Chapter 47

Meanwhile, Darcy makes his way to Mr Manners' bedroom, and knocks quietly.

'Come in, Mr Darcy,' is the answer.

'You guessed it was me?'

Mr Manners is sitting in a comfortable chair in front of a cheery fire.

'You'd want to know what I saw, and how Grenfell is doing. I would, though I'd want to kill him, too. Will you sit down for a moment?'

Darcy sits down in a second comfortable chair, and Mr Manners pours and hands him a glass of brandy.

'A naughty habit of mine, drinking brandy just before turning in. I couldn't sleep. He is my friend, you know, I knew he had a hard time handling adversity, but I never thought he'd stoop so low.'

'According to the maid he planned to abuse her every time he saw her. It sounded as if this was not the first time, Mr Manners.

But first of all, how is he?'

'Perfectly well, Mr Darcy, your brother-in-law must be an expert in the application of violence, for Grenfell was out when I found him, but he got up and walked to his room within fifteen minutes, and without a mark on him.'

'I cannot imagine him making life hard on my brother-in-law in the army, was that bluff or does he truly have influence?'

'I suppose he may have a family-member there, but I guess they know him as well as we do. Besides, I've heard you're very well-connected?'

'I am, I am, I guess I can pull some strings if needed. Frankly, I'm tempted to call him out, he assaulted one of my staff, a young girl who trusts me to protect her from harm. I'm going to have to convince her fiancée tomorrow not to act in revenge, I feel obliged to get satisfaction for her myself.'

Now Mr Manners looks decidedly uncomfortable.

'Would you mind very much if we handle this among ourselves, Mr Darcy? We're a close-knit group, and we know how to deal with one of us crossing the line. We've calmed down a lot, you see, but we used to be quite a rowdy lot. Yes, even Bingley, I can see you don't believe me, but he was as bad as the rest of us.

I thought I'd talk to the rest, starting with Bingley of course, then call Grenfell to order and have him keep his peace towards the girl, any other dependants, and your brother-in-law.

If we make a big deal out of it, chances are Mr Wickham will be the greatest loser in this, and he seems quite capable and ambitious, and quite the hero. He deserves his future in the rifles, I spent some time on him tonight, and he told me about his ambitions.

You know how the world works, Mr Darcy, and as yet Grenfell's friends have the biggest influence on him.

Can you live with that?'

'Frankly, I have a huge problem letting him get away with trying to abuse a helpless girl.'

'Who said he was getting away with it? I said we'd handle this, he will not escape his punishment, we have our ways of enforcing boundaries, Mr Darcy. Can we do away with the honorific, by the way? I like you, and I feel as if we have known each other for some time already.'

Darcy nods, it is fitting they should do that, but he still doesn't understand what Manners is saying. Is he suggesting they will punish Grenfell among themselves? What will keep him from just leaving?

'I can see you have a hard time believing he'd actually feel punished by our measures, Darcy. Let me assure you it will hit him harder than the law, it doesn't really care about a female being bothered, certainly not a lowly servant. But we care, and we are Grenfell's friends, we're closer than family, we are everything he has.

If we shun him for a few months, he'll be all by himself, he'll hate that. Since this is not his first offence, though it is his first against a woman I may add, that we know of, of course, we will be quite hard on him. And believe me, he will feel it.'

Comprehension dawns on Darcy, this is one of those groups from college, much more intimate than the friendships Darcy had, and Bingley is part of that? Quiet, gentle Bingley?'

'Ah, I see you're starting to understand, but still you cannot believe it. Of course you cannot, Bingley is so easy-going, I'm an epitome of virtue, how can we be part of some close-knit group of college pals with its own laws and customs? It just happened, Darcy, and I suppose some day we'll all be busy running estates and raising children, and our ties will weaken, but for now we're still bound to one another. Bingley less so since he met you, but this is his house and he has always kept our customs, so he has a big say in this.

So, what is your verdict?'

Tired, Darcy realises Manners is right, there is every chance Wickham will be the sufferer for Grenfell's crime, so he reluctantly gives in.

'You win, Manners, we'll do it your way. You handle Grenfell, keep his hands off my sister and off the staff, and I'll try to explain to Bob he need not act for himself.'

Manners is pleased, and soothingly says, 'You will not regret it. Let's go see Bingley then, poor chap, on his wedding-night.'

