RED
Darcy stared at the ground again, chagrinned to have his contention verified. His wife did not like him, and never had. It was painful, but he had to admit that he readily deserved it.
Jane gave him a moment to compose himself, and then gently said, "That brings us back to Lydia's contention, Mr. Darcy."
Darcy had by then entirely forgotten what it was.
Jane said, "Lydia claimed that she was the only one who supported Lizzy's position, which was this. She thoroughly disliked you, from the moment you called her 'tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me'. I remember the words exactly, because she used to lower her voice and mock you by repeating them. It did not help that Miss Bingley routinely disparaged us and you seemed to agree. We all …"
Then Jane stared at the ground, and Darcy saw tears starting to roll out of her eyes, but she gamely continued.
"We – all of us, even you, Lydia at first, told her to get over it – to grow up – to put away her childish things – to do her duty. Even I, who she previously considered her best friend and tightest confidant, told her you would grow on her if she gave you a chance."
Darcy curiously asked, "Did you believe it at the time?"
Jane was still crying, but she continued, "Mostly – I think – more or less. I could not have done it, but Lizzy – she could charm people if she bothered, and she had the strength to carry through. I thought she could …" then she looked embarrassed as well as sad, but gamely continued, "… I thought she could tame you. Make an adequate husband out of you. As you have probably noticed, our standards for adequate husbands are quite low."
Darcy was surprised at the dig at Mr. Bennet from his supposedly angelic eldest daughter, although it could just as easily be aimed at Bingley. It made him curious, so he asked, "I will not press you on that, but I will ask this. She came to the church and said the vows reluctantly. What finally convinced her after two failed escape attempts? She could have just refused at the altar. If your father threw her out, she would be short on funds, but finally free as she desired."
Jane just shook her head in negation, but surprisingly, Kitty said, "I know."
Everyone stared at her, and she said, "I was not eavesdropping. It is not my fault her and father spoke so loudly, and I happened to be walking by the library."
Everyone looked skeptically, but said nothing, so she continued in a whisper. "He said somebody would be married from Longbourn within the month. Before Mother intervened, he was planning to exert pressure on Lizzy to marry Mr. Collins …" then she looked at Darcy who seemed confused, so she clarified. "… his heir – the man who introduced himself to you at the Netherfield ball. He is Lady Catherine's rector."
Darcy nodded, remembering the odd little man, who had made a speech that was nonsensical even for one of Lady Catherine's pets, and shuddered.
Kitty continued, "He said if Lizzy dug her hills in, he would force one of us to marry Mr. Collins."
By that time, she had almost, but not quite joined Jane in her tears, but she bravely carried on.
"Mr. Collins is a fool and a brute. Jane is too soft-hearted to manage him. Mary was frightened of him. Lizzy firmly thought Lydia and I were too young, although if anybody could handle that idiot, it would be Lizzy or Lydia."
Lydia just laughed. "Yes, I certainly could, but who wants to marry a clergyman?"
Everyone laughed at the way she said it, with disdain practically dripping from her voice. It gave Jane time to dry her eyes with her handkerchief, and look at Darcy. "She married you to save us, even though we had all suggested a sacrificial lamb was a good idea so long as it was someone else."
Mary said, "Did she leave a note, Mr. Darcy? No matter how angry she was, she would leave a note."
"As a matter of fact, she did. She left me several messages, in a way."
Everyone looked curiously, so he described the furniture, the money left in piles, the complete lack of anything suggesting she had ever been there except a dropped handkerchief and finally, how she had managed to extract money from his neighbors.
"That last part is actually very clever – much cleverer than anything I have ever done. I have to admit to being proud of her for it, though I have not earned the privilege."
Thinking he had already told the sisters ten times what he had been planning to reveal, he said, "She also left an actual note, but I cannot decipher it."
The ladies clamored to see it, do Darcy pulled it out of his waistcoat pocket.
23 June 1812, Lambton
Mr. Jennings & Mrs. Reynolds
The time has come to meet with my husband. You need not worry, as I have all in hand, and know what I am doing. Molly and Noah are escorting me for my safety, and to maintain propriety. We are leaving on the 11:37 coach from Lambton and expect to be gone several months. I apologize that I could not notify you sooner.
It has been a great pleasure getting to know both of you, and I am indebted to the entire, excellent staff of Pemberley for offering me the warmest welcome possible. I suggest you carry on as before until Mr. Darcy returns.
Elizabeth Darcy
They all read it three or four times, which did not take very long.
Darcy said, "The time seems odd. I checked and there are no coaches scheduled from Lambton at that time, and coaches are not scheduled to that precision anyway. The 10:00 might be anytime between 9:30 and 10:30, and that is if all is going well. I cannot decipher it."
Mary said, "I can."
