Another sound at the door drew their notice, and Mr. Truman came in with a man Elizabeth prayed was the surgeon.
“Mrs. Darcy.” Mr. Truman came directly to her side. He pulled her aside by her elbow to allow the surgeon to examine Will, and Bingley followed. “Fear not, a bullet merely grazed him. He has been given spirits to dull the pain, and that is why he is so unresponsive.”
“You are certain?”
“The only concern is to stitch up and clean the wound, but I have seen far worse that did not turn septic. Being able to move him quickly and to a clean room with constant care will give him every advantage.”
Elizabeth mutely nodded. She would have to trust what he said. She hardly knew the man before her, but she did not think he would offer her false hope.
“What happened?” Bingley asked.
Truman blew out a breath. “There were over a hundred of them. More than we had expected. All told, we were five and fifty inside. It is a good thing the Bays came when they did. Fortunately, they were patrolling the road to Hull. The intruders almost breached the door, however, when an officer attempted to flee.”
“Who?” Bingley asked, but Elizabeth already knew the answer in her heart.
“It was Wickham. We had to put him down, or it all would have been worse.”
“You do not think he meant to assist them?” Bingley sounded incredulous.
Truman thought for a moment. “It did not seem to be an act of rash cowardice but more calculated. That he did not want to fight, I have no doubt, but that he could allow them to enter may have added to his motives.”
“Is he…” Elizabeth trailed off.
“Dead,” Truman said in a cold voice.
Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut. At last, it was over. He had made a final, fatal choice in a lifetime of bad choices.
“Bingley, Truman, come help us,” Matlock called over. The surgeon was done, and Will was to be moved upstairs.
Once he was settled, the surgeon asked to speak with the housekeeper, but Elizabeth assured him that she would offer Will primary care and needed the instructions as well. He seemed surprised that she would take such an active role and was calm, not hysterical, but complied with her request.
Soon the others went abed since so little could be determined at the late hour. Elizabeth sat at Will’s bedside, holding his hand, until the sun began to rise. Her eyes began to droop even as she acknowledged she was half afraid of what this new day would bring.
“Elizabeth.” She heard a hoarse whisper.
Her eyes flew open, and she saw Will gazing at her. “Will,” was all she could say. Thankful tears streamed from her eyes. “Here.” She offered him a cup of wine and assisted him in drinking.
“Elizabeth,” he said in a stronger voice.
“Shh.” She silenced him with a gentle kiss. “Rest.”
“Needed to say goodnight to you,” he said with a half-smile as he closed his eyes again and stretched out his uninjured arm.
She curled up on the bed next to him. “Yes, I told you I would wait for it.”
She awoke an hour or two later to a knock on the door. Quickly patting her dishevelled hair, she made her way to the door. The surgeon had returned and was pleased by her report. Will awoke during his examination, and as he proved to be in little pain and lucid, the other men gathered in the room. She was surprised to see Richard among them.
He came to her side. “How is he?”
“The surgeon says he will recover. He just requires rest and frequent bandage changes.”
“And how are you?”
She gave him a grateful smile. “All I require is rest and to see my husband improve. I am surprised to see you, though!”
“We set out for a patrol from Howden hours ago. I wish we would have gotten there earlier.” He nodded at the earl, who motioned Richard over. “We will talk later.”
She returned to her chambers but before resting chose to write a swift letter. She had put it off too long already, and while attacks from angry farmers were an unlikely affliction in Hertfordshire, Elizabeth had learned life could change in an instant. She had been wrong months ago when she told Will that love was only beautiful. Beauty could be found in it, but sometimes love was a mess, and weeds needed pruning.
Dear Papa,
I forgive you and hope you can forgive me.
Love,
E. Darcy
She looked over her short letter and chose to enclose it in a book, deciding he would find it earlier then. She went downstairs to leave instructions with the butler, and the book slipped from her hand as she heard a familiar voice.
