Dawn's light found Elizabeth awake and pacing her room. Her sister barely knocked before bursting upon her.
"We must go to Lydia and discover if she is with child," Jane said urgently. "What is to be done with her if she is with child? And how shall we know if she is with child?"
"Mrs. Romney told me that one's courses stop when one is with child," Lizzy explained.
"We can ask her when her courses last were, but she never does remember, does she?" Jane said, still despairing.
"No," Elizabeth admitted, "She never does. June will be ended before we can know for certain."
"Can we count on my Aunt Gardiner and Mrs. Romney to keep her contained at Longbourn until then?"
"I do not know," Elizabeth admitted. "She is bored and angry, with me in particular. I must keep her from Darcy or she might try to do him harm, as she is frightfully angry about the duel. I hoped Mrs. Romney could just take her away and I shouldn't have to think about her again, but that does not seem possible. She ran off from a walled school, shielded by guardians on every side. How could one woman keep her, if she did not wish to stay?"
Jane sighed. "I never wished to agree with you that Lydia was so dangerously light-hearted, but it seems you were right."
"I wish I had been very wrong and that she had been as serious-minded as Mary," Elizabeth said.
"Yes, for if she carries on infamously…"
"It will harm our families," Elizabeth agreed.
Jane cried, admitting that it was not until this moment that she had truly agreed with her mother, wishing that her youngest had been born a boy.
Elizabeth could only agree and comfort her sister until the breakfast bell rang.
The carriage brought the Netherfield ladies to Longbourn. Georgiana immediately followed the sounds of the pianoforte to Mary, while Elizabeth and Jane sought Lydia.
They found her with Mrs. Gardiner, who was silently observing the sullen girl.
"Lizzy, Jane, cannot I walk to town? I am so cooped up here. I am near smothered to death with being inside."
"Lydia," Elizabeth said warningly, "We have come to ask you some questions."
Lydia flopped back onto the sofa. "Mrs. Gardiner and that Frenchwoman have already asked me all the questions that a body could ever answer. Such impertinence to ask about a wedding trip, too!"
"Lydia, when did your courses last come upon you"? Jane demanded.
She rolled her eyes, "So you can hide your cloths so you don't have to share when I have need? Like you always do?"
Elizabeth put a quieting hand on Jane and turned a questioning gaze onto their youngest sister.
"We need to know. When were your last courses?"
Lydia made a face. "Mrs. Romney asked me that. I don't recall. Before I went to school."
"How much longer before?"
"Why should I think of such a thing? I don't get sick with it like poor Charlotte Lucas."
Jane and Elizabeth tallied up the days of May and reckoned it could not be above a week before nature's course told them if would have a niece or nephew or no. They took their leave of their sister, who again tried to importune them for some liberty, and ducking into the morning room to assure Georgiana that they would send the carriage for her whenever she wished, headed back to Netherfield.
Bingley and Darcy sat smoking, anxiously awaiting their wives' arrival.
Darcy had at last produced a tolerable letter to Col. Fitzwilliam but waited sending it upon his wife's approval.
The minutes weighed heavily, and Bingley aborted several starts at conversation upon entering into the first few syllables.
It was with great relief that they heard the carriage, and putting out their cigars, hastened for the entrance. The couples greeted each other eagerly, then they retired to the drawing room for a council of war.
"We will know before the end of the month if Lydia is as we believe," Jane declared.
Glad to have women's business handled by the women, Darcy offered his wife the letter he had written, hoping for their approval.
Elizabeth looked up, incredulous. "Do you think it possible that an officer would marry her after her elopement? Such could not have been entirely secret, as we must remember that Caroline Bingley and Lady Catherine had their hands in it."
Jane gave a small start of surprise, and Elizabeth turned to her in explanation.
"It is all my own thought, but I think you will agree," and hastily explained how she had deduced that de Bourgh money and Caroline's wounded vanity must have united to fund Wickham's mad dash.
"Caroline would never…" Bingley began, but when Darcy's eyes fixed on his, he subsided, swallowing his protest down to, "I suppose she might."
"None of this matters. We could not ask a man to engage upon marrying her without telling him all," Darcy declared.
"I do not think that Lydia would consent to wed with any man, even an officer, who had been picked for her rather than her own choice," Jane pondered.
"She will if it is the only way she will ever leave Longbourn," Elizabeth said grimly.
"And once wed, she should surely quiet down and be content?" Bingley asked, hopefully.
"As content as she may be," Elizabeth allowed. "In any case, I cannot ask Mrs. Romney to spend any more time chaperoning her. Mr. Romney must depart for Portsmouth tomorrow and I intend his wife to travel with him. This precious leave cannot be entirely wasted," she said, looking at her husband.
