Page 19 of Darcy’s Guarded Heart

Mr Darcy knelt beside her, his demeanour shifting from worry to focus. “You need to rest,” he commanded gently, his tone wrapped in a tenderness that made her pulse quicken. Captivated by the sincerity in his gaze, Elizabeth found herself increasingly aware of the weight of his concern.

“Let me assist you upon my horse,” he offered, his strong hands reaching out. Hesitant, yet compelled by an unspoken force, she accepted his support as he offered his arm.

He clicked his tongue and his horse approached at once, making it clear he knew this stead better than she’d known her mare—naturally, given it was one of the estate horses.

She raised her right foot up into the stirrup, wincing as her weight was placed more upon her injured foot though Mr Darcy’s assistance kept some of it off. Then, he boosted her up and she found herself in upward motion until she was safely in the saddle.

“There we are,” he said. “Now, let us see if we cannot catch up to the others and find your horse. You are certain you are not hurt other than the foot?”

“I am. And thank you. I would have hobbled all the way back to Netherfield if not for you.”

“A very unadvisable activity on a twisted ankle, I am sure,” he said with a small smile. “Pray, how is it you were riding on your own? I thought I saw you with my sister.”

“I was with her but she wished to gallop ahead to…” she bit her tongue, remembering her conversation with Georgiana. However, he smiled and shook his head.

“She wished to leap over assorted objects,” he said. “I wish she would not but I cannot stop her from everything that might pose danger.”

“We wish we could, but we cannot always,” she conceded.

Her thoughts drifted back to the Lucas Lodge and the conversation they’d had there.

She wanted to find out more about what had happened between the Darcys and Mr Wickham—and now was her chance.

After all, she was upon his horse and if he did not like the question he could not very well walk away.

Gathering her courage, she cleared her throat.

“Sir, will you tell me why it is you did not wish Mr Wickham to speak to your sister? She appeared quite fond of him. She mentioned him when we rode together as a dear companion in her youth.”

Mr Darcy bit his lip and stared up ahead, his hand tightening around the horse’s lead. It took him a moment before he returned his gaze to her.

“I suppose I ought to tell you, since the matter continues to come up. Very well. Wickham was my father’s ward.

He was always the sort of man who could not be trusted.

He also possessed an ease of charm, that allowed him to endear himself to all.

My father adored him, almost as a second son, and Georgiana looked up to him.

However, I knew him, I knew what he was—if we were to label it, I would say he is not to be trusted.

” He narrowed his eyes. “I do not say this because he is beneath me in station; I say this because I have known him since boyhood. He is quite adept at taking advantage. And he sought to take advantage of Georgiana.”

Elizabeth was perplexed. “But how?”

Mr Darcy shrugged. “Two years ago, he returned from wherever he had been… I do not recall the particulars. He requested funds, having squandered all the money I had previously provided him after my father’s demise.”

Elizabeth raised a hand. “He received an inheritance.” Something in her tone must have conveyed she had learned something else.

Mr Darcy scoffed. “Did he tell you that he had a living assigned to him which I rescinded? That is what he recounted to Georgiana. That is what he told several others. It is not the truth. He rejected my father’s generosity.

I must confess that when he stated he did not desire the living and would prefer financial remuneration instead, I was grateful.

I did not wish him near Pemberley for the rest of my life, nor for Georgiana’s.

I gladly granted him the funds, but I was always aware he may return—and he did, asking for more. ”

“I declined, yet I knew that would not be the end of it. I understood he would certainly have ulterior motives, and he did. He took residence in Lambton, the town near Pemberley, and sought visits with Georgiana. I could not very well forbid it, as she had always viewed him as a sort of cousin.”

He paused before continuing, “In due course, I grew concerned regarding the amount of time he spent with Georgiana. I took her away for a while to stay with my aunt at Rosings Park. While there, I received a letter from his godmother, Mrs Younge, a former employee of ours who had left earlier in the year. She informed me that Wickham’s plan was to lure Georgiana into believing herself moon eyed over him and then whisk her away to Gretna Green to forever tie himself to my fortune. ”

“I see,” she admitted. “Some time ago, when he first arrived in Meryton, he spent substantial time with my younger sisters, particularly Lydia who has a fondness for officers. Thomas advised our father against it, having heard certain disquieting things regarding Mr Wickham, which prompted my father to prevent my sisters from associating with him too frequently. I was foolish and continued my friendship with him, believing him to be genuine. Then he diverted his attention to a young lady in town who had come into her fortune and I saw less of him.”

Mr Darcy raised his eyebrows, then lowered them with a shrug. “That is George Wickham. He easily charms others. And not solely young ladies.”

She was unsure of his meaning but did not wish to press further.

“I have grown wise to him now,” Elizabeth said, “but Georgiana still appears fond of him if her words are anything to go by.”

“She is, as I never confided the truth. In her letter, Mrs Younge detailed several incidents in which Wickham had been involved—illegal schemes, debts accrued, matters of that nature. Things I could have used to warn Georgiana away from him, and then he vanished. I dread that had he lingered any longer, he may have wormed his way into Georgiana’s affections, but she was merely young then. She is still only seventeen now.”

Elizabeth gasped. “I do not wish to think of what might have happened had we not been warned. And I am even more thankful that Thomas had his doubts about Mr Wickham before he could harm my family.”

“I must say, as am I. I would not have liked to have seen harm come to you and yours, Miss Elizabeth,” he said. She glanced down at him and recalled all the unsavoury tales Mr Wickham had recounted regarding Mr Darcy and realised they were nothing but fabrications.

At least if what Mr Darcy had said was true, and frankly, she had no reason to doubt him; much of his account aligned with what she had already gleaned about Mr Wickham.

She had continued to engage Mr Wickham, wanting to believe that somewhere within, he was a decent man.

But he was not. She could not explain why she believed Mr Darcy, but she did.

As they walked on, her thoughts turned to the things Thomas had said about him.

That Mr Darcy, had been raised a certain way to believe certain things.

Perhaps some of his haughtiness could be excused by his upbringing.

And perhaps he was capable of change, of seeing the error of his ways.

Could it be that in due course he might find he was wrong about his assessments of the Bennets and Meryton in general?

For, weren’t Jane and Thomas correct in their assertion that a man who was of noble character like Mr Bingley would not be friends with a man who was inherently contrary and unpleasant?

No, for the man she was with now was wholly pleasant yet troubled. Having become a guardian to a small child while having lost his parents at a young age had to have been hard, especially with a man like Mr Wickham thrown into it all.

“Mr Darcy,” she started. “Perhaps it would be beneficial to tell your sister the truth about Mr Wickham. She might not be so quick to seek his company if she knew.”

He looked up, a softness in his eyes. “I have pondered this many a time before, Miss Elizabeth. But the truth is I do not want to tarnish what little memories she has left of her childhood that were good. She was so young when our mother died she hardly remembers her, and our father—many of the memories she has contain Wickham. I do not want to rob her of those.”

Elizabeth’s heart ached for him then and she found herself full of empathy for the first time because she understood then the burden he carried for the sake of his sister.

It did not mean his prior actions or his haughty opinions were to be excused, but she realised now there was another side to him—a side she had refused to truly see before.

She wished to continue their conversation but alas, she saw then that was not to be for up ahead, was their group—and it had grown exponentially in numbers.

She spotted her younger sisters along with Charlotte Lucas and her mother, as well as some of the younger Lucas children.

“There they are,” she said and nodded ahead. And when she looked down at Mr Darcy, she saw his visage had once again hardened and whatever progress they had made in bringing down his walls had been halted in light of another social gathering he was clearly not ready to participate in.