By which Lizzy, ever sensitive, thought he might be comparing Lady Catherine to Colonel Foster. She gave him the benefit of the doubt though, and owned that he was right. He knew his aunt. Ill-tempered she was, but as she was so protective of her own daughter she could hardly put Mary in any danger. The only concern was that Mary would be so unhappy or so stubborn, as she could be, that she would infuriate Lady Catherine or Lady Catherine her.
In such a case either Mary will leave in the middle of the night, or Lady Catherine will send her away, Lizzy thought. Or perhaps Mary will become an indispensable part of Rosings. She might just be what Anne needs. And either way, there was Charlotte close by. She would see to it that Mary knew she had a friend, even if Mr Collins could be infuriating.
Georgiana ran ahead of them into the house, exclaiming her pleasure at being home, calling out to the servants and housekeeper, all of whom welcomed her with fondness. Lizzy and Darcy followed more slowly, but smiling upon the young woman’s impetuosity.
‘She has changed,’ Lizzy commented to Darcy. His expression lightened.
‘She has. She has become happier, less nervous. Her trials have left her and she enjoys herself again. I think your presence has much to do with it.’
‘I have done nothing at all!’
‘I have not said you had done anything. Now you think I insult you – I merely speak the truth. You, by your presence and fresh way of thinking, have provided her with female companionship that wants nothing from her except to be cheerful. And so she is.’
‘Yes, you insult me. When I demurred, you were supposed to tell me that I had through cleverness and diligence wrought such a change in your sister for the better. Instead you agreed with me.’
‘Forgive me. I am a simple man and I never know what to expect from a woman when she speaks at cross purposes. You will have to instruct me in what you mean.’
He lifted her hand to his lips and she knew what he meant, and the instruction he expected. For a moment the world dropped away, and then with a start they became aware of the servants unloading the coach and standing at the head of the horses, waiting to lead them away. Darcy gave the order and they went into the house, where the servants greeted them. Georgiana came skipping back into the grand hall.
‘Home!’ she cried. ‘It is so good to be home. I was so afraid of putting a foot wrong at Aunt’s! And Mr Collins looks so disapprovingly on me! Except when he praises so effusively. I couldn’t make him out at all.’
‘Did you know that he once proposed to Lizzy?’ Darcy said, still in a playful mood, in expectation of delights later that night. ‘Can you imagine that she turned him down?’
Georgiana was startled into a laugh.
‘Oh, Lizzy! How could you have broken his heart so!’
Then she darted off, and soon they heard the piano from the drawing room, sounding out a gay march. Lizzy was reminded suddenly of Mary, and the way she would turn to the piano as soon as they returned home from some small outing, to Meryton perhaps, as if to quiet herself after the excitement. Since Mary didn’t play the piano any more, what would she do to calm herself? she wondered.
Oh, Mary. I hope you have done the right thing for yourself.
THE VERY NEXT day Mr Aikens and Hyperion called at Pemberley. The young man swept in after the butler’s quiet announcement, his greatcoat sweeping along the parqueted floor. Its hem was crusted with mud, as were his boots.
‘Capital! You’ve returned! It has been deadly dull without you, Darcy! You have an excellent chase across your estates. Did you know that Hyperion took the stiles at the cattle crossing with at least two feet to spare? Landed in the mud but kept his feet and almost threw me off, he was so proud of himself. Ladies! Pleasure.’
He bowed.
‘Mr Aikens, so good to see you,’ Lizzy said, now that he had stopped and she could catch up. Mr Aikens looked around with some puzzlement and a growing alarm.
‘Where’s Miss Bennet? Did you know that Hyperion had grown deuced fond of her? He moped awfully when I told him she was gone. Couldn’t wait a moment when I told him the carriage had returned and you were back.’
‘Mary stayed at Rosings Park, Mr Aikens. She has become a particular friend of Anne de Bourgh.’
Mr Aikens was for once wholly at a loss for words. That is, his lips moved but he was silent, as if he could not fathom Lizzy’s meaning. And then she felt another pang. Had they crushed Mary’s one chance at joy with this strange man who loved horses and dancing and never opened a book?
