Chapter 22

L ouisa Hurst met the two eldest Bennet sisters, soon to be her own sisters, and Miss Lucas in the drive. When Nichols had told her only one carriage had been spotted Mrs Hurst had a good idea her note earlier that morning had led to Jane's desire to call, and it was only right Lizzy should be with her, but why Miss Lucas was present, she could not explain.

She had no objection to her presence as she found Miss Lucas to be an intelligent, kind lady with whom it was easy to converse. Louisa could not but smile when she saw the way Jane was casting about hoping to see her fiancé. "I expect them in the next hour or so," Mrs Hurst clarified.

Knowing how badly she had behaved towards Mr Darcy, and almost all of it without justification, Elizabeth was relieved he had not arrived yet. It gave her a little reprieve before she would have to begin to eat one of her many humble pies.

Not twenty minutes later, three coaches pulled to a halt in the drive. Mr Nichols could not understand why he had not been made aware the master and his friends had entered the park. That was until he noted the direction from which they came. They had taken the old road, the one running between some of the fields and not through Meryton. The butler could not fathom why they would have used the older, poorly maintained, way which would have added time to the journey. Then again, unless the master chose to elucidate for him, it was not his place to ask.

The three guests were drinking tea with the Hursts in the drawing room when Bingley led those arriving with him into the room. His face lit up with pleasure at seeing his fiancée present, his desire was, of course, to go to her side, but he knew as host he needed to make introductions.

Although the Hursts had met Miss Darcy, only Hurst recognised the Fitzwilliam brothers. His wife and her guests were unaware who any of the other men were, especially not the two giants who stood behind the rest of the arriving party.

Darcy froze where he stood. Not only was Miss Elizabeth in the drawing room, but she did not run from his presence as had been her reaction so many times before.

Elizabeth read the look as one of his not being sanguine with her presence, but before she could move, her soon to be brother-in-law made the introductions. When Miss Darcy was named, as if she needed further proof of that man's lies, she could tell the young lady was shy, and not at all proud. What she could not understand was how it was Lady Rebecca and Miss Darcy seemed most interested in meeting her. The former sent her a warm smile while the latter managed a shy one. How could that be? Surely Mr Darcy would have excoriated her to his family? She immediately berated herself for once again jumping to a conclusion where Mr Darcy was concerned.

Before anyone else spoke after the introductions, Darcy, seeing Miss Elizabeth was still looking at him, decided he had to take his chance to at long last speak to, and apologise to her. He crossed the room with three quick strides. "Miss Elizabeth, would you grant me permission to speak to you in the parlour opposite. To preserve your reputation, my sister's companion will join us," Darcy requested.

Again she was wrong, he was not against her being present. She decided the look was because she had not run from him as soon as she saw him, as had been her wont. Not trusting herself to speak yet, she nodded her head. As they walked out followed by Mrs Annesley, Elizabeth did not miss the way his sister and cousins' eyes followed the two of them .

Mrs Annesley closed the door and then went to sit in an armchair furthest from the two. "Am I to assume Miss Bennet passed on my message?" Darcy enquired. Not trusting herself to speak yet, Elizabeth nodded, her eyes downcast. "That is no substitute for my begging your pardon in person. I should never have said those patently untrue words, regardless of who I aimed them at, and it was not at you."

"Mr Darcy, I have so little for which to forgive you, which I do without any hesitation. I have committed so many more offences against you than you ever did towards me," Elizabeth responded, finally lifting her eyes to look at him. "I behaved like a child who had been denied her sweets. It is my Christian duty to forgive, but I thought myself so clever that if I denied you the chance to speak to me, I could justify not pardoning your error by telling myself you had not apologised to me.

"Then, even more grievous was when I was open to the lies Mr Wickham spewed. I wanted to find confirmation of my opinion so I suspended propriety and my critical thinking when he spun his tale. I lapped up every contradiction about yourself and even accepted as fact what he said about your sister…" Elizabeth saw the way Mr Darcy's visage darkened as soon as she mentioned his sister.

His instinct had been to angrily demand to know what the bastard had said about Gigi, when he heard her words. She was speaking in the past tense ! Something had changed to cause her to disbelieve the lying wastrel.

"Did he speak about my sister and himself in a public place?" Darcy enquired calmly.

"He never mentioned Ramsgate when I spoke to him, he only stated Miss Darcy was disagreeable and had improper pride," Elizabeth explained.

"What do you know of Ramsgate? How do you know anything about it?" Darcy questioned warily.

