Page 33 of Searching for Elizabeth
“You have to understand, sir,” Elizabeth said, “I was just trying to be difficult enough that I could get away, but I did not even consider that I could possibly kill Mr. Wickham. I….” She trailed off.
Darcy squeezed her hand again, murmuring, “Go on.”
“I pulled my legs up and then I kicked him as hard as I could. Mr. Wickham fell back a bit, tried to get his footing, but then he slipped and fell all the way down. And hit his head.”
Mr. Blythe nodded and continued to write.
Elizabethcovered her face for a second, but then she shook her head again. “I thought he was badly injured, or perhaps dead, because he had been doing all of this cursing me out and muttering threats, and when he hit his head, hescreamed one time but then was still, and quiet. But I knew it was going to be really hard for people to find me unless I could get close to the trail, so I did not try to figure out what had happened to him, and I started to wiggle and buck and roll,tryingto move the right direction.
“And then William found me.”
She stopped talking, and Mr. Blythe stopped writing. As he lifted the paper and started waving it in the air to dry the ink, he said, “Obviously, this was self defense. And we have enoughcharges with the breaking out of gaol and the horse theft,not to mentionthe debts, and especially since Mr. Wickham is now dead, we do not need you to testify, miss.”
Elizabeth and Darcy both sighed; Darcy had been sure that this would be the magistrate’s findings, but he still experienced relief in his shoulders.Elizabeth, too, seemed to relax against him. “All will be well,” Darcy said to her.
“I am ready for things to be well, William. I truly am.”
Chapter 27: Elizabeth
—later that evening—
Elizabeth Bennet’s small trunk, whichWilliamhad recovered from the cottage, sat in the prettiest guest room of Netherfield. She unpacked her two clean dresses, putting on the forest green wool dress and hanging up the sprigged muslin in a wardrobe that looked even more enormous for its near emptiness.
She made a pile of clothes for Clara, the maid assigned to her, to take to be laundered.
The ripped petticoat was in its own, separate pile, meant for the ragman.
Mary had already put her own clothing into the room’s second wardrobe. She sat on the bed, hugging her knees to her chest, and she said, “You are going to need more clothes.”
Lizzy grinned. “IsupposeI should get a few new gowns. Maybe something nice enough to wear to my wedding.”
Her sister asked, “Did you and William set a date?”
“We intend to wed as soon as we are allowed, which is December 8.”
Mary said, “I am so very, very happy for you, Lizzy.”
Lizzy wondered if Mary wasunhappy for herself, but Clara entered the room at that moment, picked up the clothing,andsaid, “Excuse me, but Mr. Darcy wants you to know that dinner is ready to be served.”
Mary hurried down the stairs and entered the drawing room before Lizzy. When Lizzy got there, she saw her sisterwhispering with William, and Lizzy tilted her head in question. Her betrothed turned to her, and, as he escorted both ladies into the dining room, he said, “It seems we have some errands to accomplish: Meryton’s dressmaker for as many gowns as they can churn out in six days, including a wedding dress; plus expresses sent to a London modiste with your measurements,to orderadditional gowns and for warm outer layers; plus orders of warmhats and boots from a London milliner and cobbler….”
William seated her, helped push her chair in, and asked, “Do you think that covers it?”
A bubbling laugh was all Lizzy could manage for a second or two, but then she said, “I hope that covers it! Good heavens, Will, I do not wish to marry you in order to spend all your money on flounces and furbelows! I believe it would behoove you to invest some of your money in various industries, so a terrible year, weather-wise, does not bring you down.”
William surprised her with a single loud guffaw. He said, “I think it is so interesting that you, although you are not even of age, have had no formal education, and as a gentlewoman havebeen taught to not worry about things like estates and industry and investments—but you still have more practical knowledge and better instincts than most university-educated men I discuss these sorts of matters with. I always meant to have you be part of the discussion of the marriage settlement, which is promised to arrive by special messenger tomorrow by noon, and then you will see whereourmoney comes from and how wellwecan afford a bride’s trousseau.
“For now, however, I assure you thatwehave many investments in a diverse assortment of industries. And, yes,wewill discuss further investments. Perhaps on days when you have not had to fight against a kidnapper.”
Mary’s eyes were wide, but she quipped, “Lizzy, I, for one, hope that many, many of your future days do not include you having to fight against a kidnapper!”
Lizzy gave them both a tired smile. The day already seemed to have lasted hours longer than most; however, she was hungry, and she applied herself to the artichoke soup and, later, the roasted venison.
Mary introduced light topics,butLizzy paid little attention to the conversation.She was happy to note that her husband-to-be was as relaxed and witty with Mary as he was with her. With this particular sister, he did not seem to need the mask that he commonly wore around the rest of her family.
Finally, a rather more important topic was broached when William said that he would be writing to his relatives, informing them of the wedding date and location. Lizzy said, “Will any of your relatives come so far?”
“My sister, Georgiana, is currently in London with the Fitzwilliam family, my aunt and uncle and cousins. I imagine that all of them will come; that makes six relatives. I am positive that my other aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and her daughter Anne will not come,because they will be angry at the match.”
