Page 20 of Wickham Likes 'Em Young
“Darcy!” Mr Wickham said. Elizabeth could see that he had somewhat recovered and was smirking in a way calculated toshow disrespect. But he turned back to where Elizabeth stood next to Mr Martin and bowed lower than needful, murmuring, “Miss Elizabeth, sir, good day.”
He promptly left. Elizabeth felt a slump of relief, but almost immediately her anxiety surged again. “I need to ensure that he does not importune my sisters,” she said to Mr Darcy in a low voice, and she went to the door and watched as Mr Wickham stomped down the street—alone. She turned her head to the milliner’s and could see through the window that there were several people inside. As she watched, she could see a familiar rose-coloured bonnet. She was relieved to see that her sisters were well away from, and undoubtedly unaware of, Mr Wickham.
Mr Darcy was at her side and had taken her elbow. She turned back to Mr Martin and said, “Thank you, sir, and good day to you. I will be back soon.”
Mr Martin bowed back and farewelled her, and Mr Darcy and Elizabeth stepped into the street and closed the shop door. Elizabeth turned to him and began to speak. At the same exact moment, he spoke as well.
They both stopped and stared at one another.
“Miss Elizabeth, please, go ahead.”
“I just wanted to give you my apologies. I wrote to you; I tried to warn you of Mr Wickham’s sudden appearance here. I should have sent it express; I am so sor?—”
Mr Darcy interrupted, “I received your message, Miss Elizabeth. I do not understand, if you did not send it express, because I assure you, we received a late-evening message from you by express rider! And I—of course, if Mr Wickham was here, with you—of course I hastened back post haste.”
“You did not bring your sister, I hope?”
“No. I would not take that risk. Have you guessed?—?”
As he hesitated, Elizabeth assured him, “I know that Mr Wickham targets younger women and girls. Your sister is yet young.”
Mr Darcy nodded.
She asked, “What were you originally saying, sir? When we interrupted one another….”
“I wished to thank you for your defence of me. I heard you call me an honourable man, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciated hearing such from you.”
“Of course, sir.”
“May I hear all the particulars of Mr Wickham’s presence here?”
Elizabeth saw that her sisters were approaching. Mary looked between her and Mr Darcy with surprise and, she thought, contentment, but although Jane kept her brow smooth and smiled demurely, Elizabeth sensed lines of tension in her shoulders.
“Yes,” Elizabeth murmured to him. “But not right now, not here. Could you escort us back to Longbourn?”
“Certainly.” He offered his arm, and Elizabeth slipped her hand in the crook of his elbow. A nearby horse turned out to be Mr Darcy’s, and he looped the reins around one hand.
As the sisters walked back to Longbourn, Elizabeth, Mr Darcy, and his mount walked at the end of the group. “I want to be certain to keep all my sisters in sight, sir, lest Mr Wickham attempt to speak with them.”
He shot her a curious glance but said in approving tones, “Quite right.”
Elizabeth felt a million sensations. What an unexpected thing, to have Mr Darcy back in the area, let alone so near her physically! He had apparently been concerned about her—enough so that he had hurried from his estate, facing several days of travel, to… help protect her?
Before the problem with Pemberley’s mines, she had thought she had sensed that Mr Darcy had some feelings for her. However, the fact that he left his estate and his sister….
No, she lectured herself again.Do not get your hopes up. He has made no move to court you!
When they were close to the Longbourn stables, Mr Darcy walked his horse over and spoke with Mr Smith. Elizabeth watched her sisters enter the manor house, and then she turned to Mr Darcy and said, “Now I can explain everything to you.”
They sat down on a fallen log, thirty yards from the house but within sight. Elizabeth began to relate every meeting with Mr Wickham. She had begun to tell him about discovering Jane alone with the man, but then she stopped and blushed, remembering that she probably should not criticise Jane in front of Mr Bingley’s best friend. She said, “Oh, Mr Darcy, I am entirely too honest with you! I feel I am damaging Jane’s reputation, at least with you. But I have been so worried about her….”
The kindness that she saw in Mr Darcy’s dark eyes soothed her. He said quietly, “You need not worry about your elder sister’s reputation with me.”
Elizabeth raised one eyebrow, questioning what he meant, and he responded, “Well, I hesitate to be honest with you, Miss Elizabeth, because I have no desire to hurt you….”
“Please be honest,” she said. “You always have been. I—I believe that I quite rely on your honesty.”
“Well, then…. I have been watching Miss Bennet with some care, because of my friend’s obvious partiality for her, and I am afraid that I do not share his admiration. I have heard you say that she is your dearest sister, but when I look into her eyes, I believe that I see pretence rather than sweetness. She is far better at covering her true emotions than is Miss Bingley, who pastes a smile on her face and says honeyed words, but whocannot help but express her true feelings with her gestures, her tone, and her eyes. When I look at Miss Bennet, I see a carefully constructed mask of sweetness and gentleness. I am not certain what lies beneath.”
