Oh, no. Darcy met Elizabeth’s horrified gaze. “George Wickham,” he said slowly.
“Wickham was in the damned militia?” exploded Richard.
Darcy asked Elizabeth, “Was he among those your father talked to?”
She nodded slowly. “He was there. A group of officers dined at Longbourn, and...” Her face contorted in dismay.
“What is it?” asked Darcy urgently.
“Wickham had sought me out earlier that night and asked about my stay in Hunsford. I told him you had been there and that I thought you improved on further acquaintance. He had always complained to me about you, so he knew that was a reproof, and now I wonder if he suspected there might be something between us. The next day he left for Brighton with the rest of the militia.”
“And Brighton is only an hour’s ride from Rosings,” groaned Richard. “He knows Lady Catherine and is aware of her ambitions for Anne, so he knew exactly where to go to make mischief. And this is precisely the sort of mischief he would make.”
Bile rose in the back of Darcy’s throat. Wickham would not have cared about Elizabeth’s fate. He had done this solely on the chance it might cause Darcy pain.
Elizabeth sat down in the window seat and stared at her hands. “Do you think he knew you were interested in me?”
“He always did,” said Darcy. “Do you remember the day Bingley and I were going to Longbourn to inquire about your sister’s health, and we met you in Meryton on our way?”
“The first time I met Wickham,” said Elizabeth flatly.
“I did not see him there at first because I was watching you, but when I finally noticed him, he was staring at me with a triumphant expression. He knows me very well.”
“And the very next night he took me aside and told me how you had mistreated him. He did not tell anyone else in Meryton until after you had left, only me.”
“He knew just which ear to pour his poison into,” said Darcy bitterly.
Elizabeth looked stricken. “And I believed him.”
Richard slapped his hand on the table. “I will kill him this time.”
Georgiana made a tiny sound, almost a whimper. Devil take it, he had forgotten about Wickham and Georgiana! But Jasper had not missed it. He put his arm around Georgiana and led her from the room.
Elizabeth stood as well. “Unless you have any other urgent questions, I must ask you to excuse me. I need a little time alone.” Her voice trembled.
“Of course,” Darcy said gently. “I am so very sorry.”
“It is not your fault.” She walked away quickly without looking back.
God, he hated this helplessness. He could do nothing to heal Elizabeth’s pain nor to relieve her worry, and he could not even walk over to her to speak words of comfort.
Jasper returned without Georgiana, his expression subdued, and collapsed into a chair.
Darcy rubbed his hands over his face. What he needed was a quiet place where he could lick his wounds, but everyone was watching him and waiting for his next step. And he needed to decide what that was. He turned to the solicitor who had been waiting by the door. “Mr. Hollings, I thank you for your patience, and I would welcome the opportunity to speak to you further privately. Jasper, if you would not object, I would appreciate it if you would attend and report back on our meeting to Miss Elizabeth. I do not wish to have discussions behind her back.”
“Wise of you,” sniffed Mrs. MacLean. “Now, if you will be so kind as to excuse me, I will leave you to your business.” She swept from the room.
Darcy said, “Richard, while I would welcome your advice, I would have to ask you to keep anything we discuss from your father. I will understand completely if you feel you cannot agree to that.”
Richard looked up, still rubbing his watch. “I have no trouble agreeing to that. He has brought shame on all of us with this behavior.”
Hollings pushed his spectacles up his nose. “What do you wish to discuss, Mr. Darcy?”
“My options. I intend to intervene in this matter. I hope it will be as Miss Elizabeth’s intended or her husband, but if she refuses me, I still wish to put a stop to it. I am limited in that I cannot travel at present, so it would likely be at least a month, perhaps longer, before I could go to London.” And that was being optimistic. His leg was improving, but merely being wheeled from one room to another could bring his headache back. A week on the road would be impossible. “Would you be willing to travel to London to act on my behalf?”
