Chapter 2
"You are certain that this is the house?" Darcy inquired with surprise in his tone.
"Yes, sir," Bingley's coachman stated stolidly and Bingley laughed.
"You need have no concern, Darcy. Caleb has a phenomenal memory. Shall we?"
Darcy began walking toward the front door of the neat house on Gracechurch Street where the Bennets' London relations dwelled. He was startled at how pleasant the area was with its neat, two story brick homes and tidy lawns. This particular house was not large, but it was well maintained.
A maid answered the door, invited them into the vestibule and took their cards. She left allowing Darcy to look around him. Once again he was impressed. The furnishings were not particularly expensive, but they were understated and elegant. He could hear the distant sounds of childish laughter from the upper floors, which also won his approval. He appreciated a home where children were happy.
"This way, please, sirs," the maid invited, stepping back into view. The two gentlemen followed her through a corridor and into a back sitting room which faced the rear lawn.
Darcy's heart was beating rapidly as he stepped forward and looked around quickly and hopefully. He wanted to see Elizabeth desperately, to be assured of her good health and well-being. On the other hand, they had last seen one another at Hunsford after a bitter argument, and since then the woman had lost her father and her home. Would she be angry or hurt by his sudden appearance?
In any case, he was disappointed. An unfamiliar woman rose to her feet along with Miss Mary Bennet, but the room was otherwise empty.
"Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley," the woman said with a gracious smile. She was in her mid-thirties and dressed in the sober lavender of half mourning, "I am Mrs. Gardiner. You know my niece, Miss Mary Bennet, I believe."
"Miss Mary," Bingley said, speaking gently to the girl who was dressed completely in black. "My deepest condolences on the loss of your father."
Darcy also murmured his sympathies and Mary nodded gravely, "Thank you, Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy. I confess that I am quite astonished to see you both here."
Darcy flinched slightly at this but Bingley spoke with his usual forthrightness, "Miss Mary, we only just learned of the tragic loss of your father and your home. We are so very grieved on your behalf."
"Thank you, sir," Mary replied softly, and Mrs. Gardiner gestured to the men to sit.
"Will you have some coffee or tea?" she asked as a maid entered with a tray. The men acquiesced, and all were silent save for Mrs. Gardiner's request on their preferences of sugar.
"Mr. Darcy," she said as she passed him a cup, "I grew up in Lambton near Pemberley and have such fond memories of my years in Derbyshire. You have a lovely estate."
"Thank you, Mrs. Gardiner," Darcy replied. "May I ask who your father was?"
"He was the rector of the church in Lambton, Mr. Alexander Greene," the woman explained fondly. "Our family was very happy there but when he passed away, we moved to London, and I met Mr. Gardiner."
Darcy had never met Mr. Greene, though he remembered his name, "Have you been back to Lambton recently, Mrs. Gardiner?"
"I have not," the woman replied regretfully. "My husband's business requires his attention here in London. We had hoped to make a trip north to the Lakes this summer with Miss Elizabeth, but alas ..."
She trailed off and looked at Mary, whose face wore a distant, wooden expression. With a flash of understanding, Darcy realized that she was suppressing a desire to cry in company, and he quickly sought to turn the subject.
"I hope you are able to make that trip someday, Mrs. Gardiner. May I ask whether Mrs. Bennet and all of her daughters are here with you?"
"No," Mary spoke up. "My mother and two youngest sisters are living in Meryton with our Aunt and Uncle Phillips. My Aunt and Uncle Gardiner were gracious enough to take me and Jane in when our father passed on to his reward, but Jane has found a position as a companion to a young lady in London and no longer lives here."
Darcy felt his tongue freeze in his mouth at these words. Miss Mary had mentioned Jane and Lydia and Kitty and Mrs. Bennet but what of Elizabeth?
What of Elizabeth?!
"A companion!" Bingley cried out, his attention on the eldest Bennet daughter. "I ... that is ... I did not imagine that the daughter of a gentleman would be required ...
He stuttered to a halt, allowing Mrs. Gardiner to speak.
"My brother Bennet regrettably did not leave anything in the way of savings for the girls. Mrs. Bennet's portion is not sufficient to care for all the women, so Jane was pleased to take the position when it became available."
Darcy swallowed convulsively and opened his mouth to ask about Elizabeth, but Bingley, once again, spoke first.
