Page 69 of An Accidental Meeting
Elizabeth touched her temple as though her head pained her. “Lydia will only say that this proves Mr. Wickham loves her, for she has no dowry to speak of.”
“She had something he wanted more—”
“I hope you are wrong, Darcy,” Gardiner said grimly.
“That is not what I meant,” Darcy said. Though he thought it likely that Miss Lydia had not long remained a maid once alone with Wickham, there was no need to say as much. “He also wished to stay at Pemberley, and must have thought I would allow it if Miss Lydia was with him.”
“Why?” Gardiner sighed. “What reason would he have to remain here among those who despise him?”
“To torment me, which is nearly always his first object,” Darcy said with a sigh. "And then to extort me, which is his second."
Elizabeth’s eyes widened.
“I presume, then, that he is pockets to let,” Gardiner added.
Darcy nodded. “He likely has no funds for the inn, and intended to be paid handsomely to marry Miss Lydia. I suspect he thought I would pay more to get rid of him if he remained here.” His anger began to break through his restraint. “It is as though he does not even recall how he treated Georgiana.”
“Perhaps he does not know that your sister is here?” Elizabeth asked softly. “Surely he would not wish Lydia and Georgiana to meet.”
If that were true, it would be good news. “Perhaps.”
“Mrs. Alfredson!” Elizabeth suddenly exclaimed.
Gardiner appeared thoughtful.
Darcy was confused. “I presume Mrs. Alfredson is a relative of your wife’s?”
“A distant cousin,” Gardiner answered. “I do not believe any of the Bennets even know of her existence.”
“I did not until we visited her here,” Elizabeth said.
“Only the once,” Gardiner said with quiet amusement.
Elizabeth shook her head at her uncle. “One of the things Mrs. Alfredson loves best is to teach young women proper behaviour. She wished to do so with me.”
“What did she find lacking in your behaviour, pray?” Darcy asked, offended on her behalf.
“My appallingly sharp wit.” Elizabeth glanced up at him mischievously.
“Your cleverness, you mean.”
“Indeed I do, Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth responded with a little smile that mollified him. “She is firm and difficult to please, but essentially a good woman. She once had her own seminary nearStafford, but now lives outside of Lambton with a few servants in a house roughly the same size as the parsonage in Kent.”
Her cheeks flamed, and he offered her an apologetic glance.
Gardiner contemplated the idea. “If we were to pay Lydia’s room and board, with a little extra for her trouble, I think Mrs. Alfredson might be well pleased with the situation. Let us approach your aunt about it, Lizzy.”
Elizabeth agreed. “If Lydia listens to Mrs. Alfredson, she might truly be marriageable in a few years’ time.”
“She will ask why she cannot remain at Pemberley,” Gardiner warned.
“Aunt Gardiner will tell her that her behaviour is not something to be rewarded,” Elizabeth informed her uncle, who smirked.
“That does sound like her.”
“And perhaps we can tell her that when Mrs. Alfredson is satisfied with her comportment, she will be allowed to visit us in London?” Darcy asked. “If we wait until she is eighteen, there is ample time for her to improve herself, and in the meantime, we could see to our other sisters.”
“You would do that for Lydia?” Gardiner asked, surprised.
