His conversation with Lydia preceded a long-overdue conversation with his wife, during which he finally told her in greater detail about the debt he amassed and how the Darcys had saved them, including paying the merchants in Meryton and preventing their family’s near ruin from becoming fodder for the village gossips. Mrs Bennet was surprised at some of these revelations, especially as they related to her youngest daughter, and was further surprised when her husband followed this confession with a sincere apology for his treatment of her during the years of their marriage. This conversation lasted well into the evening and left both tired but more content and hopeful than either had been in many years.
So it was when Elizabeth and Darcy arrived for a visit later that morning they found a household more subdued than usual. Lydiaremained in her rooms, as Mr Bennet was still unwilling to allow her in company until she understood the damage she had nearly wrought upon the family.
Mrs Bennet received them graciously and wasalmostcivil to her guests. As the family sat together in the drawing room, Mrs Bennet once again refused to accept Jane’s answers when she repeated her inquisition from the day before: “So, Jane, tell meagainof the gentlemen you met at Pemberley with the Darcys.” Although she attempted to be quiet, her voice carried to nearly everyone in the room. “Why are you not yet engaged?”
“There were several single gentlemen at the house party, Mama, but none were interested in me, and I did not wish to know any of them better,” Jane replied, her voice low as she attempted to keep the conversation private.
“Whyever not, Jane? Surely there was at least one single gentleman there who caught your notice,” the matron insisted.
“Now that I have seen something of life in the first circles, at the ball to celebrate Darcy’s marriage and other events we attended, it is not a life that interests me. I did not encourage any gentlemen at the house party, but I doubt any would have been interested in me regardless,” Jane tried again.
“I do not understand, Jane,” Mrs Bennet demanded, her voice becoming loud and shrill in her excitement.
“Calm yourself, madam,” Mr Bennet hissed at his wife. “Jane said she was not interested in any of the gentlemen, and that is the end of it. She will marry when she finds a gentleman she wishes to marry. There is no reason to push our daughters to make matches they do not desire.”
Mrs Bennet scowled at her husband and then glared at her married daughter before muttering something under her breath. Mr Bennet thought he heard “unfeeling child” but was uncertain which daughter the imprecation was directed toward.
Mr Bennet attempted to turn the conversation. “So, Lizzy, tell us about Pemberley,” he began. “You have said much in your letters, but I want to hear more about your new home. It must be magnificent, given how diligent a landlord your husband no doubt is.” His voice was tinged with his obvious resentment and bitterness towards the man whohad stepped in to rescue him and was constantly lecturing him on his lackadaisical attitude.
“No, Lizzy,” Kitty interrupted, “tell us of your wedding! On your last visit, you were so distracted in speaking with Papa that we never heard much about it. Jane has said a little, but I would love to hear more.”
“Yes,” Mrs Bennet cried, “tell us of your wedding! Did I understand correctly that you married by special licence? And at the home of an earl? Tell me about your wedding dress.” This shift in the conversation encouraged Bennet to invite Darcy to his study under the guise of discussing estate business, but Darcy was reluctant to leave Elizabeth until she gave him a slight nod. Truly, Bennet did not want to speak with his son-in-law, but speaking of estate management seems far preferable to hearing of weddings and lace.
Elizabeth hid a grimace, knowing her mother only wanted to boast to her friends about the wedding. “Yes, Mama, we married from Mr Darcy’s uncle’s home. I stayed with his aunt and uncle for a day or two when I first arrived in London after the incident with Lady Catherine, although I removed to the Gardiners once they arrived in town.”
“I never understood why you were sent away from the Collins’ home,” Mrs Bennet interrupted. “Lady Lucas tried to make it out to be some sort of compromise, but when she hinted at it in July, you and your husband accused her of spreading falsehoods.”
“Lady Catherine wanted Mr Darcy to marry her daughter. When he refused, as he had before, she blamed me and decided to ruin me. At her orders, Mr Collins immediately evicted me from the parsonage without any thought or care for me or my reputation. Mr Darcy had prepared for this eventuality and ensured I was not injured. I travelled to London in a hired coach with a maid and a footman and stayed at Matlock House until my Aunt and Uncle Gardiner returned with Jane. Mr Darcy had already asked for a courtship, but he proposed once I was at his family’s home. He visited Papa the next day and received his consent to our marriage. Papa sent me a letter recommending we wed soon and in London. At the time, we believed Lady Catherine had something to do with the need to marry quickly, but we learned later that Papa hoped my husband would give him the money he needed.”
“Your father approved of your marriage? He knew of it ahead of time?” Mrs Bennet screeched.
“Of course he did,” Elizabeth coolly replied. “We could not have married otherwise as I was not yet of age in April.”
For some time, the room was quiet as each considered these revelations.
