“Truly? I had such fears.” He passed a hand over his eyes and turned away to compose himself.
Darcy waited for a few moments before continuing. “She is well but adamant that she will not leave Wickham. He admitted to me privately that he never had any intention of marrying her.”
“Black-hearted devil!” Mr. Gardiner cried, turning around.
“Many have said so, and as such he is best dealt with. I have impressed upon him the necessity of doing right by your niece.”
“Not by an appeal to conscience, surely!” Mr. Gardiner pressed him. “You have gained the upper hand in some other way — financially, I would guess. Am I correct?”
“I hold all his debts.”
“Ah!” Mr. Gardiner responded. “Incentive, to be sure; but I would allow that this would not be enough to induce him. Why, he could promise anything and, when you have paid his creditors, just disappear!” He threw out his hands. “Could he not, even now, be gone?”
“He is being watched, sir, and can make no move without detection. This he knows. He knows, as well, that if he does so he will be disclosed to his colonel for arrest and court-martial. No, he will not bolt.”
“Good Heavens, sir!” Overcome with emotion, Mr. Gardiner took his hand and shook it vigorously. “You have done more than anyone…” He gulped. “You must disclose all the expense to which you have gone, and I promise it shall be paid back to you.”
Darcy drew back. “I will not, sir. The sum goes far beyond Wickham’s debts. If your niece’s future is to be secure, more must be done, if you will forgive my impertinence, than either you or her father is able.”
“No matter,” Mr. Gardiner replied sharply. “It is for her relations to retrieve her character and bear the expense of it.”
“I understand, sir, and only wish I could bow to your demand.” He returned Mr. Gardiner’s fierce eye with his own. “But it cannot be.”
“Umph!” his host snorted after a time. “We shall see! What is to be done then? I must be of some use!”
Darcy relaxed and resumed his seat. “I leave it to you, sir, to handle your niece’s family, for my part in this must never be revealed to anyone beyond your good wife.” He paused, then leaned toward his host. “Will you consent to receive your niece and keep her until the wedding day? All must appear as if she was married from your house.”
“Of course!” he replied, then added with a small show of indignation, “I believe we are solvent enough to put on a wedding at any rate!”
The warm August light falling softly through the stained-glass windows of St. Clement’s could not have been more perfect, Darcy decided as he stood in the sanctuary door two weeks later. It was likely the only perfection he was to witness in the next few minutes, and he paused to allow it some entry into his breast before looking again to the street. The Gardiners were late. It was uncharacteristic of these relatives of Elizabeth whom he had come to esteem during the course of this tawdry drama, and Darcy supposed he could guess where the blame lay. Sighing, he looked over his shoulder to the door that closed upon the groom. The burly form of Tyke Tanner stood against it, his face a study in wry commiseration at the frustrating drag of time toward the moment when their mission could be declared accomplished. With a brief twitch of a grimace, Darcy turned back to the street. “Take her in hand, sir,” he advised the absent Mr. Gardiner under his breath. “Take her in hand, and we shall be done!” How he longed for it to be over, to be set free in good conscience to return to Pemberley. As for what was about to take place, he entertained severe doubt that it would redound to his credit. Certainly he could foresee little happiness for the couple involved, but the weight of his duty and the hope of reestablishing Elizabeth’s family in the eyes of her society had held him every day to his course. Soon, all that his name and fortune could rectify would be done.
A carriage turned the corner and swayed to a stop at the foot of the church steps. A much harassed-looking gentleman emerged immediately the steps were let down. Mr. Gardiner’s complexion was decidedly florid as he looked up to the doorway at Darcy, his relief at the sight of him unmistakable. With a nod, he turned back to the carriage and held out his hand to the ladies within. A flurry of skirts and an impossibly high poked bonnet emerged to be handed down to the curb. The bride was followed by the strained but determined figure of Mrs. Gardiner. Darcy’s respect for that lady had grown even more as, during the last weeks, she had worked to impress upon her charge the decorum expected of a respectable young wife.
The small party mounted the steps, Mr. Gardiner reaching out his hand to clasp Darcy’s.
“Mr. Gardiner.” Darcy inclined his head in respect as well as courtesy. “It is well with you?” He cast his eyes briefly toward the bride. “With all of you?”
“Mr. Darcy,” the elder man responded, a slight hitch to his breath from the ascent, “your servant, sir. An unexpected matter detained us, but yes, we are all well and ready to proceed. And on your part, sir?”
“There should be no problem. The groom is prepared. Shall we go in?”
“As soon as may be,” returned Mr. Gardiner. “Please God that this business is concluded quickly and duty discharged.” Darcy nodded his complete agreement with the sentiments and turned to greet the man’s good wife and the prospective bride.
“Where is Wickham?” Lydia Bennet interrupted from under the wide brim of her ridiculous bonnet and strained to look beyond him into the darkness of the church. “Is he within? Should he not be here?”
Mrs. Gardiner looked up in alarm, and Darcy hastened to reassure them. “Yes, he is here. Will you walk in?” He helped the two women through the doorway, stopping only for a quick nod from Tyke Tanner indicating that Wickham was in position at the front of the sanctuary. He turned to Mrs. Gardiner. “May I escort you, ma’am?” He held out his arm.
“Thank you, Mr. Darcy.” She sighed gratefully as she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. “Thank you for everything.”
“You are very kind, madam,” he began, but his companion tapped his arm.
“No, it is you, sir, who are very kind, as well as a great many other good and admirable qualities.” She smiled up at him in such a way as to call forth an answering smile from his own lips in spite of the flush that was spreading across his face. Looking before them, Mrs. Gardiner sighed once more. “It is such a lovely day. Lydia does not deserve it, the wretched child, but that is the way of it, is it not!” She looked at their surroundings. “Well, if it were not that it would puff up my wayward niece, I could wish that her family was here, at least Jane and Elizabeth.”
They took up a position behind her husband and Lydia and followed them into St. Clement’s sanctuary, traversing with slow steps the central aisle, dappled here and there with colored sunlight pouring from the great windows hung above them. It was a lovely morning, Darcy thought, slowing even more, and far more than Elizabeth’s aunt could imagine did he wish that her desire might have been granted. Would that this were his wedding morning and Elizabeth on his arm! The pleasure and pain of it smote him.
They reached the front of the sanctuary. Dropping his arm, Mrs. Gardiner took her place behind her niece as he took his, just to Wickham’s right. The crisp newness of the bridegroom’s blue coat had lent him a dignity that he assumed with frightening ease there before the minister. The bride blushed and whispered audibly to her aunt, “Is he not handsome?”
“Dearly beloved,” the man opened the service. Wickham’s shoulders drew back. Darcy looked straight ahead lest the battering wisdom of the words being spoken, breaking upon the charade in which he was playing, should betray his face into revealing his thoughts. In shockingly few minutes, it was done. He bent to record himself as witness in the register while Mrs. Gardiner embraced her niece and tepidly shook her new nephew’s hand. Mr. Gardiner bestowed a quick kiss upon the bride’s forehead.