“I leave you with that, Wickham, as well as with a warning. Do not ever speak of my wife in that manner again! And never attempt anything like this with a young girl again or I shall make sure you will suffer more than just the consequences of a blow to the abdomen!”
Darcy wiped off his hands and turned, leaving Wickham crouched and unable to get up for some time.
The carriage returned to the Gardiners’ home in relative silence. Lydia was obstinate in not wanting to listen to any scolding. She was humiliated by Wickham’s harsh words, but now that she was required to go to the Gardiners’ and bear their lectures on the virtues of women, it was far too disheartening.
When they arrived at their destination, Darcy did not follow them in, but bid them farewell. Darcy’s body ached, prodding him that he needed rest. However, he had one more situation that required his immediate attention and he knew this might be even more difficult than what he just endured.
Chapter 31
When Darcy rode up to his townhouse, it greeted him with all the easy familiarity of a close friend. Just setting his eyes upon it helped calm him. But he knew very well that just inside might be something of a different matter.
He walked up to the door and opened it, greeting a very surprised butler, Mr. Andrews. “Mr. Darcy, this is a surprise! We were not expecting you!”
“I am sorry to arrive without notice, Andrews. Tell me, is my aunt here?”
“Yes, sir. Your aunt arrived but an hour ago, and your cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam is here as well.”
“Richard is here?”
“Yes, sir. He has been here a couple of days. He is in with your aunt now in the sitting room.”
Darcy looked at him. “I beseech you, Andrews; do not let anyone know I am here. I shall be in my study. Please make an attempt to draw Colonel Fitzwilliam away from my aunt and ask him to come into the study without raising her suspicions. Presently, I do not wish for her to know that I am here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Darcy slipped into his study and closed the door. He waited. If he could garner the help of his cousin, this might turn out to be easier than he thought.
It was some minutes before Colonel Fitzwilliam came into the study. He opened the door curiously and when he saw Darcy, his eyes travelled up and down the usually immaculate man. Darcy was encrusted with a layer of dirt, his clothes completely soiled. He began to let out a “Cous…”
Darcy put his fingers up to his lips to silence him. “Shhhh, Richard. I do not want Lady Catherine to know I am here just yet! I desperately need your help.”
Darcy saw the look of exasperation on his cousin’s face. “And I need your help too, Darcy! She is extremely upset and irrational! Something has her so enraged, yet she refuses to tell me what it is!”
“I believe I know what has her so enraged. I will tell you and I ask that you return to her and attempt to get her to discuss it with you.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam looked askance at him and nodded his head. “Pray, continue.”
“First, sit down and promise me you will not utter a word until I have finished.”
Richard furrowed his eyebrows and smiled. “You are behaving quite oddly, cousin, but if you insist, not a word!”
“Good. Some news came to her attention about me and she is not pleased about it.”
“What news was that?”
Darcy paused, thinking to himself that disclosing his marriage ought to get easier with all the people he had already told. “She found out I am married.”
“Mar…”
“Shhh!” Darcy looked at his cousin’s shocked face. “I married a wonderful young lady I met on the ship to America. She is exceptional… more than I could have expected to find in a lady… but she does not meet our aunt’s expectations of whom she believes I should marry. Although I strongly believe no woman would have satisfied her notion, other than Anne.”
“Ahhhh, now I understand her temper tonight!”
“Well, there is more. Our marriage has been a secret.”
At Colonel Fitzwilliam’s look of astonishment, Darcy explained briefly how it came to be.
“Very few people know about it, but Wickham found out… in truth, he stole the marriage certificate and took it to her, no doubt seeking some sort of recompense for bringing it to her attention. She, in turn, went directly to Elizabeth, my wife, with the certificate in hand, berating her to her face, and threatened that she would annul our marriage!”
“Darcy! In the past we have witnessed some inexcusable behaviour from her, but this surpasses them all! Certainly she has no real ability to annul your marriage, does she?”
“Is there anything our aunt would not attempt, if she was so determined?” He looked at his cousin guardedly. “Think back, Richard, on how often she has used her wealth and position for fraudulent means; silencing and influencing authorities; discrediting the honour of someone simply because they stood up to her or were not to her liking.”
“I take your meaning.”
“You must engage her to talk. Somehow you must get her to show you the marriage certificate and remove it from her possession and return to me! I will rest a little easier having it in my own hands.”
“How am I to do that?”
“Give her some reason to enlighten you as to what she comprehends of my situation. Relate to her how badly I have mismanaged Pemberley, how you are concerned about my behaviour of late… anything to get her to confide in you about what she discovered concerning me!”
“You really want me to disparage you in front of her?”
“Only until you are able to secure the certificate. I do not believe she can do anything without it. And once I have it, I will confront her. With your help, of course!”
“Thanks, good cousin! I cannot tell you how I have always wanted to do this!” The colonel cast Darcy a sarcastic look. “Enumerate your faults, that is, not confront our aunt!”
Darcy shook his head at his cousin’s teasing. “But you will do this?”
“Yes, I will see what I can do!” As Richard walked out, he turned and gave his cousin a curious glance, unable to believe the man had actually found a woman he deemed worthy to marry. That he had married in such a fashion was even more astounding.
Richard left, and Darcy sank down in his chair. He leaned back and closed his eyes, believing he would just rest his weary body while his cousin was charming his aunt into surrendering the certificate. But resting his body soon gave way and Darcy fell into a deep, much needed sleep.
Richard walked through the door, awakening Darcy with a start. “That was certainly prompt!” he said as his cousin looked at him, holding a piece of paper in his hands.
“Prompt? How can you say that was prompt? It took me more than an hour to get this from her!”
Darcy blinked his eyes a few times. “That long?” He shook his head to clear his thoughts. “I must have fallen asleep.”
“You must have fallen into a deep sleep!”
“So where is she now?”
“She is still in the drawing room. Mad as a hornet about all the things I said about you. But you were correct, it worked! After I told her of your recent troubling behaviour, she was more than willing to tell me all about your little indiscretion. However, in her eyes, one would think you had committed treason or some similar offence. When I feigned complete disbelief, I asked her what proof she had and she promptly produced this!”
“Excellent work, Richard.” He met the look of mirth in his cousin’s eyes. “Now I only hope we can undo the damage of the stories you told!”
“Undo them? Why, I only told her what was true!” Colonel Fitzwilliam took great delight in teasing his younger cousin.
Darcy shook his head. “Come, Richard. I need you beside me now, more than ever!”
The two walked into the drawing room, where Lady Catherine had leaned her head back and drifted off to sleep.