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Darcy frowned. Did I utter out loud? “You were saying you will not be married—”
“Jane feels that in ending our engagement, she is protecting me from scandal.”
Darcy swallowed hard. “Scandal?”
“Yes. Do you recall the youngest Bennet sister?”
“Hardly.” How could I possibly have asked Elizabeth for her hand in marriage, knowing as little as I do about her family—assuming the worst without bothering to know more?
“Miss Lydia is the youngest. I fear she has brought shame and disgrace to the Bennets such that no decent family would ever wish to be attached to them.”
“What has she done?”
“She has run off. She has thrown herself into Mr. Wickham’s power.”
Darcy felt the colour rise in his face.
“At first, it was thought that the two would go to Gretna Green. As unfortunate as that would have been for a young lady of Miss Lydia’s sensibilities, it would have been better than the alternative, which alas proved to be the case, for they did not go to Scotland. It was later disclosed that George Wickham confided in his friend Mr. Denny that he never intended to go there or to marry Miss Lydia at all.”
Darcy sucked in a sharp breath. Surely Elizabeth is devastated by this turn of events. “This is grave indeed. My heart goes out to the Bennet family, but what has any of this to do with your engagement?”
“After what we have done—what I have done, society demands that I marry her. I love her. I want nothing more than to marry her, and yet she will not have me.
“I remained in Hertfordshire, hoping to persuade my Jane to see me. Alas, she would not. However, I was made aware of another unfortunate turn of events pursuant to Miss Lydia’s fool-heartedness.”
Pray this has nothing to do with Elizabeth. Darcy intently regarded his friend. “What else has happened?”
“By all accounts, Miss Elizabeth’s prospective beau, Mr. Caseman, was scared away as well.”
Elizabeth’s beau! How can this be? I had no idea. “Who is this Mr. Caseman that you speak of? Have you made his acquaintance?”
“He arrived soon after Miss Elizabeth returned from Kent. Everyone was sure he was going to make her an offer. If I rightly understand, the gentleman’s father and her father arranged the marriage whilst the two were in their cradles. Then the scandal arose, and he quit Hertfordshire—headed quickly to wherever he came from. The Bennet family is ruined. Jane is devastated. What is worse, I feel powerless to do anything about it.”
Darcy ran his fingers through his hair. “Do you know what has been done to recover the youngest Bennet daughter, Miss Lydia?”
“Colonel Forster and Mr. Bennet followed the trail leading to Miss Lydia’s whereabouts until all avenues were exhausted. The sad truth is Miss Lydia has no money and no connections. She has nothing to tempt Mr. Wickham to behave honourably. Even if discovered, how is such a man to be worked on?”
Darcy stood from his seat and walked to the window. He stared out into the dark night, deep in meditation. Nothing is more important to Elizabeth than her family.
She is the woman I love. Although she is lost to me, perhaps forever, she deserves better than this severe fate brought on by George Wickham’s misdeeds. Her family deserves better than this. After much silent contemplation on the likely whereabouts of his childhood acquaintance and once friend, the degradation he might endure to recover the naïve girl, and the expense, he turned to face his friend. “Fear not, Bingley. I know exactly what must be done.”
CHAPTER 15
LONGBOURN’S REDEMPTION
In spite of the stern disapproval voiced by their father over the disgraceful turn of events that led to his youngest daughter’s marriage, and his adamant avowal that he would not receive the couple at Longbourn, Jane and Elizabeth suffered no regret in having persuaded Mr. Bennet to allow Lydia to be received in his home with her husband before they headed off to their new home in Newcastle. However, that is not to say they were sorry to see the newlyweds take their leave.
“Seven days,” Elizabeth said when she and Jane returned to the drawing room after the Wickhams’ carriage pulled away.
“To think that Lydia suffers no remorse, no shame over what she has done. I only pray she will be happy.”
“I concur, but with a man of Mr. Wickham’s character, I do not know how it will possibly be.” As disgusted as Elizabeth was with Mrs. Wickham’s shameful, unabashed, and wild comportment from the moment the untamed girl walked into her parents’ home until the moment she departed, Elizabeth regarded her young sister with pity and distress. Despite knowing what she did about Wickham’s true character, Elizabeth had not shared her confidences with anyone in her family. Though she had voiced her opposition to Lydia being allowed to go to Brighton, her protests had fallen on death ears. Elizabeth’s sole consolation was born of her belief that Lydia was just as interested in Lt. Wickham as she was in any of the other officers.
“Jane, I do not know how I could have believed a word Mr. Wickham ever said. Do you know he supposed he and I might carry on the same amicable accord as though his despicable actions had not been the means of nearly destroying our family?”
“How? What did he say to you?”
Elizabeth tucked her legs beneath her on the sofa. “He had the audacity to refer to me, not as Elizabeth or even Lizzy, but as dear sister! He said we had always been close, and now we are closer.” Her voice animated and her temper rising, she continued. “He further went on to attempt to recast all his alleged injustices suffered on account of Mr. Darcy in an entirely different light. I simply do not know how I shall abide the man when next we meet.
