An Abduction

Several days later Darcy and Elizabeth had accompanied Jane and Bingley to Netherfield Hall where Jane was to receive a tour of the house of which one day she was to be mistress. If the ostensible purpose was to review to the furnishings and furniture in order that she might consider which would require to be changed, in reality, both couples wished to escape, for an afternoon, Mrs. Bennet's desire to parade her daughter around the neighbourhood so as to share the happiness of her engagement with as many as possible. They had only managed to escape without Mrs. Bennet's insisting upon accompanying them by virtue of the fact she had taken a nap so as to be fresh for her triumphal tour later in the afternoon.

But escape they did and, after an hour touring the house, they had wandered outside to walk the paths of the Netherfield gardens. The couples had separated and Darcy and Elizabeth were so enjoyably engaged on a discussion of a Shakespearean play on which they held strong but opposing opinions that they were quite oblivious to their surroundings until a footman ran up gasping, "Mr. Darcy! Miss Elizabeth! Come quickly! An accident!"

Elizabeth first thought was that something had happened to Jane, "Jane? Has something happened to Jane?"

"No, ma'am. Miss Lydia!"

Elizabeth and Darcy looked at each other in amazement and immediately began running towards the house where they encountered Bingley and Jane coming around the other corner of the house and obviously as worried and confused as themselves. Hurrying inside they were informed by the butler that Miss Lydia had been carried upstairs to a bedroom and that the apothecary had been called. Elizabeth and Jane hurried to see their sister while Darcy and Bingley attempted to find someone who could tell them what had happened.

When Elizabeth and Jane entered the room, it was to find Lydia lying on the bed and crying and moaning in obvious discomfort. Mrs. Nichols, the Netherfield housekeeper, looked up as they approached and briskly stated, "She has a broken arm but no other serious injuries as far as I can determine."

"But what happened?" demanded Elizabeth.

"I cannot say, Miss Elizabeth. I cannot get two words of sense out of her. Something about Wickham and eloping but none of it makes much sense, I am afraid."

Elizabeth stopped in shock, "Wickham?" she gasped.

At Mrs. Nichols' nod, she attempted to control her thoughts. Her first instinct was to ensure privacy and, to this end, she thanked Mrs. Nichols for her help and assured her that she and Jane would care for their sister until the apothecary – Mr. Jones - arrived. Mrs. Nichols assented and directed the maid, who was cleaning Lydia's scratches, to return to her regular duties. As Elizabeth drew closer to Lydia she could see that the lower part of her left arm, cradled by her right hand, was bent at an unusual angle. As well, her dress was torn around the shoulder and the side of her face and upper arm badly scratched. Taking the cloth left by the maid she and Jane finished the job of cleaning the scratches, removing earth and gravel from the sores. Not wishing to do too much until the apothecary arrived, they satisfied themselves with laying clean cloths over the wounds.

Attempts to calm Lydia and find out what happened proved difficult; while her crying had lessened, she would not answer their questions at first – simply shaking her head when they pressed her more closely.

Finally, in exasperation, Elizabeth snapped, "Lydia, you will tell us eventually. Our father will not be satisfied with your silence! I suspect you have done something…tried to do something incredibly foolish! Eloping! Wickham!...Dear God, you were eloping with George Wickham?"

Lydia burst into a fresh torrent of tears but before Elizabeth could say more than, "You foolish girl! What have you…?" Mr. Jones entered the room, his displeasure at his patient being harangued evident in the glare he directed at Elizabeth.

She huffed and was silent for several minutes as he began his examination of Lydia. Finally, she could restrain herself no longer and, looking at Jane, said, "I am going down to find out what happened. You must stay with Lydia." And without waiting for Jane's agreement, hurried from the room and went looking for Darcy who, she was sure, had more information to share with her.

The butler directed her to the study where she found Darcy and Bingley listening to a man with whom she was quite unfamiliar. Seeing her enter the room, Darcy came to her asking, "Your sister, she will be well?"

"As well as one can be with a broken arm, I believe. She bears some scratches and bruises but nothing worse, I suspect. Mr. Jones and Jane are with her now. Can you tell me what has happened to her?"

"We are just finishing up talking to Brooks here. He found her and brought her to Netherfield. Let me finish with him and I will explain all." Saying which he led her to a chair beside him and asked Brooks several more questions. Satisfied as to the answers, he dismissed him and drew up a chair next to hers. Not waiting for his explanation, Elizabeth blurted, "Lydia would say nothing but eloping and Wickham. But how could she have come to be injured so?"

"That, I can explain but first, Brooks, whom you just met, is one of two grooms from Pemberley that I brought here to guard you and your sisters privately. I told no one, except your father and Bingley, about them and Bingley here had to be told since they stay here at Netherfield."

"Why the secrecy? Could I not have been told?"

"I could, and probably should, have told you but did not want to worry you unnecessarily which I thought you might do."

"I am not a child, Mr. Darcy! You do me no favours by hiding from me something which affects me so closely." Elizabeth realized that she had spoken too sharply and, after a brief pause, spoke in a softer voice, "However, I recognize the kindness of the intent and appreciate it."