Darcy still cannot believe it, Bingley part of some clique of college friends, controlling each other's lives with rules made by common consent? He feels awful to knock on his friend's door at midnight, his wedding night, but when the door opens, Bingley is still dressed and apparently waiting for them. He looks exactly the same as usual, same friendly face, same gentle manners.

'Wickham told me what happened, and your being involved, Manners, so I suspected I'd see you here. Come in, Jane's here, I'm not sending her away, she's the mistress of this house now, she has a right to know what is going on under her roof and in my life.

You look a little dazed, Darcy, I'm sorry I never told you about my college friends, how intimate we were. I thought it'd never come up.'

His voice is the same, he even sounds a bit contrite.

'Never mind, Bingley, I'm just tired and incredibly angry. I want to call him out, but Manners here has convinced me I'd better leave him to you, save our brother-in-law a whole load of trouble.'

Only now does Bingley show some assurance Darcy isn't used to seeing in him, but still he sounds soft and affectionate as he replies, 'And you, my dear brother, I'm so glad to be related to you, even if it took two marriages instead of just the one.

Letting us handle this will save hours of your time, and a lot of worries, for I am very certain you would move heaven and earth to get justice done for Lizzy's maid and our brother-in-law.

Even after what Mr Wickham has done to you, Darcy, I'm glad I know now, though I don't fault you at all for keeping it a secret from your best friend. But I digress, and Manners wants to come to a decision so he can find his lonely bed.

But hopefully not for long, my friend, we may soon see you married as happily as we are.'

That is more than a bit embarrassing to Manners, who almost seems to know what secret Bingley was talking about. Maybe Georgie told him, though that would be surprising.

'Bingley, you're way ahead of things, I told you the young lady made it clear she is not looking for a husband yet. And besides, her brother may be reconsidering his invitation to me now he knows I'm part of one of those college circles.'

Darcy must admit he is surprised by Manners' delicacy, for in fact he is indeed in doubt whether he'd want his sister to become involved with such a clique. But since Bingley is, and Darcy would never voluntarily give up his friendship with Bingley, and they are now related by marriage, he obviously already is himself.

And Georgiana is perfectly capable of deciding for herself. Besides, Manners is still a true gentleman, and excepting Grenfell, he really likes the rest of the group, too.

Jane is sitting in a lazy chair, covered with a thick blanket, and she seems worried rather than put out at having been disturbed on her wedding-night.

With her gentle voice, she addresses them affectionately.

'I'm sorry this happened to poor Fanny under our roof, Darcy, I'm sure Bingley will settle it to her and your satisfaction and make sure it doesn't happen again. And Manners, I'm glad you were there to help out, poor Wickham sounded rather upset, he was surprised to find you in the servant's quarters, but nonetheless relieved to run into someone he hoped would be an ally.'

She is right, what was Manners doing in the servant's quarters at such a late hour?

'I'll be glad to be of some use, Jane, and I'm very sorry to disturb your wedding-night.

I must admit I was very curious how the staff celebrated your wedding, and since I had another letter to put in the mail as soon as the snow clears, I decided to bring it to Mr Darcy's valet in person, he had helped me before, using that visit as an excuse to take a peek at the merriment. And a joyous occasion it was!'

That is a reasonable explanation of his presence, but Darcy intends to validate it with Simon, for if Manners was seeing some servant girl to relieve his loneliness, the most likely reason for him to be in that part of the house, Georgiana may want to revise her opinion of him.

But for now, Bingley and Manners decide they will call a meeting of their peers tomorrow, and decide on a fitting penance for Grenfell. They will inform Wickham of their actions tonight, so he can sleep peacefully without Darcy having to talk to him, and Darcy will inform Fanny and Bob.

'If they want to know exactly what Grenfell will suffer for his misstep, they can ask me in person. I'm not too important to talk to servants once in a while.

Will you let Grenfell continue to court your sister, Bingley?

And I suppose Darcy here would prefer to see him out of the house by tomorrow.'

'My sister is a grown-up woman of independent means, dear Manners. I'm not going to tell her what to do. Besides, if he is punished, doesn't that absolve him of further guilt?

Are you satisfied, Darcy?'

'It still doesn't feel right, but I suppose it will have to do.'

'Good, ten o'clock in my study, Manners? I take it you will keep an eye on our friend Grenfell until we get to talk to him? It is my wedding-night after all.'

Manners agrees, and they leave the happy couple to their first night together.

On their way back, Manners assures Darcy, 'If you'd rather not have me over at Christmas now you know what I'm involved with, I understand. And feel free to discuss this with your sister, she needs to know, too.'