It was Mr Darcy who spoke first in his dry way. ‘Yes, we left her behind in the dragon’s den. She said she wishes to remain there – and I think she will do well, to draw my cousin out of her solitude and loneliness.’
‘A companion,’ Mr Aikens repeated, and his eyes darkened. He spoke with great distinctness. ‘So she will fetch shawls and fans and read out loud and sit quietly by. Mrs Darcy, had she given up?’
Georgiana was looking rather frightened by Mr Aikens’s turn from amiable to angered. Lizzy shook her head.
‘Mr Aikens, you – and Hyperion – seem to have taken with great fondness to Mary and I know she is grateful for your friendship. She has not given up. She took it as a challenge. I think she liked the idea of winning over Lady Catherine and she has grown fond of Miss de Bourgh.’
Mr Aikens snorted. Lizzy grew angry herself. ‘Excuse me, sir, but I believe I know my sister better than you do.’
‘No you don’t,’ he said flatly, and Lizzy’s eyes widened. ‘You don’t because you think of her only in one way, as the quiet bookish one. I see now what it is. She hadn’t given up. You had. Good day, Mrs Darcy. Miss Darcy. Sir.’
He turned on his heel, leaving a clod of dried mud on the floor, and left, his capes swinging.
In the echoing silence that remained, they all looked down at the mud.
‘Shall I call Mrs Reynolds?’ Georgiana ventured. Rather than ringing, she fled at once to find her directly.
Lizzy and Darcy looked at each other.
‘Oh my goodness,’ she said. ‘What have we done?’
He pulled her close and kissed her. ‘The only thing we could have done – support Mary in her decision,’ he said firmly. ‘Tom will get over his anger as quickly as he got into it. A new fancy has probably already come into his head in the time it took him to mount his horse. If I truly felt he had fallen in love with Mary, I would drive to Rosings to bring her back at once.’
Lizzy gave him a look to remind him of the last time he had misjudged a friend’s heart, and Darcy acknowledged that with an inclination of his head even as he defended himself.
‘If you want me to go, I will,’ he said. ‘But I think Tom Aikens will only raise her hopes and break her heart. He doesn’t even read, Lizzy. I am not even sure he knows how.’
She had to laugh at that.
‘I will defer to your judgement this time, sir. But you have not yet redeemed yourself. I will keep an eye on Mr Aikens and if I see any signs of steadfastness, any at all, you will drive to Rosings at once to bring back Mary.’
ONCE MR AIKENS had taken his leave, and Pemberley had returned to its usual quietude, Lizzy sat down to read several letters. She hadn’t had a chance to skim a welcome letter from Aunt Gardiner when the footman brought her another one, from Jane. Lizzy set aside her aunt’s letter and opened Jane’s with eagerness.
Both the eldest Bennet daughters had been keenly aware of Lydia’s fall and took pains that Kitty should not, through the neglect of one parent and the encouragement of the other, find herself in the same predicament. Accordingly, when Jane invited Kitty to stay with her and Mr Bingley at their establishment, it was to impart to Kitty some acquaintance with society and conduct. Only Caroline Bingley was not pleased with the arrangement, but she had never been able to forgive Lizzy and thus her whole family from ruining what she had thought were her chances with Darcy. And Kitty, admittedly, could wear on anyone’s nerves. However, Kitty had already improved immeasurably, now t
hat she had been away from Lydia’s influence, and Lizzy opened up Jane’s letter, expecting nothing more exciting than that she had taken Kitty shopping for a bonnet and that the girl had attended one quiet ball.
Dear Lizzy,
Oh dear, after writing you so recently, now I find I must write you again, and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
I am afraid that Kitty got into the most awful scrape and it was while she was under our care. I feel so ashamed of myself and, at every turn, Caroline is making it worse, as she is wont to do. But you see, a London gentleman – I can hardly call him such – gave Kitty too much to drink at a ball, and then took her off to see the tigers in Mr Kent’s menagerie. Oh Lizzy! It was dreadful. If Bingley had not come in time, the tigers would have eaten Kitty! At least there was an Indian servant who held her back, but you can imagine my fright.