"Might I have her direction, Mrs. Gardiner? Please."
The lady stared at him intently and then looked at Miss Mary, "Mary, my dear, would you be so kind as to take the children outside to play with the puppy? I believe their nurse would most appreciate a rest from their antics."
"Of course, Aunt Gardiner," the girl replied, rising to her feet along with the gentlemen, who bowed to her as she left the room.
Once the door shut behind her, Madeline Gardiner's tone grew sharp, "Mr. Bingley, I am aware that you were assiduously attentive to my eldest niece last fall, to the point that Jane and the local society of Meryton assumed you would make her an offer. Then you abandoned her without so much as a word of farewell. I was also present when Miss Bingley came to visit Jane in late January, and showed through her words, tone, and expressions that she wished to break all discourse between them. These girls have suffered enough through the loss of their father and home, have they not? Must you torment Jane further?"
Bingley's face was ashen and he opened his mouth but nothing came out.
"It was my fault, Mrs. Gardiner," Darcy said hastily.
She turned her gimlet gaze upon him and he felt a twinge of concern; he well remembered a strict but loving governess who had stared him down in just such a way when he was still a carefree boy.
"I fail to see how you could be at fault for your friend's inconsistency and, dare I say it, cruelty."
"I did not believe that Miss Bennet truly cared for Mr. Bingley, Mrs. Gardiner. His sisters and I followed him to London and persuaded him that Miss Bennet was not in love with him, but would feel obliged to accept his offer of marriage for financial reasons. We went so far as to conceal Miss Bennet's presence in London earlier this year. I realized the error in what I did and told my friend only today of our deception in this matter, along with the news of Mr. Bennet's death."
Mrs. Gardiner stared at him for a long moment and then turned her attention on Bingley, who looked on with an air of abject misery.
"And when you learned of Mr. Darcy's actions, plus the death of my brother by marriage, you rushed here to see whether Jane is well?"
"Yes," Bingley said quickly, and then added, "in actual fact, the first thing I did was hit Darcy in the jaw. Then we rushed here."
This provoked a glimmer of a smile and Darcy flushed as the lady turned her attention on him with a particular focus on his chin, where a bruise was no doubt blossoming.
"If I do allow you to see my eldest niece, what is your intention, Mr. Bingley?"
"I will ask her to marry me."
Mrs. Gardiner blinked in astonishment, "Immediately?"
"Yes, immediately. I should have asked for her hand back in November. I never should have left her, never should have listened to my sisters and Darcy's discouraging words. I truly thought she loved me, and I certainly love her, but I could not abide the thought of her marrying me for any reason other than love. If my abandonment makes her hate me, I deserve it. If she requires time, I will ask for a courtship. I will do anything to win her."
Jane's aunt tilted her head thoughtfully and then nodded, "Very well, Mr. Bingley. Jane has a half day off on Wednesday afternoons while her charge is busy with French and pianoforte lessons. She will thus be here tomorrow at noon for her weekly visit. You are invited to come to this house an hour later; if she chooses not to speak to you, I will give orders that you not be admitted."
There was a sheen of perspiration on the younger man's brow but he nodded.
"What of Miss Elizabeth?" Darcy inquiring, trying, and failing, to keep his tone calm. "She is ... surely she is not ..."
Mrs. Gardiner turned her intent stare on him once again, "I confess I find your question rather astonishing, Mr. Darcy. You clearly disapprove of the Bennet family in general, and I understand from Elizabeth that you were particularly unimpressed with her person and character."
"No," Darcy replied hoarsely, unable to maintain calm. "No. That is not true. I have for many months admired her as the most handsome, charming and winsome of women. I love her, Mrs. Gardiner."
The matron lifted surprised eyebrows, "And yet you did not speak?"
"I proposed marriage to her during her visit to her friend Mrs. Collins in Kent, Mrs. Gardiner. Miss Elizabeth had learned of my interference in Mr. Bingley's courtship of Miss Bennet and turned me down most thoroughly."
Elizabeth's aunt looked shocked for a moment before a reluctant smile lit up her attractive visage, "That sounds like our Lizzy. She would indeed reject a man who was the cause of her dear sister's anguish. It is, however, regrettable in some ways. I wonder if ..."