The solicitor pursed his lips. “I do not know any of the principals involved, so I would be at a substantial disadvantage, and I suspect Lord Matlock would be less likely to listen to a solicitor from Glasgow than to a member of his family. And not least, my time is very expensive, especially when it would mean leaving my other clients for a month or more. Your own solicitor in London would be much cheaper and already be familiar with your affairs.”
“Do not worry about money,” advised Jasper with a laugh. “Darcy is wearing borrowed clothes. His estate brings in ten thousand a year.”
Darcy glared at his cousin. “My solicitor also handles Lord Matlock’s legal affairs, and I suspect few London solicitors would be interested in making an enemy of the Lord Chancellor.”
Hollings removed his spectacles and polished them with his handkerchief. “That does alter the situation, but I would still recommend waiting to confront Lord Matlock until you could be present. For my own safety, if nothing else; I have no desire to be arrested on trumped-up charges.”
“But what if he arrests Lizzy’s father in the meantime?” asked Jasper. “Too many people know that Darcy has seen Lizzy again.”
“True.” The solicitor replaced his glasses on his beaky nose. “It might be wise to hire a local informant who would report to you if he is arrested, although that would require having someone available locally to take action if that occurs. It would take too long for word to reach you here.”
“I could do that much,” said Richard with some reluctance. “I live in London, and if my father goes so far as to arrest her father, I will confront him myself.”
“That would work to reduce the risk until Mr. Darcy can travel,” said Hollings. He turned to face Darcy. “However, if your goal is to marry the young lady, you should prepare for further interference. If Lord Matlock is so strongly opposed to this marriage, we must assume he may have other tricks up his sleeve.”
“What are you suggesting?” asked Darcy.
“That if you are determined to make her your bride, you must make certain he has no ability to stop you. Marry the girl right away. If your estate is not entailed, write a will in her favor. If I may be crude, get her with child. Keep the marriage a secret for now, but by presenting Lord Matlock with a fait accompli, you make it in his best interest to withdraw his objections rather than to fight the inevitable.”
“Good advice,” said Richard. “My father can be very devious.”
Hollings asked, “I have assumed that Lady Catherine de Bourgh is less of a threat than Lord Matlock. Is that true?”
“Yes,” Darcy said. “Her weapons are less concerning. She can keep Collins from supporting the Bennet ladies after Mr. Bennet’s death, but that hardly matters if Elizabeth is my wife, as I would provide for them.”
Richard’s expression brightened for the first time. “Collins? I have the perfect solution for him.”
Chapter 17
THE SOUND OF A KNOCK at the door made Elizabeth sigh. “Yes?” she asked resignedly.
“It is I.” It was her aunt’s voice. “May I come in?”
“If you wish.” Exhausted by her emotions to the point of numbness, Elizabeth pulled the quilt more tightly around her shoulders, but remained sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace. Her aunt would understand.
Aunt Emmeline came in quietly and closed the door behind her. “I thought you might like a little company.”
“Thank you. I have likely been alone with my thoughts too long.” Elizabeth gestured to her po
rtable writing desk that sat open on the floor next to her.
“You are writing letters?”
“Of a sort. Letters to the fire.” Elizabeth picked up the most recent page. “How about this: ‘Lord Matlock deserves to have his shriveled, deformed heart devoured by rabid rats while he still lives.’” She tore the strip of paper containing the sentence, stuck the end of it into the fire until it burst into flame, and watched it crumble in the ash. “The fire is a very understanding correspondent when I am angry.”
“It is always satisfying to watch something burn.” Aunt Emmeline fetched the stool from the vanity and sat down on it beside Elizabeth. “And you have great deal to be angry about.”
“Months ago, I asked a solicitor in Edinburgh for his opinion. He told me the contract was invalid because of my signature, but that I had no hope of prevailing against Lord Matlock. I just burned a letter to him, too.” Elizabeth wrapped her hands around her knees and gazed into the flames.
“Not helpful advice, though from what Mr. Hollings has said, having Mr. Darcy’s backing is important to winning against Lord Matlock. But the crucial question is whether you want that.”
