‘It is true, nonetheless,’ said Elizabeth.
‘That a gentleman should be so lost to all decency that he would abduct a gently born young lady, and, from what you say, a delightful one,’ said Jane, horrified.
‘Mr Wickham is no gentleman,’ said Elizabeth with a shake of her head. ‘He has all the appearance of one, but he has the manners of a scoundrel.’
‘Thank goodness you saw the carriage and were able to alert Mr Darcy,’ said Jane.
‘Yes – for all the thanks I had,’ said Elizabeth.
‘It was very wrong of him to treat you so badly, although he thought he was doing the best for his sister.’
‘Dear Jane!’ said Elizabeth with a smile. ‘Always seeing the best in people! Mr Darcy knew very well he was being rude and disagreeable – or, if he didn’t, he should have done! He is not deficient in intellect and he must have had a good education. There is no excuse for him.’
‘Never mind,’ said Jane with a sympathetic smile. ‘You will not have to see him again.’
‘No, for which I am truly grateful. And yet I am concerned about Georgiana. She was very upset and said scarcely a word. She has no friends of her own age and I am worried about her. Do you think I should call?’
Jane hesitated.
‘Yes, I know,’ said Elizabeth, reading Jane’s mind. ‘Were Miss Darcy not so high, I would call as a matter of course. But if I arrive at the Darcys’ London house uninvited, I fear I will not be admitted.’
‘You could write to her,’ said Jane. ‘I think you said Miss Darcy gave you the name of her London home?’
Elizabeth brightened.
‘Yes, she did. That is a very good notion, I will write at once,’ she said. ‘It will set my mind at rest to know she has recovered from her ordeal.’
She went over to the writing desk and pulled forward a sheet of paper and a quill. She dipped the quill in the ink and began to write, expressing her concern. Then she gave it to the servant to deliver.
‘And now, tell me all the news from home,’ she said.
After giving Elizabeth news of all the family, Jane said, ‘Netherfield Park is to be let.’
Elizabeth’s interest was caught. The owner had recently died and his heirs had decided to rent it out, for they already had their own estate and did not need another one to live in.
‘Has there been any interest in it?’ asked Elizabeth.
‘Yes, several people have been to view it, although, so far, no one has taken it. But it is only a matter of time. Mama is very excited about it. She hopes it will be taken by a large family with plenty of sons. In fact, she talks of little else.’
‘Poor Papa!’ said Elizabeth with a laugh.
‘Yes,’ said Jane. ‘He is already tired of the subject, but I fear that nothing will stop Mama. He will be very pleased to have you home again.’
‘And I will be very pleased to be there. Despite its trials, it is still home, and after my eventful summer, I will be glad to return to more familiar irritations. If only I can hear from Miss Darcy before I go back to Longbourn, I will be able leave the Darcys and their problems behind.’
Mr Darcy stood by the fireplace of Georgiana’s London establishment, drumming his fingers on the mantelpiece. He had given her into the care of her London maid, explaining her distraught state by saying there had been a carriage accident, and advising that she be put to bed.
He had sent a note to his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, immediately on returning to London, asking him to call. Colonel Fitzwilliam was Georgiana’s joint guardian, with Mr Darcy, and Mr Darcy wanted to tell him of the situation.
Colonel Fitzwilliam soon arrived and the two men discussed what they should do.
Colonel Fitzwilliam was all for horsewhipping Mr Wickham, but gradually he became calmer and the two gentlemen agreed that any dramatic action would draw attention to the incident. And that was something they wanted to avoid.
‘I blame myself,’ said Mr Darcy. ‘I should not have sent her to Ramsgate alone.’
‘Hardly alone,’ protested Colonel Fitzwilliam. ‘She had a companion and a complement of servants. You were not to blame.’
‘No?’ said Mr Darcy.
Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s words returned to him and cut him on the raw.
‘Regardless, it is done now and there is no undoing it,’ said Colonel Fitzwilliam. ‘Let us be thankful that nothing worse happened, and that Georgiana will soon recover.’