She trailed off and shook her head, "Well, that time is past. Elizabeth is a determined young lady but if she had known that her father would die before his time, and what would follow, perhaps she would have responded with less vitriol."
"There was also the matter of a man of our acquaintance who had lied about my character," Darcy said uncomfortably.
"Mr. Wickham? I know that Elizabeth championed him months ago and I liked him when we were introduced, but his charming façade clearly concealed a dissolute character. He ran away with the young wife of his Colonel in the militia while his regiment was stationed at Brighton. Elizabeth knows now what kind of man he is."
Darcy grimaced in disgust, "That does not surprise me. But to return to ... to Miss Elizabeth, I assure you that I am still very much in love with her and very much wish to make her my wife, if she is willing, of course."
He waited hopefully, and then his heart sank as Mrs. Gardiner shook her head.
"I am afraid there are complications, Mr. Darcy. You have met Mrs. Bennet, I believe?"
"Yes."
"Her greatest fear came true when Mr. Bennet died, gentlemen. The estate went to a distant cousin, who evicted the Bennet ladies within weeks of Mr. Bennet's demise."
"I am aware. My aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, was the patroness of Mr. Collins. Indeed, my aunt urged Mr. Collins to send the Bennets away. I admit this openly but with humiliation, that my own aunt could be so cruel."
"Are you aware that Elizabeth refused Mr. Collins's hand in marriage?"
"I am," Darcy admitted.
Mrs. Gardiner sighed, "My dear niece seems intent on refusing eligible offers. Mr. Collins, you, and now she has another offer, a Lord Daw."
Darcy felt his heart speed up again.
"They are engaged?" he asked hoarsely, struggling to maintain some semblance of dignity. He wanted to weep.
"They are not. I will be truthful with you, Mr. Darcy. When Lord Daw approached Elizabeth, my second eldest niece was open to the possibility of marrying the man for the sake of her mother and sisters. The time for a love match was, it seemed, at an end. We do not know exactly why Lord Daw is interested in Elizabeth ..."
"I can tell you that," Darcy interpolated with anger. "My aunt, Lady Catherine, interfered again. First she ordered Mr. Collins to cast the Bennet ladies from their home, and then she suggested Miss Elizabeth as a suitable bride to Lord Daw, who is a distant relation of my deceased uncle, Sir Lewis de Bourgh. I understand he is a widower, childless and old enough to be Miss Elizabeth's father."
"It is worse than that," Madeline Gardiner responded gravely. "Mr. Gardiner looked into his reputation and it is a dreadful one. He is a gambler and a rake, and he treated his first wife terribly. Elizabeth cannot marry him."
"Perhaps I...," Darcy began hopefully, but subsided when the woman shook her head firmly.
"As I said, it is not simple. Mr. Collins, due no doubt to his veneration of Lady Catherine, was most insistent that Elizabeth marry the man. Mrs. Bennet, filled with terror over the loss of her home and the specter of poverty, was equally determined. Lord Daw himself appeared here when the three eldest Bennet girls journeyed to London, and he was proprietary and ..."
The lady shuddered openly, "He is a vile man, and I believe a dangerous one. The kind of man who will take what he believes he deserves, and he thinks he owns Lizzy. Elizabeth has run away, Mr. Darcy. She has hidden herself away so that she can no longer be opportuned by Lord Daw, Mr. Collins or her mother."
Bingley gasped at this, "Run away? And you do not know where she is?"
"I do not," Mrs. Gardiner replied in a precise tone. "I would not care to lie to Mrs. Bennet or my nieces, you see. I have no idea where she is."
Darcy leaned forward, "But someone does know where she is? Mr. Gardiner, perhaps?"
Mrs. Gardiner stared at him for a long moment and then smiled reluctantly, "You are an intelligent man, sir. Yes, my husband knows where she is."
"May I speak to him?"
"You may, but not today. I need to inform him of your previous interactions with Elizabeth so that he can make an informed decision. Perhaps you could come tomorrow with Mr. Bingley; your friend can speak to Jane, and you can visit my husband in either his office here at home or his place of business?"
Darcy knew that every minute, every hour, would be torture until he could speak to Mr. Gardiner, but he nodded, "Thank you, Mrs. Gardiner. That is an excellent plan and more gracious than I expected or deserve."
Author note: If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check out my other current story, A Fortuitous Fall.