Page 12 of Losing Lizzy
“Darcy!” Charles Bingley crossed Darcy’s study, his hand extended in greeting.
Darcy stepped from behind his desk to accept his friend’s hand, although he was no longer comfortable with such niceties. Onboard ship, few extended their hands unless it was used to strike out against another. It would be necessary for him to relearn some of what was expected of him as a gentleman.
“I cannot tell you how surprised and pleased I was to receive your note upon my return to Bedlow Place. My prayers and those of many others were finally answered.”
“My prayers also,” Darcy said simply before gesturing to the two chairs before the fire. Although it was late August, his body had yet to adjust to the dampness prevalent in London. On theSparrow, the crew had spent much of their time in the waters off the southern Americas where the temperature was often sweltering.
Once he and Bingley were settled and drinks dispensed, Darcy provided his friend the edited version of what had really occurred—the version he and Fitzwilliam had agreed upon as to what they would tell the curiosity seekers.
“Unbelievable!” Bingley repeated several times before saying, “I knew you would never purposely abandon Miss Elizabeth at the altar, no matter how often Caroline and Louisa declared it otherwise.”
Darcy held himself perfectly still, attempting to appear at ease, when he would very much like to hunt down everynaysayer, including Bingley’s sisters, and present them the direct cut for belying Elizabeth’s reputation. Deliberately, he asked, “I understand you attempted to save Elizabeth from ruination by offering her your hand in marriage.”
Bingley squirmed in his seat. “It was all I could think to do. Miss Bennet made the suggestion.” In other words, Bingley had not had an original idea, something that did not surprise Darcy. His friend was too easily persuadable. “The lady and I were both moved by the despair marking Miss Elizabeth’s features when the colonel made his announcement.”
Bingley’s description of Elizabeth’s state of mind after it was apparent he would not show for their wedding was like a knife to Darcy’s heart. However, he managed to say, “It was magnanimous of both you and Miss Bennet to attempt to save Elizabeth.”
Bingley continued to appear uncomfortable. “Now that I know the truth of your absence, I am exceedingly glad Miss Elizabeth refused me.”
Darcy could not control his desire to torment Bingley for daring to aspire to Elizabeth’s hand, even if the gesture had been a kind one. “I am also glad of Elizabeth’s refusal. It would have been difficult for us both, to say the least, for me to return to London to discover the woman I planned to marry installed at your house as your wife.”
Bingley swallowed hard. Obviously, his friend had not expected Darcy to know of his actions. “You know how impetuous I am,” his friend said nervously. “I felt a responsibility for Miss Elizabeth’s loss. After all, I was the one who introduced you two, even attempted to see you partner her at the Meryton assembly. Jane, I mean, Miss Bennet begged me to assist her family.”
“I am not angry with you, Bingley,” Darcy said in calmer tones than he felt. “You acted when others did not, but, surely, you recognized Elizabeth’s answer before you made the gesture. She was determined to view you as Miss Bennet’s husband, not hers.”
“I suppose,” Bingley said weakly.
At that moment, much of the respect he had always felt for Bingley disappeared. Darcy purposely used silence to allow Bingley to consider the choices he had made. At length, Darcy asked, “Why did you choose to leave Hertfordshire? Why not remain at Miss Bennet’s side to provide comfort to her and her family?”
Bingley blushed. “My sisters insisted I could be of more use to the Bennets if I assisted your family in locating you.”
“Yet, you did not return to Netherfield when it was determined I was deceased.”
Bingley shifted his weight from one hip to the other. “It was always my plan to do so.”
“You planned to return to Hertfordshire, but you did not. For more than three years you chose to ignore those for whom you once spoke of fondly,” Darcy stated firmly. “Help me to understand, Bingley. You were willing to risk your family’s reputation to save Elizabeth’s, but you were not willing to save the one woman you claimed to adore. Was it because you knew before asking her to marry you that Elizabeth would refuse, and you could claim honor without acting upon the matter?”
Bingley’s color returned, only this time it was touched by anger. “There is more to consider than the Bennets, Darcy.”
“You offer me an imitation of your sisters’ words,” Darcy said coldly. “You are correct. There is more than my absence from the wedding executed against the Bennet family’s future. There is bigotry. Shortsightedness. Small minds. Snobbish views of one’s own self-worth. Those things have existed all around us our whole acquaintance, but you, my friend, never allowed them to change your affable nature. Even when I foolishly erred in my views of Miss Bennet, you forgave me because you knew I acted as your friend—that I meant to protect you.” Darcy set his glass on the table with a heavier hand than was necessary. “I can guarantee you that if the situation had been reversed, nothing could have kept me from making Elizabeth my wife, and I would have protected Miss Bennet simply because she was my wife’s sister, even if Georgiana had begged me to free myself of thecommitment.”
“Life is not that simple,” Bingley protested.
“That is where you and I differ! Even if some day I discover Elizabeth Bennet has accepted another man to husband, I will never stop loving her, nor will I quit doing all within my power to see her to an easy life.”
“I have not stopped loving Miss Bennet,” Bingley protested.
“So you say, but, if I were the lady, I would prefer, at this point, to know your detestation, for your love had struck me a blow that tore my heart in two.”
Chapter Five
Darcy stepped down fromhis carriage before Longbourn. There had been frost upon the Thames when he departed London, and it was not much warmer here in the countryside. Mr. Cowan’s report said, apparently, no one, other than Mr. Bennet, knew of Elizabeth’s whereabouts. Therefore, Darcy braced himself for the upcoming confrontation. He had been in London a month, moving about the chess pieces of his father’s legacy and reclaiming his reputation as a ruthless businessman. From what his Cousin Fitzwilliam had shared, Darcy’s maneuvers had left the Earl of Matlock scrambling to set his finances aright. To the news of his uncle’s failures, Darcy had replied, “Uncle Matlock has always assumed his peerage would provide him power over the rest of the world. He forgets the majority of England care not for the posturing displayed regularly upon the floor of the House of Lords; the average citizens of England are too busy earning their daily wage to give a fig about anything but feeding their families.”
“Mr. Darcy for Mr. Bennet,” he said when the Longbourn housekeeper answered his knock upon the door.
From the shocked look upon the woman’s countenance, news of his “supposed” demise had reached Hertfordshire. “Is the master expecting you, sir?” she managed.
“Simply inform Mr. Bennet that I am prepared to sit before his house for as long as is necessary to hold a conversation withhim.”
