Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife (57 page)

But so decisively did he stand, his chair was forced back several feet.

Had this not startled her enough, he said, quite scornfully, “Yes, why do we not populate all of Pemberley with bastard sons?”

Thereupon he turned and angrily walked to the window she had so recently vacated.

She did not move. She did not think she could will herself to move. Her face flushed crimson. Tears threatened her, but she refused them. Cheeks blazing in fury, her hands clutched the arms of the chair as if to keep her from fleeing, either after him or from the room. Immediate upon his unreasonable umbrage at her for Wickham’s unexpected appearance, he spoke to her in this manner. It was his friend who had done the despicable, not her sister!

Righteous indignation fully employed, she desperately sought some sharp reply to him, but was visited by nothing but a fleeting vision of the shovel she had conjured for Charles Bingley.

Something made her stay and hold her tongue as well. It was decidedly not in character for him to treat an appeal from her so churlishly. Hence, she rose and went to him, putting her arms under his and about his waist, resting her cheek against the soft back of his coat. From the valley between his shoulder blades she detected the furious beating of a tortured heart.

As steadfastly as he held his pose, one might have supposed it would have taken no little persuasion for her to coax him from it. But it did not. When she reached up and turned his face to hers, it was not anger she saw. In that instant, he gripped her to him. At that moment, she could not see his face but she heard his words.

He repeated, “Lizzy, Lizzy, forgive me, forgive me.”

She kissed him, if not in understanding, at least in empathy, salted with a great deal of apprehension. Whatever caused him to lash out at her was far beyond the bounds of what he had just learnt of Bingley.

“I have already forgiven you, but please tell me.”

Taking her hand, he led her to the side chair by the window and cradled her upon his lap. It was only in that intimate embrace that he was able to embark upon the telling of his history with Abigail and Wickham.

“As you know,” he cleared his throat, “Wickham came to live in the house as an adolescent.”

She nodded.

“We were quite competitive as we raced and played at war. There were rivalries. Some were overt, some unwitting. It was during this time I was initiated into intimate rites with a young woman who worked here. As it happened, Wickham shared her favours first.”

As he spoke, she sat in bewilderment as to why he was telling her of this ancient story from his youth. He said he had an early dalliance with the same servant girl as Wickham. How droll. Her husband’s gravity was the only thing that kept her from smiling as she thought of the two young men chasing the same young woman. Lusty, exuberant youths!

Playfully, she asked, “So this was the lady who worked foul designs upon your innocence!”

“I freely admit any pollutions committed were done with my absolute consent,” he smiled fleetingly (or at least turned up the corners of his mouth). That cheered her. So much so, it occurred to her to quiz him about specifics, but that ill-conceived notion was immediately cast aside with his very next revelation.

“The girl’s name was Abigail. Abigail Christie. John Christie’s mother.”

Elizabeth sat bolt upright and any notion of amusement deserted her. John Christie was born of this woman and Wickham fathered him. She blinked repeatedly.

“You and Wickham both lay with her?”

Which was not her true question, only the one she asked. Thus, he answered the one she had not inquired.

“Wickham is the boy’s father, not I.”

“You are convinced?”

“Not until Mrs. Reynolds related it to you did I know that Wickham had…been availed of her before me. She was well on with his child and, in my ignorance, I knew not of it.”

A flash of lightning could not have rendered it more blindingly clear: Darcy had first thought the young man was a son of his own, owing to her own loquacious dispensation months previous that John was the son of Abigail.

“Why do you speak of this only now?”

As he often did, he almost spoke, then retreated into silence. Invariably, quiet overcame him at the most precipitous moment possible. Betimes, this was only mildly frustrating. But not then. Elizabeth had to fight the urge to clutch his lapels and shout at him to speak to her. He had turned his face to the window. His silence allowed her to contemplate what he had just told her. Immediately, she understood the full complexity of his opposition to Georgiana’s friendship with John Christie. But she wondered why he was not relieved to learn that the boy was not his, for the possibility would have wounded his dignity. Most importantly, why did he not tell her?

Was he mortified at even a possibility that he fathered the boy? And why did he become angry? All of these questions begged answers, but he offered none.

To her husband, it would be substantial loss of face to have to admit to a misbegotten child. But Elizabeth could not help feeling a small disappointment that John was not truly Darcy’s, for the thought of being able to mother even a near-grown lad was far more inviting than the office of step-aunt. Thereupon, her own disappointment did the unlikely. It announced the crux of Darcy’s disorder, and that truth settled over her so heavily her shoulders visibly sagged.

Darcy too was disappointed.

