His Uncle's Favorite (52 page)

“Well, surely things have changed lately. The Darcys and the Matlocks never would allow anyone so beneath them to enter their family. You must have some special charms, Miss Bennet, to convince them to accept you. I am speaking from personal experience; I was always tolerated but never accepted. They did not even give me what was rightfully mine…”

Elizabeth was angry and tired and not in the slightest as patient as she should be. Mr. Wickham’s large smile, insinuating tone, and that particular, cold glint in his eyes were too much to bear at such a time. She stepped closer to him.

“It is quite strange that you say such things, Mr. Wickham. From what I heard, you were always treated as a part of the family. I was told that the late Mr. Darcy held you in high esteem, which you did not quite deserve. I also understand that Lord Matlock never abandoned you, not even when your behaviour was less than honourable. Even more, I was informed that the living you told me about was left to you under special conditions that you did not fulfil. However, you did receive a large sum of money to compensate your loss. And, when you speak about not being allowed into the family, is it possible that you refer to the fact that you tried to compromise Lady Selina and Georgiana and were stopped before you succeeded?”

Each of her words twisted his countenance, and he stared at her open-mouthed. Her voice became cold and accusing while her entire presence demanded respect. When she took a step closer, he staggered back.

“It is true that I liked you from the very beginning of our acquaintance, Mr. Wickham, but you betrayed my trust and my friendship. You misled me with malicious gossip about Mr. Darcy and, even worse, about Georgiana—who you knew very well to be a delightful, sweet creature. You offended the memory of your godfather by hurting his children, and you shamelessly take advantage of Lord Matlock’s generous affection. And you dare speak of not being allowed in their families?”

“Miss Bennet, I shall not allow anyone to speak to me in such a manner. And you should be more prudent than to begin an offensive argument in the middle of the woods where nobody can hear you!”

“Is that so, Mr. Wickham? Perhaps you intend to take advantage of our present solitude and harm me in some way? That would be the final dishonourable thing you might do to show your true character!”

He took another step back and glanced sharply at her.

“I have no intention of harming you, Miss Bennet, but I shall not allow you to place the entire fault on me. Your accusations might be true, but everything I told you, you accepted willingly. Perhaps it was dishonourable the way I spoke of Darcy, but what would you say about a young lady, the daughter of a gentleman, who agrees to share gossip with a complete stranger from the first moment of their acquaintance? In what way was your behaviour better than mine? And now suddenly you discover a genuine affection for the same man you hated a few months ago. Could it be that your love suddenly appeared after you saw his properties? Do not attempt to fool me, Miss Bennet; I am not naïve!”

“I do not attempt to fool you, Mr. Wickham, and I shall not deny that your reproaches are deserved. My behaviour was wrong and unfair; my prejudice clouded my judgement while my pride and vanity blinded me to your deceptive amiability. But I shall not repeat my mistake; I shall not discuss with you my love or the changes of my heart. I am quite certain we will not see each other much in the future, so I wish you wisdom and humility and as good a life as possible. Good day, Mr. Wickham!”

“I would not be certain about how often we might meet in the future, and—”

“I said good day, Mr. Wickham. I would appreciate if you would not continue this conversation. I must return home now.”

She stepped back to return to the same path, and she was suddenly startled and released a small cry. Only a few steps away stood Thunder, waiting patiently. A short glance was enough to observe Mr. Darcy walking towards them slowly.

He bowed to her properly, his countenance stern, fixed upon her shoulder.

“Mr. Darcy! I was just returning to Longbourn. Such a surprise to see you— I thought you were at Netherfield by now.”

“A fortunate coincidence—please allow me to keep you company. Bingley has returned to Longbourn, and I will meet him there.”

“Darcy, very pleased to see you. I was just congratulating Miss Bennet on the news of your engagement. Please allow me to do the same.”

“Wickham, save your breath. As I told you last year, there are very few circumstances that would compel me to speak to you again. This is not one of them.”

He offered Elizabeth his arm, and they walked away together as Wickham called to them,

“Darcy, Miss Bennet—I hope to see you both again sometime soon!”

Wickham mounted, and the sound of his horse galloping away gradually diminished along the path. Only then did Elizabeth stop and ask Darcy to rest a moment. She glanced at him briefly.

“I met him a few minutes ago; we argued very harshly and—”

“I know; I heard. Forgive me, I did not mean to skulk, but your voices were loud, and I could not find a convenient moment to interfere.”

“You heard?” She blushed than instantly paled.

“Yes. Thank you for defending us. I do not know whether anyone ever told Wickham all those things straight to his face before. I was very proud of you—and a little frightened, I confess. I must be careful in future not to upset you in any way.” He laughed, but she felt her eyes burning.

“He was right; I was silly and blind and mindless. I allowed myself to be so easily deceived. I practically invited him to malign your name and Georgiana’s…”

“We have already discussed this, Elizabeth. The behaviour of neither of us was faultless since we first met. But all that is ended. Let us not think of the past.”

She laid her head against his chest as they stood side by side, and her hands slid around his waist. He held her tightly and lifted her chin so he could see her eyes. She was still tearful, but she laughed at him. He stole a brief kiss; then he suddenly moved and sat on the grass, pulling her to sit by him. A moment later, he lifted her and placed her in his lap. She gasped in surprise but only hesitated briefly before she allowed herself to enjoy his warmth. Her head was now a little higher than his, so she leaned down to his laughing mouth. She expected a kiss, which did not come. Instead, he trapped her in his embrace, almost crushed to his chest, and spoke seriously.

“So, Miss Bennet, I understand that I have something in common with Mr. Collins. I never would have expected that.”

