Page 7 of Reputation, an Easy Thing to Lose (Reputation Verse #1)

Chapter 6

Confrontations

Darcy House, Mayfair, Lo ndon

22 September 1812

D arcy was in some amount of shock. Elizabeth would finally be his wife! He had wrestled with the decision for almost a year, and despaired of ever winning her love. Now, it was agreed, and he would become bound to her forever in a few short weeks. Edward came back into the room after finishing the inspection rather quickly. By 9:00 a.m., it was decided that Darcy would apply for a special license that very day at Doctor’s Commons, and Edward’s solicitor would draw up the marriage contract for both men to sign.

Edward insisted upon waiting until they could remove to Derbyshire before celebrating the marriage. It would be too much of a risk having the ceremony anywhere in town. At Pemberley, the only witnesses would be persons in the Pemberley employ and the vicar who owed his position to Darcy. Elizabeth would have to marry without any family present, but Elizabeth had already agreed that secrecy was of the utmost importance. Without Edward to give her away, they would have to wait until October 3, Elizabeth’s twenty -f irst birthday, but that would only be a few days after the household reached Pemberley an yway.

They all agreed that if Lydia’s fake marriage license ploy was to work, she would have to be removed from Meryton. Otherwise, she would likely crumble under questioning from her neighbours. If she moved to a place where she was unknown and introduced as the young widow of a soldier, no one would ask any uncomfortable questions. The only problem was where to take her. Edward had no close connections outside London and Hertfordshire. Darcy said he would consider the matter and come up with a solution, but, honestly, he was at a total loss. Perhaps Connor Grayson, Darcy’s trusted valet, could find the solution. The Grayson family had served the Darcys for five generations. Mrs. Reynolds was the granddaughter of the original Mr. and Mrs. Grayson who served as butler and housekeeper to Darcy’s great -g randparents . His family had always trusted a Grayson with their most sensitive n eeds.

When their conversation had come to an end, Edward searched the hall to ensure no one was in view of the offices, then he moved both Darcy and Elizabeth to his office at the end near the warehouse. They had an overly animated conversation about Darcy’s supposed need for a social debutant companion for Georgiana, and Elizabeth’s acceptance of such a posi tion.

After their conversation ended, Edward asked Elizabeth to return to the house to explain her removal to her sister and aunt, then pack her belongings, as she would be moving into the Darcy house the next day. Before she disappeared beyond the view from Edward’s window, Darcy was pulled back into the room by a startling question from the older man.

“Darcy, I am not sure the proper way to bring up this topic with you, but since you lost your father rather young, I am just going to come out with it.” Edward straightened his waistcoat and adjusted his shirt -c uffs then cleared his voice and spoke without meeting Darcy’s eyes. “Have you been intimate with a woman be fore?”

Darcy stared for a few moments as his colour rose. “I am not uneducated in the matter, but I have never ruined a young maiden or compromised any lady, if that is your mea ning.”

“While that is reassuring, in fact it is not quite my meaning.” Edward looked about the room as if something would come to his rescue. Screwing his courage to the sticking place, he finally looked up. “I was more concerned about your education in the procurement of an heir, specifically, how quickly that event can sometimes o ccur.”

Darcy’s blank stare was followed by a slow look of horror. “Are you implying that a child could result from our union before Georgiana’s debut?” Darcy’s own parents had been married for nearly four years before Darcy had been born and then it took another eleven years before Georgiana came into the world. As a child, Darcy had heard about his mother losing children between himself and his sister, but he was unaware of how often such things normally happened. Thinking upon the matter now, it was obvious that his parents had difficulty begetting children, which could account for the long wait before his birth. And in fact, he had no idea whether his mother had suffered other losses before his b irth.

“It is not set in stone, but Jane was delivered not a year after my sister and Bennet were married. Lizzy came before Jane was two years old and then each Mary, Kitty, and Lydia came about twenty -f our months apart. Also, it is obvious that Lydia conceived with no trouble within a fortnight of becoming intimate with Wickham. It would be the ruination of all our plans if Elizabeth were to appear next summer heavy with c hild.”

Edward could see the growing worry on Darcy’s face and decided to be blunt once again. Putting on his best neutral businessman demeanour, Edward stood from his chair, clasped his hands behind his back and continued, “Have you heard of Jeremy Bentham the reformist? He has been promoting an item called a condom in some of his recent publications. It has been around in Italy and France for many years, but not in wide use here in England. Apparently, it is a sheath made of animal intestines that covers the male organ, used primarily to protect against the French disease. As a side observation, it also keeps a woman from conceiving. They are sold in bars, and at a shop near Covent Garden, to men wishing to engage female companionship of the variety to be found near the theatres. Also, our military has been purchasing them in bulk to try and stem the number of soldiers contracting disease in France. My services have been engaged twice to export such items to the troops in the last few years of Napoleon’s war. I can discreetly obtain several for you if you wish.”

