His Uncle's Favorite (21 page)

“I… We… Mr. Darcy and I had a horrible argument that day…quite horrible…”

“An argument with Mr. Darcy? On what possible subject, my dear?” With every word, Mrs. Gardiner felt more relieved; the situation seemed far from what she feared.

“The subject is of little importance, Aunt. We spoke, he said some things that upset me, and…I replied in the most offensive manner. It is no wonder he left; I was tempted to do the same as I will not be able to face him ever again!”

“I see…” Mrs. Gardiner gently embraced her niece, puzzled and deeply curious but wisely fighting the temptation to force a more detailed confession. Elizabeth began to sob again, her body tense and trembling.

“Lizzy, did Mr. Darcy hurt you in some way?”

“Yes he did… He did hurt me very much. He had the arrogance to admit his involvement in separating Jane from Mr. Bingley, and he pointed out the faults of our family, and he seemed so insensitive about everything he did to Mr. Wickham…”

“Well, well,” Mrs. Gardiner whispered in surprise. “Then it is no wonder you replied in the same manner, dearest—”

“Not in the same manner, Aunt, but much, much worse: I accused him of being dishonourable and of having malicious intentions, and I spoke of some horrible things—which should not even be mentioned—and he told me he expected me to distrust his character, but he was surprised by my distrust of my own worthiness, and he was correct that—”

“My love, you are surely too harsh on yourself. I understand you regret everything you said to him, but it is not so horrid; I am sure he has regrets too. He is a most honourable gentleman, after all. I am sure there will be many opportunities for you to make amends and overcome this delicate situation.”

“The manner of his address was dreadful—but I still feel deeply sorry for my words, and I would like to apologise, but I am sure he will never speak to me again.”

In the agitation of her turmoil, Elizabeth was not aware how much of her secret she revealed. Every word brought Mrs. Gardiner closer to the truth though Elizabeth refused to disclose the
‘subject of her argument with Mr. Darcy.’
The revelation shocked Mrs. Gardiner exceedingly; she never would have suspected such a circumstance, considering the history between the two. She knew she would have to think calmly and patiently about the situation, but for the moment, she needed to calm her niece’s troubled heart.

“Lizzy… What should I do with you, my love?” Mrs. Gardiner smiled and embraced her again. “I am glad we finally talked, and I confess I am relieved that things are not as bad as I feared. I am sure we will find a way to settle the entire situation better than you hope at the moment. You must trust me in this, will you?”

“I am glad we talked, too, Aunt, and yes, I do trust you. But I beg you, do not ask me for other details of my discussion with Mr. Darcy because I cannot say more. And I trust you will keep my secret in the strictest confidence.”

“Have no fear, dearest; I promise I will not ask anything more. Now, this is what I suggest: you should prepare yourself and come down for a good breakfast. Then, you will go with Jane and your cousins for a walk in the park. Miss Darcy no doubt will come with Mr. Bingley later, and they can join you.” Elizabeth tried to disagree with no success.

“Lizzy, Miss Darcy is your friend, and despite any arguments you might have with her brother, you cannot punish her. For the moment, you must continue to behave as you did before and wait to see whether the future requires any change in your relationship.”

Elizabeth could see the reason in her aunt’s words, so she listened carefully as Mrs. Gardiner told her what she should do that day. After being so wrong in her own decisions, what else could she do except listen to someone wiser!

The joy in her cousins and sister’s eyes was precisely what Elizabeth’s spirit needed to rise again; an hour later when Mr. Bingley and Miss Darcy arrived, together with Lady Selina and her children, the happy reunion made her almost forget the past week’s torment. She had little time to answer all the questions about her health before the entire group left the house and walked to the park in a din of happy voices and horse bells ringing along the frozen street.

Mrs. Gardiner poured herself a glass of wine and sat to enjoy it, closely observed by a concerned housekeeper who had never seen her mistress imbibe before dinnertime.

