Mr. Jones still had business in town, and so had stayed behind, with Darcy's leave, at the estate in Scotland. His wife, his daughters, and poor broken armed Hinton, however, traveled quickly, trailing the dusty path left by the Darcy's fleeing coach. Mr. Richards rode alongside the Jones' own carriage on one of Mr. Darcy's finest horses, and Mr. Bennet sat dutifully inside, offering a suitable escort for the three women and the small precocious boy.
A broken arm was nothing to Hinton now that he was out of bed. He could still run and jump, and if Momma happened to yell at him more to sit still and be careful, that was something he could endure. What he could not endure was the special attention his oldest sister had suddenly started giving Mr. Darcy's helper, Mr. Richards. Where she once would have told him wild stories of dragons and knights to pass the slow moving time while they rode along, now the leaned out of the window, chatting with this tall male intruder. Hinton scowled, a facial contortion that went unnoticed by everyone in the carriage. Mrs. Jones was busy talking with Mr. Bennet, Rene slept peacefully, leaning against her sister's back, and Elaina spoke with Jonathan.
Jonathan. When had he ever heard his sister refer to any male other than himself and his father by their Christian name? Never! It simply was not done! Yet this man, to Elaina, was Jonathan.
Hinton's scowl deepened.
"Hinton? Hinton?"
The little boy started and turned his face to the carriage window where the smiling countenance of the very object of his meditations was framed. "Yes Mr. Richards," replied Hinton as coldly as a six-year-old boy knows how, which unfortunately for Hinton, is not that cold.
"I was just wondering," spoke Mr. Richards genially, "if you would like to ride with me for a bit. Adonis here is a very fine horse, and I myself know how hard it is to stay indoors for long periods of time." The man's charming smile and tempting offer was hard to resist, but six year olds are especially stubborn.
"No. But Elaina would," Hinton pouted, folding (or rather attempting to) fold his arms across his chest.
Elaina's eyes widened and a gasp escaped her lips, but Mr. Richards, turning crimson nonetheless, managed to construct a coherent reply. "Yes…well… Elaina, I understand has no affection for riding. And besides," he forged on, the words coming easily now, "what I need right now is the company of a good man." He smiled at his craftiness.
"Mr. Bennet might ride with you."
Richard's mouth dropped an inch or two for a moment before he promptly shut it with a clack of his teeth. Elaina covered her eyes disparagingly with one hand and leaned her head against the seat cushion. She would abandon her betrothed to this, he had asked for it. It took Mr. Richards longer to regain his senses this time.
"Umm… Mr. Bennet is talking to your mother. I do not wish to deny them of whatever conversation has so enraptured them both (it was an impassioned discussion of boats, oddly enough). Come Hinton, let us get to know one another better! We are to be brothers after all!"
Hinton scowled as Richards brought the coach to a halt. Elaina opened the door and helped her betrothed to seat her brother upon the horse.
"Do be careful with him Mr. Richards," spoke Mrs. Jones, "I do not wish for both his arms to be broke." Mr. Richard's smiled down into Mrs. Jones' worried, upturned face.
"I shall take good care of him, I promise."
Elaina grinned mischievously as she watched the horse pull in front of the carriage. She had glimpsed the small frown on her brother's face, and knew exactly the amount of trouble her poor fiancé was in for.
"William, don't you think this a little silly? Surely you are not that frightened of Caroline Bingley and Mr. Collins." Elizabeth spoke with exasperation as the carriage flew wildly around a corner, almost tossing her into her husband's lap.
"No, of course I am not frightened of those two… it is their seeming alliance with my aunt that has me running off in all due haste." Darcy spoke with a slight hesitation, he nose shoved high in the air, as if to alleviate some of the cowardice of running away. To give him credit, the combination of Caroline, Lady Catherine, and Mr. Collins was something of an unholy triumvirate, and Mr. Darcy did in fact have every right to run off in all due haste.
Elizabeth snickered, and Darcy cut his wife a sharp look. "Don't look at me that way Mr. Darcy! It is simply that I cannot imagine the Dread Pirate Darcy, abductor of brides, running away from anything… it seems that I am the more formidable force after all!" She said this as the carriage took another sharp corner and bounced terrifyingly in the air, propelled by a large rock sticking out of the side of the road. Mrs. Darcy was launched upward, landing, however, quite safely in Mr. Darcy's very welcoming lap. She smiled at him, and would have thanked him for his very nice catch of her person had he not spoken first.
