Mr. Darcy's Decision: A Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Page 22

  With respect to that other, more weighty accusation, of having injured Mr. Wickham, I can only refute it by laying before you the whole of his connection with my family. Of what he has particularly accused me, I am ignorant, but of the truth of what I shall relate, I can summon more than one witness of undoubted veracity. Mr. Wickham is the son of a very respectable man, who had for many years the management of all the Pemberley estates; and whose good conduct in the discharge of his trust naturally inclined my father to be of service to him; and on George Wickham, who was his godson, his kindness was therefore liberally bestowed. My father supported him at school, and afterwards at Cambridge; most important assistance, as his own father, always poor from the extravagance of his wife, would have been unable to give him a gentleman’s education. My father was not only fond of this young man’s society, whose manners were always engaging; he had also the highest opinion of him, and hoping the church would be his profession, intended to provide for him in it.

  As for myself, it is many, many years since I first began to think of him in a very different manner.The vicious propensities, the want of principle, which he was careful to guard from the knowledge of his best friend, could not escape the observation of a young man of nearly the same age with himself, and who had opportunities of seeing him in unguarded moments, which Mr. Darcy could not have. Here again I shall give you pain—to what degree you only can tell. But whatever may be the sentiments which Mr.Wickham has created, a suspicion of their nature shall not prevent me from unfolding his real character.

  It adds even another motive. My excellent father died about five years ago; and his attachment to Mr.Wickham was to the last so steady, that in his will he particularly recommended it to me to promote his advancement in the best manner that his profession might allow, and, if he took orders, desired that a valuable family living might be his as soon as it became vacant.There was also a legacy of one thousand pounds. His own father did not long survive mine, and within half a year from these events Mr.Wickham wrote to inform me that, having finally resolved against taking orders, he hoped I should not think it unreasonable for him to expect some more immediate pecuniary advantage, in lieu of the preferment by which he could not be benefitted. He had some intention, he added, of studying the law, and I must be aware that the interest of one thousand pounds would be a very insufficient support therein. I rather wished than believed him to be sincere, but, at any rate, was perfectly ready to accede to his proposal. I knew that Mr.Wickham ought not to be a clergyman.The business was therefore soon settled. He resigned all claim to assistance in the church, were it possible that he could ever be in a situation to receive it, and accepted in return three thousand pounds.All connection between us seemed now dissolved. I thought too ill of him to invite him to Pemberley, or admit his society in town. In town, I believe, he chiefly lived, but his studying the law was a mere pretense, and being now free from all restraint, his life was a life of idleness and dissipation.

  For about three years I heard little of him; but on the decease of the incumbent of the living which had been designed for him, he applied to me again by letter for the presentation. His circumstances, he assured me, and I had no difficulty in believing it, were exceedingly bad. He had found the law a most unprofitable study, and was now absolutely resolved on being ordained, if I would present him to the living in question—of which he trusted there could be little doubt, as he was well assured that I had no other person to provide for, and I could not have forgotten my revered father’s intentions.

  You will hardly blame me for refusing to comply with this entreaty, or for resisting every repetition of it. His resentment was in proportion to the distress of his circumstances, and he was doubtless as violent in his abuse of me to others, as in his reproaches to myself.After this period, every appearance of acquaintance was dropped. How he lived I know not. But last summer he was again most painfully obtruded on my notice.

  I must now mention a circumstance which I would wish to forget myself, and which no obligation less than the present should induce me to unfold to any human being. Having said thus much, I feel no doubt of your secrecy. My sister, who is more than ten years my junior, was left to the guardianship of my mother’s nephew, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and myself.About a year ago, she was taken from school, and an establishment formed for her in London; and last summer she went with the lady who presided over it, to Ramsgate; and thither also went Mr. Wickham, undoubtedly by design; for there proved to have been a prior acquaintance between him and Mrs.Younge, in whose character we were most unhappily deceived; and by her connivance and aid he so far recommended himself to Georgiana, whose affectionate heart retained a strong impression of his kindness to her as a child, that she was persuaded to believe herself in love, and to consent to an elopement. She was then but fifteen, which must be her excuse; and after stating her imprudence, I am happy to add that I owed the knowledge of it to herself. I joined them unexpectedly a day or two before the intended elopement; and then Georgiana, unable to support the idea of grieving and offending a brother whom she almost looked up to as a father, acknowledged the whole to me.