When she learned of the wedding in a letter from Mrs Gardinerafterthey were married, Mrs Bennet was angry and offended. So upset was she at Elizabeth that she did not realise Mr Bennetmusthave consented to the marriage and, during her visit in July, had largely ignored her and spoken to her as little as possible. While she resented Elizabeth for marrying so well while Jane was still unwed, she was, for the first time, angrier at her husband for deliberately preventing her from participating in and witnessing her daughter’s wedding than at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth now understood a small portion of her mother’s recent anger towards her but was extremely frustrated and angry with her father overhisselfish thoughtlessness. She alleviated her mother’s concerns about the sudden wedding as best she could and made a point of acquainting her with Mr Darcy’s good traits, as he had been much maligned in recent months in the Bennet household by Mr Bennet’s bitter complaints about Mr Darcy’s ‘demands’ related to the loan. Mrs Bennet felt better about her daughter’s marriage and, being less angry with Elizabeth, pressed her repeatedly to allow Lydia to remain at home and to introduce her youngest daughters in town, even as she criticised Elizabeth.
“Your cheeks are fuller, and you are losing your figure. Your husband will not appreciate that, and if you want to keep his interest, you will need to pay more attention to what you eat. I know you are accustomed to traipsing about, which I imagine helped you maintain your figure before, but now …” she trailed off, allowing her daughter to understand she expected Mr Darcy to tire of her soon.
Finally, Elizabeth heard enough and stopped her mother’s demands and disparagement. “Mama, I do not know why you think Lydia should be permitted to remain at home. She desperately needs instruction but refuses to listen to the governess, whom you constantly contradict,preventing her from correcting Lydia’s behaviour. As far as my other sisters, Mary and Jane, if she desires, will reside with my husband and me. Kitty will remain at home with the governess, and we will invite her to stay with us at Pemberley or in London once she is ready, or she may go to the Gardiners if they invite her. As I said last night, you will not be invited to any of my homes until you apologise for your treatment of me. The letters you sent were atrocious, and while I now understand some miscommunication made matters worse, there is no excuse for what you wrote and said to me, especially since I married. You fawn over my husband, making him uncomfortable while disparaging me and telling him he should have chosen another of my sisters. We may be able to be civil when in each other’s company, but until you apologise, I want no relationship with you.”
“Whatever do you mean, Lizzy Bennet? How dare you speak to me in this way?” the matron demanded, her banked anger rising once again.
“You are well aware, madam, that I am no longer Lizzy Bennet; I am Elizabeth Darcy. You have criticised me my entire life. When I entered this house yesterday, you fawned over my husband while insulting me. You callmeselfish and unfeeling for trying to save you and my sisters from the hedgerows, which was a real possibility had we refused to pay Papa’s debts. Papa would have been thrown into the Marshalsea, or worse, allowed one of the men he owed to take one of my sisters to use and sell to a rich man or a brothel in repayment. Do you understand what that would have meant? I understand your frustrations were exacerbated by my father’s unwillingness to speak with you honestly or directly in this case, but nothing justifies your ill-treatment of me. I said yesterday I would accept no more letters from you, but now I will havenothingmore to do with you until you apologise sincerely.”
Elizabeth’s outburst shocked Mrs Bennet and the rest of the room into silence until the gentlemen returned from the study.
In the study, the gentlemen’s conversation was stilted and awkward; the two were only barely acquainted, and Darcy was not in the mood to be of much help. Mr Bennet was half ashamed of the fundamental questions he asked about estate management, as he had been a landholder nearly as long as Darcy had been alive, even as he admitted Longbourn would benefit from Darcy’s diligencein keeping up with modern practises. After a time, they asked Mr Todd to join them, as Bennet confessed to not knowing many of the particulars of his own farm. Darcy felt he was a tutor whose pupil was as recalcitrant as any young lad in the schoolroom. He directed most of his conversation to the steward, who gratefully accepted the information.
When the conversation exhausted itself—and Darcy—they returned to the drawing room, where Darcy was surprised by the obvious tension. He glanced at his wife, and when she rolled her eyes in his direction, he grimaced in reply before sitting down to listen to Mrs Bennet’s effusions. As quickly as he could, he extricated himself and his wife from Longbourn, claiming a need to return to their own temporary home.
On the way, Elizabeth explained her mother’s almost-apology. “Papa did not explain why you visited Longbourn or tell her we were to marry. She learned we were married in a letter from my Aunt Gardiner and was rather piqued because she assumed I married in London to avoid her planning the wedding. Papa never told her I married in London at his direction.”
Darcy groaned. “I asked him if he wanted to make the announcement before I left, but he said he preferred to inform his wife after I left Longbourn. I should have known that he would do something like this when we read that letter he sent. No wonder your mother has been so angry with you,” he said, pulling his wife into his arms.
“I am no longer upset by it, William,” she told him. “My father has once again shown us how completely he disregards his wife and daughters. For my sisters’ sake, I hope he eventually sees the error of his ways, but his habits are so ingrained that I doubt he will ever really change. We may force him to take an active interest in his estate for a while, and we have removed my sisters, except for Kitty, from his care. She will continue her education with a governess employed by us, not him, and perhaps, finally, Mama realises this is important and will not actively attempt to circumvent the governess.
