Page 21

A TRUTH REVEALED

D arcy swung himself into the saddle of his horse. His errand had been successful. He had made arrangements that meant Jane would be secure. He would put Elizabeth’s mind at ease when he arrived back at Netherfield. Excitedly, he kicked his horse into a trot and headed back to Netherfield – racing Fitzwilliam on the way. Jumping the fences that divided the fields gave him a feeling of youth and freedom, a feeling he had long since forgotten.

Laughing, Fitzwilliam called for Darcy to slow down. “If you fall from your horse, your wife will never forgive me!”

Darcy slowed his horse into a slow trot. “I’m sorry. I got a bit carried away. I haven’t jumped the fences like that in several years.” A gentle sigh escaped him. “My mother and father hated me doing so.”

“And you will hate your son jumping those fences too!” Fitzwilliam argued. “Anything could happen.”

“True!” Darcy laughed. They kept the horses at a more sedate pace and were about to turn towards the path when a piece of material caught their attention. Jumping down from their horses, their levity turned to horror when they saw the mutilated appearance of Mrs Bennet. Instantly, Fitzwilliam was up on his horse, going for help while Darcy stayed with Mrs Bennet and tended as best he could to her wounds. All levity and sense of freedom were gone as the gravity of the situation occurred to him.

Mrs Bennet weakly raised her hand to her son-in-law’s face. “Leave me,” she wheezed. “My husband will kill you, too, if you help me.”

Darcy looked at Mrs Bennet in shock. There was something that was not right there. “Is he mad?”

“No. I wish he were! There is no help for me,” Mrs Bennet said. “I said my vows and I have kept them. Lord only knows if Timothy has kept his.” Limply her hand fell from Darcy’s face and for a moment Darcy thought that she might be dead, but the gentle rise of her chest told him otherwise.

Darcy was glad when within minutes an army of Netherfield servants headed by Bingley and Mr Hurst arrived and gently raised Mrs Bennet onto a cart. Once she was safely on her way back to Netherfield, Darcy looked for his cousin. “Where’s Fitzwilliam?”

“He stayed with the ladies. The youngest two seem to be well, but Mrs Darcy and Miss Mary took their mother’s condition to heart.” Bingley gave Darcy an enigmatic smile. “You need to hear Miss Mary’s story. It is quite something. Caroline is quite taken with her.”

“I never took Miss Bingley to be one of those ladies, Bingley,” Darcy laughed.

“She’s not,” Bingley shortly answered.

Darcy was too drained to bother with riddles. “Bingley, I have to confess you have a new landlord.”

“Do I need to move?” Bingley asked. “Who is it?”

“No you do not need to move. The purchase was quite a sudden one. I happen to know that the new landlord wishes for Jane to be secure. Mr Jones has told us that Jane is not to be moved at this time. Therefore the purchase was made solely so that should you choose to go to London or to move on, Jane could be quite comfortable and stay at Netherfield,” Darcy informed his friend.

Bingley almost punched his friend. “How dare you? You know that should Netherfield work out, I had intended to purchase.”

Darcy adjusted his horse’s reins and stood for a moment soothing the surprised horse with his other hand. Though he and Bingley were only walking by the horse's side, Darcy did not wish to have a frightened horse rearing up – it would be dangerous to all around. “If you decide you want to purchase we can make an arrangement. I do not need the house. I’m only making sure that Jane is safe.”

Bingley shook his head. “You look after everyone, but yourself!”

“Elizabeth would not have me any other way,” Darcy joked. There was pain behind his jokes. As soon as they had arrived at Netherfield they had again begun to neglect their relationship in favour of looking after all around them. With a second invalid in the house, it appeared as though their personal lives would be neglected further.

Bingley shrugged.

“Why does Mrs Bennet believe that her husband attacked her?” Darcy asked, changing the subject.

“Because he most likely did!” Bingley growled. “There’s something not right about that man. Mrs Bennet came to tell Mrs Darcy and Miss Mary Bennet the story. It’s not the first time she has been attacked by her husband. It’s truly horrific, the tale she has to tell. No man should behave like that to his wife.”

Darcy shrugged. “In law, our wives are our property. Not everyone appreciates that a woman is a thinking person who deserves respect. We can essentially treat them any way that we wish and force them to do anything against their will.”

“You would not treat your wife in such a manner,” Bingley needled.

“I have known men who do, though,” Darcy answered.

“It’s ludicrous! It’s criminal,” Bingley exploded.