"It seems, my wife, that you certainly are the more formidably force; Dread Pirate Darcy would never have even came into being had you not been there to tease and dazzle him with your very fine eyes." She blushed; he continued: "and though I did manage to kidnap you my dear, in the end, it was you that forced me into marriage."
"Yes, and do remember William, you are put an ordinary dreaded pirate; I am the Pirate Queen!" She smiled playfully and tweaked his nose, an indignity that Darcy had never dreamed before of suffering, nor now dreamed of ever giving up.
"Yes you are my heart," the Dread Pirate Darcy whispered before he lowered his lips to those of his very happy Pirate Queen.
Since Mr. Darcy considered his familial problems solved by his abrupt return to his beloved home Pemberly, his trip was a pleasant one to say the least The very fact that he had in his possession a beautiful new wife in the beguiling form of the lovely Elizabeth Bennet quite amazed him, and kept his thoughts securely out of matters of lesser importance. He did not for one moment wonder, as their current coach grew ever nearer their final destination, if his aunt and her accomplices had left his estate in Scotland, or, worse yet, if they had followed him. Mr. Collins' claim to Elizabeth was as absurd as Caroline's claim to himself, and Darcy reserved no time to ponder these eccentric claims.
Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy however was quite aware of the grave situations that still hounded them as the coach made its way carefully toward the rising prominence of Pemberly. (Let it be known that this coach traveled much slower than the one that flew them away from Darcy's Scottish estate, and that the couple, on this particular occasion, did not occupy the same seat.) These questions were foremost in her thoughts, and cluttered by so many other fears that she was quite pale.
"Darcy, you cannot think that everything has been solved by our coming home."
Darcy was almost so caught up in the fact that she had called his home her own, that he almost did not realize the manner in which she had addressed him. However, after a long, small smile of satisfaction, reality set in. She had called him Darcy. He was beginning to realize that she very rarely did this, and most usually when she was upset at him. He thought it extremely unfair, as he could not call her Bennet, and indeed had no desire to do so. Revert back to the name she held before she was his?
He shook his head with a silent laugh before answering his wife silkily, hoping to appease or smooth over her anger. "What could happen Lizzy? We are safe at Pemberly." He smiled brightly at her as he crossed over to sit next to her. The carriage pulled to a halt and Darcy took his wife's hand to lead her from the carriage into her new home. He halted their progress as she exited the carriage, giving her time to take in the grandeur of Pemberly. But only for a second, for in the next, she was swept into his arms (regardless of on looking servants) with her back pressed against his chest. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You are home now dearest Lizzy, and I shall keep you safe, if you cannot do the task for yourself." He smiled teasingly as she looked up at him, over her shoulder. If her fears had not been quelled by the look she found smoldering in her husband's eyes, it soon would be by the barrage of names and faces that were thrown at her; all were smiling and curtsying servants, eager to meet their new mistress.
"I shall never remember everyone," she revealed to her husband when they were finally alone in their bedchamber an hour later.
"Well certainly you won't be able to remember them all Elizabeth, but do not worry. You won't even see or converse with most of them daily. Ms. Reynolds is the most important of them all anyway. But… must we talk of servants now? I've other things on my mind." He pulled a loose curl at the nape of her neck and she quite forgot, well… everything.
"I've never seen such a romantic house in all my life!" Elaina stood mystified in the front hall of Pemberly, her mouth as agape as her sister's.
"I've never seen as luxurious and as rich a house in all my life!" exclaimed Rene.
"It's not the richness that is so impressive Rene," replied the elder sister with a roll of her eyes, "It's the history behind it all! It's the romance of its owner!" She sighed dreamily as Mr. Richards, who was standing to the other side of Elaina, narrowed his eyes and turned his head to look at her suspiciously.
"It's a nice house… I suppose," added he out of pure jealousy. Rene caught the look in his eye and the tone in voice and laughed loudly.
"Believe me brother, nothing could steal her love for you. Apparently not even four years of silence from yourself! Do not worry." Rene smiled in approval of her sister and future brother in law's rising blushes as Mr. Darcy marched elegantly down stairs.
"Mrs. Jones," he said, taking the older woman's hand in his own. I'm glad to see that you decided to stay with me until your husband could join you. I'm sure he feels better knowing that you are under the roof of a trusted friend. And," he said, turning to Richards, "it is good to have my secretary back." The clasped hands and Mr. Richards smiled, forgetting his earlier jealousy in the face of the actual man.