An hour later, the earl returned. Mrs. Gardiner smiled with her usual calmness and asked for some refreshments.

“Your lordship will be relieved to find that your favourite nephew did not betray your confidence. Except for some unfortunate words at an unsuitable moment, which upset Elizabeth exceedingly, he did nothing wrong. And before you rush to blame him, my niece confessed she did not remain in his debt with offences and harsh replies, so I would say they are quite even.” At the earl’s incredulous expression, Mrs. Gardiner continued to mingle seriousness with jests in order to convince the earl without disclosing too much.

“Indeed, sir, there was nothing more than a heated argument, generated by some disagreements. The only thing you can do is teach Mr. Darcy better manners. Lizzy had just managed to forget his refusal to dance with her at their first meeting—calling her
‘tolerable but not enough to tempt him’
—and now he finds a new way to offend her. I wonder who he resembles with this unappealing attitude!”

The earl seemed unable to comprehend her words; he remained silent for some time and then hurried to pour himself a brimming glass of brandy.

“So Darcy came here, argued with Miss Elizabeth, offended her, and she offended him back—good for her!—then he left town without a word?”

“That would be a correct summary.” Mrs. Gardiner laughed.

“Damn! Darcy is smitten with her! I should have known it from the first day they met in my house! And he had no idea that she completely disliked him—poor oblivious idiot! I told him as much, but he refused to listen! God knows what he might have said to her that made her angry! Well, good to know he did not make himself completely ridiculous by asking for her hand. That would make him the laughingstock of the town!”

“Lord Matlock, please! This is not something to joke about, sir! And we cannot presume to know who is smitten with whom, nor should we speculate about it! Whatever the reason for their argument, clearly it affected both my niece and your nephew, and we should not laugh at their trouble!”

“Please forgive me, Mrs. Gardiner. I did not mean to sound disrespectful, but—”

“No need to apologise, your lordship. I am deeply grateful for your concern and for your attentive care for my niece. If you had not discovered the connection between all that happened, we still would be worried about Elizabeth, and I never would have considered searching for the truth. But you must promise me, sir, that you will not do anything nor will you speak to anyone about this, not even Mr. Darcy himself. Our conversation must remain between us. You must promise me, Lord Matlock!” When she finished her speech, her hand was holding his arm quite tightly, and her insistent gaze demanded obedience.

The earl smiled politely and took her hand, placing a polite kiss over it.

“I promise I will do or say nothing regarding the delicate subject of our conversation. So, do you have any news from your family in Hertfordshire?”

The conversation continued for some time until, suddenly, the earl started to laugh.

“Damn, I cannot help myself! How on earth can Darcy be brilliant in so many ways and then idiotic in others? I wonder why so many women are interested in him, and I have to say I can only think of two reasons: either his wealth or other qualities of which we are not aware. I am really praying it is the latter.” The earl laughed with all his heart while Mrs. Gardiner blushed and hid her face behind her cup of tea.

***

Another week passed with the same routine for Elizabeth. Not a night passed without remembering each moment of her past encounters with Mr. Darcy. She still did not regret refusing his proposal—his marriage proposal—but she felt flattered at touching the heart of such a man. During those nights, the reproaches against herself grew and were more difficult to bear. Eventually, she concluded that she had not been at all fair in judging Mr. Darcy’s character; she was always inclined to weigh his faults heavier than his admirable qualities. She admitted to herself that she never forgave his unpardonable fault of calling her ‘
not tolerable enough
.’ If not for his rude remark on that first evening, her dislike probably would have been less intense. In fairness, his behaviour towards her had always been beyond reproach—excepting that first evening, of course. Though his offensive words regarding her family were difficult to hear, they were not unjustified. The way her family—her mother, Mary, Kitty, Lydia, even her father—behaved each time Mr. Darcy was present was justification for his poor opinion of them.

