Friday, February 12, 1813 – Darcy House, London
Darcy's expectations regarding the difficulties he would face in recovering Miss Lydia were proven to be very accurate. Since he could not assume that Lydia had given her real name at any shelter, after confirming with the Director of the establishment that they had no record of a Lydia Bennet or a Lydia Wickham, he then had to meet every resident in the shelter. His business responsibilities did not disappear and decisions there were required. Consequently, he conducted such business in the mornings and only when that was complete did he consider himself free to search for Lydia. His list included some fifteen 'homes' which sheltered unwed mothers, former prostitutes and other young women of similar misfortune. It was taking him about a day to search each home. His evenings were kept free for normal social activities, visiting Elizabeth and Georgiana. He wished to maintain an appearance of regular, unexceptional behaviour so as to avoid any undue notice from family or friends. It was not easy since he wanted nothing more than to visit Elizabeth every day.
When he had begun his search, Darcy had sent a maid to request Mrs. Hodgkins, his housekeeper, to come to his study. When she appeared, he asked her to close the door and then, after ensuring she realized the need for strict secrecy, revealed that he was going to try and recover a young girl who had been debauched by Wickham. He needed a room prepared on the third floor, quite apart from the family rooms. Mrs. Hodgkins had been in service with the Darcy family for over thirty years and was a trusted employee. Her reliability was unquestioned.
Today, after nearly a fortnight of searching, he was at the St. Francis Home for Distressed Women which was located on the edge of Spitalfields. It was a respectable looking building, considering the area. Darcy approached the building and asked to see the Director to whom he was quickly taken. The Director, after being apprised of his mission, checked his record journal and searching for several minutes was able to state that a Lydia Bennet had indeed been taken in by their shelter and was still a resident. He sent for Lydia and while they waited, retrieved such information as they had on her. "Miss Bennet arrived here on November 5 of the past year. She was quite ill at the time and we think had been with child but lost it. She has since recovered. She has said little of her background, and would not divulge the names of her parents and definitely did not want them to be contacted."
A knock on the door announced Lydia's arrival. She was ushered into the room and requested to sit. Her surprise at seeing Darcy was obvious but her manner lacked the insolence that characterized her previous behaviour. There was, in fact, a touch of fear, or reluctance, as well as shame in her greeting, "Mr. Darcy, what are you doing here?"
"I have been searching for you. Your family is quite worried."
"You have not told them I am here, have you?"
The alarm in her voice was obvious and Darcy immediately tried to calm her, "No, indeed. I am the only one who knows where you are." He paused and looking at her as calmly as he could manage, repeated himself, "They are very concerned about you. Will you not let them help you?"
"I cannot! I cannot go home!"
Darcy thought for a moment and said, "I understand. Would you allow the Gardiners to help? Your two eldest sisters are living with them now. I know they would want to see you. Your parents need not know."
"I don't know. What would become of me?"
"I think that is something you and the Gardiners will have to discuss. Could I suggest a simple solution until such time as you and the Gardiners can decide what is best? I would like you to stay at Darcy House in secret. If you go to the Gardiners, it will be much more difficult to hide your presence than at my home. Under the circumstances, we need to prevent anyone else from knowing where you are. You do understand the need for such secrecy, I hope."
"Oh yes, I have listened to the stories the other girls tell and my situation has been made very clear to me. I do not know what you plan, Mr. Darcy but I seem to have few choices left to me. George Wickham used me very ill indeed and I have to believe, used you so as well. He was lying about you, was he not?"
"Yes Miss Lydia, he was." Darcy was rather surprised that this girl had reached this conclusion. He had not thought her to be that sensible.
"Why are you doing this? I am nothing to you and you don't even like us."
"If I had warned people about Wickham when I was in Hertfordshire, it is possible that he would have been banned from most places and you might not have been fooled by him."
"I am not sure that I would have listened or believed you. He was most persuasive and I wanted to be convinced."
Turning to the Director, he requested that someone help Lydia gather her few possessions and take her to the carriage. Once Lydia had left to go to her room, Darcy turned to the Director and extending his hand, shook that of the Director and vowed to inform Lord _ of his assistance and his appreciation of such.