And it was at her hand. It was she who took all due pleasure in announcing Wickham’s paternity to him, thus dashing his belief that the boy was his son. The only son, the only child he might beget. Another woman’s son. Of course, he could not tell her that.

The answer to every question, Elizabeth realised, was herself. It was she who could not give him a child. It was she who brought Wickham to his house, the true father of the son he thought was his. She was the one who spied upon Bingley, and she was the one who wanted him to take in Bingley’s child. In defeat, she dropped her hands from him. Only then did he look at her. He reached out and touched her face, thereupon he drew her to him again.

“Of course, we shall take the baby,” he said.

“We need not decide it now,” she said, unhappy that she had asked at all.

She had begun to be excited about the baby. Thenceforward and forever, that happiness was polluted. She was certain each time that she looked into the little boy’s face, it would hark back to her own failing.

Unable to tell Darcy that she had grasped the magnitude of her own role in his unhappiness, the next few days saw her spending far too much time ruminating upon Jane’s husband’s misdeeds.

For if Bingley could not keep his breeches buttoned and another child of his appeared thither upon the countryside, Elizabeth intended to hatch some heinous scheme to teach him a lesson. This was a delicate matter and engendered a great deal of malicious thought. One particularly delightful one she imagined involved a leather thong, a dead cat, and some pepper sauce.

Eventually, this obsession was abandoned and Mr. Bingley was granted temporary, if unknown, amnesty.

In the few years since that first fateful trip to London, the Darcys had not returned as often as society dictated. And when they did, each excursion there took upon all the preparation and caution of impending battle. And, in some sense, it was.

Mr. Darcy did not ride in the coach with his wife, even if it was occupied by only his wife, Hannah, and Goodwin. He rode his horse beside it, a gun beneath his coat and sword hugging his leg. Hannah knew it was not what her mistress might have chosen, for she had heard her attempt to cajole her husband to keep her company in the carriage. He had steadfastly and adamantly refused her (to Hannah’s understanding, a rare occurrence). Mrs. Darcy did not argue beyond that first brief endeavour. No one questioned why he chose to ride as he did, for it was quite accepted that his vigilance was rewarded far better from the saddle than in the leather seat of a barouche.

As the Darcys’ visits were infrequent, Cyril Smeads enjoyed almost unlimited autonomy amongst the servants in London even though Mistress Georgiana was often in residence. But her attention was employed by her writing and, regardless, she was not inclined to find fault with the running of the household. Absence of the Darcys in town announced they spent most of their time at Pemberley. Mrs. Reynolds (although she certainly would have been allowed) did not often take herself away from her duties to visit her son; hence, he was quite happy, upon occasion, to travel to see her in Derbyshire.

He brought with him (excess baggage of sorts) the very traits that alienated general regard of him in town. Pompous and petulant as his mother was humble and firm, they bore little similarity in character. Hannah thought that peculiar, but reminded herself that Goodwin was nephew and cousin, his own understanding of comportment distancing him from them both.

That abused Hannah’s own notion of familial similarity, for her four brothers, in manner as well as countenance, seemed almost interchangeable (so much so, neighbours often confused them). And, except for more generous waistline and a rather decided hair loss (his, not theirs), the brothers favoured their father as well. Although Hannah did harbour a few fanciful notions, her hand glass allowed her to entertain none about her own person. She knew her figure reflected a feminine interpretation of the familial sturdy build that predicted time would burden them all with more weight than a person of vanity might desire.

The single thing she hoped was left wanting. For she dearly wished she favoured her mother. Even though Hannah had been sixteen when she died, she could not remember her face. Her father’s somewhat taciturn disposition denied him comment upon the matter, hence Hannah was left to ponder that herself. When she consulted the looking-glass, she fancied she did favour her mother; for most mourners, memorial retrospection grows kinder with the years. She dared not seek her brothers’ counsel upon this, for they had never ceased to mock her for her elevation of position. Because of that, her visits home were a bit trying. Her pleasant nature, however, believed that in teasing they were simply dutifully fulfilling the office demanded of brothers, and did not complain.

But then Hannah rarely complained about anything. And it was unusual when she had curt words with Cyril Smeads for she was quite in fear of inciting his wrath even when he was no more than a visitor of the house. Cyril Smeads had little weight at Pemberley. There, his mother was in charge.

If Hannah was yet frightened of the son, she was no longer of his mother. Since the day the Darcys’ baby died and Mrs. Reynolds stopped her from running away, Hannah had readjusted her opinion of the old lady. For where once she had found her coldly critical, she now realised she was merely capable and strong with nothing but the best interest of the Darcys as her motive.