  You may imagine what I felt and how I acted. Regard for my sister’s credit and feelings prevented any public exposure, but I wrote to Mr. Wickham, who left the place immediately, and Mrs.Younge was of course removed from her charge. Mr.Wickham’s chief object was unquestionably my sister’s fortune, which is thirty thousand pounds; but I cannot help supposing that the hope of revenging himself on me was a strong inducement. His revenge would have been complete indeed.

  This, Madam, is a faithful narrative of every event in which we have been concerned together; and if you do not absolutely reject it as false, you will, I hope, acquit me henceforth of cruelty towards Mr. Wickham. I know not in what manner, under what form of falsehood, he has imposed on you; but his success is not, perhaps, to be wondered at. Ignorant as you previously were of everything concerning either, detection could not be in your power, and suspicion certainly not in your inclination.

  You may possibly wonder why all this was not told you last night. But I was not then master enough of myself to know what could or ought to be revealed. For the truth of everything here related, I can appeal more particularly to the testimony of Colonel Fitzwilliam, who from our near relationship and constant intimacy, and still more as one of the executors of my father’s will, has been unavoidably acquainted with every particular of these transactions. If your abhorrence of me should make my assertions valueless, you cannot be prevented by the same cause from confiding in my cousin; and that there may be the possibility of consulting him, I shall endeavor to find some opportunity of putting this letter in your hands in the course of the morning. I will only add, God bless you.

  FITZWILLIAM DARCY.

  Elizabeth sighed and Darcy took her in his arms. “We agreed that this letter should be destroyed for it does neither of us justice to chance upon it. I would have burnt it myself when I came across it, but although I am its creator I am not its owner.”

  Elizabeth shook her head.“Oh you are too good, we shall burn it together, one sheet each.”

  “And therefore rid ourselves finally of regret and condemnation?”

  “Forever,” she said,“the past and all cruel specters abolished.”

  Elizabeth and Darcy would, if given the choice to follow the instincts of their hearts, have stayed content in the quiet of the gallery sharing whispered sentiments, but they were mindful of their duties and acknowledged that they must prepare for their guests. It was no misfortune for them as they looked forward to entertaining those family members and friends whose company they had not enjoyed for some time. Downstairs they walked towards the fireplace and without ceremony or mention of their actions each threw a sheet of paper into the flames then turned and continued across the hall towards the ballroom. And while the last remaining evidence of their past conflicts became ash they conversed easily and happily on pleasant subjects.

  “Mr. Hanworth is bes
ide himself with worry that Georgiana may be asked to dance by some of the other guests, he has insisted she dance only with him,” said Elizabeth with a satisfied expression. “I am not at all surprised, she is grown so pretty and confident this last year, their regard for each other is pleasing.”

  Darcy noted the pleasure his wife derived from his sister’s happiness.“Yes it is sure, she will only stand up with him, but allow me to give you further cause for delight by telling you this; Hanworth has asked me for her hand.”

  Elizabeth was at once overjoyed and surprised. “Oh, Fitzwilliam, my love, she will accept him, it is a certainty! There is not a single reason she could find to refuse him. I will welcome him as the ideal brother, things could not be more perfect.”

  “Yes, we have much to celebrate, this assembly shall be reflective of all of our joy.”

  Elizabeth was still enraptured by this latest confirmation of Mr. Hanworth’s regard for Georgiana. “I am so happy for them, I cannot find words to tell you, but poor Caroline Bingley, I am sure she will expect to dance at least one with Mr. Hanworth, she has an eye for handsome young men.”

  “Poor Caroline indeed.”

  Elizabeth teased her husband. “Could you not oblige her for the first dance, Fitzwilliam, even though it is common knowledge that you dislike the amusement.”

  Darcy at once saw his wife’s mischief and loved her all the more for it, he pulled her closely to him and said firmly,“It is universally known that I rarely dance.”

  Elizabeth again alluded to Miss Bingley’s misfortune. “Your good manners and judgment will surely lead you to make an exception and indulge dear Caroline,” she said teasingly.

  Darcy, as close now to Elizabeth as his breath to his words, looked lovingly into her eyes and said, “It would be a punishment to stand up with any other woman but you Elizabeth.”