Once they returned to Darcy House, the carriage was driven around to the servants' entrance and Lydia hustled inside. Once he had turned her over to the ministrations of Mrs. Hodgkins, Darcy immediately wrote a note to his doctor requesting his presence as soon as possible. The footman who would deliver the note was told to wait for a response. Darcy had now to inform the Gardiners.
The Gardiners were just finishing dinner when Darcy's messenger arrived at the door and delivered Darcy's message to Mr. Gardiner as he sat at the table. Tonight the only guest was Captain Stovall. Mr. Darcy had been expected. He had sent his regrets since urgent business would prevent his attendance. Mr. Gardiner looked at the outside and said with some surprise, "It is from Mr. Darcy!" He read it quickly and his explosive "Good Lord!" startled everyone. He read it again and then looked at everyone and before speaking, quickly stifled what he was going to say. Instead he looked at his wife and asked her to request their governess to see the children to the nursery. He then asked everyone to join him in his study.
As Captain Stovall made to leave the room, he was detained by Mr. Gardiner who looked at him saying, "Captain, this is a family matter involving my missing niece. You are very soon to be a part of this family and are welcome to join us, should you wish to do so."
The Captain simply said, "If I can be of service, I will."
Mr. Gardiner nodded and followed him into the room and then, looking at his wife, two nieces and the Captain, he answered their inquiring looks by saying, "I will read you Mr. Darcy's note,"
Mr. Gardiner,
I must request your immediate presence at Darcy House. I suggest that Mrs. Gardiner accompany you along with your two nieces but that I will leave to your discretion. Simply put, I have recovered your youngest niece. She is currently here at my home. I am awaiting a visit from my doctor to examine her but to my eyes she seems healthy, although much restrained in behaviour. I have sent my carriage to bring you as quickly as possible. I have attempted to bring her here without any attention. I suggest the reason for your visit here be kept secret as well.
F. Darcy
Mr. Gardiner gave everyone a few minutes to comprehend the message and then, looking sternly, said, "The reason for coming into my study is to ensure that no word of what is happening is heard by a servant. Unless anyone thinks otherwise, I suggest we ready ourselves to leave immediately." His suggestion finding nothing but eager compliance, the carriage departed within a quarter hour for Darcy House.
Elizabeth could hardly comprehend the speed with which Darcy had recovered Lydia. "Uncle, I am all amazed at Mr. Darcy's success. You and my father searched for weeks and weeks without success and yet he has found them in a fortnight. I do not understand how this was possible."
"No more do I, Lizzy. Mr. Darcy must have resources that we did not possess but this truly amazes me."
The paucity of information precluded any significant discussion about Lydia other than the facts that she was alive, healthy and somewhat restrained in manner. Finally, the carriage drew up in front of Darcy House and everyone was ushered inside, divested of their outerwear and shown directly to Darcy's study. He stood when they entered and went directly to Elizabeth. Taking her hand, and motioning to the others to find a seat, he led her to sit beside him on the sofa and then looking at them all, he began, "First, I have ordered tea and coffee. It should be here in a few minutes. I have also arranged for my doctor to visit Lydia. He arrived a few minutes ago and is with her now. He will join us when his examination is complete. Once the tea and coffee is delivered, I will explain how I discovered Miss Lydia."
A maid delivered the tea and coffee within minutes and departed, closing the door behind her. Once he saw that everyone had been served, Darcy began, "I have a confession of my own which I must make first. I was not in enough control of myself when I first learned of Miss Lydia's loss to risk talking about it. You see, around the end of September last, I received a letter from George Wickham ….."
When Darcy finished, he looked down his hands and quietly said, "You have no idea how many times over the past days I have reproached myself for my actions. I thought only of my family and protecting Georgiana. I thought I was honouring my father's wishes for the last time in this regard. I knew I was only changing where George could exercise his propensities but I thought that society there would deal with him more harshly than ours. I had no idea that he had become so callous. In the past, his victims were left in the care of their family. I did not expect such behaviour."