“You came,” she said from the bottom step. Her father hated travelling, even as far as London. Since her grandfather’s and uncle’s deaths in a carriage accident, Mr. Bennet had feared long journeys.
“Lizzy!” Mr. Bennet exclaimed and ran past the butler. He pulled her into an embrace. “Lizzy! You are well? How is Darcy?”
She finally allowed herself to cry tears of relief in her father’s arms. “I am perfectly well. But let us talk somewhere privately.” She led him to the library.
“Why are you here, Lizzy? Where is Darcy? Is he well?” Mr. Bennet asked, and Elizabeth could see the concern in every line of his face.
“How did you find us?” She sat.
“As soon as your mother and sisters drove off for London, I recognised my mistake. My latest mistake, that is. I ought to have swallowed my pride and followed after them right then, but I thought you did not want me.”
Elizabeth squeezed her hands rather than interrupt him as she first felt compelled to do.
“The following day, a parcel arrived with what I thought were marriage papers. Your uncle had already approved them, but I was curious. As I looked over them, I recognised they were highly irregular. It was as though Darcy expected not to live long.”
Tears pricked Elizabeth’s eyes.
“All I could think was that I could not leave you alone while he died. I called for my horse. Gardiner directed me here. Now, where is your husband, and why are you here?” he asked once more.
“Oh, Papa,” she blubbered through tears. He had come and did not want her to be alone. All she had ever wanted from him was some proof of him exerting himself on behalf of his children. She took a deep breath to calm herself. “My uncle told you nothing about why we were here?”
“He said something about frame breakers. I could not understand why Darcy, let alone you, would need to be here.”
“Will has investments in several mills. They had information that there would be an attack here last night. Right after the wedding, Will’s whole family and Bingley worked to prevent the attacks but failed and sought to defend the mill. He went with them last night and,” she took a deep shuddering breath, “a bullet grazed his arm, but otherwise, he is perfectly well.”
“My brave, little Lizzy. You demanded to come up here with him, did you not? So you really do love him.”
“Yes, I do. Very, very much.” She emphatically nodded.
Her father looked at her as though he saw her as a woman instead of a young girl for the first time. “I am sorry. I never realised…I thought you could learn to care for Wickham. You seemed to get along so well.”
“Even if we did, that would be no reason to force me to wed him to save your debt.” She accused.
Mr. Bennet raised his hands. “You are correct. I could say I believed his words of love for you, but in the last few weeks, I have examined the truth. I was ashamed that my sudden plan for adding to your dowries went so awry and that I would have been indebted to your uncle.”
“But what sparked this sudden concern for us?”
“I had lied to myself and said a worthy man would be attracted by my girls’ beauty and charms, regardless of their meagre portions. I should have started saving years ago. When your mother was excited to meet yet another gentleman who must be sensible to the drawbacks of match with a wife with no dowry, it awakened my senses. I had ho
ped perhaps Mr. Collins would be suitable…”
Elizabeth shook her head. “You had good intentions, even if your execution lacked.”
“That is far too charitable—”
She interrupted him. “I love you, Papa. You were not justified in your actions, but I have not been perfect either. When you learned I might have need of you, you came to me right away. Let us forgive each other and move on.” She stood and yawned. “Now I will speak with Lady Lundell about finding you a room. I am going to rest as I was up all night.”
“And you will leave me at my leisure?”
“You will need it when you have to explain to Mama how you came up here without her.” Elizabeth smiled before leaving the room to search for the housekeeper.
Later, when Will awoke, she sat beside him. “My father is here,” she said slowly.
“He is?” Will said in a surprised tone.
“He received papers that made it seem as though you were on your death bed.” She gave him a mock glare as she suspected it was his way of encouraging her father to speak to her. Truthfully, she liked that he had asserted so much effort to reconcile them. “We have made amends.”
“I am very glad to hear it.”