"Jane, Miss Lucas, and I overheard him bragging about his various conquests, past and future, and his unsavoury habits to Mr Denny. It was not in a public place, and we were the only ones to hear. What I can tell you is the disgusting man is completely unaware we were in a position to hear him." Elizabeth paused as she remembered something the man had said. "Colonel Fitzwilliam is one of your sister's guardians, is he not?" Darcy nodded. "So, he is the one who that man is petrified of angering. He made Mr Denny promise to never repeat a word of his attempted elopement with Miss Darcy due to his fear of your cousin."

"Miss Bennet, as I am the one who soured your opinion of me before we were ever introduced, I forgive any offence you believe you have committed against me," Darcy granted unequivocally. "Now I have a request, would you object if Gigi, that is what we call my sister, my cousins, Bingley, your sister, and Miss Lucas join us in here? It seems we have much to discuss. Bingley too is aware of what occurred in Ramsgate. If anyone else is to be told about it, it will be my sister's decision as she was the one who was manipulated by that bas…man."

"I have no objection," Elizabeth averred.

It took no time at all until those who Darcy named were seated in the parlour. As she was not needed to chaperone, Mrs Annesley exited the room. Once the door was closed—thanks to a certain lady not being resident any longer there was no need to post a footman in the hallway at the door—Darcy addressed his sister. "Gigi, the two Miss Bennets and Miss Lucas know what occurred in Ramsgate."

At first Gigi looked distressed, but then she remembered two of the ladies who were aware of her folly had been speaking to her in the drawing room and there was no trace of censure, and with the warm look directed at her from Miss Elizabeth she saw no disdain there either.

"How do you know?" Georgiana asked.

"It is a long story, but like all stories, we need to start at the beginning," Elizabeth began. "You may not know it, but I was slighted at…"

"We know," three Fitzwilliams and one young Darcy chorused.

"Well due to that, even though a most beloved sister and my best friend counselled I was wrong, I…" Elizabeth told the story up to the poison Wickham had poured in her ear at the card party. "Had my dear sister Jane not pointed out how wrong such an action would have been, I would have done his bidding and spread his lies.

"A few days ago, the day after Jane's fiancé and Mr Darcy left for London, Jane, Charlotte and I decided to go for a walk. We walked up to the summit of Oakham Mount where we were seated when…" Now with the aid of the two who had been with her, the story of what they heard on the mount was told.

"Wicky has the right of it. Had he mentioned this in public I would have ended him," the Colonel growled.

Gigi gripped Becca's hands. She could empathise with Miss Lydia, who, like herself, had almost been ruined at the dastard's hands. "How is your sister? I assume you were able to save her," Georgiana enquired through her tears. She, and the rest listening to the story were confused as to why the three ladies telling it smiled.

"Not only are both Kitty and Lydia chastened—especially Lydia—but they are both safe. The best part is those two disgusting men are sitting in the town gaol," Jane revealed proudly.

Bingley and Darcy looked at one another and began to guffaw. "Had we known," Bingley explained as he wiped some tears of mirth from his eyes, "we could have used the shorter and better road to this estate. It is why we arrived using the old road."

"Wickham's being in Meryton is the reason I have my friends, the Major and Captain, as well as those two small sergeants with me. We intended to apprehend Wicky and have him consigned to debtor's prison for life. All the cleaning up after him you heard him boast about, Darcy here," the Colonel cocked his head, "kept all of his markers in case he needed to act against him."

"What a fool I was again," Elizabeth bemoaned. "When I saw the meeting between Mr Darcy and the miscreant in Meryton my prejudices automatically told me the latter was the wronged party. To say I was mortified when I heard him go on about how he had attempted to use me to blacken your name…" Elizabeth gave Mr Darcy a contrite look, he inclined his head in understanding. "And the worst part is we had to come up with a way to contain him without our father's assistance."

"You mean you formed the plan to take action without Papa's help," Jane corrected. She looked to the two Darcys. "None of us have repeated the part regarding Miss Darcy and Ramsgate to anyone, as we needed to retell the story to make sure Mr Wickham was not allowed to hurt anyone in Meryton."

"Please call me Georgiana or Gigi," she looked to Becca who nodded, "and this is Rebecca or Becca." The Bennet sisters and Miss Lucas reciprocated asking to be addressed by their informal names.

"Darcy had to fight not to beat the blackguard to a pulp when he first saw him. We would have removed Wicky from society sooner, but my friends and I were not able to get away immediately due to duties we needed to perform," the Colonel related. "I suggest we allow the… man to serve his sentence which will be imposed on him in Hertford. We will buy his debts from Westingham and Meryton. The day he is supposed to be released, to debtor's prison he will go."

