Elizabeth raised one eyebrow in challenge as she laid out her scheme. Mrs Gardiner was an enthusiastic supporter - she was keen to help the cause of true love and had never thought too much of her husband's youngest sister and her indolent brother-in-law. Mr Gardiner, as Elizabeth had expected, was both more difficult to convince and more essential to the plan. She knew he was just as sympathetic as her aunt, but he was above all a practical man. It was this she was relying on to overcome her father's opposition, after all. Elizabeth spent considerable time setting out the details of what she proposed, since Uncle Gardiner would need to be convinced there were no loopholes through which Mr Bennet could cause an impediment or exact his revenge, but also dwelt on the Gardiners' own interests in the her match with Darcy.
"There may indeed be some cooling of relations between Gracechurch Street and Longbourn," she acknowledged, "but you will gain a connection with the Darcys of Pemberley. Even if my father stirs himself enough to withdraw his investments from your management, the patronage of Mr and Mrs Darcy will more than compensate for any loss. You know my future husband well enough to believe that he has already spoken of his respect for your business acumen, and intends to speak to you about possibly working together on a venture he has in mind. Truth be told, I suspect he would do so whether or not you help me confound my father, for he is not impulsive in the management of his investments and would not have spoken had he not already given it considerable thought. But my point is simply that if you must take prudential considerations into account, I would stand by your future nephew rather than your brother: he has more to give."
"Careful, Lizzy," cautioned her aunt. "You begin to sound as cynical as your father." But this reprimand was delivered with such an affectionate smile that it did not sting.
Instead Elizabeth laughed lightly and said, "He has taught me well, then!" before adding, "I do not say you would only act for mercenary reasons. I know that you both love me, as I love you, and would do what you can to help me. But I am asking a great deal of you, and I know it will cause some uneasiness. I merely want to remind you that there are practical benefits as well."
"There would be uneasiness whether or no we help you in this, Lizzy," her uncle replied. "I do not think I can ever return to the easy friendship I have had with your father in the past, knowing what he intended for his favourite daughter. That ship has sailed. In any case, we could not in good conscience abandon you to such a fate while there is something we can do about it. Your plan is a good one, and we will put it into action immediately. I will write to Mr Darcy and send a runner to his house immediately. Do you want to enclose a brief note?"
Elizabeth thought that a wonderful idea, and after pressing her aunt and uncle's hands in warm gratitude, accepted a paper and quill, scratching out a quick note using the upturned tea tray as a makeshift desk while her uncle restored the wooden chair to its proper place and used the writing desk to compose his missive. A servant lad was soon shaken from his slumber by the oven and sent across town to deliver a letter. He was under strict instructions that it must be entrusted to none but the intended recipient, and was to wait for an answer.
Darcy had long since lost count of how often he had paced from the fireplace to the window of his study and back again that evening. He had been unable to settle to any useful task, nor to relax with a book. Even drinking had seemed unwise in his present humour, so an elegant glass of the finest claret stood untouched on the mantlepiece. An unexpected messenger was just what he needed to shake him out of his solitary contemplation, so when his butler asked what he wanted done with an impudent lad who insisted on delivering his letter only into the hand of the master of the house despite the late hour, Darcy had directed that he be shown in immediately. Whatever the message was, it could not be worse than haunting his own study in frustrated anxiety.
By the time a smartly-uniformed if slightly rumpled and out of breath youngster was shown into Darcy's study, that gentleman was already worried about the content of the message, although he was seated with apparent composure behind his large desk. What could be so urgent that it must be delivered in the dark of night? When he recognised the uniform as that of the Gardiners' servants, he leapt to his feet and strode around the desk to take the letter from the boy's hand. Had something happened to Elizabeth? Had Wickham escaped? Had Mr Bennet decided to turn him down in writing rather than face-to-face? All his worst imaginings rushed to the fore, and he hurriedly tore open the seal.
The note was from Mr Gardiner, and another folded within it fell to Darcy's feet as he hurried to open it. The messenger boy picked the second note up and held it out to the fine gentleman as he perused the first. He watched with interest as Mr Darcy's face, which had been frowning and worried when he entered the room, at first cleared in relief and then looked … well, if he was not such a very tall and rich gentleman, the boy would have said he looked confused. Perhaps the end of the letter was in the second page that Mr Darcy had dropped. Clearing his throat to remind the preoccupied gentleman that he was still in the room, he proffered the fallen note again.
Mr Darcy was indeed confused. He had understood Mr Gardiner's letter. The request expressed therein was clear and unambiguous. His confusion arose from not understanding the reason for such a change in plans. His only ambition for the morrow was to return to Gracechurch Street and resume his conversation with Mr Bennet. Hopefully by then, Elizabeth would have had time to persuade him of the depth of her affections and to win his consent. Yet now Mr Gardiner asked him to come to his warehouse to discuss a shipping venture, and stressed that it was of the utmost importance that he go there first thing in the morning, before calling at Gracechurch Street. It seemed most irregular. And now there was this extra note - perhaps an afterthought which might shed more light on things - that the messenger boy was handing him.