"How long, Mr. Darcy, have you been home?" You did not leave much before us, but you traveled so swiftly!" exclaimed Mrs. Jones.
"A day only. And yes, we did indeed travel quite quickly. There was a grave necessity for haste."
"I'll say!" smirked Rene. "I'd have taken that orange plumed giraffe down had Jonathan not stopped me!"
"A good thing he did too! Can you imagine what might have happened had you hit that unfortunate lady?" asked Elaina.
"Yes, yes I can. And it is a wonderful image I must say. And you cannot talk sister; you were about to throw the old one out the window! Do not deny it, I saw it in your eyes!"
Elaina's eyes glittered mischievously as the corners of her mouth lifted slightly upwards. Mr. Darcy repressed a smile as the sister's stepmother asked the whereabouts of Mrs. Darcy.
"Mrs. Darcy is in the library writing to her family. If you stay long enough you will have the… pleasure of meeting with them. I'm sure she would love to speak with all of you. However, I have business on the estate to attend to… Richards, would you mind following me?" Mr. Richards followed Mr. Darcy back outside and a waiting servant showed the girls into the library where Elizabeth sat at a large mahogany desk, her head bent over parchment, a pen in hand.
"Mrs. Darcy," said both younger girls, dropping into low curtsies. Elizabeth looked up, a laugh on her lips, and left the desk to greet her new friends.
While the group of girls conversed in friendly tones, a much different conversation was taking place at a nearby inn.
"I am certainly above resorting to underhanded means. The lad will come around eventually. My nephew is not a moron." Lady Catherine sniffed indignantly and crossed her arms over her ample bosom.
"Underhanded means are not "under" us Lady Catherine," retorted Miss. Caroline Bingley. "I am afraid they are exactly what we must use to achieve our own ends. I wish to marry your nephew and Mr. Collins wishes to marry that Bennet chit, and yet they have ran off and married each other! Do you not think that their strategy was a bit underhanded itself?"
"Actually," mumbled Mr. Collins, "I am beginning to believe that Elizabeth and I would not suit at all."
"Quite Mr. Collins," admonished Lady Catherine, "And who said you were to marry Mr. Darcy? My nephew is to marry my daughter, Anne." Once again, Lady Catherine pushed her nose into the air, daring the impertinent Caroline Bingley to defy her.
"I believe that I was the one who told you where they were at was I not? If it were not for me, you would never have found them! And did you not, in exchange for that specific information offer me the hand of your nephew in marriage once we had his current one annulled?"
Lady Catherine grumbled as Caroline smiled defiantly. She would not be denied the marriage she had cultivated so carefully for so long.
Mr. Collins remained silent. He had learned to do so in the presence of both these women. He was at a loss. It seemed as if his lady no longer cared for his carefully planned compliments! He knew of nothing else to say that they would listen to.
"Then what devious device do you propose we use?" asked Lady Catherine.
"It is simple. We shall kidnap the couple, hire a preacher of dubious merit, and contrive a forced wedding. If we can but find a preacher willing to perform a ceremony in which one of each of the couples is being held captive, then we will be successful!"
"My dear, you will certainly be able to find such a person, however, I do not think you are taking into account the fact that they are already married! They cannot be married to two different people! Society would never stand for it… not to mention the law."
"Oh that can easily be remedied to dear Aunt," replied Caroline, warming to the plan with such certainty that she felt sure her co conspirator would soon be her close relation. "If we obtain a document of annulment, we simply hold a gun to dear Elizabeth's head and force my dear future husband to sign. We shall do the same for the current Mrs. Darcy too. Neither will let the marriage stand if the life of their love is in jeopardy."
"Guns… I do not know if I approve of bringing such tactics into play Miss. Bingley. However, you are right in that desperate times cause for desperate measures. I have a nice set of antique Remingtons at Rosings. I think I'll send word to have them sent immediately."
"My dear Aunt, though I would love to have this done with all the style and class your antique weaponry would afford us, I am afraid we are on a certain deadline. We do not want the Mr. Collin's rightful wife to get with child before her wedding night do we?"
Mr. Collins, who had not thought of such a thing, slumped in his seat, his face ashen. He remained remarkably quite for a man faced with the thought that his wife might be with another man's child.