"Mr. Darcy, I think you take too much upon yourself," responded Mr. Gardiner.
"I agree!" echoed Elizabeth, "you could not have known about Lydia."
Darcy just shook his head, "Nevertheless, I should have made it impossible for any young woman to be left in his company."
"Mr. Darcy, none of us had any idea of an attachment between Lydia and Mr. Wickham. You could not; we did not anticipate such an event."
Darcy then explained his search for Lydia, touching on Mrs. Younge, Mrs. James, and the Chairman of the charitable organization and finally finding Lydia at the St. Francis home. When he was done, he simply said, "I was incredibly lucky. Miss Lydia could easily have been in a hospital or dead. There are many young girls who never make it to one of these shelters and according to the Director at St. Francis, she was quite ill when she arrived. She is safe here and I think I can protect her secrecy here more so than at Gracechurch Street but that is something for you to decide. Now that she is found, the question you face is what shall be done with her. I must add she seems adamant that her father and mother not be told of her whereabouts. Mr. Gardiner?"
"I started thinking about this problem when I entered the carriage. The usual approach is for the girl to be sent away to a distant relative in Ireland or Scotland or somewhere equally remote. I have no relations in those countries. I have never heard Thomas speak of any such either. I would very much agree that my sisters not be made aware of any of the particulars else it will be all over Meryton within hours.
Mrs. Gardiner shook her head but said nothing. Both Jane and Elizabeth remained silent although Darcy could see Elizabeth wanted to say something and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She shook her head in response but gave him a faint smile. Darcy looked at Mr. Gardiner and with some caution began to speak, "I have a proposal but it obviously requires your approval and Lydia's compliance. As soon as I began to search for her, I realized that, if I were fortunate enough to discover her, the problem of where she would go must arise. I had a possible solution in mind which could retrieve the reputation of the Bennet family and, I admit, serve my purposes as well. The seeds of the idea came from a letter I received from the steward of my Scottish estate. One of the crops my tenant farmers there grow well is sons. Land is scarce and unattached farms rare indeed. Every year it seems I am approached by second and third sons enquiring about the possibility of a tenant farm on one of my estates. I almost always have to inform the majority of them that I have nothing available. There are many more young men in this situation than I have farms available. Many of these young men wind up here in London but some travel to the new United States or our Canadian colonies or India."
He paused, took a sip of coffee and then continued, "My thought was to offer one such young man enough money to buy land to build a farm in the Canadian colonies if he married Lydia. I have the names of several possible young men and could write my steward to fix upon one and send him to London. He and Lydia would sail secretly from here, or perhaps from Glasgow or elsewhere. We could attempt to save Lydia's reputation by having them write to us saying she and Wickham sailed last September but failed to post the letter until they reached the Americas."
He looked at Mr. Gardiner who was sitting leaning forward, elbows on his knees and looking discouraged as he asked, "How much would a decent farm cost over there?"
"I am sure I do not know but I was thinking of gifting them with £5,000 for the purpose. I have talked with several people in the past who are considering investing in Upper Canada which apparently has much good farm land. My investigations suggest buying enough land for a large farm of about four miles in circumference would cost about £3,000 and there would be more than enough funds left to build a decent house and hire labour. It would be a rough life for some years but it could be a good one eventually."
"But such a sum!" burst out Elizabeth. Even Jane seemed stunned by the amount.
"I would have willingly expended as much or more to force Wickham to marry Lydia last fall. At least in this case I can be sure that funds will not be spent on gambling or debauchery."
"Lydia is the responsibility of my family, Mr. Darcy. I will provide the funds." insisted Mr. Gardiner.
Darcy shook his head saying, "Mine is the responsibility. If it were not for my mistaken pride, no decent family would have allowed their daughters in his presence. No! Mine is the fault and so must the remedy be."
"I think you take too much upon yourself once again, Mr. Darcy," answered Elizabeth.
