now—she did tell us yesterday and she had not been to the stream since Saturday. If it was intentional, I shall pay her back with something equally ridiculous!”
Elizabeth sighed. “You should have told us where you were going.”
Miss Lydia gave her a shocked look. “But that would have spoiled the surprise!”
she said innocently. “We meant to take you there if there were enough berries to share.”
Miss Kitty nodded vigorously.
Darcy’s breath huffed out in relief. These were nothing more than foolish children who had no thought for others’ worry or conventions of propriety.
Elizabeth gave her a forced smile. “I believe it would have been pleasanter to explore together than to suffer the worry of not knowing where you were for the past half hour.”
Miss Lydia shrugged, but Miss Kitty looked apologetic.
When the group tramped back onto the road, the youngest sister began to babble to Miss Bennet about the berries and Maria Lucas and what sort of tricks she could play on her friend. Elizabeth, apparently unwilling to leave her sisters, insisted they remain with the rest of the group. With a mental sigh, Darcy resigned himself to asking Elizabeth about a courtship another time—perhaps the next time they were on a morning ramble by themselves.
Chapter 30
The next morning Darcy slipped away for his ride before his cousin cornered him. Since their conversation the day after the ball, Fitzwilliam had asked if he could accompany him on his morning rides. Given the mischief in Fitzwilliam’s eyes, Darcy suspected his cousin was only teasing him, but he did not wish to test this supposition by leaving the possibility open, particularly given his cousin’s threats of the night before.
Fitzwilliam had not been pleased with Darcy’s lack of progress in asking Elizabeth for a courtship. Elizabeth had remained steadfastly close to her sisters, apparently concerned for their behaviour. Or, at least, Darcy hoped that had been her motive, rather than a desire to avoid private converse with him. She had seemed open to and interested in what he had been saying just before Miss Bennet had interrupted though. Regardless, Fitzwilliam had not accepted Darcy’s excuses and once more stated that he would begin pursuing Elizabeth for himself if his cousin did not bring things to a speedy conclusion.
When he arrived at the turnoff, Apollo attempted to continue on down the pathway towards Longbourn, apparently unwilling to wait for Elizabeth. Darcy could not blame him after the past two days. She had been hours late the first morning and had not arrived at all the second morning.
“We do not wish to cause problems for her,” Darcy told his horse, taking a firm grip on the reins. “We will wait here.”
The sun had just risen over the horizon when Elizabeth appeared, lovely as a mythical nymph emerging from the morning mist. “Good morning, Mr. Darcy.”
“Good morning, Miss Elizabeth,” Darcy replied, only habit allowing him to sound unaffected by her beauty. Elizabeth’s curls were escaping every which way in the morning wind, caressing her face and neck in a way that left Darcy jealous. In the morning light, her cheeks rosy, he did not think he had ever seen her more beautiful. Perhaps because, in this moment, he did not have to share her with anyone else.
“Good morning, Apollo,” Elizabeth said, stepping over at once to where Apollo was attempting to escape from Darcy’s hold.
Apollo nickered as she stroked him.
“Shall we?” Darcy asked, gesturing down the path to Oakham Mount.
“Of course.”
Darcy held out his arm in wordless invitation, and Elizabeth took it. Apollo followed closely behind.
“And how are you this fine day, Miss Elizabeth?”
“Quite well, Mr. Darcy. And you?”
“I am also well,” Darcy said, the spring in his step giving away the sunshine even now filling his soul and threatening to overflow into a boyish grin. Elizabeth had chosen to walk with him! And the weather was lovely, Nature cooperating with every wish he might make for a morning walk. The crisp air blew about them in a gentle breeze, crackling the fallen leaves and whispering secrets to the scantily clad branches. The sun shone down in rays of blessing, and the path was dry enough so as not to require picking their way through puddles. “I am very glad the weather has allowed us to walk this morning.”
“As am I!” Elizabeth said firmly. “I think I would go mad if I were cooped up in the house right now.”
“Oh?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “I have never been one to enjoy the inactivity that comes from days of being imprisoned by the rain.”
Darcy frowned, recalling their conversation the last time they had walked to Oakham Mount. “Is everything well with your mother and Mr. Collins? Though I do not have the right to ask about such personal topics, I have been concerned for you. We did not have an opportunity to speak of it yesterday, but I was worried when you did not go for your morning walk.”
Elizabeth blushed, and her shoulders tensed, her hand tightening on Darcy’s arm. She gave a little shrug. “It is nothing more than I expected. My mother is still unhappy with my choice as she wishes for her own security. Mr. Collins will be leaving tomorrow, and I doubt I shall ever see him again.”