"My aunts Gardiner and Phillips can look after her for some days, but they will be needed by their husbands and children," Jane said.
"Mother is no fit guardian for Lydia," Elizabeth declared. "And I could not be trusted to not do some mischief to the girl were she left with me."
Bingley declared he had too much need of Jane to spare her for dragon duty.
"I do not know how soon Col. Fitzwilliam may be able to obtain leave and join us," Darcy admitted. "He had extensive leave this spring, and with so many calls upon her men, the Crown may not be willing to part with such an able officer."
Conscience prickled at Darcy as he spoke of duty, and he resolved to call upon Col. Forster to relieve any worry the officer may have for his disgraced former lieutenant. With the same thought, a light of hope arrived. Col. Forster was a captain of men, who had vouched for Wickham, and with him he could confide and hope for some enlightenment on how to proceed.
He turned to Elizabeth and begged her to allow him to depart on an errand of great urgency. He could not risk raising then dashing hopes by explaining his idea in advance, but it was with new courage he took leave of his friend and sister-in-law and summoned a horse, absently posting the letter on the way.
Col. Forster's office was buzzing with activity. With the regiment on the verge of leaving Meryton, the movement of men and equipment was incessant. But Darcy's station, as well as his known association with Wickham, gained him entry.
Forster dismissed his attendant, seeing from Darcy's face that privy matters were at hand. Darcy asked if he knew whither Wickham had gone.
"I am surprised that you ask, as from what Mr. Wickham had said, the two of you, though boyhood companions, have not been friends."
"I'm afraid that Mr. Wickham has been much less than a friend to me, and even less to my wife's family. Toward the close of April I discovered Mr. Wickham attempting to elope with my wife's youngest sister, Lydia, whom you know."
The colonel frowned. "We had heard that he was ejected in disgrace from the Bennet home, but not the particular circumstances. I had not seen that he favored the girl, but sure she favored any man who might look upon her."
"And there is the difficulty, for though we sent Lydia to a school where we thought she would be secure — and understood that Mr. Wickham's creditors had removed him to a debtor's prison, he again eloped with her, this time making it nearly all the way to Scotland before I intercepted them."
Col. Forster leaned forward, his face uneasy.
"The manner of the insult he had given by dishonoring my sister-in-law was one that, I'm sure you can understand, merited strong reproof. We fought. He lost."
The colonel took a deep breath. "So he is dead?"
"He is. But not his legacy. It seems that he left her with child."
Forster winced.
"It is too soon to know for certain, but given how long they were together, what the young… lady reported of their intimacy, her robust animal spirits… It seems very likely. You have come to know Lydia since the militia arrived last year. Do you think it likely she will stay quiet, awaiting her confinement, in the seasons to come?"
"The one thing that young woman cannot tolerate is confinement," the colonel agreed.
"You then see my problem," Darcy said. "All that she cares for is to go to Meryton with the militia and to keep company with your officers."
"My wife had been nagging me to allow Lydia to accompany her to the summer encampment," Forster admitted. "It seemed a pet idea of theirs."
"This is a distasteful matter, but we have naught to gain by speaking around it. Is there any man of your regiment who could make a good husband for Lydia? For a husband she must have if there is to be any chance of a respectable future for her."
The colonel rocked back in his chair.
"All have admired her in their turn, but to marry the chit… I hope I think better of my officers than that."
"Of course," Darcy sighed. "I might have known that to her, a dowry would draw only the worst of men."
"She could not have much. The estate is entailed away from the females, and mother has not much."
"I have supplemented what she might have expected, upon my marriage to her sister, which I believe is what drew Wickham to her."
"That does put a wrinkle in it. More men than I wish would marry for money. Good fortune that I did not have to."
"We were each fortunate," Darcy said feelingly.
The colonel rose. "This matter requires thought."
Darcy likewise rose, "Thank you so much for your time. My wife and her family's peace of mind rely on the resolution of this painful matter. A note to Netherfield Hall will find me at nearly any time."
The colonel acknowledged this before escorting his visitor to the door.
Elizabeth, Jane and Bingley anxiously awaited the sound of Darcy's approaching horse.
Elizabeth forced herself to remain seated as her husband walked in.
"Col. Forster was most understanding," Darcy announced, much to their relief. "He promised to think about it."
Jane turned to Elizabeth. "If only one of the officers would be willing to marry her. It could not be sooner than mid-June…"
"They shall have a bishop's license," Darcy announced. "If only the man can be found."