“I almost invited him to Pemberley,” Elizabeth said with a sly smile. Will frowned, causing her to laugh. “I said almost! There will be other times he can visit.” Then she kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear, “I am looking forward to finally having privacy with my husband before we go to Jane’s wedding and then London.”
“Is this your method of encouraging me to heal quickly?” he murmured.
“Yes. You will need to be a good patient and obey all the doctor’s orders,” she said.
Will smiled and leaned back on the pillows. “I confess I once dreamed of you nursing me, Elizabeth.”
“Did you?” She arched a brow.
“As always, the dream pales in comparison to the reality,” he said before yawning.
Elizabeth lay beside him, Will’s uninjured arm wrapped around her. As they rested, all the troubles of life managed to disappear.
Epilogue
“Oh! Mr. Bennet! Can you believe it? Two daughters married!” Mrs. Bennet’s effusions were heard over the noise of the crowd in the Netherfield ballroom.
“Did you see the lace on Lady Arlington’s gown?” Lydia asked.
“No, I—” Mr. Bennet paused in mid-sentence. “I will leave you ladies to talk about lace. Remember, however, if you wish to buy the finest lace, we will be waiting to shop until we go to London after Easter for the Season.”
Lydia began to pout, but her father raised his eyebrows, and she stopped. “Oh, there is Georgie!” She grabbed Kitty by the hand and ran to Georgiana’s side.
Elizabeth and Darcy had watched the scene with bated breath, but it seemed Mr. Bennet was sincere about the changes to be made in the Bennet household that he had effected over the last few weeks. Darcy had required a few days of recovery at Lundell Castle, and then the newlyweds travelled to Pemberley for some much needed privacy. They gathered now at Netherfield after Jane and Bingley’s wedding.
“Do you wish we had waited instead of having our rushed ceremony?” Darcy asked Elizabeth as she hummed at his side.
“How can you ask that? I am far happier as Mrs. Darcy than I have been in my life. What a cruel husband you are to want to deny me the pleasure of that for several weeks.” She laughed as she looked into his eyes.
Smiling at her jest, he shook his head.
Belinda and Richard came to their side.
“What is she teasing her old, sour husband about now?” Richard asked Will.
“Have a care, Richard,” Darcy replied with a twitch to his lips. “You are even older than I.”
“This is true,” Richard said while chuckling. “Then we must both have it better than James.” He nodded to his brother on the other side of the room in conversation with Sir William Lucas.
Belinda shook her head. “No, you cannot tease them. I would not have believed it possible, but do you see how they can silently speak to each other?”
The group watched as Arlington’s and Anne’s eyes met from different corners of the room. They made simultaneous excuses to those with whom they conversed and met each other half way. Devotion and admiration shone on their faces.
Belinda and Elizabeth both let out a little sigh.
Richard started. “William, I daresay that our ladies are dissatisfied with us already.”
“You must be mistaken,” Darcy said. “I have done nothing that could merit displeasure. Surely they are both annoyed with you.”
Elizabeth pinched his arm. “He said dissatisfied, not displeased. And you must see how Arlington goes out of his way to romance his wife.”
Darcy stroked his jaw. “Ah, I see. And I lack in that department? Even though he professes not to love her?”
Elizabeth frowned at his point. “Well, he is not the only one who is attempting to woo his lady. There is Bingley.”
“It is unfair to compare a man to Bingley.” His lips twitched. Had they not had this debate before?
“And there is Truman,” Belinda said. They watched as he wrote his name on Caroline’s dance card while she beamed.
“I suppose this is the real reason you are at Bingley’s wedding during your leave?” Darcy asked Richard.
The real reason, of course, was that Belinda’s parents had rescinded their blessing until Richard resigned his commission. As they searched for another suitor, they refused to allow the couple contact. Belinda had been staying at Rosings as Anne’s guest. Lord and Lady Arlington’s presence at Jane and Bingley’s wedding facilitated a meeting between Richard and Belinda.
“It pleases my lady,” he said as Belinda and Elizabeth sighed again.