“Perhaps your mother is merely aware of her precarious position. As the heir, Mr. Collins may ask you to vacate Longbourn at anytime after your father’s death.” A shudder tingled through him as he recalled Bingley’s report on the Bennets Before. Mrs. Bennet had every reason for her fear, despite her poor method of expressing it.
“Pray, do not repeat such a thing in my mother’s hearing—ever,” Elizabeth said. “She is all too aware of that! I do not believe I have heard anything else from her mouth since I refused Mr. Collins.”
Darcy put a hand over hers. “Though she may not go about it in the best way, her fear is valid and perhaps she is also worried about her daughters’ prospects.”
“Perhaps,” Elizabeth said coolly. “Forgive me if my desire for happiness prevents me from sacrificing myself in such a drastic manner as to marry someone so ill-suited to me.”
“I would never advocate such a thing!” Darcy hastened to say, his eyes wide with horror; he would never complain that Elizabeth refused to marry another man. He took a deep breath, working to regain his equanimity. “However, I have recently begun to try to understand and respect the perspective of others—including your mother. It may not change the situation, but it may make it easier to accept her foibles. We all have fears. And we all struggle to keep them from controlling us.”
“Mr. Darcy, I am perpetually amazed by your ability to see to the heart of a matter.”
Darcy suppressed a blush. “Rather, I would say that I have learned at last to empathise with others—to see how they are like me. I, too, am, at times, ruled by my fear. I cannot condemn another for falling into the same trap.”
“Your—friend taught you this?” Elizabeth asked hesitantly.
“My friend?”
“The woman to whom you attribute your character change to.”
Darcy smiled warmly down at her. “Yes. I believe she did.”
Elizabeth nodded.
Darcy thought he detected a hint of sadness in her mien before she took a deep breath as though she were dislodging some uncomfortable thought.
“Well, I shall do my best to offer my mother some forbearance, however, I hope you will forgive me if I offer it while out of her presence as much as possible,” she said lightly.
“I am confident that you are capable of empathising with her, but, I agree, that does not mean you need to spend extra time with her, nor to listen to her—what did you say the other day? Lamentations? Or scoldings? Though her position is understandable, yours is too. I cannot imagine that you would be even remotely content with such a person as Mr. Collins.”
“I cannot imagine that he would be even remotely content with me.”
“I am certain he will soon assuage his injured pride by choosing a bride more to Lady Catherine’s preferences.”
Elizabeth gazed up at him curiously. “What have you seen with Miss Lucas? I have tried to recall their interactions and have seen no hint of affection on either side.” She hesitated. “Although, at dinner last night, she did spend much of the time conversing with Mr. Collins. I had thought it due to her friendship with me.”
Darcy’s though
ts ground to a halt. What had he seen with Miss Lucas and Mr. Collins? Nothing save their future as a married couple living on the outskirts of his aunt’s estate. He cleared his throat, scrambling for an answer, before deciding to focus on the second half of her statement. “Miss Lucas strikes me as the sort of friend who would converse with Mr. Collins out of friendship for you. She certainly did so at the Netherfield Ball.”
Elizabeth frowned. “But I cannot see that she would throw away her future on such a choice. Charlotte is far too practical to marry such a foolish man.”
“You do not think she is so practical as to choose her own establishment over waiting for marriage to someone who might more closely fulfil romantic desires?”
“I suppose she might. I still do not see such an event taking place.”
“It may yet not happen,” Darcy said noncommittally.
“But you believe it will,” she stated.
Darcy did not reply, unable to gainsay her conclusion.
Elizabeth’s frown deepened, but she remained silent.
Darcy allowed her the gift of silence as he supposed it must be difficult for her to consider her friend taking such a step.
Would Mr. Collins’s proposal to Miss Lucas cause Elizabeth to regret her refusal? After all, her family would lose their estate, and Elizabeth seemed to have a genuine passion for the land and its tenants. Once more, he wondered if Mr. Collins had proposed previously. It would not surprise him to learn that such an event had occurred—he was more surprised that Elizabeth did not have more competition for her hand and heart—and rejecting Mr. Collins was entirely in character for her both now and Before.
Perhaps that was why events continued to repeat themselves—the parties involved had the same characters as Before and thus they responded in the same ways. Only he had changed and so only the events he was involved in were different.
“I do not know if I could respect Charlotte if she were to marry such a buffoon,” Elizabeth said forlornly.
“If this were her choice, could you not respect her desire for a home of her own?”
A Vision of the Path Before Him Page 32