Page 64

Darcy found Elizabeth in the rose garden, walking slowly among the flowers. Her expression was somber, and he stopped with a mixture of discomfort and alarm.

“Mr. Darcy!” she cried out when she noticed him. “I am sorry, I did not see you.”

“I apologize for intruding. Are you well, Miss Bennet?” he inquired nervously.

Elizabeth straightened her body and forced herself to look into the man’s face, “I am well, Mr. Darcy. Thank you. I am merely most distressed and, yes, I will say it, I am ashamed of myself. Miss Darcy just told me about …”

She glanced around and lowered her voice, “... about Ramsgate. When I think of how I defended that vile man, how I championed him, how I believed his lies,I am disgusted with myself.”

Darcy was shocked; firstly, that Georgiana had felt comfortable with sharing the story of Wickham’s treachery and secondly that Elizabeth so readily took on responsibility for her own failures in trusting the man’s honeyed lies.

“You are far from the first to be fooled by Wickham, Miss Bennet,” he explained softly. “My own father could never accept his godson’s perfidy. Sadly, my childhood playmate has all the appearance of goodness but none of the substance.”

“Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and somementhey follow after .” Elizabeth replied somberly. “It is from the New Testament of the Bible, Mr. Collins quoted it a few days ago during the course of a conversation on the play King Lear . He is correct, of course; sometimes it is obvious when a man is a miscreant, but other men hide their evil under a shining veneer of false goodness.”

“That is certainly true of Wickham,” Darcy agreed grimly. “He has fooled many sensible men and women.”

“There were rumors before Mr. Wickham disappeared that he was not an honorable man, but I had no idea that he would do something so foul as to plot against his own godfather’s precious daughter. I hope you are at peace with your sister’s willingness to share her story; I would not dream of repeating anything that she told me.”

“I am glad that Georgiana felt comfortable enough to share her sorrow over what happened at Ramsgate,” Darcy assured her. “It has been a source of much grief to both of us; she because she succumbed to the charms of a rogue, I because I failed to warn her about him or suitably protect her. It never occurred to me that he would track her down.”

Elizabeth bit her lip, “I think that Mr. Collins’s discourse on Juliet was helpful. Your sister, at fifteen, was very much under the influence of both her companion and Wickham; the latter is, in admittedly my limited experience, a most charming scoundrel with a nearly magnetic ability to entice women. I only hope and pray that he has not moved onto other, greener pastures where he can prey on defenseless women.”

Darcy smiled grimly, “Wickham is in a bluer pasture, I’m afraid.”

Elizabeth looked puzzled, and Darcy continued, “He is currently on board one of His Majesty’s ships at sea far from England, and thus both women and shopkeepers are safe from his dissolute habits.”

“A ship?” Elizabeth asked in surprise. “That is a remarkable decision on his part, to go to sea! Surely that is a most dangerous profession.”

“It was not his choice, Miss Bennet. I realized that I had a responsibility to prevent Wickham’s preying on the defenseless among us. I wrote to my cousin, Richard Fitzwilliam, a colonel in the army, who arranged with a friend to have Mr. Wickham pressed into service aboard the ship.The Colonel moved with startling rapidity and swept Wickham away within days of my letter to him. At first I was startled and uncertain whether this was an appropriate response, but I now have peace that this was a good solution. Perhaps Wickham will find contentment in a hard day’s work and change his ways.”

“I do not think Miss Darcy knows of this?”

“She does not. I have hesitated to speak Wickham’s name in her presence, as I feared it would overset her.”

Elizabeth shook her head decidedly, “If you will pardon me, that is nonsense. Miss Darcy needs to know that she is safe from him. She needs to know that he is being punished, at least in some small way, for his crimes.”

He gazed down at her with admiration. When was the last time a single woman seeking a man of good fortune informed him that he was being nonsensical?

“Miss Bennet?” he said impulsively.

“Yes?”

“Miss Bennet, I have realized that I am very much in love with you. I admire you, I respect you and I hope ... well, I hope that you will make me the happiest of men by … by …”

He trailed away in confusion. Elizabeth looked, not delighted, not distressed, but stunned.

“You love me, Mr. Darcy?” she demanded incredulously.

“Yes, Miss Bennet,” he replied, feeling greatly dismayed at her lack of enthusiasm at his declaration.

She stared at him, and he stared at her, and then she shook herself slightly, “I apologize. I confess that you have taken me quite aback. I am indeed honored but …”

He felt his heart clench within him, “But you do not love me.”

She gazed at him, her expression troubled, “I do not know, sir. I admire you very much and I respect you. I confess that I truly did not think that you …”

She tilted her chin in her thoroughly adorable way, “How long have you been in love with me, Mr. Darcy?”

“How long? I think I was in love back in Hertfordshire. I think I was in love the first time I saw you stride into the breakfast parlor at Netherfield after walking three miles to care for your sister when she fell ill. Your cheeks and eyes were flushed, your face lovely. I think I was truly lost then, though I did not know it.”

“When my skirts were inches deep in mud, you mean?” Elizabeth inquired slyly. “Well, sir, it is indeed most charming of you to think of me in such fond terms when I know I looked entirely disarranged.”

She frowned now, “It has been many long months since then, Mr. Darcy. If you cared for me, why did you leave Hertfordshire without declaring yourself in any way?”

He hesitated and then decided that if there was to be a future between them, he must be honest.

“Because I was a fool, Miss Bennet,” he admitted. “I have long clung to the misguided notion that I owed it to my name and to my sister to marry a woman with connections and fortune. I could not forget you — indeed, you haunted my thoughts during the day and my dreams at night. When the opportunity came to invite you to Pemberley so that Mr. Collins could seek a wife, I leaped at the chance to have you here. I was foolish enough to believe that if I was in your presence, my attraction would fade. But it has not. No, every day I have felt my love for you grow.”

