Chapter 21

After briefly speaking with her uncles in the foyer at Longbourn, Elizabeth escorted them into her father's study. She accompanied them when they barged in, not speaking, allowing her uncles to lead. It was apparent that her father was unhappy with this intrusion, the discontent on his face palpable He appeared visibly perturbed by the invasion and looked up from his book with a frown at them all.

"When did you arrive from London, Gardiner? And why are you here?" her father asked, scowling at both his brothers and his second daughter for interrupting his solitude.

"Phillips sent me a message about what has been going on. For the last several years, you have allowed Lizzy to run the estate while you sat in your study and read books. Before that, you could barely bother to take an interest and allowed the estate to be managed by your steward and your mother. Now, you are attempting to deny her an opportunity to marry extraordinarily well, and for what, so you can continue to rely on her running the estate. You have been indolent and neglectful, but this is unconscionable," Uncle Gardiner scolded him.

"That rude and disdainful man only wants to toy with my daughter. He will not marry her. You were here, Phillips, when he was here in the autumn. You heard him say my daughter was merely tolerable." he snorted.

"What manner of foolishness is this?" Uncle Gardiner asked. "The kind of man you suggest he is would not have spoken to you of his intentions. He would have met with her in secret and attempted to steal her virtue privately, not engage himself to her in a public manner. Mr. Darcy is well known in society as an upstanding sort of man. Had you bothered to investigate the matter, I could have told you what I knew of his reputation. There are others who could vouch for him."

Uncle Phillips interjected, "You allow your youngest daughters to flirt with any man they come across, but you deny a respectable man who seeks her hand in an honourable way. How is he any different than Bingley? Will you deny his suit as well?"

"It is different with Jane. Jane will do well on the arm of a wealthy man. No man wants a woman like Lizzy except perhaps to warm his bed for a time. I have educated her well beyond what a woman is expected to know, ensuring no man will want her. That Darcy fellow can only want to take what he can from her and will leave her ruined," her father said, sounding remarkably like Lydia when in a snit.

Elizabeth listened to her father speak of her so dismissively and wondered if he realised she was still in the room. Her heart, already raw from his previous treatment of her, seemed to harden as she listened to his words.

"Again, Bennet, you have proven yourself to be a fool. Lizzy is not only an attractive woman, but some men want to marry a woman they can actually speak to and have things in common with. Mr. Darcy is clearly one of those men. He is serious about marrying your daughter, and I have the wedding settlement here to prove it. It provides for Elizabeth extraordinarily well, and once you sign it, you have the right to sue him if he reneges."

He merely scoffed at his brother Phillips. "How do you know anything he said to you is legitimate?"

Both her uncles shook their heads in disgust. "Bennet, I am through with this conversation. You will sign these papers giving Gardiner and me guardianship of all your daughters. We will be departing Hertfordshire within the next few days to remove the girls from the danger of this Wickham character and to ensure they are cared for beyond what you seem capable of doing."

Several documents were placed in front of her father, and he grudgingly signed where he was instructed, not bothering to read any of the papers. This done, he instructed his brothers and his daughter to leave his study, granting them the freedom to do as they pleased. "Take the girls, if you please, but if you marry that Darcy fellow, Elizabeth, I will have nothing to do with you afterwards."

He glared at his daughter as he spoke these words and she held his eye for several beats. He looked away first, returning to his books and appeared indifferent to their exit. The weight of the decisions he had not made hung in the air, but he buried himself in his companions and she watched for a moment as he once again attempted to escape the reality of what was happening in his own home.

"Gather your sisters into the parlour as soon as you can, Elizabeth. Your mother is still above stairs?" Uncle Gardiner asked when they exited the study.

Elizabeth nodded in reply to her uncle's question. "Yes, and our trunks are already packed. They are in the servants' hall waiting to be loaded onto carriages in the morning, and we only wait for our aunt to arrive to be ready to depart."

"How did you convince your mother to stay in her room?" Gardiner asked.

"She is terrified of the idea of a scoundrel who might ruin her daughters. Mrs. Hill gave her tea with a large measure of brandy in it to calm her nerves—she will sleep for some time."

"Would you like to send a note to your intended to let him know that all is arranged just as we planned?" Uncle Phillips teased her.

She turned and grinned at her Uncle Phillips. "My father would not like that at all. Might I also inform him that you have permitted me to travel with him and the colonel in the morning, with a sister or two along for company?"