Hannah’s devotion to Elizabeth and exceedingly high regard for Mr. Darcy cemented Mrs. Reynolds’ opinion of Hannah as well. That day she ran from Mrs. Darcy’s childbirth in vain quest of her late mother, Hannah thought Providence had found her a second in Mrs. Reynolds. Mrs. Reynolds still spoke sternly to her, just as she did the other servants. Yet underneath that terse cadence of instruction was undeniable affection. Hannah accepted that gift and returned it.

Her son was another matter compleatly. It was the single thing she found unforgivable in Mrs. Reynolds. She begat Cyril. The only positive that anyone could locate of him was that when his ill-temper was unemployed, he could be an interesting -conversationalist, for he did not limit his discourse to the weather and price of eggs. It might well be described as gossip, but only by those who did not have the benefit of hearing it first-hand.

Notwithstanding Hannah’s exceedingly well-husbanded maintenance of Mr. and Mrs. Darcy’s privacy, she did confess to an avid interest in listening to unsubstantiated rumours about others (the questioning of substantiation being, by far, the most enjoyable part). This did grieve her conscience, and upon Sundays, a better part of her prayers addressed this failing. However, she had far greater success at chastising herself subsequently rather than denying the opportunity, rationalising that it was not possible to determine it actually gossip until she had heard the entire tale.

Hannah was able to keep the confidences of Mrs. Darcy so diligently by reminding herself that the information she held was exceedingly valuable and she alone was entrusted with it. Well, she allowed, Goodwin was also entrusted. However, she opined that Mrs. Darcy’s confidences were in much greater number and importance than any Goodwin held of Mr. Darcy’s. It was a conversation she might have favoured engaging in with Goodwin. That of the similarity and importance of their confidences. They did have that in common. But Goodwin had steadfastly refrained from just such an exchange. Hannah had thought herself successful did she elicit from him the concession that it was favourable weather.

She had never quite resigned herself to his unforthcoming nature, no matter how conscientiously he practised it. Hannah believed him perhaps uncertain in the company of a woman, possibly reticent and shy. As it happened, she even harboured the notion that Goodwin was truly of the same temperament as his employer. Hannah was well aware that Mr. Darcy was considered proud and aloof. Hannah, however, knew too (rather than only guessed, as did the rest of the servants) that Mr. and Mrs. Darcy had an exceedingly passionate marriage. It followed (at least to Hannah’s supposition) that Goodwin’s still waters ran as deep as did Mr. Darcy’s.

As she watched him move about his duties, she often thought of that and could not help but admire his small hands and the fine hair upon them she could see just below his ruffled knuckledabs. It did not trouble her mind to wonder why, as such a big girl, she was attracted to such a meagre little mite of a man.

Passion aside, their respective positions denied them (had Goodwin been inclined) any kind of romantic involvement. The office of lady-maid and manservant were occupied only by unmarried persons. Hannah was not so certain of Goodwin’s possible intrigue as a paramour to risk her employment. (There was far greater pleasure from imagining Goodwin ripping his shirt from his body and drawing her and her heaving bosom to his chest than to learn belatedly that he had not the strength nor the chest to do either.)

Thus roundly unrequited in romance and much in admiration of it, Hannah was probably far more susceptible to flattery than another might have been.

When Cyril Smeads did the unlikely by complimenting her disposition, she ignored previous warnings she had received in regard to liberties he had taken with the London maids. (And if she disregarded those warnings, she hoped no one noticed the spontaneity with which he was rendered from demonic to celestial to her through the very mildest of flattery.) She had noticed that one of Cyril Smeads’s more reliable traits (aside from rather impressive temper fits) was an uncanny ability to locate the most vulnerable of feminine opportunity. She did not consider herself particularly vulnerable, but could assign herself thus if it served her greater good. Hannah decided that if Goodwin happened to see her giggling at one of Cyril Smeads jokes and did not approve, that was just very unfortunate.

* * *

Goodwin noticed Smeads’s guile toward Hannah more sharply than did others. He took notice too of Hannah’s giggling. He protested not, however, abhorring the possibility of divulging more interest than provident. Normally he might have discussed such unseemliness with Mrs. Reynolds, but in this specific instance he knew his own influence with the Pemberley housekeeper had not the weight of the London houseman. Thus, as cousin to her son, he kept his silence and watched in trepidation as Hannah was enticed his by wiles, her allurements to him suddenly more pronounced in light of another’s interest.

Hence, flirtations became more vested and tensions a little greater when Cyril Smeads was in visit. Hannah was the not-unknowing pawn in a subtle game of influence. Into this delicate but intricate web of flirtation came the unseemly intrusion of adultery and deceit.

