Abigail Reynolds: What Would Mr. Darcy Do?

“And do you often reduce young women to tears with your advances?” Elizabeth’s distress clearly shocked Mr. Gardiner the most. After their visits to Pemberley it was evident to him that Darcy was very much in love with Elizabeth, which by itself had much inclined him in his favor, and all reports on him from his servants and the Lambton inhabitants indicated a man of strict honor. This behavior was incomprehensible to him.

“Sir, you misunderstand the situation. Her distress is unrelated to me. Miss Bennet will tell you she was already upset when I arrived. In fact it was my attempts to comfort her which turned into the cause for your concern. But Miss Bennet is indeed very upset regarding a separate matter, about which I must insist that you speak with her immediately.”

“And I must insist, sir, on knowing your intentions toward my niece!”

Darcy ground his teeth. Clearly he would not be able to raise Lydia’s situation until he dealt with the infuriated Mr. Gardiner. “My intentions are completely honorable.”

“Do I assume then you will accept my decision should I insist on taking steps to protect my niece’s reputation?”

“Sir, I would marry her tomorrow if I could obtain her consent!” Darcy snapped, his temper fraying. “If you choose to insist on an immediate engagement, which is certainly within your rights, I would have neither reason nor desire to object, but I am afraid the same cannot be said for Miss Bennet!”

Mr. Gardiner blinked, surprised. “Do you have some reason to believe she would not consent to marry you?”

So Elizabeth had not told her family of his proposal! Little wonder that Mr. Gardiner was so furious! Darcy replied in a calmer but brittle voice, “I had assumed you were aware, sir, that she already refused me, not four months ago.”

Mr. Gardiner, taken by surprise, but mollified by this knowledge, said, “That does cast a somewhat different light on things. But you say that she refused you—this hardly seems consistent with her behavior today. Are you certain you did not misinterpret her meaning?”

“Sir, I believe her exact words were that I was the last man in the world she could ever be prevailed upon to marry.” Darcy felt a certain sense of bitter relief at finally unburdening himself of the words which haunted him constantly. “I defy any ability to misinterpret that.”

Mr. Gardiner was taken aback. He could hardly credit that Lizzy would say anything of the sort, but, observing the pain in Darcy’s eyes, he knew it to be true. He saw for a moment a very different Darcy, one who, underneath the image of the powerful scion of a wealthy family, was a young man who had received too much responsibility too soon, and who now found himself for the first time in the grips of a passion beyond his control. He softened considerably. “Well, young man, it would appear you have made a certain amount of progress since then, would it not?”

“There have been signs which might suggest warming of her regard toward me,” Darcy cautiously allowed.

Mr. Gardiner chuckled. “Well, my boy, if what I saw in there was merely a suggestion of warming of her regard, I wonder what it would take to convince you that she actually liked you!”

“Sir, I… I appreciate your concern, and again, I will accept whatever consequences you choose to place on my actions.”

“Well, Mr. Darcy, I will give this due consideration, but, while I cannot condone your behavior in any way, I am willing to accept that you did not intend to take advantage of Elizabeth. But it seems that I must consult with my niece at this point.”

“I strongly urge you to do so, sir, as Miss Bennet has something she must discuss with you that cannot be delayed.”

Mr. Gardiner, finding himself intrigued with this less controlled side of Mr. Darcy, suggested, “She seemed somewhat upset—perhaps in this case you should tell me this important news to spare her nerves.”

“I doubt that I am the best person to tell you,” Darcy demurred, but then, in response to a firm look from Mr. Gardiner, proceeded to unfold the details of the situation of the unfortunate Lydia, and the efforts being made to recover her. Mr. Gardiner’s shock and dismay were as great as was to be expected, and he agreed that their departure was called for as soon as the current situation could be resolved.

Elizabeth, in the meantime, was far more preoccupied with her concerns over Lydia than her aunt’s concerns over her improper behavior. “Aunt, I know that I should not have permitted it; it was a momentary weakness. Fortunately, we were not observed by anyone but you, and I see no reason to go any further with this when we have a true crisis to which we must respond!” she said with some vexation.

“Lizzy, my dear, you do not believe you were observed, but you have no way of knowing who might have passed by that window and looked in. Mr. Darcy is well known here, and his presence attracts a substantial amount of interest, and it is already known that you spent a significant amount of time closeted alone with him! I must take this seriously, even if you will not. Now, you tell me that you are not angry or upset with Mr. Darcy, and you clearly respond favorably to him in many ways, and it has been quite obvious to me since our arrival that he is very much taken with you. So I fail to see where the difficulty lies in taking the appropriate steps!”

Elizabeth closed her eyes and said slowly and very distinctly, “Because I am not yet ready to make a decision about him!”

“It seems to me that you already did make a decision, given what I saw, my dear,” Mrs. Gardiner replied gently.

“I confess that I have been giving the matter of Mr. Darcy a good deal of thought these last few days, and I am generally favorably inclined at present, but I can go no further than that while Lydia’s fate lies in question! Please, aunt, let this take its own course!”

“I do not know we have that option, Lizzy, especially under these circumstances, given that your family is already facing disgrace over Lydia’s behavior.”

Elizabeth turned sharply away and stared out the window. “And I have no desire to force that disgrace on Mr. Darcy, especially since it involves Mr. Wickham!”

A knock came at the door, and Mr. Gardiner entered. He observed Elizabeth’s flushed cheeks, and quietly requested that his wife join him for a short discussion.

Elizabeth paced the narrow confines of the room. How could she have allowed this situation to arise? Was she now to be faced by the prospect of a forced engagement? Even as she fought against the idea, a part of her wondered if it would not be the simplest way out of her larger dilemma with Mr. Darcy. She knew that she respected and esteemed him; she felt gratitude to him, not merely for having loved her, but for loving her still well enough, to forgive all the petulance and acrimony of her manners in rejecting him. When she had thought earlier that she had lost any chance of his favor, she had felt the deepest of distress. His smiles brought her pleasure, and his touch… she shivered as she remembered the feeling of his lips on hers, and how she had felt the shock of it run through her.

Yet how could she base her future on these things, when in truth they had had no more than half a dozen completely civil conversations in the entirety of their acquaintance? And then there was the question of Wickham, and all that it implied. No, she simply could not agree, even if her heart traitorously wanted her to accept.

Two doors away, Darcy was sprawled in a chair, his agitation clear in his drumming fingers, wondering frantically what Elizabeth was thinking. Was she having warm thoughts of him—could she in fact have changed her mind about marrying him—or was she furious with him for putting her in this position? Would she ever forgive him if she were forced to marry him? He felt like a prisoner awaiting his sentence, and he was almost relieved when Mr. Gardiner entered the room and sat across from him.