AN: I did not create P&P. That honour belongs to Miss Jane Austen, to whom I am forever grateful.
This is another of those "it just popped into my head" tales. I was going through my audio files tonight and labeling them for their respective stories when I came across this piece. I listened and wondered why I had let the poor story languish on my phone for months. However, I was also rather happy for an excuse to look away from the full length story that has been both my joy and and my bane these past few days. So, I popped in my headphones, transcribed the tale, added a bit of narration, an epilogue, the only title I could come up with, and...voila! As are all such tales born to me in this manner, this has not been given the love and attention of my betas so I apologize in advance for any errors. And now, without further ado, I give to you...Recovered and Restored
Elizabeth Bennet was furious and the target of her anger had just attempted to issue yet another apology. She declined both his invitation to sit and to partake of refreshment, though the leather chair by the fire beckoned with the promise of comfort and the smell of food caused her mouth to water. No, she would not surrender to the insufferable man before her. She stood with her hands clenched behind her back so he would not see them tremble and waited until the servants had departed before unleashing her fury. "Mr. Darcy, I do not believe I care to hear another apology. I have received apologies from your butler, three footmen and a scullery maid." Elizabeth's eyes flashed fire as she lashed out.
"Miss Bennet, I…what can I say that you might wish to hear that would bring some relief to your clearly troubled mind or to beg pardon for my unpardonable behaviour?" I knew, he thought, I knew you would not like to find out this way. I knew you should have been consulted. But I shall overcome your fury. I shall.
"That will do for a start, Mr. Darcy. At least you acknowledge that spiriting from my home in the dead of night was absolutely unpardonable. I believe Mr. Darcy, what I require is an explanation. Why? Why did you do this? And why now? I have heard nothing from you in six months! Six months and not one word! I trusted you, Mr. Darcy. I trusted you with my family's deepest secret and greatest shame and you LEFT! I thought we had developed a trust between us. I thought that you, you of all people would understand. And instead, you just walked away. Without so much as a by-your-leave, you walked out of the room that day and I haven't heard from you since." Elizabeth felt her control slipping. She could not believe she had just shouted at Mr. Darcy in his own study and now she was on the verge of tears. Again.
Her voice was anguished as she spoke of his betrayal and hearing it sent a shock of pain through his heart. She loved him, of that much he was now certain. Only love could cause such violent emotion.
"Miss Bennet, there is so much with which I must acquaint you. Please, I can only assure you that if you will but give me the opportunity, I can acquit myself of wrongdoing." He begged her understanding and prayed she would hear him out.
"You must have a great tale to tell indeed, Mr. Darcy. Do you have any idea of the consequences of your actions last night? Any idea at all?"
"Pardon me?" Certainly his actions could be considered officious, meddlesome and even rude, but if all was done according to the plans he laid out with her father, the consequences would be mostly in her favour. Was it possible she had been told nothing of what had transpired?
Elizabeth heaved an exasperated sigh and continued. "Once news of Lydia's folly became known our family was barely able to show themselves in public for months! We received no visitors, my mother could not go to town to visit her own sister and Mrs. Phillips could only come to us in secret for fear her husband's business might suffer. My sister, Jane. My dear, sweet, sister who has never thought ill of another human being could not show her face in town! Because not only has she been held to account for Lydia's idiocy, Mr. Bingley ran the instant there was a whiff of scandal. He abandoned her and now every time she goes out there are whispers and pointed fingers and barely concealed contempt for the jilted girl with the scandalous sister! Things were just starting to change for us. Just starting to change. We have only in the past few weeks been able to attend services without being openly mocked or scorned. And now another Bennet sister has disappeared in the dead of night. Mr. Darcy, you have ruined us! For my own sake I am not sure I even care. But, Mary? Kitty? Come, surely you know their chances for marriage were never good. Mary is pedantic and self-righteous and the only accomplishments she can claim are a small talent on the pianoforte and an even smaller improvement of her mind. Still, she might have recovered from the scandal sufficiently to marry a clerk or shopkeeper. Jane might have married if she could but leave Meryton and her family behind and Catherine? Catherine had almost no hope even before Lydia's recklessness became known. She has no accomplishments and has done nothing broaden her mind. The only hope she ever had in marriage was that a somewhat respectable man might someday be so blinded by her charms as to not notice her insipid, vacuous mind! But even that small hope is gone. With no dowry and two sisters mired in scandal, the other three will never marry! How can you possibly acquit yourself of that, Mr. Darcy?" Exhausted by her fury and grief, Elizabeth finally sank into a chair. The leather was warm from the fire and as she sat she realized this must be his chair for it smelled of him. It smelled of spice and sandalwood and she willed herself not to cry.
