Page 60 of Till Death Us Do Part: Book 2
“Yes, of course. It wasDecember, and she waswalking to London! What would you expect?” Lydia stated as boldly as if she did that every day.
Darcy was stunned, and at first wanted to disbelieve it, but it told him something. London was only twenty-five miles or so, about eight to ten hours of walking for the then Miss Elizabeth. If she had walked to Hatfield in the middle of the night, she could obviously work out how fast she walked. It was a brave and foolhardy manoeuvre, but he had to give credit where credit was due. It was bold and brash, and might even have worked if she applied the old lure and the lash to his uncle: offer to go somewhere quietly to preserve his reputation as the lure, and offer to ruin him socially as the lash. It very well might have worked. Approaching his uncle was clever, as she knew that by the time she arrived, Darcy House would be watched carefully.
Longman surprised everyone with, “She would do that.”
The three ladies looked at the groom in surprise, and Darcy said, “This is Mr Longman, my oldest and most trusted associate, and stablemaster.”
Longman bowed, and the ladies did not know what to do with a groom introduced as something closer to a peer.
Longman said, “Do not fret about how to greet me, Ladies. Your sister never did.”
Mary asked, “Did you know her well, Mr Longman?”
Longman replied, “She was kind to horses,” to which Darcy added, “That is Longman’s highest praise. He taught your sister to ride,” which piqued his curiosity, since that was a subject he wondered about.
Longman replied, “She had the basics, but needed some work. This is her horse, Omega.”
The sisters were long confused by just how many rules of propriety were being trampled in the dust, but they reacted exactly as Longman intended. They all crowded around Omega to coo and pet him.
Longman returned to Hercules, pulled some apples and carrots from his bag, and handed them to the sisters to feed the beasts. He thought it would be useful to calm the whole situation down; but once they finished feeding both horses, just to be fair, he faded back into the background.
Darcy had, as per Longman’s design, regained his equilibrium, and that caused him to recall almost her last words to him back in the carriage. They had been lost memories after typhus, but they came back to him with the force of a hammer-blow in that moment.
Mrs Darcy had just torn his hide off about his manners, calling him ‘loaded with selfish disdain of the feelings of others,’ and claiming he would ‘be the last man in the world whom she could ever be prevailed on to marry.’
He had angrily accused her of taking Wickham’s lies to heart.
She had snapped, quite furiously as he recalled, ‘When I said, a month, I meant literally one month, not some vague interval between one and three months. That opinionprecededmy acquaintance with Mr Wickham, and it was based entirely on my interactions withyou.’
He noted Jane had recovered her equilibrium, and asked, “She never liked me, did she? Never for a second. Not even a little.”
Jane cringed and stared at the ground. “No sir, she did not.”
22.Correspondence
Darcy stared at the ground again, chagrined to have his contention verified. His wife did not like him and never had. It was painful, but he had to admit he readily deserved it.
Jane gave him a moment to compose himself, then gently said, “That brings us back to Lydia’s contention.”
Darcy had by then entirely forgotten what it was.
“Lydia claimed she was the only one who supported Lizzy’s position, which was this: She thoroughly disliked you, from the moment you called her ‘tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.’ I remember the words exactly, because she used to lower her voice and mock you by repeating them. It did not help that Miss Bingley routinely disparaged us, and you seemed to agree. We all—”
Then Jane stared at the ground, and Darcy saw tears starting to roll out of her eyes, but she gamely continued.
“We,allof us, even you, Lydia at first, told her to get over it, to grow up, to put away her childish things, to do her duty—different variants of the same things. Even I, who she previously considered her best friend and tightest confidant, told her you would grow on her if she gave you a chance.”
Darcy asked curiously, “Did you believe it at the time?”
Jane was still crying, but she continued, “Mostly—I think, more or less. I could not have done it, but Lizzy—she could charm people if she bothered, and she had the strength to carry through. I thought she could.” Then she looked embarrassed as well as sad, but gamely continued, “I thought she could tame you. Make an adequate husband of you. As you have probably noticed, our standards for husbands are quite low.”
Darcy was surprised at the dig at Mr Bennet from his supposedly angelic eldest daughter, though it could just as easilybe aimed at Bingley, or even just how precarious their marital prospects were.
It made him curious. “I will not press you, but I will ask this. She came to the church and said the vows reluctantly. What finally convinced her after two failed escape attempts? She could have just refused at the altar. If your father threw her out, she would be short on funds, but finally free as she wanted.”
Jane just shook her head in negation, but surprisingly, Kitty said, “I know.”
Everyone stared and she spoke emphatically, “I wasnoteavesdropping. It is not my fault she and Father spoke so loudly, and I happened to be walking by the library.”