Elizabeth leaned her head forward to rest it on her knees. “I wish I knew what to do.”
“To marry or not? To fight Lord Matlock or not?”
She sighed. “Part of me thinks the safest, simplest thing would be to marry Duncan MacLaren, although perhaps not at such a breakneck pace as we had planned, and forget Lord Matlock ever existed. Duncan is a good man, and I have spent days telling myself I could be happy with him. And if I do not marry soon, I must eventually face Lord Matlock.”
“What of Mr. Darcy?”
“I do not know. I have told myself so often that he could never be mine that I have never truly thought about what I wanted.” But she knew she was making excuses. “And his estate is a very long way from Edinburgh.” And there was nothing to be done about that.
“I know.” Aunt Emmeline shifted on the stool. “I will confess from a purely selfish standpoint, I would be happy to see you marry Duncan because you could still live with me much of the year and I have known him most of his life. I think he would try to make you happy, even if the clan would always come first for him. But I do not know that you would suit. He has only known you when you have been in significant distress. Has he ever seen you in high spirits? I think it might baffle him. You are strong-willed, too, and you need a husband who can meet your strength with his own. I do not know if Duncan is that man.”
“Yes,” she said resignedly. It was very much what she had concluded herself.
“Darcy could match your spirits, and he is clearly violently in love with you. But you would have to live with the rift in his family caused by your mere existence, and he lives so far away.” She hesitated and lowered her voice. “I worry whether he will someday wish you did not have an actress in your family.”
Elizabeth bit her lip. “I do not think so. If I have learned one thing about him, it is that his loyalties run deep. But part of me wishes I could just go back to how things were before. Living with you, running lines with Jasper, helping at the theatre...”
“But that would not be enough for you,” her aunt said gently. “It was good while you were finding your feet in Edinburgh and recovering from all you had lost, but the theatre is not your love. Sooner or later you will want a life beyond that, a home of your own, a family.”
It was true. Her aunt and Jasper were the center of her life in Edinburgh, not the theatre. Jasper would move on eventually, and her aunt was no longer young. Elizabeth’s glimpses of Edinburgh social life had not inspired her; having no acquaintances and the social disadvantage of her aunt’s acting made it seem unappealing compared to the welcoming, stimulating world of the theatre.
But the idea of living far from Aunt Emmeline broke her heart.
Who else did she have? Even if she reestablished contact with her own family, she could not imagine feeling the same closeness to her father again. Her mother had never liked her. Jane was married, as was Charlotte. Oh, dear, she had forgotten about Charlotte! Elizabeth groaned.
“What is the matter?”
“My friend Charlotte is married to Mr. Collins, the one who presented me with the contract. If we take action against Lord Matlock, that means exposing Mr. Collins as an extortionist. He deserves whatever punishment he gets, but poor Charlotte does not. What will she suffer when her husband is arrested as a common criminal? Where will she go? Who will support her? I want to punish Lord Matlock and Lady Catherine, but they will get off lightly while my dear Charlotte suffers.” She rubbed her forehead. “And that is not all. If I marry Mr. Darcy and my father is arrested, how will I live with my guilt?”
Mrs. MacLean sighed dramatically. “Lizzy, did you encourage him to say seditious things?”
“No, of course not! He did it to amuse himself.”
“Then if he is arrested for it, it is not your fault. You might have been the route by which it came to someone’s notice, but it was his choice, and none of your doing.”
“But it was none of my sisters’ doing, either, yet they will suffer for it.”
“They will suffer some embarrassment, true, and I imagine Mr. Darcy will have to give them dowries to make up for it. Fortunately, he can afford it.”
“I suppose so. I do not need to worry for their future as I did when Mr. Collins first presented that contract to me.” Elizabeth hesitated. “I understand that my father made his own bed and he must lie in it, but I cannot bear the idea of him imprisoned and hating me for my part in it.” Hot tears stung the corners of her eyes.