  CHAPTER 30

  “Heaven and earth! of what are you thinking? Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?”

  And so the year 1813 drew to a satisfactory close for Elizabeth and Darcy. Their first ball had been a resounding success; those who attended were many, those who declined few. Kitty was once again to be found standing, as she had done in September in the role of godmother to the Darcy heir, in the church of St. Giles in Matlock. This time Jeremiah Cleary stood beside her as both made the solemn vows of marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Cleary became well known and well loved in Matlock. Just as Mr. Bennet had predicted, Mrs. Catherine Cleary became the envy of many young women in her husband’s congregation. Mary’s husband Mr. Price retained his job with Mr. Phillips while Mary herself began a small but well-run library in the village. Despite disapproving of them herself, she devoted an entire shelf to Lady Metcalfe’s popular novels for women. Her marriage and her unexpected venture made her something of a star in Meryton.

  Mr. and Mrs. Bennet continued to live in familiar discord at Longbourn.

  Lady Catherine was only once approached by her nephew regarding her involvement in Wickham’s elopement with Lydia. Nevertheless, although she displayed signs of complete shame at Darcy’s knowing her part in the scandal, she was too taken up with the shock of her daughter’s newfound delight in socializing to reprimand herself too harshly. And there the subject was left by Darcy, for what could be gained, as far as he was concerned, in increasing his aunt’s unhappiness? It was noted by Mrs. Collins that Anne’s health and disposition had undergone a miraculous kind of transformation, but Mr. Collins resolved to remain silent on the matter, tactfully agreeing with Lady Catherine that her daughter’s sudden predilection for dancing was most definitely a cause for concern.

  Colonel Fitzwilliam and his young wife immediately began a family. Mr. and Mrs. Bingley settled readily into Fordham Hall with none more delighted at their being there than Darcy and Elizabeth, and by the spring of 1814 their first and only son was born. Mrs. Georgiana Hanworth became the much respected and admired mistress of Glenhorn Park, her husband’s estate in Gloucester, stunning society with her outgoing nature and confidence. Caroline Bingley never married but remained a devoted companion to her widowed sister Louisa.

  Lydia Wickham had no sooner had her daughter than she was expecting once again. Her husband, under the watchful eye of Mrs. Darcy, proved, eventually, that love can indeed conquer all.

  Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, with the past behind them and a long and prosperous future before them, were thankful for their blessed lives. They continued throughout the rest of their time together to be as besotted and as adoring as young lovers long after their youth had gone. Elizabeth Darcy bore her husband a daughter, and two more sons. And although Darcy and his dearest, loveliest Elizabeth have long since departed this earth, their spirits alight upon the breeze through the trees at Pemberley, and tread, for the most part unnoticed, through its parkland. Reflected in its lakes and streams the careful observer may imagine they see the faintest outline of a fine gentleman and his fine lady, and in having so happy a fortune as to regard them will know, without doubt, that it is them, Fitzwilliam Darcy and his Elizabeth, united, entwined, inseparable as ever they were.

  Oh, on remembering the young Elizabeth Bennet, who could not like her? And who could tolerate those who did not? Her portrait, a very fine likeness of her, can to this very day be seen alongside her husband’s in the Long Gallery at Pemberley. She was once described by someone who knew her very well to have been as delightful a creature as ever there was.

  Finis

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Juliette Shapiro is an accomplished writer of both fiction and non-fiction whose work has been published by Verbatim, QWF and Jane Austen Regency Magazine. She also writes pseudonymously as Yolande Sorores and was one of the contributors, using that name, to Flame Books’ Book ofV
oices, a publication produced in support of PEN, the Sierra Leone charity.

  She has enjoyed an enduring and dependable love affair with Jane Austen’s works from an early age, and re-reads Pride and Prejudice at various junctures in her life, always finding therein, something new to marvel at, laugh at, or take solace in.

  Juliette Shapiro is the mother of two sons and two daughters. She takes laughable pride in being (to date) a grandmother to three glorious little girls and one beautiful boy, seeing as this achievement required no work or skill on her part. She thinks they are the most exquisite creatures on earth, but she is, of course, prejudiced. She was born in 1964 and named after a song.