They heard steps in the hall, and then Lydia burst into the drawing room. “Aunt Maddie, I have longed to reach you.” She threw herself upon her aunt’s neck and wept.
Elizabeth stood as one paralyzed. Lydia!
“Lizzy, go and fetch the gentlemen.”
Elizabeth hastened from the room.
Madeline seated the girl. “Let me have tea and cakes brought up. Have you eaten today?”
The weeping girl shook her head. “No, Aunt. I am so hungry.”
Heavy footfalls sounded in the hall, and then both gentlemen entered in haste. Gardiner closed the door behind him. Mr. Bennet stood still in amazement. “Lydia, how have you come here?”
The young girl jumped to her feet and threw her arms around his neck, weeping. “Papa, it was all dreadful. I think Mr. Wickham meant to sell me to a house of ill repute. The coachman told me to run, and so I did.”
He held his daughter close. “Child, I thought I would never see you again.”
Elizabeth stood beside her sister, weeping uncontrollably, and when Mr. Bennet at last released her, she drew Lydia into an embrace and kissed her brow. The two sisters held each other until their uncle spoke.
Edward Gardiner asked, “How came you from Russell Street to this house?”
“A woman showed me where I might hire a coach, and I paid the driver to bring me here.”
“Did Mr. Wickham take you into any house or other place?”
Lydia asked in confusion. “Into any house? No, sir. We remained in the carriage until we reached London.” Lydia then related all that had passed during her journey with Wickham.
“I am tired and hungry, and my gown smells badly from the hackney carriage.” She started to weep again. “I left all my gowns in the boot of the carriage. I have nothing to wear.”
Bennet said, “I can scarcely believe we have recovered this child.” He asked Madeline, “When she has taken some tea, willyou speak with her further? We must be certain she has come to no harm.”
“Yes, I will.”
The two men sat in Gardiner’s office, each absorbed in his own thoughts.
“Thomas, whether that man has had relations with her or not, she is compromised, and if any part of this becomes known, it will bring ruin upon her sisters.”
“Yes. She must be a stranger to us now. I should wish to see her married, but I do not desire her to remain in England. Perhaps a Scot, or a man bound for Canada.”
Gardiner raised his brow. “What of an Englishman preparing to travel to India?”
Bennet lifted his eyes with renewed hope. “You know such a man?”
“I do. He is a client of mine, recently engaged by the East India Company. He is only a clerk, and for that reason may accept a woman with a modest portion. What can you command for Lydia?”
“I have two thousand pounds set aside for my daughters. To free us from this difficulty, I will settle it upon Lydia.”
Gardiner considered this. “It may not be sufficient inducement. With your leave, I shall add two thousand pounds for my niece. That will form a respectable portion. It will be necessary to speak plainly to him, but he is only twenty years of age. Perhaps because of his youth, he will be less rigid than the oldergeneration, and Lydia is a very pretty girl, nearly as handsome as Jane. I cannot suppose he would refuse such an offer.”
Gardiner rose. “Come, let us seek out James Adams and discover whether he is willing.”
The three women sat in the drawing room while Lydia recited her account.
“When I touched his arm to gain his attention, he brushed it away, and the look upon his face made me fear he might strike me; he appeared so angry.”
“Was it then that you realized you ought to run from him?”
Lydia asked, confused. “Why should I have wished to run from him then, Lizzy? He is the handsomest man I know, and he dresses well. He was everything I believed a gentleman ought to be.”