Darcy could only nod without meeting Edward’s eyes. To believe he could have compromised his beloved Elizabeth with a pregnancy simply by hoping it would not occur. How stupid! No one would ever believe that they had been married before the child was conceived even if they provided the special license as proof. Elizabeth would have been forever branded as his mistress that he took pity upon and married. His aunt would be seeking an annulment before the child was weaned. Thank goodness Edward was a man of intelligence, experience, and discretion. How much else would Darcy find himself unprepared for? It had been a long time since anyone had acted as Darcy’s counsellor. It would be nice to have such a voice every now and a gain.

Thankfully, Edward accepted Darcy’s non -v erbal confirmation and decided to end their private interview. It was agreed that Darcy would return shortly before tea to the warehouse to sign the marriage settlement, then join the family for di nner.

The minute Darcy stepped into his house, his butler informed him that Bingley was waiting in his study. After a quick shave and change of clothes, Darcy decided to see what his good friend wanted and try to hurry him out of the house quickly. He had to get to Doctor’s Commons before 2:00 p.m. to apply for the lic ense.

Darcy entered the study with as unaffected an air as possible, then spoke with feigned good humour. “Good morning, Charles. I am surprised to see you so early. Sorry you had to wait, but I was out for a morning ride when you arr ived.”

“Caroline knows, D arcy.”

Confusion turned to realization as Darcy’s mind raced. Whatever would the y do?

“Stop staring at me like that and tell me what we are going to do about Jane’s family. I know you have been working on the problem from the moment Miss Elizabeth and the Gardiners left Pemberley, and I have done all I could to keep Caroline in the dark, but if we do not act quickly, this whole thing will blow up before tea tomo rrow.”

Darcy noted Bingley’s strong demeanour. The ever -a ffable young man, for once, was facing a problem straight on instead of allowing others to take the lead. “I do not know how you came to learn about the Bennet family’s situation, but I will guess that the housekeeper at Netherfield was the one to inform Miss Bin gley.”

“Yes, yes, both my sister and I have servants who send us gossip.” Bingley waved off Darcy’s comments. “But that is not the point. The only thing that matters now is that Miss Lydia finds herself with child, and my beautiful angel is suffering! I will not stand by and let my sister ruin the love of my life like she has ruined so many others in the god -f orsaken tea parlours of the ton . So I ask you again, what are WE going to do abou t it?”

For a moment, Darcy contemplated telling Bingley the whole story, including Darcy’s intention to marry Elizabeth in haste. Bingley was obviously still in love with Jane and eager to protect her and the family. However, he and Elizabeth had agreed that the knowledge of their marriage was between only them, Georgiana, and Edward. Anyone else posed a risk to the exposure of their p lans.

“I have indeed been in contact with Edward Gardiner since the untimely death of Mr. Bennet. He and I have agreed that the best plan is to purchase a fake marriage license for Miss Lydia and Wickham. She will be relocated to somewhere yet to be determined, and introduced as the widow of a soldier. Her relations and connections will be told that the ceremony took place before they reached London, and without her father present, which is why he still insisted on that blasted duel. You see, I have recently invested a large sum of money in Gardiner’s import business, before Miss Lydia’s elopement, that I would not like to see sullied by gossip and folly. Most of society will accept my word on the ceremony and will drop the gossip as the simple elopement with a tragic end of persons below their notice.” Darcy cleared his throat and tried to keep his tone steady. “In addition to the fake license, I intend to hire Miss Elizabeth as Georgiana’s social debutant companion as a show of faith in the respectability of the remaining sisters. With such a connection to the Darcy name, the gossip will die before the babe is even churched. With any luck, the remaining Bennet sisters will be marriageable after the full year of mourning for their father. Of course, none will even entertain a suitor until Mrs. Bennet’s half mourning begins in Febr uary.”

Bingley nodded his head. It was such a pity that Darcy would not transcend the scandal to take Elizabeth as his bride, but Darcy was in a completely different situation to the Bingleys. His uncle was an Earl! It was heart -b reaking but understandable that the best Darcy could do was give Elizabeth a respectable position and protection. At least as Georgiana’s companion, she would be exposed to the London marriage market, and someone like Bingley, with money from trade, may see her as acceptable. All hope was not lost.

