Lady Rebecca’s eyebrows shot up, and Elinor discreetly reached for her friend’s hand, feeling she was in great danger of betraying what she knew.
Marianne screwed up her face. “What can he want? Has he counted the silver and found some missing?”
“He wants to return it to us! He asks nothing in return,” Mrs. Dashwood said, her face radiant with joy. “He apparently heard of our circumstances and was afflicted by a sense of moral conscience, and has decided that we poor women have a greater right to the place than himself, for he had never heard of Norland before winning the deed with a lucky hand at cards. He is prepared to transfer it to me at once, and I am to contact this solicitor in London whenever I am ready to return home.”
Marianne squealed with unbridled joy and threw her arms around her mother, but lost her balance in the process, and again Mr. Bingley hastened to her aid. “We can go home! We shall never need to set eyes on BartonCottage again! Oh! I would go tomorrow! Elinor, is this not the most wonderful thing you have ever heard in your life?”
Lady Rebecca gave Elinor’s arm a subtle pinch. “Indeed, is it not? The gentleman who won the deed must not be a reprobate gambler after all – no, I daresay he is the most generous man in all of England! And to act anonymously, without any wish to be thanked, or impose a sense of obligation….”
When Elinor recovered from her astonishment, a smile spread across her face, and she raised a hand to her heart as if to quell the great surge of emotion she felt. Colonel Fitzwilliam must have gone to London expressly for the purpose of seeingNorland returned to her! She felt a great many conflicting feelings, but seeing the joy this brought her family was all that presently mattered to her.
Mr. Bingley, however, seemed to be struggling to keep his composure. “I am very happy for you, though I shall be sorry to see you all go away. You will not really leave tomorrow, will you?”
“Unfortunately, we cannot act quite so hastily,” Mrs. Dashwood said. “My brother has some business in London tomorrow, pertaining to the other distressing piece of news we have had. I may join him in a day or two and meet with the solicitor, but I fear I cannot leave Mrs. Bennet at such a time. Taking Meg and Julia out of the house for an hour or two shall be my first act of consolation for her, but then we must return and make ourselves useful.”
Elinor waited with a sense of rising panic at what her mother might tell them, for only something grave indeed could keep Mrs. Dashwood from setting out to reclaim her home directly.
Marianne tittered nervously. “I cannot bear to hear anything unpleasant after….” She was cut off when she was struck in the back of the head by a snowball, and she tumbled to the ground, bringing her would-be rescuer Mr. Bingley down to the ground beside her. She let out a peal of laughter as Meg and Julia continued their assault from some distance.
Marianne sat up on the snowy ground, her legs splayed out before her, and laughed merrily. “Margaret Louise! I shall make you pay for that!” She dipped her gloved hands into the snow to form a snowball of her own, which Mr. Bingley obligingly launched into the air for her as he sat at her side. They hurled a few more before scrambling to their feet, the looming bad news entirely forgotten.
“Pish, off with you,” Lady Rebecca said again. “Go and play with the other children.”
Armed with a fresh snowball in each hand, Mr. Bingley and Marianne skated across the pond toward the younger girls. Mrs. Dashwood watched them with a wistful smile before turning back to Elinor. She sighed heavily. “Oh, Elinor. I had not the heart to spoil her merriment with such dreadful, shocking news.”
Lady Rebeca did not conceal her curiosity as she voiced a half-hearted offer to allow them modicum of privacy, but Mrs. Dashwood shook her head. “I am sure you shall hear of it eventually, and if you can be of any comfort to Elinor, you ought to stay and hear the worst. I know you are clever, you may think of something that can be done, which my family had not considered.”
“Your faith in me is flattering, Mrs. Dashwood. Whatever is the matter, I am glad to hear you hint it is not a hopeless case.” Lady Rebecca led them to a bench that had been placed a little further from the frozen pond; it offered more privacy than anywhere else they might find, without retreating to the manor.
Mrs. Dashwood glanced around, and when she appeared satisfied that they were unlikely to be heard or interrupted, she folded her hands in her lap and drew in a deep breath. “Last night, a messenger bearing an express from Colonel Forster woke us all from our beds, bearing the most distressing news. Two days ago, Lydia did not appear for breakfast, and her friend Mrs. Forster discovered a note Lydia left behind. Lydia… has run away.”
“Run away?” Elinor gasped. “But she was so determined to visit her friend – she cannot have been unhappy there!”
“Rather she was too well amused,” Mrs. Dashwood sighed. “She crossed paths with an officer who once served in theregiment here – I think he may have gone to visit the Forsters, but it is unclear whathisintentions were. It is certain, however, that the pair left Hampshire together early that morning, and whatever Mr. Wickham’s intentions, Lydia believes his purpose is elopement.”
“Elopement,” Elinor breathed, letting out a low groan.
“Wickham!” Lady Rebecca fairly snarled and exchanged a significant look with Elinor. “I trust you recall the particulars of that libertine’s character.”
“But I thought he was taken to London to await the assizes,” Mrs. Dashwood sighed.
“No; he escaped, I remember Colonel Fitzwilliam speaking of it,” Elinor said. “I have heard that he had imposed himself on young ladies of fortune before – the colonel even warned my uncle about it.”
Mrs. Dashwood clenched her jaw, her eyes closing as she attempted to maintain her composure. “I suppose my brother did not think it necessary to warn Lydia, after resolving to confine her to the house – and he could not have expected her to encounter the man in Hampshire, when we all believed him to be imprisoned in London.”
Lady Rebecca looked as if she were ready to fight the very devil. “Oh, where is my brother? He returned to the regiment yesterday with the colonel who shall take his place. I know he intended to track Wickham down while he was in London. My cousin Darcy despises Wickham more than anybody, and surely Richard would have spoken to him about it – but they may have been looking in the wrong place!
Lady Rebecca stood and began to pace. “But then, perhaps not – if Wickham’s intention is to elope with Miss Lydia, they shall have to pass through London – after two days, they may have already done so, or they may be in the city evennow. But leave it to me, Mrs. Dashwood, dear Elinor. When Richard arrives, he shall manage everything.”
“You are generous and clever, Lady Rebecca; you have my family’s thanks,” Mrs. Dashwood said. “This may give Fanny some comfort, for my sister-in-law has kept to her room since we learned of Lydia’s disappearance, and she is worked into a terrible state.”
“And her poor daughters deprived of today’s festivities,” Lady Rebecca tutted. “The poor creatures! But I shall not let them face ruin, no indeed. And perhaps Elinor and Marianne may want to wait out the scandal here at Netherfield? Surely their aunt cannot requirethemto attend her.”
“That is very kind,” Mrs. Dashwood said. “My brother is to meet with Colonel Forster in London – I nearly wish I could accompany him, to begin the business of taking over Norland, but I believe my presence at Longbourn, and that of Kitty, Mary, and Mrs. Phillips ought to suffice in comforting poor Fanny.”
“And it will surely give her some relief to know that the colonel is already aware of Mr. Wickham’s escape from justice,” Elinor said. Despite her own dismay at the shocking news, Elinor could think of nobody she would trust more in a time of crisis.
She turned to her friend with an earnest smile. “Thank you, Lady Rebecca, for offering your aid, and your compassion. Many a friend might turn their back on a family threatened with the taint of ruin.”
