Page 105 of Miss Bennet's Dragon
“Improvement is always to be hoped for.” He chose his next words slowly, and every hesitation drove my chill deeper into my chest like a knife of ice. “However, it would be prudent to prepare for a worsening, which may be abrupt. Have you a local physician?”
“Mr. Jones. A surgeon and apothecary.” Meryton was too small for a physician.
He nodded. “I should like to consult with him before I depart.”
I asked Mrs. Hill to send for Mr. Jones. Then I stared at my father’s open library door for a minute, straightened my shoulders, and went in.
Papa was shrunken in his chair. A sheet of written paper rested on his desk.
He nodded for me to sit. “Has the illustrious doctor befuddled you with his niceties?”
“No.” I was proud my voice was steady.
“Good. I knew I could rely on your sense.” He drew a labored breath. “It is a dark day when a rogue like Wickham joins our family. I would have refusedtheir marriage and condemned Lydia to her fate were it not for the damage to you and your sisters.”
“You would not do that.” For all I was furious with Lydia, she was family.
He smiled through gray lips. “No. I admit you are right. But I did give Wickham a firm account of my mind. I bested him well in our argument, but I paid the price after. How pathetic that passion and moral outrage—emotions that spiced my life and drove my work in my youth—are now a poison.”
He placed his forefinger on the sheet of paper on his desk. “I have written a power of attorney that authorizes you to administer Longbourn. Legally it is little protection, as the entailment declares a bound male is heir, and the law gives women no right to conduct business. However, our estate has longstanding and mutually profitable relationships, so you will find our partners eager to proceed as usual. Has Mr. Jones been summoned?” I nodded. “When he arrives, he and Doctor Culpepper will witness it. Then you may continue. Until someone chooses to challenge you.”
“Continue?” I said, and finally my voice was uneven.
“Until Longbourn is claimed, I consider it yours. It is an unfair burden, Lizzy, as you assume responsibility without reaping reward, but I know you will shine. You must care for our family, household, and tenants as long as you can. You are mistress of Longbourn.”
Doctor Culpepper foundme in our garden, embedded in incongruous calm. The scent of hyacinths and lilac. The hum of bees.
“Miss Bennet. I have consulted with Mr. Jones, and we have assisted your father with his legal preparations. I regret that I must depart to return to my own practice.”
“Thank you for attending him,” I said. “Has my father arranged payment of your fees?”
“I am physician to the Pemberley estate, present at Mr. Darcy’s request.” He gave a slight bow.
That name was no surprise. Since reading Papa’s letter, my wild suspicion had become certainty. Who else had the resources to find Wickham in the vastness of Derbyshire, and the power to bribe and threaten him to marry?
I suppose the physician to Pemberley did not bother with trivialities like fees.
“Was there any message?” I asked.
“Message?”
“For me. From Mr. Darcy.”
“No, Miss Bennet.”
After the doctor left, my mother bubbled through the front door, chattering and happy, then ecstatic that Papa was home. Mr. Jones took her upstairs to visit my father.
Mr. Jones came down after ten minutes, upset beneath his professional manner. We took a wordless cup of tea together. I watched the tea tremble in my shell-thin cup until he departed, telling me to send for him if there was any change.
It was an hour before my mother emerged, her face wretched.
I held her, and she moaned. “I am so frightened, Lizzy.”
“Hush,” I said, stroking her hair like a child.
I went outside and walked circuits around the manor, reviewing what business required attention. April was rather a lull with the main crop of peas sown, but there were potatoes to plant and lambs to protect.
My feet stopped at our draca house. Our firedrake watched me, silent and waiting, an icon of our gentry status and our sole inviolable claim to Longbourn.