"Miss Bennet, I had not realized you had not been told everything. Please allow me to speak. Truly, I think you will find the circumstances are not quite so desperate as they at first appear."Good God, he thought, how could her parents not have informed her? Darcy was truly chagrined and wished yet again that he had taken the trouble to tell her himself before now. But how could he have known they would say nothing to her? Then, this was the Bennet family, perhaps he should have known Mr. Bennet would not trouble himself to relay any information to his daughter. Well, there was nothing for it. The tale must be told now. "Yes, I did have you removed from your home in the dead of night. However, the story has already been widely circulated that an express was received in the middle of the night from your sister Lydia. Your newly widowed sister Lydia. In it, she wrote to beg your assistance. Given your great love for your siblings, you could not help but go to her immediately. You will, perhaps, be thought reckless, but not immoral. It is also widely known that you traveled with a companion, a maid. As she was heartily aware of the consequences of her own foolish decisions and did not wish to bring further shame on the family, when your sister sent for you she also sent her maid to accompany you to London."
"Wait. My what? Where? You found Lydia?" Elizabeth was shocked. It could not be true. It was impossible to believe. Yet she had never known him to lie and surely he would not do so now.
"I did. It was why I left that day. I wasn't walking away; I was going after her. Can you not see? I had to go after her."
"Why? Why would you take so much upon yourself?"
Mr. Darcy knelt before her as he spoke. "Surely, Miss Bennet you know the answer to that question. It, it is you. It has always been for you. I could not allow this shame to fall on you. I am heartily sorry, deeply, deeply sorry for what your family has had to suffer. I can only hope that once Lydia has been restored to you, some measure of the shame might be lifted." His eyes never left hers during this recitation and the gentleness of his voice nearly broke her.
Elizabeth whispered, "Was she really married? Truly?"
"No." He began softly, then continued in a stronger voice, "No, Wickham never married your sister. He never intended to marry her. George Wickham was as worthless as he had ever been. However, he is dead. And he very thoughtfully died in the same shipwreck that Lydia survived. The captain's log and all official documents on board went down with the ship. We have already put forth the story that they were married on board and that the records were destroyed in the accident. In doing so, your sister retains her respectability. She may yet be thought of as wild and uncontrolled, but also as married and then widowed. This makes her an object of sympathy and tragedy as opposed to one of mockery and scorn. It is only natural to believe that upon her recovery she would write to the one of her sisters she thought most likely to assist her. You." At some point Darcy's hand found hers and Elizabeth found she had no impulse to remove it nor to rebuke his familiarity.
She found her voice. "So you found Lydia. Where?"
"Portsmouth. In a…she was…" Darcy decided to spare both Elizabeth and Lydia this final indignity and said, "She was working as a maid. Wickham was killed in a shipwreck, Lydia was on board the ship. However, once she was recovered she was afraid to face her family and instead took work as a maid." He moved from his knees to take the chair nearest her.
In any other circumstance the idea of Lydia as a maid would be a cause for laughter. Now it was only another source of grief. "She could not have been a very good maid. Lydia was not made for any serious labour. Foolish, foolish, child! Did she not realize staying away made it worse? That it would have been better had she returned? That we would have been better? My mother has been lost in grief for her favourite child! We have been denied even the comfort of knowing she was well!"