“Well, old friend, this business deal sounds pretty good. I must have given a hefty sum to the Gardiner import business myself. In fact, now I recall us all discussing the same during our day of fishing at Pembe rley.”

“Charles, that is all well and good, Gardiner Imports does make sizable profits, but how can we say we came to such a conclusion at Pemberley? Your brother Hurst was with us while we fished, and he would surely have noticed if you committed several thousand pounds to someone’s busi ness.”

“But we did discuss Gardiner’s business while fishing, and Hurst can attest to that. I will simply say that you and I came to an agreement in the afternoon over billiards when Hurst went upstairs to drink a much - t oo -e arly glass of port and take a nap. We can even go so far as to say that we sent word to our respective solicitors to negotiate the deal, and they had reached an agreement before any of us learned of Miss Lydia’s condition. This way, I can keep Caroline quiet. She will never want any of her precious money in jeopardy. Also, since I will say it was you who convinced me to invest, she will not question the initial connection either. Whenever I want anything in particular, all I need say is it was your advice to do so, and there is no argument whatsoever.” With a self -s atisfied grin, Bingley leaned back and took a sip of his co ffee.

Darcy could think of no objection. “Alright. I will mention this to Edward tonight when I return to sign Miss Elizabeth’s employment contract. I will give you the address to the Gardiners’ house in Cheapside, so you can call on Edward and finalize the investment pay ment.”

“Better yet, I shall join you in calling today and have it all done with.” If Bingley dropped by the Gardiners’, he might have the privilege of seeing Jane for a mo ment.

Darcy did not want Bingley to accompany him to Edward’s warehouse where he might see the marriage contract. “I am invited to Edward’s business office for tea then to dine with the family. Elizabeth is removing to Darcy house tomorrow morning, because we will be leaving for Pemberley in two morning’s time. If you would like to call at the house for afternoon tea, I can bring Edward back to the house after meeting with his solic itor.”

Just then, a bang was heard coming from the front foyer. “ Damn -i t man, you know who I am! Now, out of my way. I intend to see my idiot of a cousin before the day gets any brighter!” It was undoubtedly Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, but Darcy was dumbfounded to know how he was in London today. He had sent word that he was removing to Rosings for his annual autumn summons from their Aunt Catherine, and had left for Kent only yesterday! Glancing at the clock, Darcy noticed the time was ten minutes before ten a.m. If Richard had left Rosings at first light, he would have had to nearly gallop full speed the whole way to Mayfair to arrive at this hour.

Both Darcy and Bingley startled when the bellowing began again, this time much closer to the study door. “Fitzwilliam Darcy, I know you are here, and I know you are hiding from the world! Bloody Hell!” BANG! The study door opened so fast that it left an indent in the plaster wall. “Why did you not tell me of Wickham and Miss…” Richard stopped short of naming the young lady when he noticed Bingley in the room.

“Hello, cousin. It is nice to see you. Would you please come sit down and have some coffee? I will also ring for some more substantial breakfast, as I am sure you have had none, riding out at first light from Kent. Additionally, Charles knows about Miss Lydia Bennet eloping with Wickham, but I’m at a loss as to how you know.”

“Bullocks! Does your younger sister also know? And do not play nice with me, Darcy. You have not responded to over four letters I have written in the last month. I am forced to find out about Wickham’s death from our aunt and her new idiot parson! Not to mention a host of other unfortunate things that have befallen our good friend’s family. Does he know all?” Richard was still standing in the door frame, practically yel ling.

With some of his usual humour restored at the petulant stance of a man dressed in full regimentals with a saber around his waist, Bingley responded to Richard. “Yes, I know everything, including Miss Lydia’s delicate condition. I take it Mr. Collins has reported all via express to his former patroness? How lovely.” Bingley wrinkled his nose and continued, with snide contempt in his voice. “It is wonderful to have such devotion from one’s minions. Though one would hope a man of the cloth who now owns his own estate would consider his family before a woman who once gave him a position, but not everyone can be logical.” Bingley turned to Darcy. “You will have to convince Collins of your plans and use his own intimate connection to the Bennets to carry your point. Maybe even make him fearful for his own future children’s reputations or his sister by marriage, the young Lucas girl. What was her name? Marianne, Mira nda … ?”