Within two weeks the entire Bennet clan had descended on the previously silent and austere halls of Pemberly. Mrs. Bennet, who had almost died away when her second eldest daughter had been stolen from the alter, was now overjoyed at her acquisition of a son in law worth ten thousand pounds a year. She was now sure that her other daughters would be quite taken care of, and that Jane especially would soon be married to Mr. Darcy's dearest friend.
Mr. Bingley and his eldest sister Mr. Hurst had also traveled to Pemberly to bombard the new couple with exclamations and questions. What had possessed them? Darcy especially. Where had they gone? Why had they done such a thing? And the most important question of all: Did they not care what society would have to say of all this? The answer to this last question was a most resounding no, surprisingly. Bingley had many things to discuss with his friend, and quickly secluded Mr. Darcy into the study. Mr. Richards had escorted his fiancée, her sister, and the younger Bennet girls into a nearby town and the married women, along with Jane occupied a sunlit sitting room on the corner of Pemberly that entered into the gardens. Mrs. Bennet was busy quizzing Mrs. Jones on the peculiarities of her stepdaughters (who she perceived as a definite threat to her own Lydia, Kitty, and Mary in the avenue of marriage and beau acquisition. Needless to say, she was quite relieved to learn of Elaina's betrothal to Mr. Richards, and quite disturbed to learn of Mr. Richard's betrothal to Elaina.
In the Library, Bingley was chastising his close friend.
"How could you insinuate that marrying dear Jane would not be at all proper when you abscond with her sister the very next day? I'll have you know that I've proposed to my dearest Jane, whether you like it or not!"
"You have! Good for you Bingley. I assume Mrs. Bennet does not yet know." She had shown a decisive lack of enthusiasm in the topic of matrimony; one that could only have come from the seemingly lengthy amount of time it was taking Mr. Bingley to propose to her eldest daughter.
"You have changed Darce. For one thing, I do not believe you've ever exclaimed anything in your life."
"I do feel different. Freer, more…" he paused before continuing. "Playful." Bingley burst into laughter.
"That, my friend, is not a word I thought to ever identify you with!"
"Kitty? Is not that Mr. Wickham?" squealed Lydia, grabbing her sister's upper arm.
"Yes, yes I believe it is!" agreed Kitty.
"Who is Mr. Wickham?" Rene and Elaina both asked Mary.
"He has a rather devious sounding name, don't you think?" Elaina added in an aside to Mr. Richards. The man nodded his agreement, and the whole party turned to regard the rather handsome man strolling the streets.
"Wickham! Wickham!" yelled Lydia, running toward him, skirts lifted most embarrassingly to her knees in her effort to run.
"What is she doing?" asked Mr. Richards, aghast.
"She," answered Mary, "is being Lydia." Mary rolled her eyes as Kitty ran off after her younger sister. Mr. Richards and the Jones sisters stopped still in the street and looked on as Lydia threw herself physically at the young gentleman. He smiled broadly as she pulled him towards the rest of the company.
"Dear Wickham! What a surprise to see you here! Though I suppose it shouldn't be; this is where you spent your tragic youth is it not? Come, you must meet our new friends. They are close friends of my sisters and her new husbands! Oh! Her new husband is Mr. Darcy! I am so sorry Wickham, so dreadfully sorry. And to think that Elizabeth knew of your misfortunes at his hands! I just cannot believe you have been so ill-treated first by Mr. Darcy and then by my horrid sister!"
Mr. Richards cleared his throat and Rene and Elaina scowled.
"Oh yes, Wickham, this is Mr. Richards, Mr. Darcy's secretary."
"And who are these two young ladies?" asked Wickham, his eyes lingering favorably on the young girls who clung strongly to each of Mr. Richard's arms (Richards might have yelped and begged them to leave off squeezing him senseless had another man not been about).
"Oh yes, them," replied Lydia coldly, recognizing competition in the Jones sisters. "They are the daughters of a Mr. Jones. This," she gestured towards Elaina, "is the eldest Miss. Jones. She is engaged to be married to Mr. Richards. And this," she tossed Rene a scathing look, "is the younger Miss. Jones."
"And she is engaged to be married to?" Wickham's question hung in the air, and Elaina's scowl deepened at so forward a remark.
"No one, sir," replied Rene for herself with a devilishly charming smile, and a beguiling twinkle to her eye.
