The unexpected turn of events at Churchill Street in the morning seemed to have sent the entire Darcy household into a state of fatigue, and Darcy both regretfully and relievedly noted how Miss Bennet took her leave for a respite after luncheon and did not emerge until it was time for dinner. They dined without too much ceremony, as there were no other guests to entertain, but even the most simplified version of the evening meal felt somewhat strained under the circumstances.
The kitchen presented as bountiful of a spread as it usually did, but none of the three individuals present seemed particularly inclined to eat.
Darcy tried to eat. But, for all the confidence he tried to channel for his sister and Miss Bennet's sake, even he found himself looking over his shoulder for the long shadows of a Bow Street Runner. Country squires and wealthy landowners had their sway, but there was no cunning comparable to Bow Street's best. If the law dictated that Mr. Bennet had the right to demand the physical return of his daughter, a well-meaning stranger like Darcy, for all his money, could do little to prevent it.
A spoon slipped from Georgiana's hand, the silver falling with a loud clink. Darcy jumped, and he looked up to see both ladies staring at him with his own sense of unease reflected back to him in their eyes.
Darcy sighed.
He lowered his own silverware, swallowed, and leaned back with a sigh.
"Forgive me for being poor company," he said.
Miss Bennet actually managed to smile. She shook her head. "It is I who should apologize for casting a pall over your home."
"Again, I refuse to let you - "
"Do not fret." Her hand landed over his, and Darcy stilled despite himself. They'd shared a few touches in the past few days - from brushing shoulders in the hallways to his handing her up or down the house or carriage steps. None of those moments had been close to as intimate as their embrace in his carriage on the way to London. But there was something about feeling her hand on his, in front of his sister, in his own dining room, that sent a warm rush of familiar affection blooming in his chest. He barely heard her next words. "I can depart as soon as can be arranged."
Darcy took a moment to master himself. "You shall do not such thing - not for our sake."
"Fitzwilliam said he would protect you, would he not?" said Georgiana.
"I understand and appreciate the offer," said Miss Bennet, "but your brother, for all his influence and consequence, must understand that there are limits to what he can lawfully do."
Darcy frowned, disappointed that she most likely was right. "You are still not of age."
"I understand that," Georgiana answered, "But Lizzy - "
"There are quite a few weeks still until I reach my majority," said Miss Bennet, her tone sad. "The only possible way a woman of my age would not be under my father's rightful guardianship would be - "
"If you were married," Darcy finished for her, "to someone else."
"Yes." She withdrew her hand, leaving Darcy bereft. She sighed, though a subtle strength underlay her bearing. "And without my father consenting to any match except one with Mr. Collins - that is just as unlikely to happen."
Darcy nodded soberly. He liked being his sister's protector - but he could not particularly believe a law that made all men, regardless of reason or character, sovereign over the fate of their wives, daughters, and sisters a wise law at all.
"And since all of us know how difficult it shall be to avoid the detection of a Bow Street Runner," Miss Bennet continued. Darcy hated the resignation in her tone as much as he detested his own sense of helplessness. "The only way to protect the two of you would be for me to leave."
"You have nowhere to go," said Darcy. "If you fear to trouble us, then surely you shall try to avoid the company of anyone you care the trifling least for. And any routes available to you without the protection of your name shall surely be dangerous."
Her eyes glistened, but Miss Bennet nodded as if he was speaking rationally only of the weather, not of the fate of her future. "I understand - but what else is there for me to do?"
"Is marriage to this Mr. Collins truly so terrible?" asked Georgiana.
"Yes," answered Darcy and Miss Bennet in unison.
They exchanged a look. Then Darcy said softly. "We may yet be able to escape detection of your presence here in London. But, perhaps, tucked away in Pemberley, there can be hope."
Georgiana's face lit up at the same moment Miss Bennet seemed to still. Darcy waited to gauge her reaction.
"Your offer is generous," she seemed to be thinking as she spoke, "but I have no right to receive such an invitation. Unless I am under your employ or in the position of a distant relative - "
"You will come as my friend, of course." It was Georgiana's turn to reach across the table, all decorum forgotten, to clasp Miss Bennet's hands. "That is your reasoning for your being here, is it not? Why should it not be just as applicable in Pemberley? Besides, it would only be true - as I hold you to be a true friend, Lizzy."