“Miss Maria Lucas. Yes, I agree Charles. It was one of the stops I planned to make on the way to Pemberley. The sycophant has drooled all over my shoes, as well as Lady Catherine’s, so I hope if I come to him and ask him on behalf of my investment and his family connection, to get in line, it will be all I need. Additionally, Mrs. Collins is a resourceful and intelligent woman. She is also an intimate friend of Miss Elizabeth’s, so hopefully she will be able to keep her husband under con trol.”

Richard finally moved into the room to take a seat when a maid entered with a breakfast tray and coffee. He was dreadfully hungry; he had fled Kent with only liquid and some toast in his stomach. When he had gone down to find coffee, his cousin, Anne de Bourgh, had been sitting in the breakfast parlour enjoying her tea in quiet. Lady Catherine had joined them a few minutes later. Richard had been able to take his leave as the sun was rising. Two horse changes later, he was pulling into Mayfair with a blinding headache from all the terrible brandy he had consumed last night after hearing the terrible tale of Elizabeth’s family and toasting to Wickham’s death. “You mentioned a plan? Is something going to be done to help the Bennets? Miss Elizabeth could have been your wife if only you would have taken your head out of your horse’s arse and asked her to marry you! Your pride will be the ruination of all your happiness, mark my w ords!”

“Richard, what has gotten into you this morning? I’ve never heard you talk such!”

“Well, you best acquaint yourself with my talking such because you are going to hear much more of it from now on. I have mollycoddled you since your mother died, but no more! I will now be telling you when I disagree with your decisions, and you shall learn what makes the new recruits to His Majesty’s Army fear your fierce cousin! As a side note, I threw you to the wolves with our aunt. She was not h appy.”

Bingley failed to contain his mirth. “Colonel, I do believe you are nearly d runk!”

“Of course, I am, man! I had enough brandy last night to send either of your pampered gentlemanly arses to an early grave.” Richard covered his eyes as he sipped his coffee. “Now, tell me this plan of yours, and let me decide if you have any value as military strateg ists.”

After listening to the plan, Richard agreed that it was solid, and even provided the final piece to the puzzle. “We shall take Miss Lydia, now Mrs. Wickham, and we should all practice calling her such so we do not slip in company, to our great -a unt , Lady Gwyneth Fitzwilliam in Scarborough. She would be happy to have the company and would be sympathetic to Mrs. Wickham’s situation. The two might even find solace in confiding with one ano ther.”

“I remember mention of Lady Gwyneth, but I cannot now fully recall her situation. Why would she be good for Miss Lydia, … excuse me, Mrs. Wic kham?”

“Lady Gwyneth Fitzwilliam is the youngest sister of the former Earl, our grandfather. She was born to the second wife of our great -g randfather late. In fact, she is younger than your mother by nearly eleven years. Her mother was the buxom younger daughter of another Earl, and was basically given to Great -G randfather Fitzwilliam as payment for some land deal between the two. There was a minor scandal because the marriage took place only one month after our grandmother was dead and Lady Gwyneth was born in a short seven months as a healthy and robust young babe. After the old Earl’s death, the Dowager Matlock went to live with her sister, and was rarely heard from again. She even left Lady Gwyneth with our Grandmother Fitzwilliam to raise. Your mother was furious about the marriage and Lady Gwyneth’s birth.” Richard refilled his coffee cup and speared another piece of ham onto his fork like a k ebab.

Darcy wrinkled his nose. “Can you not use a p late?”

“Be grateful that I am not using the end of my long knife, as I would in camp.” Richard took a large bite, then continued around his breakfast. “When Lady Gwyneth was sixteen, a man began courting her. Grandfather Fitzwilliam was elated to have a man willing to take his baby sister, younger than his own children who were all married and having children of their own, and he did not do much in the way of vetting the young man. He simply handed over her twenty -t housand pound dowry and wished them luck. But he was a polygamist and left her with less than one -t housand and pregnant after six months. She sent word to my father of her situation, and he went to retrieve her at once and placed her in one of the remote Matlock holdings near Scarborough. She was delivered of healthy twin boys, a Geoffrey and Malcom Fitzwilliam. After our grandfather passed, my father placed the Scarborough estate in the name of her older son, Geoffrey. She has lived in the sea town ever since. Her sons are now about twenty -t hree years of age. The younger, Malcom, is the vicar in the town parish. The estate is relatively prosperous and supports a house in Scarborough town, as well as a generous allowance for the younger brother. My father visits her at least once a year, and I make an additional trip every time I am ordered to Newcastle for brigade trai ning.”