Everyone looked, and she said, "I was frightened I might be fobbed off on Mr. Collins after Lizzy was gone, so she spoke to me the night before the wedding. Even though I had been horrible to her, she took the time to set my mind at ease. At the time, she was such a burning ball of anger that I could not tell if she wanted me to feel guilty for the sacrifice she was making, or if she wanted to comfort me that I would not be called on to do the same."
She paused, took a deep breath. "She described the 'bargain' she made with Father in detail."
She looked carefully at Darcy. "Did you ever show her this side of yourself, Mr. Darcy?"
Confused, he said, "Which side, Miss Mary."
"Polite, respectful, dare I say – amiable. I get that you are desperate to find your wife, but you cannot invent this demeanor from whole cloth. It must have been hidden there all along."
Darcy hung his head and whispered. "I did not get the chance – or more correctly – I did not take the chance when it was available. I wrote her several letters from France once I cooled down and thought more rationally, but she never got them. Her last impression of me was the argument we had on the way to Hatfield, in which I did not distinguish myself. I arrived at Pemberley a month too late."
He looked back at the ladies. "I can see you all feel shame for the way you treated your sister. I share that and double or triple it. I did not treat your sister well. I am not surprised she left. I am only surprised she stayed so long."
Mary nodded. "She told Father that she would 'give you six‑months to say one kind word'. She said it could be in word or writing, but if she did not get one kind word in six months …" she paused and stared at him intently. "… then she would 'know how to act'. You were pronounced man and wife at exactly 11:37 on the 23rd of December, six months to the minute before the time she put on this note. The time was not a message to you – it was a message to me. She knew I would know the time to the minute."
Darcy stared at the ground. "Not quite. It was a message to us all. I think she framed it in a way that would only make sense if we all were part of interpreting the note. I suppose she thought that if we could not get together to decipher it, we did not deserve to know. Or perhaps, it was her last attempt to get me to do my duty to her sisters. However angry she was with you, I doubt you ever entirely left her heart."
Everyone was staring at the ground, not having any idea what to say.
Jane finally said, "We all had a hand in this. We all bear the guilt."
Darcy looked at her, seeing tears in her eyes, and replied, "Perhaps we all had a hand in it, but I believe my fault is paramount."
Mary shrugged. "Perhaps, Mr. Darcy, perhaps not. We all did have a hand in this, but the original sin was with our mother. Everything bad that has happened was triggered by her forcing the marriage on you. What did you do in the beginning? You pulled a woman who was attacking your honor in the middle of a dance over to the side to defend yourself. You could have acted better after that –"
Darcy interrupted with. "Much better. I could have acted better before that as well. There was ample opportunity to do right, and I foolishly missed every one of them."
Mary nodded. "Yes, much better, but so could we all have."
Surprisingly, Kitty worked out the next problem, saying, "What happens if you do not find her, Mr. Darcy? You are still married, so you will be stuck in some kind of Limbo – no wife and no way to remarry."
Darcy said, "It is too soon to think about that, Miss Catherine. She clearly did not think I deserved any consideration. I just want to find her and talk to her. After that, if she is amenable, we will work out a way to resolve it somehow."
They were all shuffling around, trying to decide if they should go to the manor house, and what they should do if they get there, when they heard the clopping of a galloping horse.
Just the sound seemed enough for Longman to identify it. "Probably an express rider. They can only ride like that for a few hundred yards, and they usually do it right at the end to make an entrance. It leaves the impression they have been doing it the whole way, even if they were walking the past ten miles."
The incongruousness of the observation in the middle of the present maudlin mood snapped everyone to attention, and they all turned towards the road to Meryton. True to form, less than half a minute later, a young express rider rode into sight. He saw the group and brought his horse to a stop beside Darcy and Longman's. "I seek Mr. Bennet of Longbourn."
Jane faced him. "This is Longbourn, and Mr. Bennet is our father. He is away until this evening. You can wait if you must, or if you leave me the letter, I will see he gets it. I have some coins in my reticule."
Darcy said, "Allow me," and Longman reached into his pocket for some coins.
The express rider seemed uncertain. "I am uncertain I can do that. I am supposed to deliver it to the addressee personally."
Darcy said, "I can assure you that Miss Bennet is reliable," under the assumption, usually unfortunately true, that the man would be more likely to take the word of a gentleman.
The rider asked, "Where is Mr. Bennet? Perhaps I could find him. I cannot wait as I still have a long road to travel with a second letter, but perhaps –"
"He is in Hatfield," Jane replied helpfully. "but I am not certain I could narrow it down any better than that. He is not voluble in his description of his plans."
The rider looked doubtful. "I have to go that way anyway, so I suppose I could search for him."
Darcy asked curiously. "If it is not prying too much, where are you going that Hatfield is on the way. Perhaps, I could help you find Mr. Bennet. I have business with him myself, and Hatfield is not far."
"I am going to Derbyshire. It is a long two days from here, and it is already nearly afternoon."