‘Yes, let us hope so. I mean to take her to Pemberley with me as soon as possible.’
‘A good idea,’ said Colonel Fitzwilliam. ‘Get her out in the fresh air, riding and walking. It will banish her troubles more quickly than staying indoors. And invite some agreeable company. She has had a shock and you do not want her to become afraid of men. Charles Bingley is a good sort of man, why not invite him to Pemberley? His gentle manners will soon restore her faith in life.’
‘I have been thinking much the same thing myself,’ said Mr Darcy. ‘And I will invite his sisters, too. Georgiana needs some female company.’
It had not occurred to him before. He had seen Georgiana as a child still, who would be content with her needlework and her music, but Miss Elizabeth Bennet was right. Georgiana was growing up and she was thinking, naturally, of clothes and romance, as well as her accomplishments. She was too young yet to be out in society, but this did not mean that she had to be treated as a child in all things. Some concessions must be made to the fact that she was a young lady and no longer a little girl.
Colonel Fitzwilliam took his leave, and Mr Darcy attended to some small matters of business which had arisen while he had been away.
The mail was laid on a silver salver, as usual, and once he had attended to his other business he picked up the first letter. It had been delivered by hand. It was addressed to his sister and, as he did not recognise the writing, he opened it, for he was determined to protect her from any possible distress.
He glanced down the page to the signature and saw it was from Miss Elizabeth Bennet.
He squirmed inwardly. He was not comfortable thinking about that young woman. He was aware that he owed her a great deal, for without Miss Elizabeth’s timely warning, Georgiana might have eloped with George Wickham. And if not for Miss Elizabeth seeing Wickham’s carriage, Georgiana would have been successfully abducted by him. If that had happened, there would have been endless complications, as well as all the distress and degradation it would have occasioned for Georgiana.
But although he owed Miss Elizabeth a great deal, he knew her to be far beneath him – and far beneath his sister – and he did not want to encourage her.
His sense of justice here warred with his sense of pride. On the one hand, he should thank her and invite her to tea with Georgiana. On the other hand, he felt that the sooner the disastrous Ramsgate chapter of his sister’s life was closed, the better.
And then there were his own feelings, barely acknowledged, to consider. He had been affronted when Miss Elizabeth had argued with him, but he had also been attracted. No one else had the courage to speak to him in the way she had spoken to him and it had been strangely appealing. She had made him view her as a strong-minded person, instead of a humble worshipper at his feet. She was intelligent and had a great deal of insight into his sister. Insight he lacked. Because, although he loved his sister, he was a man, and he could not understand the finer points of the female psyche. But now, thanks to Miss Elizabeth, he realised there were things that Georgiana needed, and he meant to give them to her in the form of more female friends. He also meant to treat her like a young lady instead of a little girl as he had a greater appreciation of the fact that she was growing up.
For all this, he had to thank Miss Elizabeth.
But he was resentful rather than grateful.
He hated to acknowledge the fact to himself, but it was so. He would rather view her as a person of no consequence but she had forced him to see her differently, and Mr Darcy was not used to being for
ced into things.
Nor did he like the experience.
He remembered the way her eyes had sparked and her cheeks had flushed with the force of her arguments, and the way it had made his body react. The way, too, it had made his mind and spirit react. She had a way of challenging him which was not pleasant, but was not altogether unpleasant either, and even in a very short space of time she had made an impact on him.
He did not wish her to make any further impact on him, because he already found it difficult to forget her and, in particular, to forget the expression in her eyes. They were beautifully shaped and very fine. If he saw her again, he believed he might be in danger of treating her with more attention than she deserved. He really ought to forget her.
But this left him in an awkward position. Should he give Georgiana leave to invite Miss Elizabeth to tea or not?
To his surprise, he felt a stab of pleasure at the thought of Miss Elizabeth sitting in his home, and he felt a longing to see her face again. But against that was set a desire to end the Ramsgate incident, both for himself and for his sister.
In the end, the latter desire won.