She paled, and her heart nearly stopped. “I am very sorry for the uncomfortable situation you have been put in. My sister is always accustomed to have her own way and—”

“I see you attempt to change the subject, so I shall not insist further. I have only one question: between my proposal and Mr. Collins’s, which was worse?”

She stared at him incredulously, then suddenly cupped his face with her small hands and said, just an instant before her lips finally met his and she abandoned herself to his tender caresses: “Yours was worse, by far, sir.”

They became lost in a passionate kiss, their arms holding each other close. With guilty pleasure and embarrassment, she could feel his strong legs moving beneath her, his hands travelling daringly along her back, his lips abandoning hers to escape along her jaw to her neck and her shoulders then to the edge of her gown… She shivered and sighed, waiting, but the burning touch of his lips ceased.

“We should stop,” he suddenly whispered. “We must return to Longbourn; Bingley is expecting me—and your father too, I imagine.”

“Yes,” she admitted, struggling to breathe, but some time and more kisses were necessary before they finally succeeded in separating.

He gently brushed her hair with his fingers and arranged a few rebellious locks then fixed the edge of her gown, which had almost fallen down. He called Thunder, and a brief glance was enough for her to understand his meaning. They mounted together again, and this time she adjusted her body against his in the saddle almost immediately.

They rode towards the house, and each time the trees happened to shelter them from the main road, their lips sought and found each other, eager and starved to be joined. He carefully looked around each time to be certain they would not be caught. His hands daringly touched and caressed her thighs through the fabric of her gown with slight moves that could not possibly be noticed by anyone passing by but strong enough to make her skin tingle. Most of the time, she looked straight ahead to admire the view, allowing her nape, neck, and shoulder to bear the rushed, tantalising touches of his lips.

“Pray tell me how it happened that you returned. I thought you left to change for dinner.”

“I did. But I turned my head towards Longbourn for a moment and saw you walking towards the groves. I could not be certain it was you from such a distance, but it was a lucky guess.”

“Very lucky guess, indeed.” She laughed.

Finally, Longbourn was in view and their posture—though awkward as they rode together—became perfectly proper. Just before they reached the main garden, he leaned to whisper, “I might reconsider my previous decision to teach you to ride. I find this way of riding much more rewarding.”

She laughed again, laying her head back against his chest. When they stopped, he dismounted and helped her down.

At that moment, Mr. Bennet appeared from the back door and stopped in surprise to look at them with curiosity and then reproach, studying their crimson faces, hair in disorder, and embarrassed looks. They glanced at each other and realised they looked far from proper.

“Mr. Darcy! I thought you left long ago, sir.”

“I… We…” They both turned red while struggling to speak.

“Well, well… I guess I must congratulate myself on insisting to shorten your engagement.”

“Papa, we—”

“Lizzy dear, go and change for dinner before your mother sees you. I shall see you soon,” Mr. Bennet said gently, highly amused.

Darcy stepped further and tried to arrange his coat as he struggled to speak coherently.

“Mr. Bennet, it is my fault. I saw Elizabeth going for a walk, and I returned to meet her. I know it was not proper; I am sorry. But please believe me, I shall never do anything to harm Elizabeth nor expose her to a compromising situation. Please be assured that—”

“Do not excuse yourself any more, sir; it is really not necessary. I would warn you to be careful to avoid other awkward moments like this one, but I confess I am pleased to see my daughter so happy. At least I am not concerned she might have married you for your wealth.” Mr. Bennet laughed, enjoying the chance to tease his guest.

“Tomorrow I plan to go to London and make all the arrangements for the wedding. In the mean time, I shall not allow any other similar situation to occur; that I promise.”

“Oh, do not promise such a thing; you may not be able to keep it. Do not be embarrassed, sir; I do remember what love and passion mean. I have been passionately in love with my wife since we married. Unfortunately, we had little in common except that. I have great hopes that things will be different with you and my Lizzy.”

“Thank you, sir,” Darcy replied, astonished by such a confession.

“Now go and change, too, before Mrs. Bennet spots you. As fond as she is of you, it would be difficult to explain to her why your clothes have grass stains. You must hurry; dinner will be ready in an hour. I am hungry, and Netherfield is not that close. Oh, and I forgot to mention: Mr. Bingley might keep you company to London tomorrow. He seemed determined to force me to accept a double wedding. My wife is exceedingly upset with that arrangement, but it is very likely Mr. Bingley will eventually win.”

***

The next day, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley left for London after a short visit to Longbourn. To Elizabeth’s surprise, Mr. Darcy handed her a small package a little larger than a book. He whispered she should open it only after his leaving, which made Mrs. Bennet speculate about the possibility of its being a box of jewels.

It was settled that the gentlemen would stay in Town until the licenses and settlements were ready. Mrs. Bennet was still upset with Mr. Bingley for stealing the opportunity of arranging a second wedding. Even more, she was worried that a double wedding would not satisfy Mr. Darcy’s notions of grandeur. She was certain he would not want to share such an important event with anyone else, and nothing Elizabeth said to convince her otherwise had any success in calming her nerves.

As soon as the gentlemen departed, Elizabeth retired to her room and, with eager hands, untied the package; inside, she found four envelopes. She searched them carefully and found a number on each of them. Beside the envelopes, there was a note, with no envelope to protect it. She understood it was the first to be read.

My beloved Elizabeth,

I will be away for four days, and I hope you will miss me as much as I shall miss you.

I cannot believe that less than two weeks have passed since our engagement—two weeks, as long as a lifetime and as short as a heartbeat. I still have so many things I wish to share with you, to tell you, to show you, that I wish to trap the time and chain it to last longer.

I have enclosed four letters, one for each day I will be gone.