Hardly a month later, Mr. Collins and his wife were shown into the parlor at Rosings. Bowing reverently to its occupants, Lady Catherine, her daughter Miss Anne de Bourgh, and her esteemed guest, Mr. Darcy, Mr. Collins proceeded directly to where her ladyship sat.
“Thank you for granting me this audience, your ladyship. Indeed, Mrs. Collins and I are aware of the great honor you have bestowed upon us, and we are forever in your debt.”
Lady Catherine was never one to shy away from the high praise she knew was her due, but, on the other hand, she did not like to be imposed on by others when she felt she had better things to do. “You have asked for this time, Mr. Collins, and I have granted it to you. Now be quick about your purpose in wishing to see me so you can be on your way.”
“Indeed, your ladyship. Indeed.” Here, he bowed again and then commenced speaking. “In view of the highly revered connection between us, I believe it is absolutely incumbent on me to be the one to bring you what I am sure is most alarming news from Hertfordshire.” He cleared his throat. “It has to do with the Bennets of Longbourn.”
Startled, it was all Darcy could do not to lower his paper and attend to the unfolding conversation. However, the last thing he wanted to do was encourage his aunt’s vicar. He would not even be in Kent if not for his aunt making some excuse of needing him there to oversee an urgent matter concerning her steward.
“Pray go on, Mr. Collins,” Lady Catherine demanded.
“Mrs. Collins and I have learned that one of the Bennet daughters has thrown herself into the power of a Mr. Wickham.” Directing his gaze at Mr. Darcy, Collins said, “The son of the late Mr. Darcy’s steward.” Now the vicar really had Darcy’s attention. A stunned sense of foreboding overtook him. Has George Wickham returned to Hertfordshire and imposed himself on the Bennets? Did Elizabeth willfully ignore my reproofs against that man? He felt his color rising.
Collins continued speaking. “Indeed, Miss Lydia Bennet, the youngest daughter of the five, has left the protection of the couple charged with her supervision in Brighton, a Colonel Forster and his young wife.”
Darcy silently offered a prayer in gratitude that his Elizabeth was not the Bennet daughter in question. My Elizabeth, he considered. He tucked in part of his lower lip in remembrance of their kiss—ever lingering in his lonely mind. She will never be mine.
Effectively drawn into the conversation, Darcy lowered his paper.
Mr. Collins now looked directly at Darcy as he spoke, as if he knew how this information would affect the other man. “The couple was said to be headed to Gretna Green to be married, but it has since been discovered that the officer never intended to wed the young girl. They have gone entirely unaccounted for. Their whereabouts are completely unknown to the family.”
Lady Catherine reared her head in indignation. Before she could speak, Collins said, “Allow me to assure you, your ladyship, that my wife and I have nothing to do with the shame attached to the Bennet family. Indeed, I have written to my cousin Mr. Bennet and instructed him in the strongest language that he must have nothing at all to do with this business. I have prevailed on my cousin not to intercede on his wayward daughter’s behalf, for in doing so he would merely condone the shameful behavior.”
“As you very well should have,” Lady Catherine insisted. “That family is ruined! I contend it would be far better if the girl were dead.”
Meanwhile, Darcy, having given up his pretense of ignoring the parson, was pacing the floor. This is my fault, he silently considered. If I had been open with the Bennets, even my friend Bingley, they would have known about Wickham’s low propensities.
Lady Catherine said, “No doubt you are congratulating yourself, Nephew, in having escaped a connection with such a family despite your past attentiveness to Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Though I can hardly say the same of your friend Charles Bingley.” She raised her head in a proud manner. “But given his standing in society was tenuous at best, the damage, though severe, is not nearly so devastating as it would have been for someone of your stature.”
He ceased his pacing and fixed his stare on his aunt. “I take no comfort in the fact that the Bennet family’s reputation is now tarnished, Lady Catherine. I take umbrage at you suggesting I would. I am troubled on behalf of the Bennets as well as my friend Bingley.”
“That is all the more reason that you must cut ties with the young man. With such a sister, no decent family will receive him, his wife, or his own unmarried sister.”
Darcy told his aunt that he would do no such thing as cut ties with his friend Bingley. He further declared, “I rather suppose I owe it to my friend to do all that is in my power to bring about a happier conclusion than any of them have reason to expect.”
“How do you suppose it is your responsibility? Is that not the duty of the wild girl’s father and her uncles?”
“If I had told Mr. Bennet all I know of Wickham’s disreputable character, the gentleman might have taken greater care in preventing his youngest daughter from becoming Wickham’s victim.”
“You cannot know that! What right does the girl have to be out in society at fifteen—long before three of her older sisters are married? Mr. Bennet ought to have exercised greater prudence. He has no one to blame but himself for his daughter’s disgraceful behavior. You would be wise to avoid this matter in its entirety.”
“My conscience will not allow it. I will not stand idly by and watch the reputation of an entire family be ruined.”
Darcy walked over to the side table and poured himself a drink. George Wickham had not acted alone in his attempt to seduce Darcy’s sister all those months ago in Ramsgate. A Mrs. Younge, Georgiana’s former companion, had been Wickham’s accomplice. Darcy would not dismiss the possibility that Wickham had prevailed on that despicable woman once again. How else might one explain Wickham’s ability to disappear with young Lydia Bennet so expeditiously and remain hidden for so long? Slamming the glass on the table, Darcy spun around and headed towards the door.
“Where are you going, Nephew?”
“I have a fair idea of where I might find George Wickham. I only pray I am not too late.”
“Indeed, it is too late! That girl is ruined. Her entire family is ruined. You are wasting your time.”
“I may very well be wasting my time, but at the very least I will have tried.”
Lady Catherine learned some weeks later from Mr. Collins that the young Bennet girl had married George Wickham. Recalling Darcy’s peculiar response to the news of the Bennet family’s ruin, as well as his urgent departure from Kent, unsettled her ladyship more than she liked. Suspecting but not wishing to believe her favorite nephew had been the means of resolving the scandalous affair, her ladyship set off for London to ascertain the truth.
She would have no success in garnering the truth from Darcy; therefore, she went to her brother’s home, Matlock House, where she knew she would find her nephew Colonel Fitzwilliam. All that was required on her part was some hint to the colonel that she was already familiar with some of the particulars. Scarcely the work of a moment was needed subsequently to learn the full extent of Darcy’s involvement in the Wickham affair.
Lady Catherine was appalled. More than that, she was puzzled. By the colonel’s account, Darcy had done it all. He paid for Wickham’s commission in the North. He paid that loathsome man’s gambling debts that stretched from Meryton to Brighton. He even attended the wedding. Her aggrieved nature screamed that her nephew had acted as he did on behalf of Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Yet, he had not ventured to Hertfordshire to bask in that woman’s gratitude.
Perhaps he simply wants opportunity, Lady Catherine concluded. She knew from Mr. and Mrs. Collins that the newlywed Bingleys had not yet returned from their wedding journey. Her ladyship suspected that was the reason her nephew had not yet gone to Hertfordshire. Determined to prevent her nephew from making what she was certain would be the greatest mistake of his life, her ladyship now knew precisely what she must do. That impertinent country upstart had not heard the last from Lady Catherine de Bourgh.