I know I am hardly making any sense, but I can hardly believe it myself. And poor Caroline – I know, Lizzy, but she is poor Caroline – she is beside herself. Mr Kent is a special friend from when she and Bingley were young, and he returned to London from India with an astonishing fortune. That I believe is the reason for the menagerie. And then when Kitty made a spectacle of herself, I think Caroline felt that she had lost her only chance of re-establishing her friendship with Mr Kent. Her hopes have been dashed, and we have been quite feeling it as well, as she makes her discontent known. I own, I was quite upset when she said that Kitty would go the way of Lydia, but dear Lizzy, I can understand her concern.
For, much as we were injured by Lydia’s fall, so too was Caroline, and I think she feels it keenly. She had requested that we keep Kitty in hand and we tried, Lizzy, but we thought, what harm is in just one ball?
I must close, but first I beg you not to tell Mama and Papa about Kitty. I will, in my own way. And secondly, have you any advice for us on the matter of Wickham?
How is our plan for Mary? And do give my love to Darcy and Georgiana.
All my love,
Jane
Lizzy’s eyes widened. The matter of Wickham? She searched through the other letters and found an earlier one from Jane.
Dear Lizzy,
Oh dear, I don’t know what to do. Wickham is in London! Without Lydia apparently. And he has been seeing Kitty, or at least, she has been seeing him, and only just now has she told us. He met her along the promenade when she was out with some young friends – good people, the Cranes, they have a daughter and son, Kitty’s age – and then he left his card at the house! We were not at home to him, of course, but then Kitty met him again, and she said he was with a strange woman.
Oh Lizzy, Kitty has also been writing to Lydia, and Lydia said that she was to be in London and gave her an address, and Bingley said it was a very bad address. He has gone to investigate, but do you think, perhaps, that you could speak to Darcy and see what he could make of things? If you think he won’t be too angry. I don’t know. Please do what you think is best.
Lizzy folded the letter carefully and set it down on her little table next to her little figurines from Longbourn.
‘Wickham,’ she said out loud. The man could not leave them alone. He had not just ruined Lydia, but bid fair to ruin two families. She had not thought much of Caroline’s predicament, but she could see it now. Caroline was a grand lady who was now tied to the Bennets and could do nothing about it. She would think every move the Bennets made reflected poorly on her. She makes it worse for herself, Lizzy thought. I will not be held to blame for every fault and failing of Caroline Bingley’s life. But she could not but admit that Caroline had a point.
And something must be done about Wickham. If he had taken up with another woman and abandoned poor Lydia, it was but a predictable result of his actions. He had never loved her – indeed, their elopement had been less about love than about embarrassment of Darcy. She was an expedient, and a willing target, though she loved Wickham, in her careless, saucy way. She loved him, and would be devastated at his betrayal. Lizzy had a wistful moment, indulging a dream that Lydia could be returned to Longbourn, to live out in quiet company with her mother, who had always loved her youngest best, and her father, never to stray in company again. But Mr Bennet would not allow it, and so Lydia was banished from her childhood home.
Nor would she be welcome at Pemberley or with Bingley and Jane. Lizzy felt a pang of sadness for her exasperating little sister.
‘Lydia, what is to be done with you?’ she said out loud again. She did not want to talk to Darcy. She understood Jane’s reticence. Darcy could call out Wickham, less to avenge Lydia than to have reason at last to avenge Georgiana’s near disgrace. Wickham should have realized that, Lizzy thought. So what is his game, to be openly seen in London with another woman and knowing the word would get back to his archenemy?
He wishes to wring money from the family again, she thought. After all, it worked so well the last time. Her anger rising, Lizzy got up. If I were a man, I would call him out myself, she thought. She went off in search of Darcy. He might want to call out Wickham, but she had faith that he would not let his passions overrule him in this matter.
She found him with Georgiana. She was playing for him in a desultory fashion, more extemporizing than playing one of her pieces. Darcy was reading. They both looked up at Lizzy in relief.
‘My dear,’ he said. He held out his hand. ‘Come.’ She sat down with him.
‘I’m glad you’re here,’ Georgiana said mournfully. ‘I miss Mary. I can’t believe we abandoned her to Aunt de Bourgh. I think Mr Aikens was right.’
