Page 68 of First Impressions
“That is incredible, Charles. So very generous and kind of Mr. Darcy. How will we ever repay him?” Jane took the words right out of her mouth.
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that, sweetheart. Darcy didn’t do it so that he could be paid back,” Charles reassured her. “That’s why he made us swear that we wouldn’t tell you. He didn’t want you to feel guilty or pressured that you owed him for anything. I guess he didn’t count on how inconsiderate Lydia is.”
“I see.”It was a lie. She didn’t see; she didn’t see why he would do such a thing for her and her family after she had treated him so poorly.“Thank you for telling me.” She gave Charles a brief smile before looking at Jane, “I think I’m going to head home for the night.”
“Well —” Charles began before Jane stayed him with a hand on his arm.
Jane walked over and gave her a hug, saying quietly to her, “I think we’re going to tell mom and dad about the engagement tomorrow morning. We want to be able to tell Lydia in person before she moves.”
“Oh, ok. I can come over th—”
“No, no. Don’t worry about it. I just wanted to let you know that we are telling them and Kat and Mary. Don’t argue with me. You’ve had a long day and I know everything with Darcy is weighing on you. We’ll tell them tomorrow and I’m sure mom will call you to tell you all about it; there’s no reason for you to be here,” Jane assured her wryly.
Beth slumped back into a hug with her sister, knowing that she was right. She couldn’t handle any more of her mother’s excitement right now.
“Thank you,”she said, pulling away from her sister and wiping a tear from her eye. She walked over to Charles and gave him a hug. “Congratulations, you are a very lucky man.”
“Don’t I know it,” his eyes twinkling as he looked past her to Jane.
“Thank you for everything. Welcome to the family and good luck with mom!” she joked, trying to focus on anything but crying.
Beth hugged her sister again before saying goodnight. As she walked down the hall to the front door, she saw her dad sitting in the study by the fireplace, a glass of whiskey on the table next to him. As much as she just wanted to go home, she felt like her dad might need someone sane to talk to tonight, so she knocked quietly on the partially open door. Her dad turned, a smile lighting up his face when he saw who it was.
“Beth! I thought you had gone home by now. Come in. Sit.” He looked and sounded exhausted.
“I was just about to leave but I thought I would come sit with you for a few minutes.” She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek before slumping into the other chair in front of the fireplace.
“Do you want some scotch?”
“Oh, scotch! It must have really been a trying day; I thought you were drinking Jameson,” she said with a small laugh, “I’m ok though, thanks for the offer.”
“Helluva day, huh?” her father said with a sigh.
“Yeah, I can’t even imagine what it was like for you,” she said sympathetically. “I just don’t know what was going through Lydia’s head.”
“She’s immature and selfish. Hopefully, the move and the baby will force her to grow up a little,” he replied bluntly. “I’m just glad we were able to get him to marry her; she really thinks she’s in love with him. It wasn’t looking good there for a while.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what she would have done if that had happened,” she continued quietly. “I don’t know how we can ever thank Mr. Darcy.”
Her father turned in his chair to look at her, a little stunned by her comment.
“How did you know?” he asked.
“Lydia made a comment that he was at the courthouse. It didn’t take much after that to figure out what had really happened,” she admitted, leaving Charles’ confirmation out of it.
“What’s the matter with that girl…” her father shook his head in frustration. “Well, now that you know; yes, I don’t know how we would have accomplished it without him. George certainly would have left her and for all her faults and flaws, she doesn’t deserve that. Although I’m not sure that a life with George will be much better, at least she seems happy.”
Of course; Lydia would never let on otherwise.
“I hope so, after everything she put us through.” On that note, Beth stood up and bent over to give her dad a hug and kiss goodnight. “I’m heading home. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Yes, yes. Get a good night’s sleep.”
“You too.”
Beth headed for the door when she heard her dad say her name.
“Beth.” He was still facing the fireplace as he continued, “You know he did it for you.”
