Page 96 of Near Pemberley

His attention returned to Darcy. “You wrote to me.”

“I did.”

Elizabeth snapped her head to Darcy. He glanced her way.

“I did not reply.”

He drew a slow breath before answering. “No, you did not.”

The simple agreement somehow made the admission worse. Mr. Bennet shifted again.

“Thomas, what are you saying? Mr. Darcy here wrote to you?” He turned to Darcy. “You offered to assist us?”

Darcy nodded.

“When was this?” He looked at one and the other.

“Sometime after you all left Lambton,” Darcy replied.

“I do not believe this. Thomas, you never told me this.”

Mr. Bennet shifted slightly. “It hardly seemed worth mentioning.”

“Worth mentioning?” Genuine disbelief entered Gardiner’s voice. “Mr. Darcy offered assistance.”

“He did not know our situation. At the time, I saw little purpose in troubling him further.”

“Troubling him?” Gardiner repeated. He looked at his wife in exasperation.

Mrs. Gardiner shook her head.

He looked briefly towards Darcy before returning his attention to Mr. Bennet. “The gentleman wrote voluntarily.”

“We could have found her in time,” Mrs. Gardiner cried.

Mr. Bennet frowned.

Elizabeth lowered her eyes. Mrs. Gardiner looked from one gentleman to the other without speaking.

Mr. Bennet appeared increasingly uncomfortable beneath their attention.

Darcy looked at Mr. Bennet for a long moment. His first impulse was to ask how any father could ignore such a letter. Fortunately, reason returned before the words escaped him. “The matter is of no consequence now,” he said.

Gardiner looked at him for a moment. No consequence. The phrase struck him as extraordinarily generous. “Mr. Darcy, I am sorry your offer of kindness was treated with such negligence.”

“I understand. It was a delicate matter.” Darcy spoke without the slightest trace of reproach. “Had I found them sooner, and had Mr. Wickham still been with Miss Lydia, there would have been considerable pressure to secure a marriage. At the time, that might have appeared the most desirable outcome.” A shadow crossed his face. “Having now learnt rather more of the circumstances, I am no longer persuaded it would have been a kindness.”

Elizabeth stared at him. “Not a kindness?”

“No. Mr. Wickham abandoned her. He left her without protection, without money, and with very little concern for what might become of her afterwards.”

The quiet certainty of his tone carried more weight than anger could have done. Mrs. Gardiner drew a sharp breath. Mr. Bennet’s expression darkened.

For some time, Elizabeth could say nothing at all. The room seemed strangely distant. She heard the voices around her, yet her thoughts had fixed themselves upon something else.

“He abandoned her,” Elizabeth said quietly.

Darcy inclined his head. “Yes.”