His honesty is disarming, and Darcy hears himself say, 'Never mind, Manners, I've been friends with Bingley for years, and I never noticed. Though I draw the line at having Mr Grenfell near my sister or my staff. I will tell Georgiana, and she can decide whether she wants you around for Christmas or not.

Good night, Manners!'

'Good night, my friend!'

When Fitzwilliam returns from his grim excursion, Elizabeth is as stunned as he is to find out about Bingley being involved in some college clique. She is in fact even more surprised, for she never realised such groups existed.

'And Mr Manners, too, how strange and disturbing. But beloved, I'm glad you're not going to call Mr Grenfell out, I seriously think is it not worth the risk, with a bit of luck we need never see him again. I suppose Bingley will tell his sister, and she'll steer clear of him as well.

He hadn't been in contact with this group for years, had he? So Jane will probably be fine.

But we may have to reconsider Mr Manners, he seems pretty nice, but for how long have we actually known him? Less than a week!'

She's not actually expecting an answer, but merely arranging the facts for herself, and Fitzwilliam seems to understand, for he merely nods, and takes her in his arms.

'If Mr Grenfell is still here tomorrow, we can always explain to Jane and Bingley, and move back to London, taking Kitty. We'll meet next week anyway.'

'My love, that is an excellent idea,' Fitzwilliam observes, 'and so simple. Bingley and Jane will forgive us, and we'll avoid any risk of further incidents. Thank you for solving the last problem I had.

Tomorrow, we'll ask Georgie for her opinion on Mr Manners, and we decide to stay or go. Let's stop talking, and spend some time on each other. Imagine Bingley staying dressed on his wedding night because of a worthless old friend. I hope they're making up for it right now.'

The next morning, Darcy decides to find Bob in the stables instead of having him called to the house, that would only make him feel very uncomfortable.

He's busy cleaning the stalls, Daisy and the black already have a clean stall and are waiting eagerly for their morning feed, the team horses are tied up a bit further down the row of stables, as Bob stabs with a pitchfork, removing dirty straw into a wheelbarrow. He looks up at the sound of footsteps, it's very early yet.

'Mr Darcy, sir! You're up mighty early, most of the house staff are still sleeping off last night's party! Do you want your horse saddled?'

Good, he hasn't seen Fanny yet.

'No Bob, I came to see you. Can we leave the horses like this for a few moments? Something has come up, and we need to talk.'

That gives Bob a shock, he can hear it is something bad, and he stammers, 'Sure, master, we can talk right here, as I said, there's no-one else up yet.'

'I'd rather we sit down for a while, Bob.'

That'll make it even worse, but this is bad, and Bob needs to know how seriously Darcy takes what has happened.

'Let me put the team back in their stables, sir, we'll sit on the box of Mrs Darcy's carriage again.'

Minutes later, they have decided it's warmer inside, and they sit on the leather seats of the beautiful little carriage. Bob is very uncomfortable, inside the beautiful carriage with the master, in his working clothes, but Darcy wants him to feel the full power a noble has, so that the young man realises anything he does will only get him in trouble.

'Bob, last night, one of the gentlemen in the house tried to take advantage of Fanny.'

Quickly, he adds, 'He failed, thanks to Mr Wickham's alertness and fearlessness. But Wickham took a big risk, he used violence on a gentleman with connections, he could have lost his position because of his bravery.

Fanny is fine, I checked on her before I came here, and she slept well and is altogether very brave and strong.'

Bob doesn't seem angry so much as concerned.

'Why didn't she wake me? I would have been there for her, I would have comforted her. Now she suffered alone.'

'Mrs Darcy offered to have you fetched, but somehow Fanny was very afraid you'd fly in a rage and do something rash, she preferred to not see you until she had calmed down and was over the worst shock. She is now, and she wants to see you really badly, but I urged her to let me talk to you first.

What I want to tell you is this: I have contemplated calling the gentleman in question out, but Mr Manners, whom I respect greatly, has advised against that. He says it would damage Mr Wickham, while not helping Fanny or any other servant girls this man has assaulted.

Instead, Mr Manners offered to arrange a suitable penalty himself, with the help of his college friends. They are very close, and have corrected one of their own before, with punishments they decide on without court or law, among themselves.

Realising the law is probably not going to help Fanny and only bring Mr Wickham, her saviour, into deep trouble with the gentleman's family, I have decided to let Mr Manners and Mr Bingley handle this matter.