The argument continued in this manner until all recognized that Darcy would not be denied. Fortunately, the doctor timed his entrance to bring that discussion to a close. He was able to assure them that Lydia was healthy, not with child and free of any disease to the great relief of them all. Accepting the thanks of them all and assuring them that he would respect their desire for secrecy, he excused himself and left. Mrs. Gardiner and her nieces were then taken by Darcy to talk with Lydia. As they walked upstairs, Mrs. Gardiner dropped back to whisper to Elizabeth, "I have heard that he is very proud but it seems to me that his real fault is obstinacy." Elizabeth just shook her head and smiled.
While the ladies met with Lydia, the three gentlemen further discussed Darcy's plan. While there was general agreement that it was workable, it did depend on Lydia's compliance and that was not assured.
"I thought to have the couple travel to York* , the capital of Upper Canada, under the name of Wickham. Then Wickham would "die" and Lydia would marry our young farmer and begin a life there. It would not be anything like what she is used to but they could build a good life there with hard work." Darcy considered the problem further, "We would need a letter, written by Lydia before she leaves England but posted from Portsmouth or London that would address the elopement, where they are going, everything."
"There is one major advantage to the Canadian colonies as a location," offered Captain Stovall. "I was situated at the Halifax station for a year. To reach York one must travel up the St. Lawrence River to Montreal. The river is closed to all ships from December to May most years. A letter sent from York in November might not reach England until June next. So we could have a second letter to be sent when they reach York which tells of Wickham's demise and Lydia's remarriage.
"Who shall talk to Miss Lydia?" asked Captain Stovall looking at Mr. Gardiner.
"I suggest Madeline and I and Mr. Darcy. She knows us and, I hope, will trust us to enough to accept the realities of her position."
"May I suggest we do that tomorrow morning when we are more rested? I am sure everyone is quite tired by now," suggested Darcy. This met with general approval and Darcy provided the other gentlemen with a glass of port while they awaited the ladies' return. Conversation was desultory until the ladies rejoined them. Mrs. Gardiner related the little information that Lydia would impart, saying, "Lydia was not very informative. Wickham apparently left her at a brothel telling her he was going to get a carriage to take them to the living you, Mr. Darcy, were now giving him. He never returned. I suppose that is when he took passage. He had convinced her that they would marry but now she believes he only took her along because she had £50 and never intended marriage at all. She is quite bitter about him. The brothel keeper gave her the choice to stay and work or she could leave. Lydia chose to leave and tried to come to us. She had no money – Wickham took it all – did not know where she was and got lost. She would not tell us what happened then but only that she eventually found the home where Mr. Darcy discovered her."
Darcy interjected, "She did not arrive at the home until November! There is at least a month she has not accounted for."
"I know. She refused to discuss what happened during that period."
"She seems very different," offered Jane. "Cautious, watchful and missing that exuberance that seemed such a part of her. I do not know her at all."
"Not surprising at all really," muttered Mr. Gardiner. "Not surprising at all."
Elizabeth looked at Darcy with a quizzical look, "Mr. Darcy, I have one further question. You were, by your own admission, looking for my sister for a fortnight before you found her. Yet, at no time did you tell any of us that you were searching. Why, sir? Why did you not tell us?"
"I simply did not want to raise hopes or expectations that I could not fulfill. I had no great expectations of success and did not want to raise yours only to dash them later."
With that it was agreed that they all needed some rest and the Gardiners decided to return the next morning to discuss their plans for Lydia with her. As they readied themselves to leave, Elizabeth stepped back towards Darcy and placing a hand lightly on his arm, said a soft, "Thank you for finding my sister." Darcy took her hand in his and gently kissed her knuckles, "Do not thank me for something I did willingly." He paused and continued, "I know not when we shall meet tomorrow. Perhaps you could come with your aunt and uncle and I could introduce you to Georgiana. I know she wishes to meet you very much."
"I would like that. Does she know about Lydia?"
"She knows only that she eloped, not that she is presently here at Darcy House."
They walked to the front door and entered the carriage. It was a very quiet ride back to Gracechurch Street. All of them were consumed with their own thoughts.
* Now Toronto, Ontario
