Some hours later, the two boarded the carriage once again. Charlotte Lucas had been older than Elizabeth when she left, but the two had met again in London when the Lucases had called on the Gardiners when they were in town two seasons ago. Charlotte, who was six years older than Elizabeth, had enjoyed the younger girl's company and the two had begun writing back and forth regularly.
When Darcy began making arrangements for their stay in Meryton through Elizabeth's uncle, Phillips had mentioned this gathering and obtained an invitation for the couple to attend. Only that afternoon, Elizabeth sent a note to her friend explaining several matters, including ensuring that her and her husband's attendance that night would not cause any problems.
The return note informed the pair that Mr. and Mrs. Bennet had sent their regrets for the party that afternoon, though Jane and Mary would still attend. Elizabeth scoffed a little at this, since it was outside the bounds of propriety for the two young girls to attend without some sort of chaperone, but Darcy attempted to excuse it, claiming that it was likely the families were so well acquainted, the Bennet parents had not thought it would matter. Elizabeth acknowledged that might be true, but was hopeful that the two attended because they wanted to see her again.
Both suppositions proved to be correct, though in varying forms. Even Lady Lucas acknowledged the impropriety of the two arriving unchaperoned, but several others offered to perform the office in the absence of their parents. Jane and Mary did seek out Elizabeth on several occasions throughout the evening, although always separately and it was obvious they had very different purposes in doing so.
Where Mary approached Elizabeth almost immediately and sought to discover what she could about the sister she had not seen in nearly a decade, Jane waited to see Elizabeth out until dinner was finished.
"Well, Lizzy," Jane said as she approached when the women were settled in the drawing room with tea, "you have done quite well for yourself."
She eyed her sister warily. "What do you mean by that?"
"Your husband. Not only is he rather handsome, I understand from that he is very wealthy," Jane said, eyeing her sister with a mixture of disdain and envy. "How did our uncle arrange that?"
Elizabeth inwardly sighed. It should not be a surprise to learn that there was already talk about her husband's wealth. The Lucases were vaguely familiar with him, and she supposed that others would have heard his name when they attended events in London. While none of them were of the same level of society as her husband, his family and wealth were well known. After a movement, she spoke: "Our uncle did not arrange anything. Fitzwilliam and I met several years ago, and when we saw each other again in April, we recognised our feelings for each other. He proposed when we visited his estate this summer," Elizabeth stated coldly.
Jane smirked at her sister. "And what did you do to convince him to offer for you?"
"I did not 'convince' him," Elizabeth began, but was cut off by the men entering the room.
"She did not have to convince me. I knew the moment I saw her at her coming out ball that I wanted her and no other for my wife," Darcy said, his tone gruff and icy. Elizabeth had never heard him so cold.
Jane put on a look of pretended innocence. "Forgive me for thinking otherwise. Mama simply thought that Uncle Gardiner must have arranged the match. None of us would have expected Lizzy to marry well and certainly not a man like you. With her looks ..." she trailed off, fluttering her eyelashes at Darcy.
"My wife is beautiful. Surely you would not imply anything else. I first met Elizabeth when she was fourteen, a mere slip of a girl, and I knew even then she would be an exceptional beauty. Even my father adored her before she passed. Not only is she lovely on the outside, she is equally lovely on the inside. Not every woman can say that," he said pointedly.
It seemed that was enough to silence the eldest Miss Bennet and Darcy was displeased to have had to defend his wife to this spiteful woman. "Elizabeth, your uncle asked me to bring you to him when we entered the room. I think your sister Mary is over there as well. Would you join me?" And with this, they nodded at Jane and left to find Mr. Phillips.
"That was badly done, Jane," Charlotte hissed. She and Jane were not particularly friendly, and that was largely because of that gossip that Mrs. Bennet and her eldest daughter liked to speak of about Charlotte Lucas and her status as a spinster. It did not matter that the reason Charlotte was not wed had more to do with her intended dying before they were able to marry than her somewhat plain appearance, but for some reason, Mrs. Bennet liked to harp on appearance rather than her many good qualities. For instance, Charlotte Lucas did far more to assist the tenants at Longbourn than either Mrs. Bennet or Jane Bennet did, as well as assisting the poor in the parish. Lady Lucas may not have been born a gentlewoman, but neither had Mrs. Bennet, though it was Lady Lucas who had taken the lead in the community in aiding those who needed it.
"What would you know, Charlotte Lucas? You are a spinster and will remain in this insignificant town your entire life. Now that Lizzy has managed to marry so well, I will go to London and be introduced to wealthy and handsome young men. It will not be long before I am wed, and far higher than you could ever aspire to."
"Who will take you to London, Jane?" Elizabeth asked, having returned when she saw Charlotte speaking to Jane. "For it will not be me, not when you seek to insult me and attempt to flirt with my husband. I expected better of you Jane, though perhaps I should not have. I still recall how you treated me and my aunt and uncle the one time you visited."
"Mama will make you take me in," Jane retorted.
Elizabeth laughed at this. "The woman you call Mama is no mother to me. The only mother I have had in more than a decade is Mrs. Gardiner. If you think I would do anything because Mrs. Bennet demands it of me, you are sorely mistaken. Given what she must have told you, I am certain you now think that you are so beautiful that no man would reject you, but let me assure you that is not the case. I have met many gentlemen and ladies in town, and Jane, you would scarcely stand out among them. Not only that, but many men seek to marry a lady with some wealth of her own, and short of that, one who has something to recommend her beyond her looks. Few men would marry a woman for beauty alone, despite what your mother may have attempted to tell you. No, they will seek a woman who can benefit them in some way, and you, dear sister, have nothing to offer. You seem to be as spiteful and rude as many of the so-called ladies I have encountered in the ton, but that is not enough to recommend you."
