Page 43 of Till Death Us Do Part: Book 2
“She left a month ago. She implied she was travelling to meet you, but she was not explicit about how or where.”
Darcy felt as if all the air were sucked out of the room, and his legs failed him. He collapsed back into a chair, gasping for breath, and ran his hands through his hair, which was considerably more dishevelled than he would have allowed it to be before his illness, while trying to keep tears from coming to his eyes. It slowly dawned on him that either his letters had not arrived, they had not softened her anger, or perhaps they had inflamed it.
Darcy blew out a breath and sighed. “It would seem I have thoroughly stuffed it up and make no mistake about that. I have no earthly idea where she is, nor do I blame her for flying the coop. This is a disaster—all of my own making.”
Jennings said, “She left a note, sir,” and then handed him a paper from his vest pocket.
23 June 1812, Lambton
Mr Jennings & Mrs Reynolds
The time has come to meet with my husband. You need not worry, as I have all in hand and know what I am doing. Molly and Noah are escorting me for my safety and to maintain propriety. We are leaving on the 11:37 coach from Lambton and expect to be gone several months. I apologise that I could not notify you sooner.
It has been a great pleasure getting to know both of you, and I am indebted to the entire, excellent staff of Pemberley for offering me the warmest welcome possible.
I suggest you carry on as before until Mr Darcy returns.
Elizabeth Darcy
Darcy stared at the note and read it five times in growing alarm. “Is that all?”
“Yes sir,” Mrs Reynolds replied. “We did not know what to make of it. We received several letters addressed to her that arrived after she left, all from you, but nothing else.”
Darcy sighed, pointed at the other chairs. “The time of the coach seems oddly… specific.”
“We assumed she just read it from a clock before leaving, but it is curious,” Knight ventured.
Darcy read the note a few more times, scratching his head in confusion. “It seems we are in need of a frank discussion. Pray, have a seat.”
The three companions sat down, all quite uncomfortable with the tableau. Before they could get started, the door opened and a maid came in with refreshments, which were greatly appreciated since Darcy, for one, was famished. He suggested everyone join him.
Once everyone had tea and a collection of the sandwiches and biscuits, he said, “What happened while I was gone? I suspect we will have to go over it several times from every angle to get to the truth. Perhaps you could start, Mrs Reynolds, but first, may I set the tone with a preamble?”
“Of course, sir.”
“You will all be reluctant to say anything too horrible, but I will encourage you to full candour. The smallest detail might make the difference, so let me set the stage. I treated my honourable wife abominably, and Ideservewhatever I get. While it is true that her mother compromised me and forced the marriage, I have come to believe that my wife was as much a victim as I was, and yet I treated her as a conspirator. I foolishly decided to do what seemed like prudence at the time, but has been shown to be petty revenge on someone who had done me no wrong. I also suspect that she did not like me very much, if at all, even before the compromise. I also left that impression withall of you, and several members of my family, which could not have helped.”
All of his companions just stared at him in stunned disbelief, so he continued, “Coming close to death,twice, and having a lot of time on your hands during recovery, gives considerable opportunityfor reflection, and I can assure you that I have done my share and more. I first became convinced that I had been unfair to the woman I said my vows to; then I became convinced I had been overly harsh; and then I gradually decided I had acted with the utmost cruelty, start to finish.”
Mrs Reynolds was the first to speak. “Yes sir, you did.”
“Thank you for having the bravery to say it, Mrs Reynolds. I imagine it goes against the grain.”
“It does, but it needed to be spoken plainly. Having said that, I believe we can all accept it and try to work out what needs to be done, rather than wallowing in our misery. We all could have done better by Mrs Darcy.”
Jennings said, “We followed your lead—and hers—when we should have been guiding her.”
Knight said, “I fear that I did worse. I only spoke to her a few times, but I believe it was with overt hostility, quite unbecoming of my position, sir. I calculated her pin money to the penny, and she chastised me for my pettiness, then told me she wished to never speak to me again.”
The man looked like he expected to be sacked, and to be honest, had it not been entirely his own fault, Darcy would have considered that a dismissal offence.
Instead, he sighed resignedly. “While I could wish you had handled that more subtly, I cannot find real fault, Knight. You all followed the lead of the master and the mistress of the estate. I am the primary culprit here, so let us focus on what we can do. Pray tell me how her life went at Pemberley.”
The men looked at Mrs Reynolds, judging she probably had the most detailed story to tell.
“She started out in a very clever way, though you could tell that she was angry enough that I thought it wise to keep the axe locked up in the barn.”
Everyone chuckled slightly, not as an indication that the jest was funny, but mostly to release a bit of tension.
