Page 28 of Searching for Elizabeth
“Yes. Actually, in case she accepted me, I asked my lawyer to start the settlement papers last week, so I can probablyhavethem expressed here in mere hours. As I said, Elizabeth accepted my proposal only yesterday afternoon.”
Gardiner turned to Mr. Bennet, saying, “If Lizzy truly has accepted this man, it is a stupendous match for her. I believe you should give them permission instantly, and although we will of course read the settlement carefully, Mr. Darcy does have a reputation for being extremely honorable.”
“Extremely rich, you mean,” Mr. Bennet said. “I have heard ‘ten thousand a year’incessantly around here.”
Darcy said, “Actually, Mr. Bennet, that figure is just a rumor. In actuality, with the income from all my properties and my investments, I have more than twice that.”
Both men looked at him with gaping mouths. Gardiner shut his mouth first, shaking his head with a rueful grin. “‘Well done, Lizzy,’ I should say. But, Darcy, I want you to know that it is your sterling reputation, and the esteem everyone has for your family, that counts more than your income.”
“Thank you, Gardiner. I feel the same way about your niece; everyone talks about her beauty, which is unparalleled, but it is her intelligence, her spirit, and one might even say her spunk, her kindheartedness and generosity, her creativity…I mean, I cannot fathom listing all her praiseworthy qualities in one go, because she is just so amazing, my sincere praises will start to sound meaningless.”
Gardiner smiled and nodded. “I see that you have accurately taken Elizabeth’s measure. Do you know how she often employs her creativity?”
Darcy nodded. “I do, in general terms. Justyesterday, I sent a package to Mr. Briggs and an ordertoHatchards, butas of yet I have not read the various items posted or ordered.”
Mr. Bennet was spending his time looking back and forth from man to man, repeating words every so often. “Twice that?” “Employs her creativity?” “Hatchards?”
Gardiner turned to Mr. Bennet and asked, “Well, Thomas, are you going to give Mr. Darcy here permission to wed Lizzy?”
Mr. Bennet opened his mouth twice before he was able to utter actual words, but the actual words he muttered were, “I suppose. He is the kind of man to whom I should never dare refuse anything which he condescendsto ask.”
Darcy stood up, held his hand out to Elizabeth’s father, and said, “Thank you, sir.” Mr. Bennet did not shake his hand, so he shruggedandbowed in his direction, grinned at Gardiner, and said, “I will see if I can convince Elizabeth to visit Longbourn.”
He heard more splutters behind him—“Visit?”—but swiftly left, mounted his horse, and galloped away before anyone could saddle a horse in order to follow.
Darcy made sure to take a very circuitous route before tying his horse’s reins to a convenient branch and striding to the cottage. He could hardly wait to tell his betrothed the good news.
But the moment he reached the door of the cottage, he sobered and slowed. The door was halfway open. All was quiet, inside and out,andDarcy was certain that something was wrong.
Chapter 23: Elizabeth
—the same morning—
Elizabeth Bennet woke early, as usual. She prepared tea and wrote in her journal, as always. She emptied her chamber pot, and dressed, and unplaited her hair, and brushed it into a simple bun. Just as her morning routine dictated.
But she did not feel normal. She was absurdly excited. She knew that William planned to call on her father at ten, ask permission to marry, and hopefully arrive here at the cottage with good news before noon.
After that…well, her new all-alone lifestyle was surely almost over. If her father gave his permission for William and her to marry, there could be no further danger from Mr. Collins. And she could move back to the comforts of home—
In the middle of making a simple breakfast for herself, Lizzy got stuck on those thoughts. Did she want to move back home until her wedding? Did Longbourn even qualify asher home, now?
She could conceivably move into Netherfield Park, or Lucas Lodge…. Maybe staying at the Phillips house would not be so bad, now?
Or should she just stay here?
She had always considered Blackthorn Cottage as her and Mary’s safe spot, a place to retreat to, like a child’s playhouse or treehouse. She had not thought to live in it full time until that day—not even a week ago!—when she was banished from Longbourn.
But now, if she was about to get married, should she reveal the existence of the cottage to her sisters and parents? Or should she keep it hidden and give the key to Mary?
Lizzy finished cleaning up from the meal and sat down with a fresh stack of paper and a second cup of tea. How much time before—She glanced at the clock and realized that it was still very early. William would not even be riding over to Longbourn, yet!
She wanted to get lost in writing, although she was concerned that getting lost in thoughts of the future was more likely. At that point, she heard a knock on the door.
William!she thought, ecstatic with surprise. She sprang to the door, opened it with a smile—and then tried to fling the door shut, shocked to see Mr. Wickham standing there.
He managed to get his boot wedged in the doorway, and she could not close the door. She thought rapidly, wondering if anything nearby would serve as a weapon. The axe was outside, tucked under the waterproof tarp, but there was a fairly substantial kitchen knife in a drawer….
She tried to dart to the drawer in question, but Mr. Wickham grabbed her wrist. His grip was shockingly strong, and Lizzy realized that she had never been touched so roughly. She tried to kick him, to wrench her arm from his grasp, to hit him with her other hand, but Mr. Wickham just laughed at her. Somehow he twisted his grip on her wrist so that she almost thought he would tear her hand off; her other arm was now behind her back, and Mr. Wickham held her in a grip that felt like iron bands. He wrestled her over to her cot, and he literally sat on her, straddling her, still gripping that one wrist. He used his other hand to open her trunk, and although she fought evenharder to break away from him, while he was busy using his teeth to rip up one of her petticoats, she could not manage to make even the slightest bit of trouble for him. He quickly and competently ripped six swaths of cloth.