Darcy listened, wide -e yed , to the whole of the tale. He was vaguely aware of his grandfather’s youngest sister, but the circumstances causing her to be estranged from the greater Fitzwilliam family were completely unknown to him. How extraordinary that his family had shunned such a person as the daughter of the old philandering Earl, simply because her mother was used by men in power as a plaything to replace the beloved Countess. It also did not escape Darcy’s notice that her mother was not some low -b orn woman upon whom the Earl had taken pity after getting her pregnant. In fact, there was a line of those kinds of women from the time even before his first wife’s death. Nearly twelve known Fitzwilliam bastards had been placed with respectable merchant class families during the old man’s reign. No, this woman had been the daughter of an Earl herself, which is likely the only reason she had been “saved” with a marriage upon the death of their great -g randmother . Darcy was brought back to the conversation by Bin gley.

“How sad to hear of a real tale so much like Goldsmith’s tale of The Vicar of Wakefield . She would likely be a wonderful companion for Mrs. Wickham. Young enough to commiserate and comfortably guide the young mother through her confinement, but experienced enough to provide the steady hand of a mother.” Hearing the Colonel’s tale only reinforced Bingley’s desire to take his beautiful Jane far away from the expectations of the ton and live like simple, upstanding Englishmen. Like Mr. Bennet had l ived.

“Yes, Richard,” Darcy said. “I believe that situation would suit all admirably. Will you please send our aunt, Lady Gwyneth, an express with the req uest?”

“I will certainly send her an express, but we should not wait for a response. I shall accompany you to Hertfordshire to spread the news about Mrs. Wickham’s new living situation, then I shall take the young lady to Scarborough myself. As luck would have it, Mrs. Marshall, the Housekeeper of Lady Gwyneth’s Scarborough house, and her daughter Miss Marianne Marshall are in town now, trying to find Miss Marianne employment as a lady’s maid. They arrived six days ago and plan to return shortly. They can accompany myself and Mrs. Wickham all the way to her new home.”

“Is Mrs. Marshall one of the Grayson grandchildren? Cousin to my Mrs. Reyn olds?”

“Yes. Miss Marianne is a wonderful young girl, but has had no luck finding a position in London. She will be kept on in Scarborough until something can be secured for her.”

Darcy thought about the connection for just a moment before deciding to offer the position of lady’s maid for Elizabeth to Miss Marianne Marshall. She would need one as Georgiana’s social companion anyway, so the additional hire would not give away their true situation. Also, Elizabeth deserved a quality abigail to care for her. Darcy always preferred to hire house servants from families already serving the Darcys, and there was no family with more persons serving than the Graysons. “Do you think Miss Marianne would come to work for me as an upstairs maid, with the added responsibility of preparing Miss Elizabeth for Georgie’s social funct ions?”

“Yes, I believe that would be a wonderful position. I shall mention the situation to her upon my return to Matlock House.” Richard stood, setting his teacup down on the breakfast tray. “Now, I must go. I am tired and smell of horse. This afternoon, after I take a much -n eeded nap, I shall discuss the position with Mrs. Marshall and Miss Marianne, then contact a man I know about the fake marriage license, as I certainly do not expect either of you to know where to find such things. When do we leave for Hertfords hire?”

“I plan to leave at first light in two days, on the twenty -f ourth . I have several errands to run today as well, before going back to Cheapside to sign Miss Elizabeth’s contract with Edward. Perhaps we should all say farewell for now.” Darcy rose to see his guests out. He needed to ride directly to Doctor’s Commons to ensure he was able to apply for the special license t oday.

Bingley also stood. “Yes, gentlemen, I must also be going. I told my servants I was going to my club this morning, and I had best put in an appearance, so as to keep Caroline from suspecting my true location. Would you mind if I lied and told her I met you on the street and we had drinks at White’s to discuss the situation with our investments? I know you want to keep your house closed to callers, but a trip to the men’s club is hardly an invitation to call before the knocker is replaced. If you leave by the twenty -f ourth , surely she will not barge in, like the good Colonel did, before you remove to Pembe rley.”

“Yes, Charles. I believe one trip to White’s today is an acceptable lie to placate Caroline. Good luck with the storm that I am sure is brewing in her upstairs parlour. Shall I meet you back here at four p.m. so we can call on the Gardiners for tea, or would you rather the address to come dire ctly?”

“I will come back here. That way I can again tell Caroline that you asked me to accompany you on a trip to the Gardiners’ home to remedy the situation, instead of going alone. I shall be here, dressed to call at four p.m. sharp. Good day.”