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“It is my fault entirely,” Elliot said, and Darcy was fixed in astonishment at those words.
“Elliot…”
“I knew what he was,” Elliot said. “You told me the whole of it. And I saw enough of his behaviour to know that you were indeed correct. I shared little of that with my own family. They did not know his true character. If they had, if they had understood, this might have been prevented. But it is all…all too late now.”
“Wickham has always been skilled in concealing his true character from those around him,” Darcy said.
“I was simply relieved he was gone,” Elliot said. “It didn’t occur to me at all that Louis…”
“It is grievous indeed,” Darcy said.
“Louis has no money,” Elliot added. “No connections of any kind. He is the very youngest son of a family that has nothing but their good name. And now, because of him, that good name may be lost forever.”
“You must tell us the whole of it, Elliot,” Mr. Gardiner demanded, and Elliot sadly passed him the letters.
“They left Brighton together and were traced almost to London, but not beyond. They are certainly not gone to Scotland.”
“Scotland is not the only place an illegal wedding can be carried out,” Darcy said quickly.
“I know,” Elliot said quietly. “But I also know the character of Wickham, and what that means for the prospect of any kind of wedding at all. It is a wretched, wretched situation!”
Darcy nodded, even as he roundly cursed Wickham for making him go through this all over again. It seemed like only yesterday that he had been careering across the countryside to rescue Georgiana from Wickham’s clutches. Should Darcy have done something about him then? Repudiated him to all they shared in common? But protecting Georgiana’s reputation had been of the utmost importance and in truth, Darcy cared little for the prospect of any other omegas who might fall under Wickham’s spell. If he were very honest with himself, Darcy could admit that he cared little for Louis Bennet. His only importance to Darcy’s life was the impact he would have on Elliot.
“What has been done and what has been attempted to recover Louis?” Mr. Gardiner asked after a moment.
“My father is to go to London,” Elliot said. “And Jack asks that you provide immediate assistance. I would come with you,” he added, but Mr. Gardiner shook his head.
“We must ensure a distance between you and your brothers and Louis, for if this is not salvageable,” and by that Darcy knew he meant if Louis had already been ruined, “then the less contact you have with him now the better.”
Mr. Gardiner was not wrong, Darcy reflected. The absolute priority of Mr. Bennet and the Gardiners should be to try and facilitate a wedding as soon as they were able. If that could be succeeded, then all would be well…or well enough. If it could not, then the whole of it would have to be hushed up as quickly as possible and Louis would have to be removed from the Bennet family to live the rest of his life in disgrace. It was the only way lest he bring scandal and ruin upon them all, because at that point there would be almost nothing that could be done to bring him, or them, back into polite society.
Almost nothing.
Except perhaps the weight of a very, very rich alpha.
Darcy paused then because he was not at all a man given to fancies. He never had been. The world was how it was, and they played their parts within it as ordained. Only sometimes, and it was little often, but sometimes events lined up in such a way that Darcy was given to ponder whether the guiding hand upon them had a particularly mischievous sense of whimsy.
There were few alphas in the country with Darcy’s connections and his power.
And for him to be here, now, at this very moment with the man who was undoubtedly his fated mate, able to provide aid in a situation that almost no one else would be able to do…
He closed his eyes for just a moment.
Considered it all.
And then he snapped to attention.
“We must ready ourselves,” Mr. Gardiner said. “Elliot, perhaps you could facilitate our luggage? Robert my dear, to settle up with the innkeeper? I will draft a quick letter to go by express requesting Mr. Bennet to await our imminent arrival. We will then set off to London together.”
“I too must go,” Darcy said, and Elliot gave him the most miserable of looks.
For a moment Darcy considered confiding in the other man, sharing the thoughts that were now rapidly racing through his mind. But they were not yet engaged, had not even had such a discussion on the possibility, and their relationship was once again tentative, as it had been in Rosings all those months past.
It was not appropriate for Darcy to interfere in this.
He was going to anyway.
“I wish that there was something I could say or do that might offer consolation to your distress,” he said. “But I will convey your absence to those at Pemberley and wish you God speed.”
