Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

E lizabeth found her uncle in his study, just having finished reading the letter that had arrived earlier. “Staunton said you received a letter as well. Your father is insisting you return home, but I have no intention of making you. I heard Darcy arrived soon after you received the note, so I left the two of you to discuss the matter. Is he coming?” Gardiner asked his niece as soon as she entered.

“He sent me to find you and ask you to join us, Uncle. And yes, I shared the letter with him. Mr. Bennet commands me to return home,” she laughed derisively. “However, William has an idea for how to thwart him. Promise me you will hear him out.” Her voice had turned pleading, as though she were concerned her uncle would not, though in all reality, he was typically very understanding. “I have asked for tea to be served in the sitting room; will you join us or should I call for him to come to you?”

Her uncle eyed her for a moment and Elizabeth struggled not to blush under his scrutiny. “I will hear whatever he has to say, Elizabeth, but I suppose the two of you have come up with a solution that I might not approve. Let us go to the parlour where your aunt will probably join us before too long.”

Elizabeth could do little but shrug at this as she led her uncle toward the room where Darcy was waiting.

Before Darcy could say much, Mrs. Gardiner was shown in. Immediately, she seemed to pick up on the tense atmosphere in the room. “What has happened?” she asked.

“Mr. Bennet sent a letter demanding Elizabeth return to Longbourn,” Gardiner said to his wife with a look that Elizabeth was not certain she wished to interpret. She had not seen the letter to her uncle, and now she wished to know what his had said.

“He sent a note to me as well, telling me it was time for me to return home and that I should return by Michaelmas which is slightly over a fortnight from now. However, Fitzwilliam has a suggestion for how to handle his demand,” Elizabeth said. “But, Uncle, will you not tell us what your letter said?”

Gardiner looked uncomfortable “I would prefer not to at this time, Elizabeth.” He held up a hand before she could protest any further. “Elizabeth, trust my judgement in this. It is best that you do not see what he wrote. However, I will say that he said to me roughly what he said to you: you have been away long enough, and that it is time for you to do your duty and return to Longbourn.”

Her eyebrows raised at this. "Do my duty?" she questioned. "Does he have something in mind for me to do? Surely, he has not arranged a marriage for me or anything of the sort. He cannot have done so! Since he has not been in contact with any of us for the last several years, he cannot even know for certain that I am yet unmarried. He cannot truly expect me to return or to feel that I owe him anything at this point."

"I agree, Elizabeth," her uncle said soothingly. "I sense my sister's hand in this, and there is no way of knowing what either of them might be thinking. Over the last few years, she has written on occasion to demand something from me or my wife, but those letters were always consigned to the fire nearly as soon as they were received."

Elizabeth turned astonished eyes toward her uncle. "I never knew."

"It was not worth you knowing," her aunt said in a sympathetic tone. "That is beside the point. Now, what is William's suggestion for how we ought to handle this matter?”

Elizabeth and Darcy looked at each other for a moment, then Darcy spoke. “We should marry as soon as it can be arranged instead of waiting until the end of the month as we planned.” He continued explaining the rest of his plans including renting a house near Meryton that would enable them to visit her family while remaining at a distance from them. If the meeting went well, they would be close enough for regular visits, but if not, they would be far enough away that they would not have to see the Bennet family again. “Elizabeth has mentioned wanting to visit Meryton before, of wanting to pay a call on some of her friends who are still in the area and even to visit her Aunt and Uncle Phillips,” he finished. “Taking a house nearby would allow us to do that while not interacting with the Bennets if we do not wish to.”

This time, it was Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner who shared a speaking glance. While they were reluctant to move the wedding date forward, they could not deny that doing so would prevent Mr. Bennet from preventing the wedding from occurring or delaying it. Reluctantly, Mr. Gardiner acknowledged that if Elizabeth was already married when she ventured into Hertfordshire, she would fall under her husband’s protection rather than her father’s and there was nothing Mr. Bennet could do about it.

"The document he signed giving me guardianship of Elizabeth is legal and binding currently, but once Elizabeth is in Mr. Bennet’s presence, he could easily terminate the guardianship and resume his inherent authority over Elizabeth. However, as her husband, Darcy you will usurp any authority Mr. Bennet expected to have over Elizabeth upon her return." He raised his hand before Elizabeth could object. "In the eyes of the law, my dear. You know that a woman is essentially the property of first her father and then her husband. You may not care for the idea, but it is the truth."