"Well…Anyway, Brooks had followed your two sisters, Kitty and Mary, to visit your Aunt Philip and had dismounted and was watering his horse some distance away – your sisters were also accompanied by a groom who was waiting inside in the kitchen apparently. Anyway, as Brooks was watering his horse, a curricle came through Meryton at a very fast clip and was past Brooks before he fully realized who was in it; however, he recognized your sister, Lydia, and wondered at what she was doing. Failing to see an escort, he immediately became worried, mounted and gave chase. By this time the curricle was, according to Brooks, some quarter mile ahead of him but he was quickly able to overtake it and within a few minutes had closed to a hundred yards. As he was riding he could see you sister looking back and pointing at him and by the time he had closed to less than a hundred yards, the driver himself looked back. Brooks said that it looked to him that your sister was pushed out of the curricle as it was moving. As he passed her, he could see that she was injured. He admitted that he could have caught the curricle but felt it more important to help your sister and stopped his chase." Darcy spoke with some bitterness as he said, "That was obviously Wickham's intent, his hope, and he was able to escape – this time."

Elizabeth shook her head in bemusement, "It was Wickham, then?"

Darcy nodded, "Brooks could not be sure. The man was bearded but he states that Miss Lydia claimed it to be him. I think it unlikely, under the circumstances, to be anyone else."

"She chose to elope with Wickham? After all that has been said about that man! Did she believe none of it? Obviously not, but how did this come about? She must speak."

"I agree. Your father will be most seriously upset over this but…let me finish Brooks' tale." At her nod he continued, "Once he had returned to Miss Lydia, he found that she was unlikely to be able to walk due to the pain from her arm. He thought Netherfield was the closest spot to bring her and, since he did not think himself capable of carrying her that distance, he placed her on the back of his horse." Darcy grimaced, "He said he had never heard such a crying and whining in his life; but they made it safely and he said he was quite happy to turn her over to Mrs. Nichols while he waited to tell me of what had happened."

Bingley spoke up for the first time, "I do not understand why she would do such a thing."

Elizabeth ignored this comment and turning to Darcy asked, "Has a note been sent to my father?"

"No. I shall send one now. Brooks can deliver it quickly."

A note was written and sent off within minutes. Elizabeth and the two gentlemen remained in the study until Mr. Jones came to impart the news that Lydia had suffered no worse injury than a broken arm and some scratches. She would remain in bed for several days at least but was young, healthy and should heal quickly. He had administered a small dose of laudanum and left more should her arm pain her further. She was sleeping now and he recommended against moving her for a week at least.

Shortly after Mr. Jones had returned to his home, Jane joined them having ensured that Lydia was being attended by a maid. Mr. Bennet arrived a quarter hour later both confused and concerned. After being apprised of events, he immediately went to look upon Lydia but returned shortly to report that between laudanum and her distress she was hardly comprehensible. After some thought he indicated that he would prefer Elizabeth and Jane to return to Longbourn – for the sake of propriety – and would send Mary to nurse his youngest daughter. While both Elizabeth and Jane would have preferred to spend the evening in the company of their betrothed at Netherfield, they also realized that it would be most improper since there was no older lady to act as chaperone. Mr. Bennet departed for Longbourn in company with his two oldest daughters who were assured that their betrothed would journey there also for supper. Mr. Bennet had impressed upon his daughters that Mrs. Bennet should only be told that Lydia had suffered an accident while riding in a curricle. The circumstances and the name of the driver would be suppressed for the time being. That Lydia's accident would be the main subject of conversation during the meal was to be expected although Mrs. Bennet was diverted – to the satisfaction of all – to discuss the upcoming Assembly and waxed eloquent upon the pleasure of talk there of one daughter engaged and another courted by a most eligible suitor. That it would be a most suitable occasion to announce a second engagement was broadly hinted at, to the mortification of Elizabeth and the amusement of Mr. Bennet and, to Elizabeth's surprise, Mr. Darcy. However, when this topic had exhausted Mrs. Bennet's conjectures and effusions, Mr. Bennet had the happy thought to inquire as to where Jane's wedding clothes were to be purchased and the even happier thought to suggest that Meryton would be the appropriate location. To this Mrs. Bennet could not be persuaded and waxed long and eloquently on the benefits and superiority of venturing to London to acquire all the necessities. After dinner she remained so absorbed in the topic as to retire to her rooms to begin preparation of the list of items that would be most appropriate to a young lady marrying a man of five thousand a year.

If Mrs. Bennet could be so diverted, the remainder of their party could not; perforce Kitty had to be made aware of the essentials of what had transpired and pledged – on the forfeit of her allowance for a month – to secrecy on the matter. Since Lydia could, as yet, not be questioned as to the particulars of her presence in the curricle, they could only review such details as were known until she could be questioned the next day.

So it was that the next morning, shortly after breakfast, Mr. Bennet, Jane and Elizabeth were welcomed by Mr. Bingley at Netherfield. The betrothed couple were not long in finding themselves pleasantly engaged in touring the rooms of Netherfield, suitably chaperoned by Mr. Darcy and Mary, in order to assess what changes the future mistress might contemplate.