Both her uncles turned their best glare on her. "Fetch your sisters, Lizzy. I am glad Mr. Darcy has returned and agreed to take my most difficult niece off our hands," Gardiner retorted. "Never mind sending your letter now. I will send a message to your intended to ask if he really wants an impertinent girl such as you."

"Uncle!" With a laugh, she ran up the steps to seek out her sisters.

Within a few minutes, all five Bennet daughters were seated in the drawing room with their uncles. Gardiner began laying out the plan. "We will depart for Derbyshire in the morning. Ultimately, your father did not make much of a fuss over signing the papers granting your guardianship to us. No one is to step foot from this house without one of the guards standing outside the kitchen door, and I think you girls should sleep in pairs tonight. Well, three of you will have to share one room since there are an uneven number of you. Do not go anywhere by yourself, even within the house. There is evidence that Mr. Wickham has been near the garden as recently as this morning."

Several moments of silence followed before a question from Lydia broke it. "How do they know it was Mr. Wickham?"

"I suppose it is not certain, but how many vagrants could there be sleeping in the woods around Longbourn?" Elizabeth retorted.

Lydia's face fell, visibly struggling to believe he was as bad as her sister and the others had said. "What if Mr. Wickham is innocent?" she asked quietly.

Mary scoffed. "Why would an innocent man run? If he were innocent of what he was accused of, he would remain and defend himself."

"Lydia, you heard how he attempted to importune me," Elizabeth interjected. "I know you want to think him good because he paid you some attention, but truly, he is not a good man."

For a moment, Lydia looked as though she intended to object. "I suppose you are right," she finally conceded, sounding sullen.

Elizabeth eyed her warily, as did both of her uncles. When Lydia's eyes dropped to her lap, Elizabeth looked between her uncles and saw the warning in their eyes. "Lydia, you and I will room together tonight. Do you prefer to stay in my room or for me to stay in yours?"

Lydia started. "I had planned to stay with Kitty."

"Fine. All three of us can sleep in Kitty's room. I suppose we can ask Mr. Hill to find a cot, as Kitty's bed is surely too small for all three of us."

"And Mary and I will sleep in Mary's room," Jane added.

Elizabeth layawake on her cot as she heard the clock strike twelve. Just as she had decided that all their concern was in vain, she heard Lydia stirring and, in the shadows, saw her rising from her bed. She waited until her sister left the room, then murmured "Oh, Lydia" before following.

Unbeknownst to Lydia, Elizabeth was not the only one who followed her through the house. Both of her uncles were downstairs, waiting not far from the exit to the gardens to wait. All three of them gathered together near the window to view the spectacle.

A man opened the garden gate and slunk inside. He was obviously slightly in his cups, and it was not hard to track his progress as he was unable to keep quiet. A light suddenly illuminating the garden indicated the door from the house opening as Lydia's shadow stepped out.

"Miss Lydia?" a voice whispered.

"Yes!"

"I am so pleased you received my letter today and came to aid me. I hope you know I have been most grievously abused. Darcy and Fitzwilliam were always jealous of me. They have set me up as a reprobate when they are the real villains."

A laugh sounded from the shadows. "Exactly why would Darcy or I be jealous of you?" Elizabeth was surprised to hear Colonel Fitzwilliam's voice.

"Fitzwilliam?" Wickham's voice was startled and more than a little afraid.

"That is Colonel Fitzwilliam to you, and you are under arrest."

Wickham lunged toward Lydia in an attempt to catch her. However, the door behind her opened again, and a guard yanked her inside before Wickham could reach her.

"Damnation," he shouted at the near miss. "What do you want, Colonel Fitzwilliam?"

"As I said, you are under arrest. This time, you will not escape, and you will receive a far worse punishment than the Marshalsea. I would expect the firing squad or the hangman's noose. You will likely not even have the chance to plead your case as, by escaping, you have proclaimed your guilt."

"Darcy will never let me hang; I hold too much over him. I can ruin both his sister and his intended," Wickham claimed.

Fitzwilliam laughed. "You always were a fool. No one will listen to a thing you say." He paused and whistled. "Men, gag him first and then place him in shackles."

Several men appeared from the shadows and attempted to capture Wickham. He darted into the trees to one side and for several moments, Elizabeth could only make out several shadows as they moved quickly in the garden. She could hear some muted noises, and she stood watching the window impatiently. However, after several long minutes, shadows returned, and it was obvious from their slow steps that Wickham had evaded capture.

Finally, Elizabeth heard Colonel Fitzwilliam's voice: "Damn and blast! How did that reprobate get away? I was certain we had him."