In a matter of two and a quarter hours after his departure from Lampton, Mr. Darcy had come to a calculated conclusion and had not wasted one moment in doing all that was necessary before he could away to London to set his plan in order. His hasty arrival back home had alarmed Georgiana (as he knew it would), and as she tailed him through the halls to his study, hardly keeping up with two skips to meet his one stride, she inquired, "What has happened that has brought you back so soon - and so agitated!" He had turned to her as he met his study threshold, his brows knit tightly together, his lip held in a peculiar scowl.

"I apologize for alarming you, dear one," he said softly. "A very important matter has taken Miss Elizabeth away from Derbyshire this morning; I only met her as she was taking her leave -" he paused with a sharp exhale before continuing "- Georgiana, I must disappoint you again. There's an order of business that calls me back to London and I must see to it at once, but I shall not stay there a day longer than the matter requires. Will you forgive my absence once more, dear sister?"

"Of course, brother," she replied, "but what could be the matter that must take you away? I have not seen you so since-" and there, she stopped herself before she could say more. Darcy then reached for her hand and encompassed it firmly in his.

"Do not worry yourself with memories we need not recount. All is well, Georgiana, I promise you... however, I must see to this matter, and I must away as soon as possible."

Georgiana had waved to him as she always did when he set off yet again, though he could not find it in himself to reach out a hand to wave back or even look back in her direction as he sped toward London. He knew the days of travel ahead were going to be filled with horrid regret; if only he had not been too prideful in his personal matters, Wickham's character might have been known to general society, and Lydia Bennet might have still been at Longbourn, with her sisters... His poor, dear Elizabeth. He imagined her at Longbourn, attempting to dull the cries of her animated mother, who's nerves no doubt had endeavored too much a strain. Though she would be distraught herself, he knew she would take every charge she could to assure her family and ease their worry. It pained him to think of her thus, that she must go through the same experience he had a year and a half before with Georgiana, but in this case, Wickham had succeeded in stealing his prey away with him.

Mr. Darcy was aware of only one person who would willingly aid Wickham in such a dubious errand, and it was her residence he sought out when he first arrived in London.

-:-

It is done. It was not done in as much haste, nor with as much discretion as he had hoped for. Nonetheless, everything was - for the moment - resolved. Almost four weeks of anxieties put to rest in one morning. Mr. Darcy played his role as witness, and now, as he watched from the steps of a small London church, Wickham followed his new bride into their carriage as her girlish laughter pierced the air.

It is done.

The wretch was made to face what he was due. He would do as he always would, Darcy knew, but for now, he had been made to do what was right. There was comfort enough in that. Darcy took the most comfort in the fact that the Bennet family would be spared severe degradation, that perhaps this resolve would ease any pain caused by the situation. Of course, he only cared for one Bennet's comfort. She was kept uninformed of his involvement in the affair, and he hoped that it would stay that way for as long as it could be helped. He knew of her curious mind; it was nonsensical to think it would always remain secret, but as he thought of what she might think of him, he could not stomach it. She would feel obligated to thank him, guilty she had ever imposed on him, and she would put the weight all on her square little shoulders. He did not desire her gratitude, nor any shallow apologies. He wished only that she thought better of him, always. He could never stop loving her, but he had reprimanded himself time and time again; to expect her to return his passion was far too selfish of a desire. Particularly now, it would only result in deeper disappointment. He had to concede that friendship was the highest regard in which she could hold him, and to label himself as her 'friend' seemed even more dubious than the possibility of her companionship.

The carriage was pulling away from the church when he sighed to himself once again, watching it slowly roll its way down the street.

It is done.

-:-

"We must thank you once more, Mr. Darcy," Mr. Gardiner said to the gentleman before he and his wife stowed away into their waiting carriage. "I know not how to-"

"Reimbursement is unnecessary, Mr. Gardiner," Mr. Darcy assured him not for the first time, "both in currency and favors. I have said before; the responsibility must be mine." Mr. Gardiner went on as if to press his argument, but before anything could be said, Mr. Darcy held up his hand to halt the gentleman and murmured, "Please, sir. I will have it no other way." Mr. Gardiner nodded understandably, released himself from his wife's side, and turned to attend to the carriage. Mrs. Gardiner maintained her gaze upon the young, solemn gentleman in front of her.

"I know that all has been said," she began, "and I know your position on the matter will not be swayed, but I must thank you myself. There are -" here she hesitated to continue, and Darcy waited patiently for her to speak again. As if gathering her courage, Mrs. Gardiner inhaled deeply, and pulling her shoulders back, she said, "I know there are others who would regret they could not offer their particular gratitude, and so I speak not only for myself, but for them." Mr. Darcy's heart could not bear it. He knew of whom the lady spoke, of the sentiments that particular person would wish to relay, but he would not allow himself to dwell on those thoughts until he was in the comfort of his own solitude. He knew she meant well, and as the Gardiners departed, he could not help but think to himself the similarities between aunt and niece. He could almost laugh at himself, being so transparent that Mrs. Gardiner could not help but see how he pined, how although he did wish to do everyone right, all efforts to recover Lydia Bennet could only have been for that one person who's wishes Mrs. Gardiner was determined to represent. Before his thoughts were reeling once more, he moved to his carriage and promptly forced himself to focus on moving forward.

Well, what can I say? I've once again made it seem as if I have abandoned this ramble, but here I am. I have been working on little tidbits for this thing at a snail's pace, as well as trying to address other ideas which command my attention (not to mention life, but we all know what a sour mistress she is). I wanted to wait until I had a decent amount of material before posting again, and now I have a few things backed up, so I figured no time is better than the present. I have reread what I have here so far, and that will definitely have to be edited. I apologize to your poor eyes. As much as I think this site is for fun and shouldn't be taken too seriously, I have to try and at least give proper grammar, punctuation, etc. Also if someone knows how to fix the formatting so that there's not a huge gap between lines every time I have pressed return, that would be very helpful. Copy and paste has not been my friend here.

That being said, enjoy. And if you don't, well, I'm sure something else on here will be tolerable enough to tempt you.