Mr. Bennet and Elizabeth were less enjoyably engaged in meeting with Lydia so as to find out how she had come to be in the curricle with Wickham. She, having been denied a further dose of laudanum – as expressly ordered by Mr. Bennet – was in some discomfort from her broken arm and the various bruises she had suffered. If the prime motivation for Mr. Bennet's direction had been a desire to have her coherent for their discussion, it may be also easily understood if he had felt little sympathy – and perhaps some satisfaction – in observing her discomfort. After her pleas for relief had been refused several times, she was finally given to understand that such would not be available until a full accounting for her actions was made. To this she reluctantly agreed – a circumstance which did little to comfort either of her questioners as to the probable propriety of such actions.

The discussion took the better part of an hour and such information as could be obtained was gleaned from a most reluctant subject. In essence, Lydia had not fully believed the warnings about Mr. Wickham; his handsome features and amiable manners having so recommended him to her that she was willing to accept his assurances that he was being most infamously treated by all and sundry and that Mr. Darcy, in particular, was quite prejudiced against him for reasons which he had previously related to her. She had met him, secretly, on several occasions and, on the last such occasion, been persuaded of his attachment to her and agreed to elope with him. Since that meeting had not been planned, she had not the opportunity to pack any clothing and thus they were - according to Lydia off to London to shop for the same before proceeding to Gretna Green to be married. She had thus accompanied Mr. Wickham quite willingly and the speed with which he had passed through Meryton had excited no thoughts in her other than pleasure and excitement. That he had become increasingly agitated she had noted but had not realized that it derived from the recognition of being pursued, until she herself had looked behind the curricle to note the rider who was giving chase. It had been clear – to her - that they were to be overtaken quite soon but she had been totally shocked to be suddenly thrust from the curricle by Wickham. Indeed he had struck her several times to ensure her departure and her fall had been quite awkward as she struck her head on the hard ground as she landed. Her disparagement of Mr. Wickham and his treatment of her were quite as vociferous as her previous commendations had been and she felt herself to be quite ill-used by the whole experience and quite unable to feel that her behaviour was wanting in any respect. With this, her father – and Elizabeth – were very much in opposition; and, if Mr. Bennet had any reservations about sending her to school to learn proper conduct, they were vanquished by her attitude.

Some few additional minutes were spent in convincing Lydia to claim that she had been forced into the curricle – her presence there could hardly be denied since she had been seen by half of Meryton. It took threats of banishment to a school in the north and no allowance for her to comprehend that Mr. Bennet was both serious and resolved to have his way before he was convinced that she would comply with his directives. Elizabeth, who had largely been silent throughout the interrogation - mortified by her sister's want of sense and propriety and, upon reflection, by the failure of both her parents in her sister's education – could find no words to either chastise or sympathize with Lydia and left the room as silently as she had entered it.

She and her father removed to the study, there to apprise Darcy of the circumstances of Lydia's involvement. He made no comment other than to approve of the measures that Mr. Bennet had taken and the cast of his countenance remained sombre throughout. Elizabeth found it almost impossible to look at him, her embarrassment extreme and the errant thought crossed her mind that he might be extremely reluctant to attach himself to such a family. Would he end their courtship as a result of Lydia's actions? It seemed likely, since he could not fail to attach great importance to preserving his family's name and reputation. Therefore it was with a mixture of trepidation and embarrassment that she agreed to his request to join him on a walk in the Netherfield gardens. Mr. Bennet, recognizing their need for privacy, did not require a chaperone provided they were in view of the house.

Darcy and Elizabeth walked silently out to the gardens and when Darcy placed her hand in the crook of his elbow, she felt a palpable sense of relief. He could not be considering ending their courtship if he acted so. Of that she was certain. How else he might feel about the issue, she could not ascertain but she was positive that he was angry; however, it did appear that her family was not necessarily the cause or source of that anger. So wrapped in her thoughts was she that his voice surprised her.

"You appear quite downcast, Miss Elizabeth. I realize that your sister's situation must be of a concern. I hope there is nothing else that concerns you."

Elizabeth forced herself to speak, "It is true that Lydia has been quite…successful in mortifying me. I had not thought her so foolish as this but, on reflection, she has been poorly instructed in proper behaviour."

"She is but fifteen, Miss Elizabeth. There has been no harm done this time and she has time to improve. I suspect the lesson will be taken to heart."

"I am not as sanguine as yourself. I did not hear from her any expression of regret or understanding of the impropriety of her actions."

"Schooling becomes even more important therefore."

"On that we may agree."

"Is there aught else to concern you?"

Elizabeth was reluctant to raise her concern and, after several moments, asked instead, "Why were you so sombre, so angry before?"

"Did I appear so? I am sorry." He shook his head, "I was angry at Wickham for his actions and at my failure to apprehend him before he could further harm your family. His actions yesterday caught me quite by surprise. I had not expected such precipitous actions from him. It was rather desperate now that I think on it. Quite unlike him."

"What shall you do now?"

"I have informed my cousin of what has happened and he apparently is quite active in his efforts to discover Wickham; however, as he has a horse and curricle at his disposal, the area he could be hiding is rather extensive which makes the search more difficult."