‘We didn’t abandon her,’ Lizzy said with exasperation. ‘Goodness, Georgiana, please don’t take it so.’
‘But what if Mr Aikens wanted to marry her? Now he’ll forget all about her.’
‘Mr Aikens does not want to marry Mary!’ Lizzy said, feeling quite like her mother and guiltily so. For Mrs Bennet had often discounted Mary in this very same way. Oh bother, she thought. If we don’t restore some sense to Kitty and deal with Wickham, never again will a Bennet get married.
‘Mary felt that Anne de Bourgh wanted a friend, and I own that I agree with her, though the sacrifice may be too great,’ Darcy said.
‘And there is the matter of Hyperion,’ Georgiana went on disconsolately, or so it would have seemed if Lizzy had not caught a gleam of mischief in her expression.
‘Hyperion will recover, Georgiana. And Mary was quite determined. She is very independent in the matter. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Lady Catherine decides that she is too independent for her Anne and sends her home to us. I also wouldn’t be surprised if she wins over Lady Catherine and Anne with her sermons and speeches. Either way, we did not abandon Mary. She may come home any time she likes, and Hyperion and Mr Aikens may fall in love with her as soon as she returns. But Georgiana, may I borrow Darcy for a time? I must talk with him.’
Georgiana pouted and went back to her piano. ‘I have the fidgets,’ she said. ‘All this talk of Mr Aikens, I expect. I want to go riding – may I?’
‘Make sure Jameson goes with you,’ Darcy said, and she slid from the piano stool and went off to change into her habit. He pulled Lizzy towards him, and she sat on his knee. ‘As for you. Why must you interrupt all the terribly important things I am doing?’
Lizzy made an unladylike expression. ‘Be forewarned. I give you one chance to escape, Darcy. You should go riding with Georgiana and leave the groom to his work.’
‘I will take my chances.’
She took a breath. ‘It’s Wickham. He’s returned, and if possible, it’s worse than before.’
She told him all, not omitting Kitty’s escapade among the tigers, though she was not entirely sure what that was about. When she finished, Darcy sat for a moment, staring off into space. At last he helped Lizzy to her feet.
‘My dear,’ he said. ‘I can see nothing else to do but go to London and meet Bingley.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ she said, and her voice broke. But Darcy kissed her.
‘It is
not you who needs to be sorry. Wickham came into your life because of me. He would never have run off with Lydia, never would even have looked at her, if I had just told you the truth, all of you, sooner. This would not have happened.’
She didn’t quite agree but she didn’t disabuse him. The Bennets were at fault, too, and she knew, if it had not been Wickham, it would have been someone else. It had only been a matter of time before Lydia followed her untamed nature.
Georgiana came rustling back in, dressed in a smart dark-green riding-habit with epaulettes and braid. Her hat had a sweeping green feather and her riding crop had a silver handle.
‘I’m ready! And, Lizzy, you should learn to ride. I am tired of going out with the grooms. They are always telling me not to jump this or not to gallop there.’
‘And do you listen to them?’ Darcy said sternly.
‘Of course, because I know they will carry tales. But my sister wouldn’t tell on me.’
‘Indeed I would, if you were unsafe,’ Lizzy said. ‘And if I learned to ride, you would be bored to distraction. I would have to sit on the smallest pony and be led around.’
Georgiana giggled.
Darcy said, ‘Come give me a kiss before you go. I have had some news and must go to London immediately. But do not use this as a time to disobey the grooms, because I will hear about it when I come back.’
Georgiana looked as if she wanted to take her chances, but at last she said, ‘All right. Lizzy, are you making him go?’
‘Indeed I am not. It’s his decision.’
‘But this is what you wanted to talk to him about?’
Lizzy nodded.
Georgiana tilted her head, then said, ‘And you have no plans to tell me, do you.’
‘I promise you won’t remain in the dark if it turns out there’s any news I can tell you,’ Darcy said. Georgiana was almost a grown woman and they could not keep news from her for ever, but Wickham had been such a bad man, better to allow her some peace.
Knowing that Georgiana would continue to tease, Darcy kissed Lizzy and said, ‘I must be off. Georgiana, be good. My dear.’
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