Her judgement of Mr. Darcy was based on his behaviour towards others: poor Mr. Wickham, Mr. Bingley and Jane, even the way Lady Sinclair spoke of him. Elizabeth was furious that she believed the words of a stranger whose behaviour was not beyond reproach. The information that he was engaged to his cousin Miss De Bourgh seemed easy to reject, though he did not specifically deny it. His wounded countenance and his surprise on hearing her accusations were proof that he had proposed to no one else. But how could she have known that? Even Mr. Wickham had mentioned the union of their two estates.

If she should ever have the chance to speak with Mr. Darcy again, she would only apologise for not keeping the promise she made to him during Lady Selina’s ball: that she would allow new or old acquaintances a chance to prove their worthiness before judging their characters.

Elizabeth’s nights were weighty and restless, indeed.

Nevertheless, her days continued to improve until the moment she was able to smile at Miss Darcy again, make plans for skating together, and even to receive reasonably well the news of Mr. Darcy’s being delayed by important business at Pemberley. Miss Darcy would mention her brother from time to time but not so often as to make the others uncomfortable.

It was near the end of January, and the Bennet sisters were missed at Longbourn. In every letter, either Mr. or Mrs. Bennet inquired about their returning, and though it was not easy to leave their aunt, their time in London would not be long.

However, Mr. Bingley declared he had already requested his servants to prepare Netherfield for his return, and he invited everyone to be his guests.

Elizabeth had mixed feelings about returning home, and she could not be certain whether she more wanted or feared leaving Town and never speaking to Mr. Darcy again. Yet, “never” seemed unlikely with the predictable development of Mr. Bingley’s attachment to Jane. As that certain event became clearer, she expected that she would have to face Mr. Darcy at least once more. Whether he would want to speak to her was another matter entirely.

One afternoon, Elizabeth—together with Jane and Mr. Bingley—was shopping for some lace and trinkets for her sisters. It was planned they would meet Lady Selina and Miss Darcy at the modiste, but they arrived a little early and were admiring the shop windows.

From across the street, Elizabeth felt a familiar presence, and her curious gaze encountered Mr. Wickham. Surprised, he greeted her from afar and walked towards her. Elizabeth was pleased and eagerly anticipated their conversation.

They were a few steps away and Mr. Wickham had already called her name and declared his delight in seeing her when a carriage stopped, and Lady Selina and Miss Darcy stepped out. When the new companions appeared, Mr. Wickham froze in the middle of the street, and to Elizabeth’s surprise, Miss Darcy took a step back, her face pale and frightened. Lady Selina, however, looked angry, and her cheeks became red. Elizabeth had little time to react because Mr. Wickham greeted them briefly then excused himself and departed in some haste.

“Miss Darcy, are you well?” asked Jane, and Mr. Bingley hurried to take Georgiana’s arm as she leaned against a post.

Miss Darcy declared she was well; Lady Selina hurried them into the shop and asked the modiste for some tea. Elizabeth remained puzzled, but it was not the time or place to inquire further. They spent the next hour in reasonably pleasant preoccupations with lace, bonnets, and the most fashionable colours for each of them, but Elizabeth could think of little except Miss Darcy’s pallor and the sight of her blue eyes gaping in shock.

Why would Mr. Wickham’s presence elicit such strong reactions in both Darcys and Lady Selina? Mr. Wickham had secret liaisons with Lord Matlock but avoided even greeting his daughter and niece. What was behind these strange encounters?

If she could talk to Mr. Wickham, perhaps he would explain to her what was happening; he trusted her and had offered his friendship from the moment they met.

The next day after breakfast, the ladies at the Gardiner home were surprised by a visitor—Mr. Wickham.

He entered—alone—as charming and handsome as ever. They received him with perfect politeness and amiability, and he expressed his pleasure in seeing his friends again.

“I cannot believe we have been in town for so long together and we have not had the chance to visit,” the gentleman said.

“True, Mr. Wickham,” said their aunt, “but I imagine a young gentleman has so many obligations in Town that he can hardly accommodate them all. I imagine there were other priorities that kept you away from us until now.”