The Road to Pemberley (9 page)

Darcy waited outside the church for Elizabeth to make her appearance. Finally, the Bennet coach came into view, and he breathed a bit easier. When Elizabeth exited the carriage, she walked directly to where he stood.

“Elizabeth, I am pleased to see you.” Darcy caught her hand and brought it to his lips. “I have missed you.” She winced but he pretended not to notice.

Elizabeth smiled weakly. “I never meant to give you cause for concern.”

Darcy thought that
concern
was too calm a word to describe the emotional seesaw he rode. Yet he refused to voice his reaction. “Will you join me in Mr. Bingley's pew?” he asked as he placed Elizabeth's hand on his arm.

“Papa has asked Jane and me to remain as part of the family today. With Jane's nuptials tomorrow, I believe he is quite melancholy.” She bit her bottom lip. “You will forgive me, sir.”

“Only if you call me by my name,” he teased.

Elizabeth shot a glance at the deacon, who was motioning the congregation to their seats. “We should go in, Fitzwilliam.”

Darcy tried to believe that Elizabeth was sincere. However, a shiver shot up his spine. She was too docile. He walked her to the Bennet pew. After saying, “Good morning” to her family, he reluctantly left Elizabeth on the end of the bench.

“Has Miss Elizabeth recovered?” Georgiana asked as Darcy slid in beside her.

He growled softly, “You and I both know my intended was not ill.”

Mr. Pinncatch's opening remarks cut short their conversation. The congregation had settled in the pews in preparation for the sermon. The vicar cleared his throat to silence the last of the parishioners who entered. “Tomorrow, it will be my great pleasure to conduct the ceremony that shall unite Miss Jane Bennet and Mr. Charles Bingley in marriage. They are both of this parish and have met all the requirements to marry.”

The vicar paused, giving the congregation a moment to react. When silence fell again, he continued. “I publish the banns of marriage between Miss Elizabeth Bennet of this Meryton parish and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of the Lambton parish of Derbyshire. This is the third time of asking. If any of you know cause or just impediment
why these two persons should not be joined together in holy matrimony, you are to declare it.”

Silence followed, but then Darcy felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end—a suspicion stung his scalp. A rustling announced the so-called impediment. Darcy turned to see Captain Matthew Hardesty rise to his feet. “I have an objection,” he announced to the faces gawking at him. “Miss Elizabeth accepted my suit two years prior. She is betrothed to me.”

He went cold inside; Darcy was on his feet immediately. “Elizabeth,” he demanded, “tell me this is not so.” He stared at her intently, his jaw set in fury.

Her mother hysterically called, “Oh, my nerves, Mr. Bennet!”

Sitting with her hands clasped in her lap, Elizabeth refused to look at him. “It is as Captain Hardesty says.”

Darcy felt the bitterness swell in his chest. “Why?” His voice rang into the dead silence. “Why, Elizabeth? Why would you perpetrate such a farce?”
She does not wish to share my life.

Her chin came up in defiance. “It is not a farce. Captain Hardesty and I have a long-held preference for each other.” The members of the congregation were quiet. Mrs. Bennet collapsed into Mary's arms.

“I am well aware of the
gentleman's
preference,” Darcy growled. He never looked at the former captain; Darcy's eyes rested on Elizabeth.

“It is for the best,” she asserted. “By ton standards, I am incapable of being a proper chaperone for Georgiana's debut. You see, Fitzwilliam, I am well aware of how you judge me. Captain Hardesty is not so censorious.”

For a moment, Darcy could not speak. Rallying, he said, “Eavesdropping—somehow—my dear? I thought it beneath you!”

Elizabeth's lower lip trembled. “I do not hear you denying the words, Mr. Darcy.”

“Why should I deny it?” he retorted. “However, did you stay to hear what followed?” Darcy paused, but when Elizabeth did not respond, he spit out, “I thought not.”

“What did you say?” Elizabeth said angrily. “Did you explain to Mr. Bingley how I am too impulsive? Did you tell my sister's intended that my manners will be the joke of the ton? Did you bemoan my poor connections?”

“Miss Elizabeth,” Bingley rose to face her. “It was nothing like that. In fact…”

But Darcy cut him off. “No, Bingley. Miss Elizabeth has the answer she desires. The lady deserves no other response.”

Mrs. Bennet urged her, “Lizzy, tell Mr. Darcy that you are sorry.”

Mr. Bennet rose to defend his daughter. “Mr. Darcy, you will speak to Lizzy in a proper tone. I realize this is a shock for everyone, but I expect you to do the gentlemanly thing. You and Elizabeth will marry. Captain Hardesty never sought my permission. His claim has no merit.”