He went over to his writing desk and penned a brief letter to Miss Elizabeth Bennet, thanking her for her concern and telling her that Georgiana was now safely in the bosom of her own family and recovering from the disagreeable incident.
The letter made it clear that Miss Elizabeth Bennet should not write to Miss Darcy again.
He signed it with a flourish, then folded the paper and sealed it. He gave instructions that the letter should be delivered.
Then Mr Darcy set about banishing Miss Elizabeth Bennet from his mind.
Elizabeth and Jane spent a friendly evening together. Jane wanted to know all about Ramsgate, for Elizabeth had not yet told her about the town and the seaside as she had been too busy telling her about the Darcys. But now that Elizabeth had confided in Jane about the remarkable incidents, she was able to tell Jane all about the more normal side of her stay. She told Jane where the best haberdasher’s was, so that Jane could buy pins and ribbons and any other little things she might need during her stay. She told her where the best dress shops were, so that Jane could enjoy looking at the expensive creations in the window, though such gowns were beyond their means. She told her which milliners stocked the best bonnets, for she knew that Jane needed a new one. And when she had finished telling Jane about the shops, she told her about the beach, how it ran for miles with a flat promenade to walk on and a sparkling blue sea. She talked of paddling and sea bathing – for there were bathing machines on the beach, and Elizabeth had several times ventured into the water. And then she spoke of her aunt and uncle, their kindness and her uncle’s improving health. She told Jane about the children, and how much they were enjoying their holiday, with its paddling and kite flying and sea bathing and trips to local beauty spots for picnics. So that by the time she had finished, Jane was well prepared for her holiday and looking forward to it.
Elizabeth had just convinced herself she had forgotten all about the Darcys when she saw a footman walking proudly along the street outside. She stopped talking in mid-sentence.
‘What is it?’ asked Jane.
‘That is one of Mr Darcy’s footmen,’ said Elizabeth.
‘See, Lizzy, Mr Darcy is not as bad as you think him,’ said Jane in her friendly and forgiving manner. ‘He is no doubt going to invite you to tea.’
‘Perhaps,’ said Elizabeth dubiously.
There came a knock at the door and their aunt’s servant answered it. A minute or two later, they saw the footman leaving.
‘He has not waited for a reply,’ said Elizabeth. ‘That does not bode well.’
The servant brought the letter in and handed it to Elizabeth with a curtsey.
‘Thank you, that will be all,’ said Elizabeth.
She did not want the servant to guess that anything unusual had happened.
When the servant had left the room, Elizabeth examined the letter. It was written in a clear, bold masculine hand.
Elizabeth read the contents with ever-growing impatience.
‘Impossible man!’ she said.
‘What does it say?’ asked Jane.
‘See for yourself,’ she said, handing the letter to Jane.
‘Oh, dear,’ said Jane, when she had finished the letter.
Even her gentle nature could not find anything good to say about it.
‘It is my dismissal,’ said Elizabeth. ‘He could not have been more rude or condescending if I had been an unsatisfactory servant who was being sent on her way.’
‘Oh, Lizzy,’ said Jane sympathetically. ‘It was a very bad letter, I agree.’
Elizabeth’s face softened and she stretched out her hand to her sister, who took it with a friendly squeeze.
‘If even you cannot think of anything good to say about the letter, then it must be very rude indeed!’ she said. ‘Well, what do I care? The Darcys are nothing to me. I liked Georgiana very much and I am sorry for her, but I can do nothing about it. And so let us forget them. I have done with the Darcys. I am fortunate to be with my own family, and I take comfort from the fact that I will never have to see Mr Darcy again.’
Chapter Five
August passed and September arrived. Mr Darcy spent the time at Pemberley with his sister. He watched over her carefully and anything he could do for her pleasure, he did. He engaged a new companion for her, a motherly woman by the name of Mrs Annesley. He invited his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and her daughter, Miss Anne de Bourgh, in the hope their company would help to lift Georgiana’s spirits. And he invited Mr Bingley, together with Mr Bingley’s two sisters. But although Georgiana played duets with Miss Bingley, and sang with Mrs Hurst, and took turns around the park in a pretty little phaeton with Miss Anne de Bourgh, she remained downcast. So much so, that Mr Darcy became concerned. He consulted the family physician (although he did not reveal the cause of Georgiana’s low spirits) and the physician advised a change of scene.