Darcy sighed. He had argued the same with his father when he was fifteen. The memory of that day had never left him. They had visited the houses of three of their tenants, who had suffered from poor harvests and had therefore not paid their rents. The stench and the squalor those tenants had lived in plagued him. However, that was not the worst of what they had seen. The ladies could barely tend to the children. Darcy had been forced to watch as the women struggled to cook for their children, covered in open cuts and bruises. He had been sure that they probably had broken bones as well. Back at Pemberley, Darcy had asked his father what they could do to help the ladies. Unhappy with his father’s response, Darcy had decided then and there that when he married his wife would be treated like a queen. “It should be!” Darcy growled. “You don’t know how cruel some of these men can be and it’s considered to be the way of things.” Elizabeth had shown him enough scars that he felt sick with the thought of what she had gone through.

Bingley shook his head. It was beyond anything he could understand. The two men walked back to the house.

Entering the house, Darcy and Bingley made their way to the room that Bingley had set aside for Mrs Bennet. The door had been left open and Darcy was surprised to hear a young man talking with Elizabeth as she tended to her mother’s wounds. He turned to Bingley, who simply sniggered. Darcy’s confusion was not helped when entering the room, he saw only Elizabeth and her sister, Mary. “Who is looking after Jane?” Darcy asked feeling stupid.

“Kitty and Lydia,” Elizabeth answered.

Darcy sank into a seat and nodded towards Mrs Bennet. “Has someone called Mr Jones?”

“He has been called,” Elizabeth answered.

Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. “How is she doing?”

“I am a little better,” Mrs Bennet wheezed.

“Do not exhaust yourself, mama,” Elizabeth exclaimed.

Mrs Bennet gave her second daughter a wan smile. “Tell him my story, Lizzy. He deserves the truth and Mary deserves her truth to be told too.”

“Not now, mama.” Elizabeth shook her head.

Darcy looked around the room. Mary sat as though she was trying not to be seen, while his wife seemed concerned, though about what he was unsure.

“Promise that you are not going to think any less of Mary,” Elizabeth worriedly asked her husband.

“I. I cannot think less of Mary. She is family,” Darcy assured her. “The only member of our family that I cannot abide is your father.” Darcy moved closer to Elizabeth and drew her into his arms. “I am sorry if I upset you with that.”

“You have not upset me,” Elizabeth assured him, breaking free to tend to her mother. Elizabeth continued to bind the wounds that her mother had sustained.

“Tell him, Lizzy,” Mrs Bennet insisted.

Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Very well. If you wish to divorce me after you’ve heard all of this then I will not blame you.” She went on to repeat the story that her mother had told her.

Darcy sat back, his face impassive, as he listened. He frowned. He understood the reasons behind what he was being told, but he still disliked what he was hearing. Once Elizabeth had finished what she was saying, Darcy asked, “Are you sure that Mr Bennet would have killed Mary, had he found out the truth?”

Mrs Bennet gave him a withering look. “You can see what my husband did to me, simply because I visited with my daughters. Do you really think that he would not carry through the threat against me and any male children I gave him?”

“I do not understand why he would entail the estate away from the female line and then be so vindictive against any male children,” Darcy argued.

“That is because you do not understand my husband. I do not know what happened, but something seemed to change in him and he seemed to think that any child of mine should not have an inheritance from him. Please listen when I tell you that my husband is vindictive and cruel. However, I want my only living son to have the inheritance that my husband would have denied him. Please help him,” Mrs Bennet begged. “Also, please ruin my husband. His cruelty has to end!”

“I will help,” Darcy promised.

“Thank you,” Mary answered. “It is most reassuring that you will help me.”

Darcy looked at Mary in surprise. The high voice that he had known her to speak with was gone. In its place was a rich baritone that seemed oddly incongruent with the young lady he was looking at.

“Stop staring, Fitz! I am still the same person,” Mary laughed. “Although it is a relief not to have to use a voice that was not truly mine.”

“That will take some getting used to. Do you only have lady’s clothing?” Darcy asked.

Mary nodded. “I had to have solely lady’s apparel or my mother’s ruse would not be able to be maintained. It was most awkward when we would go to the modiste. I opted to purchase material and to sew my dresses more than to go to the modiste.”

“If you are to show the world that you are Mr Bennet’s son then you will need to dress as a gentleman,” Darcy pressed.

“I know. It will be somewhat of a relief to leave a corset behind,” Mary told him. “However, I have never worn a pair of breeches. That will be strange.”

Elizabeth giggled. She had not expected her husband to react in this manner. “Before Mary changes back to being Mark, I believe that Kitty and Lydia should be made aware of the truth.”

Darcy was surprised, “Do they not know?”

“They know that papa is cruel, but not about Mary’s secret,” Elizabeth told him.

“Would it not be better to have told them before telling Bingley or myself?” Darcy asked.

Elizabeth sighed. “I do not know. They are busy with Jane. We will tell them. Jane also should be told. However, mama inferred that Jane’s condition has something to do with papa. I am not sure what to think anymore.”

The conversation was put to an end by the arrival of Mr Jones.