Mr. Bennet was quite moved by Darcy’s admission but was still too stunned to respond favourably. “At the moment, I am not inclined to give my blessing; however, I am willing to give it some thought.”
Darcy slowly let out his breath. “I would appreciate that, sir.”
Mr. Bennet had almost forgotten about the reason for their conversation in the first place. When at last he did, he said to Darcy, “But back to my other daughter. This Wickham somehow learned of your marriage to my Lizzy and figured he could entice our Lydia into marrying him so he could, through some means, benefit from your fortune?”
“That is what I assume, sir. His sole motive for everything he does is to secure riches for himself with as little effort as possible. It would not benefit him to run off with Lydia and then cast her off. No, I believe he does intend to marry her and eventually use his connection to me through your family to support his habits and lifestyle.”
“And knowing this, you still wish to remain married to my daughter?”
“More than anything, sir.”
Mr. Bennet knew Mr. Darcy was not a man one should ever refuse. He was rightly angered by his daughter’s secret marriage, but deeply gratified by the measure of this man before him, not just his wealth—that would make Mrs. Bennet undeniably happy—but the strength of his principles and conviction. However, he was not inclined to let the man off so easily.
“Well, Mr. Darcy, I must say that today has been the most taxing day of my whole existence. To go from hearing of the unfortunate elopement of one daughter to the reprehensible secret marriage of another… I truly cannot think too clearly on any of this at the moment.”
“Sir, I offer my deepest apologies for any suffering this may have caused you; however, I do not apologize for marrying your daughter. While my original intent may not have been what it ought, I wish for nothing else but to keep our marriage from being annulled.”
“And are you fearful that I will insist on having it annulled, then?”
“I would hope you would not, sir. But the truth is, at this very moment my aunt is making her way to London to see if she can dissolve it. George Wickham was more than expedient in informing her of our marriage as soon as he learned of it. But his disclosure was most likely not out of any sort of kind-hearted gesture. I imagine he was able to extort some money from her before producing our marriage certificate to her as proof. My aunt called on Elizabeth earlier today and left her with the threat that she would do all she could to have it annulled. I would beseech you to calmly think about all I have said.”
Mr. Bennet looked at the man before him. To say that he looked desperate was not an exaggeration. He rather enjoyed it and wondered just how much this man was willing to take for his favourite daughter.
“Mr. Darcy, on what basis should I accept you as my daughter’s husband? How do I know that you are not as deceitful as this Wickham, or perhaps more so? How can I give my blessing when I hardly know you save from one conversation at a ball?”
“Sir, do you trust your daughter’s judgment?”
Thoughts of his favourite daughter filled his mind. She was indeed the wisest discerner of a person’s character of anyone he knew. He nodded, knowing that of all his daughters, he trusted Elizabeth’s judgment the most. “I will give it some thought, Mr. Darcy.”
Darcy looked down, not knowing whether he was in Mr. Bennet’s good graces or not. “Thank you for that, sir.” Darcy then looked back up at his father-in-law. “Mr. Bennet, there is one more thing that I might be able to accomplish in Town if I leave immediately.”
“And what is that?”
“Find Wickham and remove your daughter from his presence.”
“Do you think you can actually find them?”
“I know of several acquaintances that he has there whom he may have contacted. My only concern for your daughter is that I might not arrive in time, if you take my meaning, sir.”
“I do and would be most grateful, Mr. Darcy, if you did remove Lydia from that rake. But now you must decide what matter of business you see to first when you arrive; preventing the annulment of your marriage with my one daughter or securing the innocence of my other daughter. You have a difficult choice before you, young man.”
“I will do what I can.”
“I am quite confident you will.” Mr. Bennet looked closely at the man before him. “Colonel Forster and I talked about leaving in the morning for London to see what we can do to find them. We shall go to the Gardiners’ home and meet you there. Will that suffice?”
“Yes, sir. And hopefully, Mr. Gardiner will have your daughter in his possession.”
“We shall hope, shall we not?” Mr. Bennet looked to the door. “Should we ask Lizzy to join us again?”
“Yes, I should like that very much.”
Mr. Bennet opened the door, finding Elizabeth lingering suspiciously close. “Come, Elizabeth. I would like some words with you.”
Elizabeth walked in and cast a worried glance at her husband, whose face gave her no indication as to the outcome of their meeting.
“Well, Lizzy, I would offer you a seat, but if you are inclined to follow your husband’s lead, you will remain standing.”
Elizabeth nervously looked at her father.
“Papa, I do hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me… to forgive us. We never meant to hurt anyone.”
“Hmmm. I must say that finding out twice in one week that you had an offer of marriage is certainly something I never suspected.”
Darcy looked at him oddly. “Twice?”
Elizabeth shook her head and said softly, “I will enlighten you later.”
“But now, we must decide what we are going to do about this little bit of news. I must confess that I am not at all pleased with this disclosure; however, what is done is done. Until I decide what we are to do about it, neither of you are to speak a word of it to anyone unless absolutely necessary and, of course, you are not to live together as man and wife.”
“Yes, sir, anything you say.”
Mr. Bennet came around from behind his desk and walked toward the door. “You go do what you must in Town, Mr. Darcy. I suggest you find the fastest horse with the greatest endurance that will get you to London in time. Do what you can about Lydia. But I warn you, if you return to Longbourn only to inform me that my Lizzy’s marriage has been annulled, I will be seriously displeased!”
“Thank you, sir. I will do all I can.”
Mr. Bennet left the room with a “Hmmph.”
Darcy turned to Elizabeth. “I am uncertain whether he is completely angry at me still or has accepted our marriage.”
Elizabeth looked toward the door through which her father just disappeared.
She turned back and smiled. “I believe he is considering how insupportable it would be for me to be in a marriage that has been annulled. Presently, he finds the alternative, being married to you, the lesser of the two offences.”
Darcy raised his eyebrows in contemplation of Mr. Bennet’s words. “I suppose I shall have to be content with that at present and only hope that his opinion of me will improve in the future. I will do all that I can, Elizabeth.”
With Mr. Bennet leaving them alone, he took a bold initiative and grasped her hand, bringing it to his lips, lifting his eyes to meet hers just as his lips touched the back of her hand.
As he continued to hold her hand, he asked her, “What did your father mean by a second proposal?”
Elizabeth looked away sharply and took in a deep breath. “Mr. Collins,” she said softly.
“Mr. Collins?” Darcy looked at her incredulously. “He actually asked for your hand?”
She nodded as she looked back at him. “Do you find it surprising that he would ask for my hand?”
“On the contrary. It was quite apparent to me that he wanted nothing more than to garner your favour.” Darcy smiled. “What did you say?”
“I told him no, of course!”
Darcy smiled. “Good! I only wanted to be assured of your answer.” He squeezed her hand and looked down at it. “I brought Georgiana back to Netherfield with me. If it is acceptable to you, may I ask her to send for you while I am away?”