The grateful glint in Miss Bennet's eyes almost had Darcy fielding tears of his own.
"Thank you," she said, her eyes darting between both siblings.
Darcy hardly knew how to articulate how very welcome she was indeed. He would write whatever letters needed to be written tonight - to Bingley, to his solicitor, and to his Matlock relatives. And then, tomorrow they depart.
Elizabeth waited patiently the whole evening through until Georgiana offered to retire. Her mind was heavy, her body weak from the whole day's affairs - but there was something she needed to ask Mr. Darcy, and an intuition she could not name insisted that she ask him as privately as possible. As it was hardly possible for her to request a private audience without appearing utterly brazen, she had to wait for the sliver of time she had between Georgiana's departure, the servants' subsequent distraction, and their retreat as a group from the drawing room.
Once the servants hurried away to make sure the bedchambers were ready, Elizabeth crossed the span of the room, stopping short of reaching out to touch Mr. Darcy once more. She'd tempted the bounds of propriety enough the past few days. She did not need to add to her sins.
"Mr. Darcy." Her voice rushed out more breathily than she'd anticipated.
He turned to face her, clearly surprised. "Yes, Miss Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth paused for a moment, weighing her words. Then she checked for their relative privacy before asking, "If I may be so bold, I would like to request clarifications regarding certain rumors that have reached my ears - rumors that I do not know whether to believe or not."
Now her friend and host looked genuinely concerned. "Have rumors spread regarding your flight?"
"It is not that - or, at least, I hope it is not so."
He nodded, frowning. "Then do tell, Miss Elizabeth, for clearly whatever it is on your mind bothers you greatly."
She swallowed, both surprised and comforted by his perception. She checked the hallway behind him for servants one more time before whispering, "It regards a mutual acquaintance of ours - whom I encountered at Hertfordshire. You see, in the days before Mr. Collins proposed, I had been spending ample time in the company of Mr. Wickham, and he - "
In a sudden, sweeping motion, Mr. Darcy ushered her back into the drawing room, stepped fully in after her, and closed the door.
Elizabeth looked up, more shocked than scandalized. "Sir?"
A look of deep agitation, almost akin to his severity over dinner, had taken over his features. "Forgive me. This is not something I wish anyone to overhear."
"The rumors - of course."
He swallowed, curiously affected. "Yes. George Wickham, he - what did the rogue have to say?"
Something in the way Mr. Darcy set his jaw had Elizabeth feeling that he wished to call Mr. Wickham much worse things. "He said that your family - "
"I swear to God, if he'd breathed a word about Georgiana - "
It was Elizabeth's turn to frown. "Miss Darcy?"
"I should have known I had to track him down. I might have been alone in Ramsgate, but I could still have - "
"Track him down?" Elizabeth took a step back. Whatever the history was between Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham clearly was more complicated than she had reckoned for. "Over the living he was denied? Or was it over something else?"
"The living - he told you about the living?"
Elizabeth nodded. "He said that your late father promised it to him."
"He did - until Wickham requested to exchange it for money instead."
The two realities about the Darcy family - the one Mr. Wickham related and the one Elizabeth herself had encountered these past weeks - began to fuse together better.
"I suppose that makes sense," she whispered.
"Did he tell you otherwise?"
Elizabeth nodded. And the sigh Mr. Darcy heaved afterwards made the man appear far world-wearier than she thought a man of eight-and-twenty had any right to be.
"And did he say anything about Georgiana?" His tone managed to mingle curiosity and resignation.
"Only that she was proud - as prideful as you - or so he claimed."
He met her eye under the lingering glow of the fireplace. A thousand thoughts seemed to race through his eyes before he said, "I suppose I have acted rather aloof."
"I no longer think that of you - or of Georgiana."
Mr. Darcy's laugh felt both bitter and relieved. He sighed, this time sounding stronger than before. "Would you allow me an hour of your time, Miss Elizabeth? Perhaps there are a few things I do need to explain before we leave for Pemberley."
She did not even think twice about their unchaperoned state. At last, she would know the truth.
"Gladly, Mr. Darcy."
A/N: I hope you didn't mind that this chapter was just a bunch of talking. At least Elizabeth only came near to crying this time, not actually crying. Lol. And now Darcy and Elizabeth get to clear the air!