Perilous Siege

by C. P. Odom

  McDunn nodded, and the smile the two men shared informed Mrs. Gardiner that Mr. Darcy had been teasing his friend. “You’ll be glad to know this fortuitous meeting with Mr. Gardiner might save us a trip to town. My thought is to make it worth their while to stay on while we discuss a bit of business. We could offer them a little dinner either before or after we talk.”

  That startled Mr. Gardiner. “Pray, excuse me. I am afraid I have not the pleasure of understanding you.”

  “It’s like this, sir,” McDunn said. “You know our locomotive is head and shoulders above anything our competition has. And it won’t surprise you to learn we plan to build more locomotives to haul coal and other freight. Eventually, we want to haul passengers, but we need rail lines built to do it, and we want them built to the same gauge—the width of the rails—as our locomotives. So we’re negotiating for deliveries of iron rails in quantity.”

  Darcy looked directly at Mr. Gardiner. “We will also need crossties, Mr. Gardiner—crossties such as the ones you provided but in much larger numbers and delivered to the schedules we are planning. Might such a proposition interest you?”

  At Mr. Gardiner’s somewhat stunned nod, McDunn said, “Excellent! Then, perhaps you might come down to Darcy’s study with us where we can discuss this in detail.”

  “Georgiana, will you inform the housekeeper that we will have two guests for dinner?” Darcy asked. “And do you think you and Mrs. Sturdivant might entertain Mrs. Gardiner while we talk?”

  “Certainly, William,” she said, sitting down at the pianoforte bench. Then she smiled sweetly at McDunn and said, “You see, Major? William calls me Georgiana, just as Richard does. I do wish you would stop calling me Miss Darcy. It makes me feel as though we have just been introduced instead of working side by side for so many months.”

  She spoke as though vexed, but she could not completely hide her smile from McDunn, who winked at her.

  “I keep telling you I’m your protector, not your brother. So you’ll remain Miss Darcy, just like the genteel and fashionable young lady you are.”

  Both the Gardiners were more than a little surprised at this exchange, especially when Georgiana stuck her tongue out at McDunn. But both her brother and the American just laughed.

  “She thinks she can get away with anything because she helps me so much with our work,” McDunn said cheerfully to the Gardiners. “Darcy’s let me freeload on his hospitality for almost three years, and I’ve adopted Miss Darcy as my sister in place of my own. So she has two—no, it’s three—brothers to tell her what to do. She’s only sixteen at the moment, so she’ll just have to put up with us for a few more years until we can get her safely married.”

  His comment drew a snort from Darcy, but his sister said quickly, “It is you for whom we must find a wife, sir! And my brother! Why, you are six and twenty, are you not? And my brother is two years older! You will both soon be…uh…what is the word for a gentleman spinster, Mrs. Gardiner?”

  Both Gardiners laughed, and Mrs. Gardiner said, smiling ruefully, “I am afraid there is no such word, Miss Darcy. It is decidedly unfair that the gentler sex has to be burdened with such epithets, but there it is.”

  On that note, the gentlemen departed and left the room to the ladies.

  ***

  It was more than an hour before the gentlemen’s business was concluded and they sought the ladies, who were touring the gallery of pictures in the upstairs lobby. Mrs. Reynolds appeared to have taken charge, and she was explaining each picture to Mrs. Gardiner while she instructed Georgiana on the same subject, saying it was a necessary part of her education.

  “It appears your discussions were successful, judging by your amiability,” Mrs. Gardiner said as the three gentlemen joined the group.

  “Quite successful,” McDunn said. “Resolving this question is a big load off our shoulders.”

  “I will send our solicitor, Stevenson, an express to have him draw up our contract,” Darcy said to Mr. Gardiner. “He will be contacting you—”

  “That is enough business for the day, William,” Georgiana said, interrupting him. “It is almost time for dinner.”