“What now?” Darcy said.
“They have loved each other for ten years and were separated by so many things. They now have a second chance. Is it not the very height of romance?” Elizabeth asked.
Richard cocked his head. “Do you know, William vowed to James that he would never marry if he could not have you? He was going to wait, if necessary, his whole life until you were free again, had you married…” He left the sentence unfinished as they all knew he meant Wickham.
Elizabeth blushed. “I did not know.”
“And I believe Richard has planned a surprise,” Darcy said as the orchestra played the strands of a new song.
A surprised murmur went through the crowd. “Is this a…a…waltz?” Elizabeth asked.
“It is all the rage on the Continent,” Richard said. “And gaining popularity here, if not in London. Shall we?” He extended his hand to Belinda.
“Is it true what they say?” she asked.
“Come, dance with me. Our first dance will be you in my arms,” Richard said to Belinda, which caused her to blush. “We must make this the fashion in England since I will never again dance abroad.” He whispered something in Belinda’s ear that made her blush deepen.
Darcy held out his arm as well. “May I have the honour, Elizabeth?”
“Your arm…” Elizabeth said even as her eyes showed her eagerness.
“The doctor pronounced it perfectly healed yesterday morning.”
“I do not know the steps,” she said weakly and looked at her feet.
“Will you prove now that persuasion between friends means nothing?” Darcy whispered, and Elizabeth’s head popped up at the reference to one of their long-ago conversations. “I promise to guide you. I will not let you look a fool.”
She smiled and placed her hand in his. “What an accomplished gentleman you are,” she said as he guided her through the steps.
He smiled at her amusement. “I practised with Richard all morning.”
Elizabeth could not contain her laughter. When she calmed, he noticed she caught her breath, and her eyes seemed glassy.
“What are you thinking, my love?”
“That I hate gloves,” she said quietly and sque
ezed his hand.
“I hate a good deal more than that,” he said.
“Will,” she whispered and blushed. But in her eyes, he saw enough to know that she was pleased with his efforts.
He saw, too, proof that Elizabeth’s love would remain constant through their lives. For now, it did not matter that he knew on the morrow a bill was to be introduced that would make frame breaking a capital offence. Nor did it matter that Napoleon still had control of the Continent, or that disease and death could take a loved one at any time. He had Elizabeth’s love. Darcy needed no more encouragement than that to know they would have a blessed life.
The intersecting lives of the Bennet, Darcy, Fitzwilliam, de Bourgh and Bingley families continues in Renewed Hope. Coming July 2016!
Renewed Hope
James Fitzwilliam, Viscount Arlington and eldest son of the fourth Earl of Matlock, almost leaped out of his seat when the crowd at the King’s Theatre applauded. His eyes flew open, and the undeniable truth descended. He had fallen asleep!
“Are you ill, Arlie?” The blonde beauty next to him asked. “You fell asleep again.”
“Perfectly well,” he said. Only his companion was no longer listening as a tall, handsome man entered his box. Arlington recognized the gentleman, Lucas Hopewell, an acquaintance of his who had recently inherited a vast fortune. Sophia had eyes only for the younger—and seemingly more virile—man. Blast it if he was going to lose another mistress.
“Come, Miss Smith, you had claimed not to feel well,” Arlington said as Hopewell approached.
“If you are feeling unwell, then I will not delay you. It would be a crime to deny the stage your talent and beauty.” Arlington waited for the normal rage to emerge, but it did not come. He simply was not that interested in Sophia...or the last several mistresses he had.
“Oh, you are too kind,” she said with fluttering eyes. “I am in perfect health. It was his lordship,” she attempted to whisper,” that is fighting a cold, I believe.”
Not a cold, utter exhaustion at life. Boredom. And fatigue...it was as though his four and thirty years finally caught up with him after a decade of raucous living.
Sufficient Encouragement: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (When Love Blooms Book 1) Page 30