Unhappily, Elizabeth silenced whatever protest she would have made about being some man’s chattel. Their discussion ended with the Gardiners agreeing that moving the wedding forward was the best way to protect Elizabeth. At that, Darcy departed for home to prepare for the dinner party arranged for that night. On his way, he stopped to meet briefly with the rector of his London parish to confirm that Thomas Bennet had not written to object to the wedding. If he did object at the wedding, he assured Darcy that he planned to ignore it as nonconsequential given the proof that the man had given up his guardianship over his daughter to the Mr. Gardiner ten years before and that Mr. Gardiner did approve the match.

Darcy did not look forward to telling the Matlocks about the change in plans. Though there was little they could do about it, he knew his aunt would be unhappy.

Later, when the Gardiners and Elizabeth arrived at Darcy House for the dinner with Darcy's family, Mr. Gardiner informed Darcy of his own visit to his church, which had garnered similar information. Additionally, the rector had agreed, given the circumstances, to move the wedding forward to Monday at ten in the morning. Darcy was pleased with this knowledge, as was Elizabeth. She greeted him with a brilliant smile that left Darcy momentarily dumbstruck.

Dinner passed pleasantly. Since their initial meeting at Pemberley before George Darcy's death, the two families had been frequently in company. Both Lord and Lady Matlock viewed Elizabeth nearly as a niece already, and were pleased to be truly welcoming the girl into the family through her marriage to their nephew. While Lord Matlock may have initially hoped for Darcy to marry a titled lady, he had grown to adore Elizabeth, especially during the weeks Elizabeth lived with them during the Season. That George Darcy had met the young lady and approved the match only further strengthened their pleasure.

Despite this, it came as a great surprise to the couple when Darcy announced the change to the wedding plans and its reason. "Nephew, I protest. You cannot move up your wedding for such a flimsy reason. Society will think you have compromised your bride and will believe that a child will come too soon," Lady Matlock complained.

Darcy tried not to roll his eyes at his aunt. "It is not a flimsy excuse, Aunt. Mr. Bennet’s demand that Elizabeth return to Longbourn weeks before our wedding is suspicious, especially with the letter to Gardiner claiming he wants her to 'do her duty' to the family. Remember, it will be several years before Elizabeth reaches her majority. This is the only way to ensure Mr. Bennet cannot prevent or delay our marriage. If we are already wed when Elizabeth arrives, he can do nothing about it, and we can circumvent any plans he might have made. As no child will come early, any gossip this creates will be easily disproved soon enough."

"Will you return to town for a time after this visit?" Lady Matlock asked. "You refused to allow me to celebrate with an engagement ball, so now you must allow me to hold a ball to celebrate your marriage. I can plan a ball for early November and, after that, you may depart for Pemberley. You will need to inform Georgiana of the change in plans. Now, do you still intend to marry from your parish, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth nodded. "My wedding dress is ready. All the rest of my clothes will be delivered directly to Darcy House when they are completed. We wanted to wait to speak to you about the matter since you had originally intended to host the wedding breakfast. I hope you will still be able to do so, but my aunt is able to host a smaller breakfast if you cannot adjust your plans so quickly."

"We will host the wedding breakfast at Matlock House. A wedding breakfast at our home will show the world that we support your marriage. Madeline, I do not mean to overstep, but I do believe this is best."

Mrs. Gardiner nodded, while Darcy groaned. "Please keep it small, Aunt. You know very well that I despise being the centre of attention."

“I will keep your preferences in mind, nephew,” his aunt replied, grinning at him and watching him squirm slightly in his chair.

Elizabeth leaned against him, drawing his attention to her. "William, you are mistaken. You will not be the centre of attention; I, as the bride, will be. You are just a … an accompaniment." She grinned up at him pertly.

“An accompaniment,” Lord Matlock barked. “That is telling you, lad.”

Darcy laughed as well, sliding his hand around her waist to pull her into a quick hug. “Yes, you will, and I do not doubt you will be radiant, my love. Thank you for reminding me of my place.”

She slipped her free hand into his and squeezed, resting her head against his shoulder. Conversation flowed around them while they were lost in each other for several minutes. It grew late, and soon, the Gardiners departed for home.