Her aunt lowered herself to her knees in front of Elizabeth and grasped her hands. “Lizzy, you must listen carefully to me. He is your father, and you love him. But if he blames you for something that is solely his own fault, then he is not worthy of your grief.”
“How can you say that when you still wish for his good opinion?” Elizabeth scrubbed her eyes.
Aunt Emmeline rested back on her heels. “Yes, I have wanted his forgiveness, although much less so since I have seen what he has done to you. But it was a different situation. He had reason to hate me.”
“For becoming an actress?” Elizabeth scoffed. “His fear of scandal never inspired him to stop my sisters from becoming hardened flirts and humiliating all of us.”
“Acting was the least of it,” her aunt said sadly. “I do not like to remember that time, but I think you should know the truth. You never knew our parents, your grandparents, but they were not kind people.”
“I know that. I have heard the rumors about ill-treated servants,” said Elizabeth.
“Servants could leave Longbourn if they were sufficiently ill-treated, but your father and I did not have that choice. I was six years older, and he was sickly and sensitive. I protected him as much as I could, taking beatings in his place, trying to give him the love he never got from our parents. I was more mother to him than our own mother ever was. And then I left, abandoned him to his fate, to what was no doubt worse mistreatment than ever. I felt terrible guilt over it, but what could I do? I was due to be married off in a matter of weeks, so I would not have been there to protect him anyway. But he was a child and he felt that I deserted him to terrible suffering. Yes, I would like his forgiveness, because I loved him dearly, but I also know that he is blaming me for the failures of our parents, not for what I did.”
Elizabeth nodded slowly. “That makes more sense. I wish neither of you had suffered so, but he should not blame you.” And her aunt was right. While she did not want to see her father suffer, she could not give up her own dreams to spare him the responsibility for his own foolishness.
“No, he should not. And he should have made his peace with me long since.”
It was an opening Elizabeth had been waiting for. “As you and Mr. Jack have done?”
Aunt Emmeline nodded vigorously. “Exactly.”
“He never told me of his connection to you, or that
he had known you in Edinburgh. I learned of it from Nurse.”
“Ah, well, Jack has always been a strange one! But he is dear to me. Charlie always said Jack needed us to be his family, and he truly became a brother to me. Even when he had his own rooms in Old Town, he dined with us more often than not, and visited Timmy nearly every day. But when Charlie died, and then Imogen...” Her voice trailed away. “I am grateful to have him back, as difficult as he can be at times.”
“Timmy seemed very glad to see him.”
The older woman sighed. “Jack thinks Timmy should stay here when we return to Edinburgh. He says the city air is dangerous for consumptives, and I daresay he is right.”
“I imagine Timmy would not mind. He loves it here, though he will miss you very much.”
Aunt Emmeline shrugged. “He will miss you and Jasper more. Timmy was never particularly attached to me. He was always Jack’s boy more than ours. I have tried to do my best for him, but it has been hard when his presence is a constant reminder of Imogen’s absence.” She shook her head as if to clear it, and said in a stronger voice, “Come, Lizzy, you have a smudge of ash on your face. Let me wipe it off for you. The only question you need to decide now is whether you will come down for dinner. I would favor it for no other reason than poor Mr. Darcy will be frantic if you do not. And you need not worry about being pressured; I have told everyone, and particularly Darcy, that you are not to be troubled today with anything more serious than the weather and Walter Scott’s poetry.”
Elizabeth almost smiled. “Thank you, but even more than them, it is the servants I am afraid to face. They were so happy I was marrying Duncan MacLaren. They must be devastated now.”
“Do not fret. Duncan spoke to them before he left. He told them about the new mortgage, and that you have been threatened by an evil English aristocrat, and no one should blame you in any way.”
Now Elizabeth did smile, albeit ruefully. “An evil English aristocrat? They may even like me better for that. It makes me one of them. To think I once believed they would never have any sympathy for me!”
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