"Gigi, are you happy with this resolution?" Lord Hilldale verified.

"I am," Georgiana responded emphatically. "As long as he will never be free to harm any others, I am sanguine with that."

"How did Miss Elizabeth get Wicky arrested?" the Colonel enquired.

"Our Eliza is rather intelligent," Charlotte smiled. "She used her father's indolence…" Charlotte related how her friend had got her father to sign the blank page. She also told how she and her father had made sure the flow of credit was dammed and then the way, in his capacity as the local magistrate, her father had acted once he had the letter with Mr Bennet's signature, but which her friend had written.

As Darcy listened he realised two things. First, he had underestimated many of the locals. It was not an error he would make again. Second, he loved Miss Elizabeth. Having just delivered his amends, and she having made her own, he was fully aware they were starting anew and the last thing he would do was rush her.

Bingley looked at his angel, who nodded. They had had a brief discussion about how soon they wanted to marry before they had been called into the parlour. "Jane and I would like to marry before mid-December. I would be happy if those of you who are able to, will remain with the Hursts and me at this estate until then," Bingley invited.

"I have no pressing reason to return to London. Anyone who knows me is aware of how much I disdain London's, so called, polite society," Lord Hilldale stated. "I am sure Becca would enjoy getting to know all of you better and my parents will agree that she remain with us." He turned to his brother. "What of you Rich? You have a decent amount of leave owed to you, do you not?"

"Please Richard, say you will remain," Georgiana gushed. She blushed as she remembered her brother. "William, do you object that we accept Mr. Bingley's invitation?"

"No Gigi, I do not. I see no reason why we should not remain in the area." Without intending to, Darcy's eyes locked onto Miss Elizabeth when he replied to Gigi. She did not look displeased. He knew not if it was because she wanted to get to know Gigi better, himself, or both. He cared not which, as long as she no longer ran in the opposite direction whenever he approached her.

"As I have leave from the regiment until after Twelfth Night, I too will tarry here," the Colonel decided. The truth was he was intrigued by Miss Lucas and would like to get to know her better. "Andy, you could ask the local vicar if you can stand in for him one or more Sundays while we are here."

Seeing the Bennet sisters', Miss Lucas's, and Bingley's questioning looks, Lord Hilldale clarified. "I always felt a calling to the church. I studied divinity at Cambridge, served as a curate for two years, and took orders. I knew my lot was to be the Earl of Matlock one day, but I still enjoy spending as much time assisting in churches as I am able. When we have services in the chapel at Snowhaven, the main Matlock estate, I am the one who is the clergyman, when I am available that is."

"Mary will love speaking to Lord Hilldale," Charlotte mused. Now it was the Viscount's turn to have a quizzical look. "Mary is the next Bennet sister after Eliza. If the church was a profession for women, that is what our Mary would do."

"She used to be enamoured with the sermons of one Reverand Fordyce, but as soon as she was old enough to understand they were written by a man who disliked women and whose only aim was to keep our sex subservient, she thankfully stopped reading his drivel," Elizabeth took up the telling. "Please pardon my impertinence if you are a devotee of Reverend Fordyce, my Lord."

"No indeed, I am well pleased to hear that your, and your sister's opinions of that misogynist's writings coincide with my own," Lord Hilldale averred with a grin. Could it be he would find a woman who shared his passions and cared not for his title or wealth? He was looking forward to meeting the middle Bennet sister .

"If you are willing to debate the Bible with our younger sister, you will have a friend for life, Lord Hilldale," Jane added.

"When I have the opportunity, it will be interesting to experience the depth of her knowledge. Your father's estate is close by, is it not?" Lord Hilldale asked.

"It is but three miles," Bingley informed the Viscount.

"What say you?" Lord Hilldale looked from his brother to his cousin, "we call on the master of Longbourn and explain what type of man he ignored, and how his daughters and their friend saved his family from ruin."

"You are welcome to call on Longbourn on the morrow, but I doubt it will do any good," Elizabeth stated, "our father will treat it like a great joke."

Jane raised her eyebrows. Lizzy truly saw the truth of their father now. It would be interesting to see how Papa would react to Lizzy's defection. She hoped the relationship between Mama and Lizzy would only improve.

Those in the parlour rejoined the Hursts, the Major, Captain, and the sergeants in the drawing room. It was amusing. The latter two took up a settee between them. As soon as they returned, Mrs Hurst summoned the housekeeper to show the new arrivals to their chambers.

The Colonel was appreciative that Sergeants Biggs and Johns were placed in guest chambers and not with the male servants.

Not long after, the two Bennets and a Lucas headed for their estates.