Jane had no response to that, but tears formed in her eyes. Elizabeth and Charlotte shared a look, each assuring the other that there was no real cause for concern, and together, they strode off toward the other side of the room. They did watch, though, as a seething Jane moved toward the exit, and soon they heard a carriage departing, likely carrying her away from Lucas Lodge and toward home.
Elizabeth patted Mary's hand. "Mary, Fitzwilliam and I will assure you are taken home this evening. It is best if you wait a bit, although Jane will surely tell her mother what I have said. I am sorry if things will be difficult for you as a result."
"It will likely be little different than any other evening. I am typically ignored and I am uncertain if they will even notice I did not return home. Mrs. Hill will of course, but Mama and Jane are unlikely to do anything tonight other than to commiserate with each other over you foiling their plans for you."
"Mary, I do hope you will find a way to write to me, or to escape from Longbourn. I would like to get to know you as a sister. Perhaps Mr. Phillips can send and receive letters on your behalf. Or even the rector? I recall a little of Mr. Adams from before; is he still the rector of the Meryton church?"
"He is," Mary told her. "And I will ask Uncle Phillips first if he can help me correspond with you. I recall a few arguments in the years after you left about letters arriving from you and do not think that Mama would allow me to keep any letters you sent me. She would expect me to ask you for clothing and expensive trinkets, as well as to take all my sisters under your wing and take us to town."
"Mary, I must tell you that Mrs. Bennet will receive nothing from me, nor will I give in to any demands she may attempt to place on me. She had me sent away from my home at the age of eight, and up until the day she demanded I return home to marry a man twice my age, she has ignored me entirely. If she wishes to apologise for her behaviour, I will listen, but it will take time before I am willing to have anything to do with her or Mr. Bennet. The same goes for my sisters, Mary. I will gladly correspond with you and any of my sisters who desire it, but it will take time to build a relationship."
"I do understand, Lizzy, or would you prefer I call you Elizabeth, or even Mrs. Darcy? I have not seen you in many years and am uncertain if you will welcome the intimacy of sisters."
"I have not been 'Lizzy' since I left home. The Gardiners and William use my Christian name, since, after I was forced to leave Longbourn, I wanted to forget any reminders of that time. The nickname 'Lizzy' was one of those things that we changed first, that and my surname. Before I became a Darcy, I was a Gardiner, not a Bennet. It may sound terrible of me, but when my father agreed to disown me because he would not stand up to his wife about her treatment of me, I wanted nothing to do with the name Bennet."
"I do not know if others in my family would understand, but I think I can. I recall little of how Mama treated you, but after you left, I became the one she complained about. Jane and Lydia are her favourites; Jane for her beauty and Lydia for her liveliness. At twelve, Lydia is quite spoiled and Kitty follows her. I am largely ignored, but occasionally she will blame me for something that is wrong," Mary admitted.
Elizabeth frowned at that. "I am sorry, Mary. I know there is little I could have done, but I do hate that my being forced to leave made life more difficult for you." She took several minutes to look at her sister. "Do Kitty and Lydia favour Jane? You and I have the darker hair and eyes of our grandmother. It was a frequent complaint I heard as a child. Mrs. Bennet preferred the girls who looked like her."
This caused Mary to flush. "They do. I have been compared unfavourably to my sisters all my life. Kitty favours our mother, though not as much as the other two. She gains compliments mostly because she follows Lydia's example. Fortunately, they are too young to be much in company at present, but they are wild and unchecked already. I worry about them."
Mrs. Phillips reached them before anyone could speak further. "Jane left in the Bennet carriage a few minutes ago, Mary. Why did you not accompany your sister?"
"She grew angry with Elizabeth's reluctance to agree to Mrs. Bennet's demands that she take Jane to London immediately and left. I do not think she remembered that I was here with her," Mary said.
Mrs. Philips looked at her niece. "My sister has already demanded that you take Jane to London? I did not think today's meeting went well. Mr. Bennet met with my husband earlier and they spoke of the marriage contract that was signed. He was a fool to sign the document without bringing it to my husband to review, but my sister was insistent that it was the only way to save the family. I do not think either of them read the document all the way through."
"You are correct, our meeting did not go well. They seemed to think that I would set aside my legal marriage so I could marry Longbourn's heir, and, naturally, I refused. Jane approached me this evening and told me that Mrs. Bennet would now demand I take her to London to introduce her to wealthy men, while implying I won my husband by compromising him. Of course, she flirted with him right in front of me; I assume because she believes she can win him away from me. I informed her that none of those things would happen and she grew angry with me."
Mrs. Phillips took a minute to allow the information to sink in. "Oh," she said after a moment, having needed to absorb all the information that had been shared with her. "I believe my husband spoke to yours earlier about what the Bennets have done, and I am certain they will soon realise they have made a mess of matters. Of course, my sister will be reluctant to admit it, and I worry about what she might scheme next. Come with me, Mary, I will ensure you arrive safely home tonight."
And with that, the older lady took Mary by the arm and led her to gather her husband before directing them all toward their hosts for the evening. It was not long after that when the three departed, followed not long after by the Darcys themselves.