  Darcy nodded and Georgiana went on. “And you will never guess what I learned, William! Do you remember the young lady I met at Netherfield when Mr. Bingley’s wife was so sick? Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner are her uncle and aunt! What do you think of that?”

  “Ah, Lizzy and Jane,” Mr. Gardiner said with a nod. “My sister is their mother. Lizzy has been touring with us, but she has seen quite enough large estates, so she remained at the inn with the intention of exploring the town and doing some reading.”

  Darcy was glad no response was required to his sister’s information since he would have been quite unable to say anything. His voice seemed frozen with shock.

  Elizabeth Bennet! he thought. Here I have been sitting in the dark at night, trying to determine what I should do about this most disturbing young lady, and now she is but five miles away! I simply do not know what to do! Yet, I am convinced now I must do something!

  Then another thought entered his mind. And she remained true to what she said at Netherfield. That we should not meet again. Ever. Why does the thought distress me so much now when it once seemed so sensible? Do I really want to meet her again? What would I have done if she had accompanied her aunt and uncle?

  This man—this gentleman—is the brother of her mother, Mrs. Bennet? It seems unbelievable, yet he admits it openly and easily. How can he be so sensible and well mannered, when his sister is so foolish and vulgar?

  How did Elizabeth Bennet become so appealing in her manners, despite having such a mother? And her elder sister is the same! Every time I see Jane and Bingley together, so happy and contented, I am inestimably relieved I did not yield to the blandishments of Caroline Bingley and her sister to separate the two of them. I know I could have accomplished it since Bingley trusts my opinion, but had I done so, I would now greatly regret it. It would have been wrong and dishonorable.

  Darcy made himself put these distressing thoughts aside and attend to his guests. But he knew he was going to have to resolve the turmoil inside him whenever he thought of the disturbing evening at Netherfield and Elizabeth Bennet’s voice, dull and lifeless, “Nothing will ever change. There is no hope whatever.”

  ***

  “A most interesting day,” Mr. Gardiner said to his wife after dinner as their carriage started back to Lambton, and they took their leave of Pemberley. “In fact, ‘startling’ or ‘astonishing’ would probably be better words to describe it.”

  “By your comment, I assume the private conversations you had with Mr. Darcy and Major McDunn were rewarding?”

  “Very much so. But no endeavor this important is going to be easy, and my whole business will have to change dramatically. I am going to have to sell my warehouse so I can concentrate solely on the Darcy, Fitzwilliam, and McDunn enterprise. The major said I would be a sole and trusted supplier, and it should be lucrative—very lucrative, assuming their railway business is as successful as their telegraph. As I say, it will be a big adjustment.”

  “I am sure you will be up to the task, my dear. I very much enjoyed my time listening to Miss Darcy play and talking with her companion. Miss Darcy was quite excited when she learned Lizzy is our niece, and she asked if it would be impertinent for her to write to her since she is only sixteen. I said our niece is only four years older than she is, so it would be quite appropriate.”

  Mr. Gardiner looked at his wife with a huge smile. “I had another surprise, dear. I happened to see Mr. Walton’s book on Mr. Darcy’s bookshelf, and it appears he is also a fisherman though he has little time to indulge in the sport these days. So he invited me back for a day of fishing tomorrow! And he suggested you might bring Lizzy to spend the day with his sister. He was absolutely astonished to find that she was our niece, y
ou know. I have to wonder whether part of his amazement was not due to finding out Fanny is one of my two elder sisters. Clearly, he was acquainted with her though he made no mention of Jeanette. He likely did not meet her.”

  “And I wonder what Elizabeth will say when she learns what has happened today?” Mrs. Gardiner said seriously. “I will hazard a guess she will decline the invitation. I am more certain than ever that there is some kind of past acquaintance between her and Mr. Darcy, likely a romantic one, but I still have no idea of the details.”

  “I believe you make a valid point. Oh, Lizzy! She is so very secretive, is she not?”