With a sinking feeling, Darcy asked, "I am from Derbyshire myself. Who exactly are you looking for?"
The rider pulled out another letter. Darcy could see it was two pages instead of the one that Mr. Bennet was to receive. "Here it is. A Mr. Darcy of Pemberley. It is apparently near Lambton and Kympton."
"I can save you the trip. I am Mr. Darcy of Pemberley."
The man looked dubious, and Darcy said, "I am married to Mr. Bennet's daughter. Did both letters come from the same sender?"
"Yes, sir."
Darcy held out his hand, and the rider shrugged his shoulders, satisfied enough that this was the right man, and handed him both letters.
Darcy asked Jane. "Miss Bennet, can we send him to your kitchens for a meal. I will wish to question him later."
"Of course," Jane replied, and gave the man directions, and instructions for Mrs. Hill.
Longman handed Darcy a penknife, and with shaking hands, he opened the letter.
27 July 1812
HMS Neptune
Mr. Darcy,
It is my unfortunate duty to inform you that your wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy is dead. She was swept overboard on the night of 18 July in moderately but not excessively rough seas, approximately 200 miles west of Porto. I witnessed her death myself, along with her footman, one Noah Hervey and two sailors. Mrs. Darcy suffered terribly from seasickness and being at the railing helped considerably. She was always accompanied by me, or her footman, and we were close at hand. Unfortunately, a bowline snapped on the sails, and a pulley swung down striking Mrs. Darcy in the back of the head, sending her overboard. The captain did his best to recover her, but there was very little he could do, and no real chance of her survival.
My deepest condolences,
Noah G. Baker
Darcy felt like he might collapse on the ground straightaway.
Lydia said, "You look like you have seen a ghost, Mr. Darcy. What is in the letter?" more gently then Darcy would have expected.
He could not speak, so he handed the sheet to Jane, who gathered her sisters around to read it silently. Everyone had too much of a sense of foreboding to read it aloud, and Darcy did not have the strength. What had he done?
It was only a moment later that all four sisters were sobbing along with him, and he felt the most lost he ever had in his life. He had absolutely no idea what to do next. He thought he should comfort the sisters, or maybe he should regret showing them, but everything was dark and muddled.
He glanced at the second page, wondering what it could possibly add to the discussion, but desperate for any possible explanation, or really anything to occupy his mind for a moment, he read it.
For your eyes only,
Mr. Darcy,
I am deeply sorry for your loss, sir. It may help if I explain my presence, but only to you. I will not reveal any of this to anyone else, including your late wife's family as I consider it your business alone.
Mrs. Darcy engaged me several months ago to locate you. It was an unusual request, but not the most unusual I have ever had. She had some intelligence, I believe from one of your aunts, although she was never explicit, that you were on the continent. Based on your aunt's testimony, Mrs. Darcy was under the strong impression that you were there doing something of which she certainly would not approve (no offense). I will not be more explicit, but you understand.
It took me about a month to determine that you were in France at the behest of your Uncle Matlock, but I was unable to ascertain your exact location or purpose without compromising your mission, unless I traveled to the continent myself. You understand that a journey to France is not undertaken lightly, as any English citizens are automatically considered enemy combatants and handled accordingly (jailed or shot depending on the whim of the court). However, I do have several good contacts in Portugal, and it is far easier to communicate with France from there than from England. I judged that I would be able to find you easily enough, given some time.
I conveyed this to Mrs. Darcy, and suggested she stay in England while I rousted you out, but she was adamant that she would go along with me. It is not quite as bad as it sounds, as Porto is as safe as London if you know where to go and where to avoid. I reluctantly agreed, so we set sail with Mrs. Darcy, her maid and her footman.
Mrs. Darcy went overboard on the outbound leg of the journey. On arrival, I immediately booked passage on another ship, so I could return and notify you and her father. Mrs. Darcy left a note in her luggage with a few hundred pounds for her maid and footman in case of any difficulties, so I gave that to them. They preferred to find their own passage back, so I left them in Porto. Mrs. Darcy may have had other funds on her person or in London, but I have no way of knowing. She paid me in advance, including £1,000 for expenses, so I did not think any more of it. I have returned the remainder of her expenses to your man of business in London.
I am certain it will not help you feel any better, but your wife took great pains to ensure that her family reputation was not damaged by her unusual choice of traveling methods. I tell you this so you will not be surprised when you go to London. The lady, quite cleverly in my view, put it about that you were in the service of the war effort, and that she was called to your assistance. I am to understand that she spread this about London with the assistance of a lady friend she knew from Hertfordshire, but she did not tell me her name, nor did I ask as it was irrelevant to my task.
I apologize deeply for failing to deliver your wife safely.
Noah G. Baker
Darcy started to ball the letter up but knew he would just be annoyed with himself later. Instead, he handed it to Longman to read, and then walked over to a nearby bench and sat down with his head in his hands, wondering just what in the world he could do next.
