Chapter Nineteen

CHAPTER NINETEEN

THEY SET OFF the next morning but not alone. Georgiana, upon hearing of their intent to go to London, made it very plain that she would not stand for being left behind. So, they all left together.

The journey took two days, and they spent one night at an inn.

On the ride down, they did scheme.

"What should happen to him, in an ideal world?" said Elizabeth. "I believe he should be punished in some way?"

"Oh, definitely," said Mr. Darcy.

"No, that's not going to solve the problem," cried Georgiana.

"It's justice," said Elizabeth. "Think of all the things he's done! He attempted to ruin you. He destroyed Mrs. Younge to various degrees. He was wretched to me. He is always causing issues for Fitzwilliam. He needs to pay for his many sins."

"He has paid," said Georgiana. "He is always and forever in some kind of situation where he perceives himself to be very put upon. That is his excuse for his behavior. If you worsen his circumstances, it will only serve to incite him to do even more horrible things."

"He has not paid," said Mr. Darcy. "He has had a life that is, in many ways, quite charmed. He's had a number of advantages, more than he should have, by all rights."

"True," said Elizabeth, nodding.

"I suppose so, yes," said Georgiana. "But he doesn't perceive them as advantages. He thinks of himself as very pitiful. He has a vested interest in seeing himself this way, because then he can justify any behavior. So, if we wish him to stop, to cease all manner of his trickery, we must convince him that he has won."

"How do we do that?" said Mr. Darcy. "After all, as I've just pointed out, he's had a number of advantages. None of those advantages have made him feel advantaged."

"No, that's a good point," said Georgiana.

"Maybe it's not about his advantages but about you," said Elizabeth, nodding at her husband. "Maybe he wishes to think that you are disadvantaged in some way."

"He does disadvantage me," muttered Darcy. "All of this, what he's done? None of it is the least bit advantageous to me. I am going to have to pay him through the nose and then he wins and he likely goes on to treat your sister badly and we shall have to watch that—"

"To be fair," said Elizabeth, "Lydia is equally likely to treat him badly. They may be well matched."

Darcy considered. "Your sister, she is…"

"Exactly," said Elizabeth.

Darcy chuckled softly.

"Maybe it's not the advantages themselves," said Georgiana softly. "Maybe it's that he senses, somehow, that he doesn't deserve them."

"What?" said Elizabeth, turning to Georgiana. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, if you have an opinion of yourself—that you are less than everyone else in some essential way—and then you get more for no good reason, just because you get fortunate, some part of you rejects it. Some part of you thinks it's not really your due. Some part of you wishes to restore the rightness of things, and so you can't accept it. You fritter it off, restoring things to the way that they should be, with you as less."

Elizabeth furrowed her brow. What a thought.

"I think I'm following you," said Mr. Darcy. "You did say that he seems to think of himself as pitiable no matter what."

"He needs to earn an advantage," said Georgiana.

"But isn't that what he thinks he's done?" said Darcy. "He's maneuvered me into making this happen for him. That's a kind of earning, I believe. It's earned through scheming and trickery."

"Which only serves to support his low opinion of himself," said Georgiana. "We need to make him believe that, first of all, having Lydia as his wife is a prized position, something that he cannot simply have, but that he must work for. And then, that he has done something truly noble to deserve whatever money you settle on him, Fitz."

"I thought we weren't giving him money?" said Darcy.

"Oh, well, we have money," said Georgiana. "How else are we going to solve problems?"

MRS. YOUNGE BLINKED several times, her brow furrowed. "I think I've gotten lost in all that. It's quite convoluted, isn't it?"

"Well, don't worry about that," said Mr. Darcy. "I think the important thing we're trying to ascertain before we attempt to put it into motion is who it is we should pretend he needs to rescue. Do you want him, Mrs. Younge?"

"I don't need rescuing," said Mrs. Younge. "He wouldn't do anything at all to secure me, anyway. Besides, I thought the reason you were here was because of that girl he's dragged here. If he married me, how would it solve anything?"

"Oh, we have a lot of ideas for that," said Georgiana. "It's ever so boring on a long carriage ride from Derbyshire, and we got very creative. We have about seven different contingency plans, if necessary."

"I think," said Mrs. Younge, "you seem to have gotten creative for the sake of creativity. If you think to put Georgie in a crucible to see if he will rise to the occasion, I can assure you, he will not. I have been disappointed every time I have expected anything at all from him, even the bare minimum of human decency."

"So, you don't want him?" said Mr. Darcy.

"I do not," said Mrs. Younge. "Honestly, I think I used him as an excuse. I was never quite cut out for being a governess. Your world, with all its propriety and rules, it's a bit too stifling for me. I'm happier here, in a more permissive environment. Furthermore, owning a lodging house is a great deal more lucrative than being a governess. I am much happier where I am than where I used to be. Don't worry over me, if you please."

"All right, then," said Mr. Darcy. "That settles that."

The three each gave the others a nod and a smile.

"Stage two of the plan!" said Georgiana, "commences now."