“And now you are declaring yourself,” Elizabeth stated with a crease in her brow. “Why now?”

“Why? Truthfully, because of Mr. Collins,” Darcy explained. “His discourse on Romeo and Juliet was not just a help to my sister, but to me as well. You are intelligent, kind, generous, an excellent sister and a good friend. When I think of the sorrows in the lives of the Princess of Wales and the Prince Regent because of their incompatibility, when I think of how many of my acquaintances are trapped in cold and distant marriages — that cannot be God’s desire for His children! My love for you comes from the heart but also the head. I know you are the perfect woman for me and I desire most ardently to marry you, Miss Bennet — if you will have me.”

Elizabeth bit her rosy lip and hesitated before speaking.

“May I have a little time to consider, sir?” she asked shyly. “I daresay that is an unusual request, but while I admit to being strongly attracted, I feel that I should not answer quite yet. You have taken me greatly by surprise, Mr. Darcy. I truly am honored and I think I will answer yes, but I must give myself at least a little time to consider. I believe it honors you and your request as well for me to be quite certain of my response.”

“Of course,” Darcy replied quickly. “Of course. I commend you for wishing to be certain. I will mention that I spoke to your father, who warned me that you would not accept me unless you were confident that you could return my affection. I can only hope and pray that I will earn a positive reply.”

Elizabeth blushed at this and took his arm as they walked slowly and companionably back into the house and toward the main stairway; dinner would be served in an hour, and both needed to refresh themselves. Elizabeth smiled shyly at the bottom of the stairwell just as the butler opened the doorway to the great main entrance.

“I am Lady Catherine de Bourgh,” a loud, feminine voice stated imperiously. “I demand to see my nephew immediately.”

Darcy’s exultation gave way to shock and dismay as he turned toward his arrogant aunt, “Lady Catherine! What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? I find it unconscionable that you would dare ask me that, Darcy! In spite of great inconvenience, I have made the time to make a most fatiguing journey to save you from yourself. How could you be such a fool, Darcy?”

Her nephew blinked at his aunt in confusion. Certainly the lady would be most angry to know that he had proposed marriage to Miss Bennet, but there was no way she could know short of sorcery. After all, he had only decided to make Elizabeth an offer a few hours ago.

“May I ask to what you are referring?” he asked in a frigid tone.

“This,” the lady replied with a gesture of her gnarled hand toward Elizabeth. “How could you be so reckless as to invite two Miss Bennets here to Pemberley as well as a Miss Charlotte Lucas! Do you not know the dangers of such a thing? It is incredible that none of these women have succeeded in compromising you! You cannot trust the lower classes, nephew! You must know that!”

Darcy, outraged, drew himself to his full height only to be distracted by a soft gurgle to his left. He turned to glance at his beloved, who was struggling to hold back a laugh.

“I believe I will retire to my room to refresh myself,” Elizabeth said with a twinkle in her eye. “Lady Catherine, it is such a pleasure to see you again.”

“You are honored indeed to see me, not to mention to spend time in the hallowed halls of Pemberley, Miss Bennet,” Catherine de Bourgh stated with a sniff. Elizabeth nodded with becoming gravity and floated up the stairs, with Darcy watching in admiration.

“Darcy, I insist that you listen to me! You must send these lowborn people away! You are a fool to trust them, and should you be compromised and forced to marry a base wife — well, the very idea is too dreadful to contemplate! Shall the shades of Pemberley be thus polluted?”

“Lady Catherine, I must ask you to lower your voice. My guests are a charming and respectable group of individuals, and I will not allow you to insult them. Nor have you answered my question; what are you doing here? For that matter, how did you know that Mr. Bennet, his two daughters and Miss Lucas are in residence?”

“Mr. Collins told me. He sent me a letter — a very rude, insolent, ungrateful letter, telling me that he was giving up the Hunsford living. He also informed me that you had invited three ladies from Hertfordshire to Pemberley to ascertain whether one of the young women would prove a suitable wife to him. Absolute nonsense! If one of them was a suitable wife, then Mr. Collins would have chosen her back in Hertfordshire. No, it is quite obvious to me that all three ladies seek to become the next mistress of Pemberley. I will not have it, do you hear? You are to marry Anne!”

Darcy sighed as he noted, over the head of his shorter aunt, his butler standing a few yards away looking uncomfortable.

“Lady Catherine, we can discuss this in more detail later,” he said. “I am certain you wish to rest, and I am confident that Mrs. Reynolds is arranging your rooms even now.”

“I will take the blue rooms.”

“No, you will not, as Miss Lucas is installed there.”

“What? You gave my rooms to this Miss Lucas?”

Darcy suppressed a desire to wipe his brow. Had his aunt always been this irrational?

“You arrived without an invitation or warning, Aunt. I assure you that you will not suffer in one of the other guest suites.’

“Anne must be installed next to me, Darcy.”

“Anne is with you?”

“Of course she is! How else is she to marry you if she is in Kent and you are in Derbyshire? Be reasonable! But come, I must prepare for dinner. I do hope you are keeping country hours; it would be quite ludicrous to do otherwise. We will discuss all these vital matters when we are at the table.”

Darcy was a brave man, a strong man, and a determined man, but he felt a sudden terror in his soul. The mixture of his autocratic and rude aunt with Mr. Collins at dinner might well produce its own peculiar type of insanity.

At least Mr. Collins seemed quite mentally stable at this point and likely would not collapse on the floor and start screaming.

Darcy hoped.