My question for you is, can you accept that? Can you believe his friends will punish him more effectively than you or I can? Can you let them handle this and spend your energy on comforting Fanny and showing her you don't blame her for what happened?'

Still Bob doesn't show any aggression or rage.

'I've known these things happen, master, and I've always congratulated myself they didn't happen in your household. I am shocked and upset to hear that Fanny was attacked, but I'm also thankful she wasn't actually ravaged.

I promise you I will not seek revenge from whoever did it, I don't even want to know his name or what he looks like. I will just do my job and be there for my lovely girl, and trust you to keep us safe.

Is that all right with you? When I've done the stalls and fed all four, can I take off a few hours to be with her, please master?

And thank you for reminding me she might blame herself, it didn't even occur to me, but I'll make sure to tell her I don't think she brought it on herself. She cannot help being young and beautiful, and she never flirts, not even with me when we're in company. Well, except at home, Cook allows us to hold hands and kiss sometimes.

May I thank Mr Wickham when I see him? We owe him a great debt for saving Fanny.'

'You may, Mr Wickham is someone who will actually appreciate that. I feel much better knowing you're not aggressive over this, Bob. If the perpetrator does not get sent away, we will leave for London this afternoon, if the weather allows, Fanny will not run the risk of being waylaid again.

I'm not going to keep you any longer, you do your job and go see her. Simon can chaperone if you feel you need one, he supported Fanny throughout. If you should feel rage later, tell Simon, and he'll fetch me to support you. I know a few tricks to keep it down, believe me I'm using them now.

Good day, Bob.'

'Thank you, sir, for caring about a mere maid and a lowly driver.'

And with that, he opens the door and nearly runs back to the stable to finish his jobs and see his girl.

Fanny is actually doing rather well. She is with her mistress, very early in the morning, but Elizabeth doesn't feel like staying in bed with her beloved gone.

Somehow, the girl finds solace in brushing her mistress' hair, and since Elizabeth doesn't object at all, her dark tresses are getting softer and softer by the minute.

'Did you sleep at all, Fanny?' she asks the girl, who looks rested and doesn't have red-rimmed eyes or any other sign of crying or fretting.

'I slept like a baby, ma'am, I never dream or lie awake, and I had a little punch yesterday before it happened. And Simon was so good to me, like the older brother I always wanted.

I do worry about Bob now, but I'm sure the master will convince him to let it go and trust to Mr Bingley and Mr Manners. I would hate to see Mr Wickham lose his position over me. Nothing happened, thanks to him, he should get a medal, not be punished.'

'Do you fear running into Mr Grenfell again?'

'Yes, ma'am, that I do. I'm afraid I could not treat him with the proper respect, ma'am, I'd be tempted to throw him nasty looks and call him names, I used to be out on the streets a lot with my cousins, and they taught me how to sass the other kids.

Of course that wouldn't be proper, and get me fired or back to being a common maid, which would be such a shame, for I like being your maid very much, and I was looking forward to seeing Pemberley and meeting Mrs Reynolds, and Peter, and his missus. Bob told me so much about everything and everyone, I'd hate to miss it.'

That girl really has spunk, if she is afraid of sassing Mr Grenfell instead of being assaulted again.

'But aren't you afraid he'd try again?'

'No ma'am, I trust Mr Darcy and the other gentlemen. If they say he will get his due, I trust he will, and I will not be afraid to be threatened again. I think the gentleman will be afraid of Mr Darcy, I certainly was, seeing him that angry.

It's such a romantic idea, if someone were to threaten you, ma'am, he'd challenge him to a duel, and they'd meet on a misty morning, with their seconds and a set of beautifully crafted handguns.

They'd load them standing back to back, then walk twenty paces, turn around and shoot. I'm sure Mr Darcy would wound his opponent, but not kill him, and that one would have to apologise on his knees, not to the master, but to you.'

And they thought romantic nonsense was a privilege of young ladies of their own class! Apparently low-born city girls are pretty good at spinning sugar-coated fantasies, too, and Elizabeth is a bit sorry to ruin it.

'But what if the perpetrator was the better marksman, Fanny, or a superb fencer? The master would get shot, maybe killed, or seriously injured.

I think I prefer to solve problems with talk, not violence, though I'm glad Mr Wickham dared apply it in your case.'

Even the image of her master getting shot doesn't spoil Fanny's fantasy, though.

'You'd nurse him back to health, I'm sure.

But I suppose you're right, ma'am, if the opposing gentleman won, he'd feel encouraged to do it again and again. Better have him punished straight away by his friends.'