"Ah, it is nice to make your acquaintance," muttered Wickham, bowing low over her hand. He straightened and looked into the scowling countenances of Elaina and Mr. Richards. "And you too Mr. Richards, Miss. Jones. When is the happy day, if I may be so forward?"
"You have already been quite forward enough!" Elaina snapped to the surprise of the entire group, most especially Mr. Wickham. Wickham's charming façade dropped momentarily to be replaced by a look of utter confusion and bewilderment. He stepped back a pace and regained his composure.
"It has been lovely meeting you all, but I'm afraid Miss. Bennet," he said, turning to face Lydia, "that I do have things that are needing my utmost attention." He smiled down on her.
"Oh pooh Wickham! You can't leave me now! Especially not with so boring a group as this one is!" Kitty hmphed and put her fists on her hips in indignation.
"Oh, do not be so hard on them, they seem perfectly amiable. Now I must be along. I hope to meet you all again in the future," said Wickham, turning and locking eyes with the youngest Jones girl, who, atrociously, flirted right back at him: batting her eyelashes and smiling prettily.
Mr. Wickham walked away from the little group, both pleased and unnerved by the tempting yet dangerous Jones sisters.
"I do not think that Mr. Wickham is an… honorable man." Spoke Mr. Richards quite confidently. He was lounging in the small sitting room that the two sisters shared on the forth floor of Pemberly. Mr. Darcy did not know that they shared this sitting room; he did not even know it was being used. They had gone exploring immediately, and been charmed by the little rose colored room connected to one of the bigger bedrooms. Elaine sat curled in the window seat, a book in her hand that she was not paying attention to. Rene was slung across a couch her, head hanging off the side, her hair dangling to the floor.
"I agree," spoke Rene from her upside down position, "He is most assuredly a genuine cad!"
"Don't sound so excited about it Rene, it is nothing wonderful to be a cad," spoke Elaina grumpily. "Did you see the way he looked at us? I still feel sick from it."
"Yes indeed, I did see the way in which he looked at you," answered Richards just as grumpily.
"Oh, do not be worried Jon my dear," spoke Rene amusedly, "he was most taken with me. Did not you see the look he gave me before I left? That wickedly charming smile could knock any girl flat on her rump!"
"Rene!"
"Oh do not admonish me Elaina, it is only Jonathan and you here. No one else can hear."
"I think you should stay away from him," warned Richards.
"And why is that dear brother?"
"Well… besides the fact that he is a most obviously a cad, I do not believe Mr. Darcy approves of him."
"Does Mr. Darcy know him then?" asked Elaina
"Yes," replied her fiancée hesitantly. "But he would not talk much of him. I was going over some figures for him in past expense account ledgers when I saw the name Wickham with a large sum out beside it. There were no other personal names in the ledger, the rest being businesses and workers. I asked him about the name, in case there was something special that was supposed to be done with it. I tell you, his entire countenance changed! He went from being simply the stoic, somber responsible man to a rather terrifying fury."
"You mean he yelled at you? Did he throw anything?" asked Rene, all curiosity. She now sat upright and on her stomach, her legs swinging above her head, dropping her long skirts to past her knees. Her chin was propped in her hands and she stared astonished at her future brother in law.
"No, he did not yell, and he did not throw anything. Actually, there was no show of temper at all, just this…this tightening of features."
"I know exactly what you mean Jon," spoke Elaina. "I've seen father get that way many times. It is actually worse than if he does throw things and yells."
Rene nodded her head in agreement, throwing a look over her shoulder at her sister.
"Yes, well that is what happened to the esteemed and always self contained Mr. Darcy." A contemplative hush fell over the cozy little room as all three minds pondered this information curiously.
"Well, whatever it was that happened between the two, I'm quite sure that it was the Wickham character that was… is the villain. And if Mr. Darcy disapproves of him, then you should be wary of him Rene." Elaina spoke in all seriousness before turning her gaze decidedly towards her unread book, announcing that that was the end of the discussion for her. Secretly, she wished that Richards and her sister would go on discussing it, she did so like a bit of intrigue. It was the storyteller in her. However, no further discussion ensued. Rene bent towards a small table to pick up a deck of cards, a twinkle in her dark eyes, and daring thoughts in her troublesome, pretty head. Mr. Richards stood and kissed his fiancée on the top of her head before exiting the room, promising to see them both for diner.