‘Perhaps some sea air,’ that worthy man said.
Mr Darcy shuddered, knowing that the seaside was the last place Georgiana needed to be. But a change of scene seemed a good idea. Mr Bingley was thinking of renting a country estate, and Mr Darcy thought that, once Mr Bingley’s estate was rented, he would take Georgiana with him on a visit.
It took Mr Bingley some time to find an estate he liked, but at last he settled on a place in Hertfordshire. He was delighted when Mr Darcy accepted his invitation to stay, and he readily extended the invitation to include Georgiana.
Elizabeth had settled into life at Longbourn once more. Her mother was insufferable for the first few weeks after she returned from Ramsgate, bemoaning the fact that neither she nor Jane had returned home with a husband-to-be. But Elizabeth was used to her mother’s complaints and she bore it well. Her life resumed its familiar course, with visits to her Aunt Philips and walks into Meryton. But one morning, everything changed when Mrs Bennet came into the drawing-room with a faced wreathed in smiles.
‘Netherfield Park is let!’ said Mrs Bennet. ‘Mrs Long has just been here and told me all about it. Even better, it has been taken by a man of large fortune from the north of England. A Mr Bingley. And what do you think? He is single!’
Mr Bennet displayed very little interest at the news, but Lydia was suitably impressed.
‘He might marry me!’ she said.
‘I am sure he might, since your sisters are in no hurry to find a husband. You, Lydia, I am persuaded, are far more sensible, and will not waste your chances.’
‘What fun it would be, to be married before either of you!’ said Lydia to Elizabeth and Jane.
‘He might marry me,’ said Kitty.
‘In point of fact, he is unlikely to marry anyone from the neighbourhood,’ said Mary in a moralising tone. ‘He will likely choose a young woman from the north of England, and he will no doubt require her to have a handsome dowry. No one in Meryton will suit him.’
&
nbsp; Mrs Bennet ignored Mary, as always.
‘Jane, Lizzy, come with me,’ she said. ‘We must look over your wardrobes. If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at Netherfield, and all the others equally well married, I shall have nothing to wish for.’
Elizabeth and Jane exchanged long-suffering glances, but nevertheless they followed their mother from the room. They knew there was no way to stop her from matchmaking, and so they resigned themselves to her fussing over them, and they bore it with a good grace.
‘Well, Darcy, have I not found a fine place?’ asked Mr Bingley, as he looked round the drawing-room at Netherfield Park with satisfaction. It was a handsome room, with tall windows letting in the early autumn sunlight. There were three sofas arranged around the fireplace and there were padded window seats covered in gold damask. There were side tables and several upright chairs made out of mahogany. The walls were painted a pale cream with white mouldings, giving the whole room an elegant feel.
‘You have done very well,’ Mr Darcy agreed.
He had travelled from Pemberley the day before, bringing Georgiana with him. So far, she had not seemed to benefit from the change, but it was early days and Mr Darcy still hoped the visit would do her some good.
‘It is not as fine as Pemberley, of course,’ said Caroline Bingley, Charles’s sister.
She was a tall, elegant woman, dressed in a wine-coloured silk gown. Her hair was arranged in an elaborate style, and she wore rubies at her throat.
‘But then, where is?’ asked Louisa Hurst, Charles’s other, married sister.
She, too, was a very elegant woman, though not so tall as her sister. Her clothes, too, were very fine and her gown was made of green silk.
‘It is very pleasant, even so, is it not, Georgiana?’ asked Mr Darcy, drawing his sister into the conversation.
‘Yes,’ she said.
‘And my neighbours are most agreeable,’ said Mr Bingley. ‘They called on me at the earliest opportunity. There was a Sir William Lucas —’
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