Before she could continue, Mr. Darcy said, “Miss Lydia, I think it best if I quickly explain my part in your tale and then leave; doubtless you would wish some privacy to tell your own story.”
“Thank you, Mr. Darcy,” she said, raising her head and looking at him directly. “I am everything grateful to you.”
Mr. Darcy now spoke, explaining that Miss Kitty had made a number of drawings that had been used to try to find Miss Lydia in Whitechapel, and that the Countess had recognised Lydia from those drawings.
“Yes; she came to Greenfield House this morning and whisked me away. I still feel quite confused by it all,” Lydia said.
“So the Countess rescued you! This is everything astonishing!” Mrs. Gardiner exclaimed.
“Now we must consider how to move forward,” Mr. Gardiner said.
“This is a family decision, and I shall absent myself at once,” Mr. Darcy said.
“Mr. Darcy, of course I cannot call upon the Countess, but I hope you will convey our very deep gratitude to her,” Mrs. Gardiner said.
“I shall, indeed.”
“Mr. Darcy, I must ask you for one more favour,” Lydia said, hesitantly.
“If it lies within my power, of course,” he replied.
“Please do not tell my family that you have seen me. My aunt and uncle here will decide how best to proceed. Will you promise me?”
He promised most solemnly, while wincing at the thought of keeping such important – and wonderful! – news from Elizabeth. He was then thanked warmly by the Gardiners and Lydia, and he returned to Matlock House to answer what would doubtless be a hundred questions posed by his aunt.
Once Mr. Darcy was gone and the drawing room door firmly shut, Lydia began. “You know I went to Brighton to be with my friend, Harriet Forster.”
“And Colonel Forster was supposed to take care of you!” Mrs. Gardiner interrupted, heatedly.
Lydia shook her head. “None of this is his fault. He was busy, you know, with the regiment, and perhaps he did not truly understand his wife’s disposition, nor mine. In any case, she and I enjoyed ourselves immensely. We went shopping, we went out for ices, we even got dipped in the ocean! There were a good many dances, and the men in the militia attended them as often as possible. I knew some of them from Meryton, of course, but the handsomest of them all was Lieutenant Wickham.
“He had admired Lizzy when he was in Meryton, you know, and she seemed to return his admiration for a good many weeks. It changed when she came back from Kent, though; Wickham told me that she had been listening to Mr. Darcy and had her head filled with lies about him.” She shook her head.
“In Brighton he flirted with me a good deal, and I thought – well, I felt very good that Mr. Wickham preferred me to Lizzy! I wrote to Kitty about it, laughing a good deal. Then his attentions became even more marked, and Harriet said he was certain to make me an offer. So I was not at all surprised when he said that he loved me more than anything and we should get married. Oh, I was so stupid!” She hid her head in her hands for a long minute, while her aunt stroked her hair.
“I said he must write to Papa, and he said that no, Papa was certain not to approve, and would it not be ever so much more romantic if we eloped to Gretna Green! All I could think was that I would be married before my sisters, and would Mama not be proud of me. So I wrote a note to Harriet, packed my littlesatchel, and climbed out my window at midnight; he was waiting for me in a hired carriage, as he had promised.
“But soon after we began driving, I saw that we had taken the wrong road. I asked him why this was, and he said that he needed to collect some funds from friends in London first.” She went on to describe her surprise that she did not have her own room, but that Mr. Wickham had assured her that all engaged couples slept together.
She stopped here and closed her eyes. “I am ruined, of course. No one will ever marry me now. I thought I would be the first to be married, and now I shall never marry. But I do not complain of it, for that is what I deserve.”
Her aunt said, hesitantly, “Not necessarily, Lydia, but we need not speak of that now.”
Lydia told them how she had left the inn and tried to make her way to Gracechurch Street, but she had gotten lost and no one would help her. “When night came, I slept in a doorway,” she said.
Her aunt gasped in horror, and her hands flew to her mouth. “But no one – well,botheredyou, Lydia?”
“No; I covered my head and tried to stay out of sight. The next day was much like the first, but now I was hungrier and thirstier than ever! It rained, and I was grateful to drink the rainwater. I thought I would die, right there on the London street. But the day after that, a very kind young lady saw me and convinced her father to give me employment.” She went on to describe her life at Greenfield House. She told them about Mrs. Hodges, Mr. Durston, Edith; the work was hard, she admitted, but she felt she deserved her fate – and it was truly a great deal better than being out on the streets.
“But why did you not ask Lord Greenfield to take you here?” Mrs. Gardiner asked. “I confess that I do not understand this at all!”
“Well, first it was because I did not know how to find you. I knew it was Gracechurch Street, but I did not know the address. Also, I did not know about Mama, you see, and I thought it likely that all of Meryton would know about the elopement. If I went home without a husband, I would be utterly ruined, as would my sisters. If I stayed away, they could say I was dead.”
“But there would be no body,” Mr. Gardiner reminded her.
Lydia nodded. “I know; but that seemed the best alternative. Also…” she trailed off.
“Yes, my dear?” Mrs. Gardiner prompted.