Indeed, if the origin of this infidelity and deception was a little muddled, it was fathomable. For Elizabeth Darcy often became so entwined in problems within her family, she did not remember that their private lives were not all that confidential. Hannah was trusted implicitly. Goodwin as well. But when she went upon her rides seeking to determine of her husband’s fidelity, it was not in the privacy she thought. The Darcy household was centre-stage of the entire county. When one of their household made any visit or spoke any comment, it was noted. It was noted widely. When Mrs. Darcy’s routine of visiting the ailing altered, it was scrutinised. The cessation of these visits was scrutinised more profoundly than whence they had commenced. Because she had finally become accustomed to the intrusion of servants and they with her disinclination of assistance, she thought herself unobserved.

She was not. Nor was she mindful that she was generally admired amongst the population, as much for her unassuming manner and good deeds as the fairness of her face. But that admiration did not belay whispers about her activities, it merely incited more curiosity by the public. Darcy, having been born into his position, had a greater appreciation of the interest he held. He even knew that he was thought a rather unfriendly, proud man. Knowing that there were far more dishonourable appellations bestowed upon men of his station by the populace, he accepted that pronouncement as not untrue and was happy to be known also as a man of his word.

Darcy had no interest in his reputation beyond the concern that his name not be brought to ridicule. Having not had the same upbringing, it was impossible for Elizabeth to think of herself in the third person. If she thought of her persona, she knew herself to be who she had always been, she was simply a wife also. She had a fair notion of the public regard of her husband, but none of her own.

She was well aware, even appalled, at the level of romantic indiscretion amongst ranking members of society. So prevalent was the phenomenon, it had been cheerfully euphemised as “gallantry.” Thus, of course, those who dabbled in it and those who made it their life’s work could eschew that unsavoury little word “fornication.” The ladies and gentlemen of the royal court held the dubious honour of being thought of as the least chaste and most gallant in the country. Of course, these of the aristocracy gave themselves absolution by reasoning that most married to unite fortunes, not for love. Their lessers knew this as well, hence it was as much a scandal to them when Mr. Darcy married Miss Bennet as had he taken a mistress. They were viewed a bit of an oddity yet as a couple, if not in countenance, at least in circumstance. Some of all levels of society looked upon them in admiration, just as some believed them nothing other than anomalies.

Had it not been widely known the Darcy marriage was one of mutual love, Elizabeth might have been inundated with any number of invitations for adulterous affairs. Wholly unconscious of this, she certainly did not miss what she did not seek. But had she been, she might have understood that in Wickham’s proposal of liaison, however distasteful, he was operating upon a less unlikely presumption than she understood.

It took less than a day for every man and woman, and half the children, to know Mr. Wickham had been invited to take his leave from Pemberley at the point of a blade. Just what led to this was wildly speculated upon, for who could resist such intrigue? Beautiful people, great wealth, the threat of death. It was the greatest point for gossip since the time Mr. Darcy slew ten men simultaneously in a duel protesting his wife’s honour. (There had been a bewildering variation of explanations as to the exact nature of this event, but the fundamental facts varied not at all: ten men, killed single-handedly by Mr. Darcy’s sword. Some more hardy souls even made a pilgrimage to The Strangled Goose, ogled the blood-stained floor, and stood in awe of the blade.)

Given this level of interest, the manner of George Wickham’s departure was speculated upon as well. Particularly since there was that other matter about Abigail Christie’s boy. There was great interest in her assertion upon the eve of her death that she had once bedded with young Mr. Darcy because it was the only time anyone in the county could actually have almost first-hand knowledge of such an occurrence. There had been many rumours, mostly about someone who knew someone who had been with Mr. Darcy. In the light of no hard evidence, it had begun to be believed that Mr. Darcy rarely dallied. Talk of him soon abated, for no diversion is found in integrity.

Therefore, when Elizabeth began to take her rides each day, abandoning the county’s sick, it did not go unnoticed. It was noticed where she went as well. If it was confused that the man who visited the house that Mrs. Darcy watched was Mr. Darcy, it was understandable. What other rich man would Mrs. Darcy follow? Thus, it was quite logically surmised that the baby from that woman was begat by none other than Mr. Darcy. Why else would Mrs. Darcy adopt him? Mr. Darcy had no sons. He must have one to entail Pemberley. There was no other explanation. In the time it took for word to reach Bingley’s woman requesting the adoption of the baby, it had come full circle back to Pemberley that Mr. Darcy had an illegitimate son.