  “I am afraid that keeping her counsel is a requirement for her, given her family,” his wife said sadly.

  ***

  “A most interesting day,” McDunn said, standing at the window in Darcy’s study after watching the Gardiner’s carriage depart.

  “Very,” Darcy said in agreement, but his thoughts hardly touched on his recent guests, being almost completely obsessed by thoughts of their niece. Learning this gentlemanly man was brother to Mrs. Bennet had been and still was difficult to believe. Two people could not be more different, but there it was.

  But even this thought was nothing compared to those of their niece. What was he to do? He simply could not allow this distraction to continue, especially since he was now certain he would never be able to push thoughts of Elizabeth from his mind unless he did something to settle the doubts and unanswered questions that plagued his sleep with ever-increasing frequency.

  Impulsively, he suggested to Mr. Gardiner that he might bring Elizabeth the next day, but with more time to think on it, he felt certain she would devise some reason to decline. Of course, he might ride to Lambton and seek her out, but he instantly dismissed the possibility.

  For all he knew, Elizabeth Bennet had stayed behind at the inn because the bitterness she had shown at Netherfield had changed into something quite malignant. She might hate him passionately for having caused her such grief, even if he had done so inadvertently. Emotions as strong as those she had shown were not at all predictable and likely to change. A meeting could not be chanced, not after having come to a business agreement with her uncle.

  It now seemed incredible that he had once considered the events at Netherfield with satisfaction, thinking the best choices had been voiced and agreed on and he could get on with his life. Now, Elizabeth Bennet and her lively, playful manner plagued his dreams, and he increasingly remembered his bewitchment, which he thought he had put aside.

  I cannot let her statement stand—that we should not meet again, he thought with sudden decision. I will never have any ease if I do not determine why and how she is affecting me so. My distress cannot be the love she said she held for me. Nor is it the passion she also expressed. But one thing I do know: I have to resolve this. I have to!

  Suddenly, with the determination made, he could think on how to accomplish his resolution. He knew he could not simply ride to Lambton and ask to see her. But he also could not simply ride to Hertfordshire and knock on the door, declaring he wished to see and speak with Miss Elizabeth Bennet! No, it would never do! It was quite impossible!

  Or is it? he thought suddenly as an idea came to mind.

  I shall have to talk to Bingley.

  Chapter 23

  To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?

  — Marcus Tullius Cicero,

  Roman statesman and orator

  August‒September, 1812

  Hertfordshire

  The maelstrom about to sweep through Longbourn began innocuously enough with the return of the Gardiners and Elizabeth from their tour of the north. The Gardiners had much to say about what they had seen during their excursion, not the least of which was the gracious hospitality displayed by Mr. Darcy when they visited his estate at Pemberley.

  Mr. Gardiner mentioned none of his business discussions with Darcy and McDunn because of the need for confidentiality, instead preferring to speak of the joys of an entire day spent fishing with Mr. Darcy. And Mrs. Gardiner spoke more of the delights of hearing Miss Darcy perform than of any of their surmises regarding their niece and the owner of the estate, only mentioning Elizabeth’s absence from the visit as being due to feeling somewhat ill.

  Elizabeth said little, and she absolutely would not answer her mother’s indignant demands as to why she had twice refused to visit Pemberley and see Mr. Darcy. In fact, Mrs. Bennet’s vituperative questioning of her daughter brought Mr. Bennet from his library where he flatly ordered his wife to desist from plaguing her daughter and to attend to her brother and sister. And when he told Elizabeth gently that she might leave the room, she gave him a quick kiss on his forehead in gratitude for his understanding.

  However, Mrs. Bennet had managed to gain enough information from her visitors before they left to enable her to return to her favorite avocation: finding a husband for her eldest unmarried daughter. She cherished the news she had gained and waited only for her husband’s newfound temper to sink into its natural lassitude, whereupon she would resume her quest.