Darcy took a deep breath. “Mr. Bennet, if you will observe your daughter and Captain Hardesty, you will notice no shock on either of their faces. The captain sports a smirk, and your daughter has not shed a tear. This was planned to hurt me enough that I would end the engagement. Miss Elizabeth plans to teach me a lesson in embarrassment. In shame. In mortification. She assumes that I have judged her too harshly in the role she would play as my wife. Elizabeth wishes to emphasize her independence.”

Miss Bingley harrumphed.

Darcy took a step to the aisle. “Come, Georgiana.” He extended a hand to his sister.

“Fitzwilliam, we cannot!” she protested. “Tell Elizabeth that you love her, and then everything will be as it should be.”

“Georgiana, I will not tell you again.” Darcy turned abruptly to Mr. Pinncatch. “Thank you, sir, for attending to duty. However, it seems only prudent that I, too, lodge an objection to the ceremony between Miss Elizabeth and myself.”

Georgiana drew in a sharp breath. “Fitzwilliam, you do not mean it!”

Darcy turned a cold stare on Elizabeth. “This is what Miss Elizabeth wants.” He placed Georgiana on his arm and led her toward the exit, but he could not resist one departing barb. He paused beside Elizabeth. “How far would you have taken your plan to be rid of me, Elizabeth? Would you have claimed that the captain compromised you?” Mrs. Bennet protested and Miss Bennet gasped, but Darcy showed no other emotion. He walked out the door, Georgiana on his arm, never looking back.

“Darcy, you cannot leave,” Bingley insisted as servants scrambled to pack Darcy's coach for his departure.

“What do you expect me to do, Bingley? Elizabeth does not wish to be my wife. She made that perfectly clear today. What a fool I have been!”

“But you were to stand up with me tomorrow!”

Darcy stopped his pacing. “Ask your brother Hurst. I cannot face Elizabeth again, and she must be with Miss Bennet for the wedding. Surely you understand that, Charles.”

Bingley ran his fingers through his hair. “Of course, I understand. But what will you do? The short season is in full swing in London.
You are not thinking of making an appearance. Your announcement has run in the
Times
.”

Darcy's heart sank. “I meant to return to London with Elizabeth at my side. Now, I do not care if I ever see the place again.”

“I am amazed. I would never have thought that Miss Elizabeth would go to such extremes. People can speak of nothing else.”

Darcy expelled a deep sigh. “Before a hundred witnesses, the lady has agreed to become Captain Hardesty's wife, and although my heart screams with the injustice, I cannot hate Elizabeth. The thought of being
my
wife frightened her.” Darcy looked up to see Mr. Jordan at the door. “Be happy, Charles. Be happy enough for the both of us.” He shook Bingley's hand before heading for the door.

He fought the desire to turn back—to rush to Longbourn and beg Elizabeth to reconsider. Instead, Darcy helped Georgiana into the coach. Taking the backward-facing seat, he made himself smile at his sister. “What say you to returning to Derbyshire? I have no taste for London.”

“Whatever you say, Fitzwilliam.”

“Lizzy, tell me it is not as Mr. Darcy asserts,” Jane Bennet said when she cornered her sister in Elizabeth's room. The family had endured continual whispers throughout Mr. Pinncatch's sermon.

“I did not imagine that Mr. Darcy would recognize my deceit,” Elizabeth confessed, feeling the tension draining from her.

Jane towered over her. “Do you understand what you have done, Elizabeth? You have made a commitment to marry Matthew Hardesty. Before our good neighbors and friends, you have driven away the man you love. The man who returned that love. In order to prove a point. To win an argument. You have gambled with your
future. Silly, idiotic pride! You have proven yourself to be exactly what Mr. Darcy feared.”

Elizabeth did not answer. She simply rolled over and buried her face in her pillow. For long moments, she fought sobs. “I heard Mr. Darcy say that I would be a disappointment.” She clung to the last shreds of her pride.

“Mr. Bingley reports that Mr. Darcy also said that, if necessary, he would look for a less traditional way of finding Miss Darcy a husband, and that Mr. Darcy swore his allegiance to you. He thought things would prove less stressful when you were alone at Pemberley. When you had time to get to know each other better.”

“Oh, Jane, what have I done?”

He had spent a week behind a locked door, coming out of his study only long enough to take his meals with Georgiana. He had stared out his window at the changing landscape. “Elizabeth and I were to have married today,” he quietly told Georgiana over breakfast. Constant thoughts of what might have been tormented him.