"What is this, boy?" he asked.
"It were in the letter, sir. You dropped it as you opened it." he explained. Mr Darcy thanked him and took the second page, opening it no less hastily than the first. (Luckily, there were no further layers of correspondence, so the messenger was free to stand and wait, without having to chase after more dropped pages.)
As Darcy unfolded the second page, he realised it was written in a different hand. His eyes flew to the signature at the bottom and he gasped as he realised it was from his Elizabeth. What she had to say indeed shed more light on her uncle's surprising request, and with a greater understanding of what was afoot, Darcy sat at his desk to pen a quick response. It was addressed only to Mr Gardiner, as was proper, and expressed his agreement to the proposed business meeting on the morrow. The messenger returned to Gracechurch Street with alacrity, looking forward to resuming his cozy spot in the kitchen and getting in a few hours sleep before he was displaced by the kitchen maids when they arrived to begin the day's cooking. Mr Darcy's answer was soon in the hands of Mr Gardiner, who popped his head in to Elizabeth's room to reassure her that the message had been received and understood.
Across town, Darcy reclined in the comfortable chair before his bedroom fireplace, clasping Elizabeth's letter to his chest. It was the first and only letter he had ever received from that lady, and he would have treasured it had it only been an invitation to take tea, but it was more - much more - than that. It was everything.
He unfolded it and read it again:
"My dear William, for so I hope to call you for the rest of my days, please do as my uncle asks. I know it seems like a distraction, but I promise that this is the quickest way to my heart. And as my heart is already yours, it is only sensible for you to take the quickest path to secure it. I will meet you there. Your loving E."
Clearly some mischief was afoot. Since his Elizabeth was involved, that did not greatly surprise him, though he could not help but wonder what twist of fate required him to rendezvous with her at a warehouse rather than at the Gardiner's comfortable home. He was sure Mr Bennet was at the heart of it, and once again he suffered a shiver of anxiety as he contemplated that man's strange demeanour during their interview. But whatever the reason, he would go where he was bid, for there he would meet his beloved, and she had given him her heart.
Resting his head against the back of the chair, Darcy closed his eyes and conjured an image of Elizabeth, face bright in the sunlight and hair blowing loose from its pins. She called him her "dear William", and laughed that clear, bright laughter that had first entrapped his heart. That organ sang within his chest, beating strongly in anticipation of the dream becoming a reality. Half an hour before, he had despaired of getting any rest that night. Now he knew it to be an impossibility. His Elizabeth loved him, and he need never sleep again!
Of course, sitting in a comfortable chair before the fire and dreaming of a beautiful woman is not a tried and tested method of remaining awake, and Darcy slipped from relaxed fantasy into true dreaming some time in the early hours of the morning. He was awoken by his valet, who had clearly been trying to rouse him for some time. His neck was stiff from sleeping in the chair rather than in the very comfortable four-poster bed that stood only a few feet away, and his head was groggy with the remnants of complete relaxation.
"I am sorry to wake you, sir, but it is getting rather late if you plan to make any visits this morning," said his man, with more irritation than was strictly proper in his voice. No doubt he had been waiting impatiently for his master to rise so he could complete his work for the morning and break his own fast: Billings was never at his best when he was hungry.
Then, gradually, his valet's words sank in, and Darcy rose with a sudden urgency. Checking the mantle clock, he saw with a sinking heart that it was already past ten o'clock. He dressed faster than he had at any time since he first met Elizabeth in the grounds of Pemberley, eschewed the offer of breakfast, distractedly downed a coffee as he stood in the foyer waiting for his horse to be led around from the stables. It was there that Georgiana found him.
"What on earth is going on, William?" she demanded. "I have been patiently waiting for you in the breakfast room, only to be told you were about to leave the house. Is there something wrong? Is it Wickham? Is there anything I can do?"
"It is nothing like that. I have confidence in Mr Gardiner's friend, the Captain. I am sure that our old friend is currently learning how to be of use on a ship, and that we will never see him again. No, my dear. There is nothing you can do to help, but I must be away as soon as possible. Miss Elizabeth is waiting for me, and I dread to imagine what she will think of me if I miss this appointment. I promise I will tell you all when I get home."
Georgiana giggled in relief. "Well, if that is all, be off with you," she said, taking his empty coffee cup from his hand. "You know I want you to bring Lizzy home to be my new sister. It will not do to keep her waiting."
Darcy needed no further urging. He kissed his sister on the cheek and ran down the front stairs to take the reins from a startled groom who was walking a saddled horse around the corner of the house. Darcy was mounted and on his way to Cheapside a mere forty minutes after waking, hoping against hope that he could reach his destination before the appointed time of eleven am.
Author's note: I know everyone is eager to find out what Lizzy's plan is, and I promise it will all be revealed soon. I'm publishing these chapters hot off the keyboard as soon as they are written, so apologies for any typos or continuity errors. I rely on you all to point them out in your reviews. elag
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