"I do not believe it was in Lydia's power to realize much of anything at that time. She was still struggling with the understanding that she was very much alone and Wickham had never loved her. So...we have done what we can. I convinced her to come to London. Here in fact, to this house. She is upstairs even now. I convinced her to allow me to bring you to her. She refused to write to her parents, sisters or even to her aunt and uncle. She refused to do anything to reach out to her family. She is terrified of their reactions."
"Has she accepted this ridiculous story? Is anyone expected to accept it?" Though her words denied the possibility, Elizabeth was already beginning to acknowledge the likelihood of the tale being believed. Though Lydia's previous behaviour left no doubt of her willingness to consent to an elopement, the people of Meryton were already seeking ways to excuse the scandal and make way for the Bennets to rejoin society. This story, however improbable, would give everyone an acceptable way to pretend nothing untoward had ever occurred. As she pondered this, another thought occurred. "Good, God! Is she with child?"
"No. She was fortunate in that regard."
"So Lydia is to be restored to us and so long as my family tells this story you have concocted, our respectability is to be restored to us as well. It comes too late for Jane and Bingley, but I am no longer certain I consider that a great loss. And you did all of this," she gestured vaguely with her free hand, "for me."
"I did. I love you Miss Bennet. I think I always have."
"I love you too, Mr. Darcy. I believe I always shall."
Epilogue
Lydia Bennet was restored to her family and in a few short days all of Meryton declared how they had always believed there to be some sort of misunderstanding regarding the youngest Bennet daughter. For it was widely known that all the Bennet sisters were very good sorts of girls. Mr. Bingley was widely reviled for his ill use of Jane Bennet who was once again the most sought after girl in the county. Mrs. Bennet crowed of her good fortune in having her favourite child returned to her side while Mr. Bennet merely shook his head and waited for life to resume its normal, sedate pace. The Bennet parents lived out their days in Hertfordshire, though they often traveled to visit their daughters. Mrs. Bennet did not live to see Charlotte Lucas become the mistress of Longbourn. The good lady went to her grave in full possession of her position and her nerves. She was joined just three months later by Mr. Bennet who had been surprised to discover he missed his wife.
The Bennet sisters were somewhat less forgiving than their parents had been of the neighbours who had so cruelly deserted them in their time of need. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy endured an engagement that was both longer and more public than either would have preferred. Once they pair were safely wed, they repaired immediately to Pemberley where the heir was born a respectable fourteen months later. Jane, to the surprise of no one, and Lydia, to the surprise of all, joined the Darcy family in Derbyshire near the time of Elizabeth's confinement. In the course of her marriage, Elizabeth gave birth to seven children, five of whom survived to adulthood. In time, Jane was married to the rector of Kympton parish. She rejoiced in the love of her husband and three children and considered herself fortunate to live so near her most beloved sister. She had long ceased to regret the loss of her inconstant suitor. The middle Bennet sister, Mary, moved to London with her Gardiner relations and eventually married the son of one of Mr. Gardiner's business associates. The couple maintained a connection to trade and also eventually purchased a small estate in Suffolk where they learned to be content with doting on their many nieces and nephews as they had no children of their own. Catherine surprised her family by undertaking to develop some few accomplishments of which she would not be ashamed. In doing so she discovered a heretofore unknown talent for languages and was soon fluent in Italian and French. This was rather useful as she was introduced to an Italian Count one evening while visiting her sister, Elizabeth, in town. The Count was completely charmed by the lovely country miss and the pair were wed six weeks later. Though Catherine saw her family but rarely, she was a faithful correspondent and often included sketches of her home, her five children, and the magnificent sea that was her view each morning. As for Lydia, she remained at Pemberley with Darcy and Elizabeth for her lifetime. She became as a sister to Georgiana, comforted Elizabeth in her times of grief, and was the favourite aunt of her many nieces and nephews.
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