  However, when her mother attempted to engage her a few days later on the subject, Elizabeth was completely unwilling to tolerate such vain and useless reprises of what she considered a closed subject and usually departed on a ramble or retired to her room.

  It took a week for these abrasive interactions with her mother to begin to abate, only to be re-kindled when Mrs. Bennet received a letter from Jane on August 22. It contained the information that Jane and her husband had received a visit from Mr. Darcy, who asked if Mr. Bingley’s lease on Netherfield was still in force. When Mr. Bingley answered in the affirmative, Mr. Darcy expressed an interest in residing at the house for a month or two until the hot weather subsided so he could more easily visit London without having to stay there.

  The predictable result was that Elizabeth returned from a walk to have her mother meet her in the entry. She was highly excited and waving a letter in the air.

  “You see, Lizzy!” Mrs. Bennet exclaimed happily, handing the letter to her daughter. “Jane has written to say Mr. Darcy is coming down from the north to live at Netherfield! This is what I have been waiting for, my dear child! It is perfectly clear he will soon be calling on you!”

  “Mama,” Elizabeth said, trying to reduce her mother’s usual frenetic display whenever the topic turned to her favorite subject, “this letter says Mr. Darcy asked if the house might be prepared so he could more easily travel to town on business. It is already late August, and it will require a month, I am sure, to get Netherfield staffed and prepared. It will be cool in town by then.”

  “Lizzy, you must allow yourself to be guided by me in this matter,” Mrs. Bennet said, warming to her subject. “The first thing we must do is to buy you new clothes. You have grown far too thin, and your dresses do not flatter your figure. And you must eat better and stop starving yourself if you want to secure Mr. Darcy!”

  “I am not starving myself, Mama!” Elizabeth said in protest. “I weigh more now than I did last winter! And I have not the slightest intention of trying to secure Mr. Darcy! He is not interested in a young lady with no fortune and no connections!”

  Since Mrs. Bennet would not acquiesce, Elizabeth threw up her hands and left the room.

  ***

  Events leading up to the crest of the tempest now began to quicken apace since it was only a fortnight later that Mrs. Lucas informed Mrs. Bennet of Netherfield Park being opened in preparation for the arrival of Mr. Darcy and his sister. Mrs. Bennet was overjoyed by the news, but she had learned to avoid the subject with Elizabeth. Instead, on the eighth of the month, she expressed her excitement in a long letter to Mary in which she allowed her imagination even more freedom than she ha
d with Elizabeth. As often happened, Mrs. Bennet was not prompt in posting the letter for several days.

  As a result, Mary read the news from her mother barely a week later, outlining her mother’s dearest wishes of a resolution to this long-delayed attachment soon being realized. She lost little time in informing her husband, who then hastened to Rosings to inform his patroness.

  Mr. Collins ought to have given more thought to the usual reaction of Lady Catherine to news she did not wish to hear because, when he breathlessly informed her of the probable connection between her nephew and his cousin, her reactions were not at all as he expected. Instead of praise at keeping his patroness informed, he was rebuked. Her ladyship was not at all pleased that her objective of matching Darcy with her daughter might not be realized. Mr. Collins could only stand trembling, head bowed in abject submission, as this formidable old woman stalked through the room, gesticulating and screaming her ire, much of which seemed to be directed at him.

  The culmination came when she summoned her butler and ordered him to have her large coach prepared.

  “I wish to be on my way early in the morning!” she thundered before departing the room and leaving a much shaken William Collins, Esq. trembling in her wake.

  ***

  Tuesday, September 15, 1812

  Netherfield, Hertfordshire

  “I am sorry, your ladyship,” said Mrs. Albertson, the newly engaged Netherfield housekeeper, “but your nephew is not here.”

  “Well, where is he?” demanded Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

  “I do not know. He has not yet arrived from town though we expect him either today or tomorrow.”

  “I was told at his house in town that he had departed for Netherfield earlier in the day. It is not far. He should be here.”