Page 168 of The Long Road Back to Yesterday

“She grieves for her child. I fear that is a sorrow she will carry for a very long time. Otherwise, she is doing well, and she wants very much to see you again.”

Elizabeth was quiet for several steps.

“Two weeks stretch before me like an eternity. Partly because I long to be with you, but also because I live in daily fear that Lydia will run away with Mr. Wickham again. If only I could send her to London, I would feel she was safe, but she refused to go.”

Darcy looked across the green fields beyond the garden.

“You will not face the next two weeks alone. Kendall will continue the investigation into Wickham, and when I return to London tonight, I shall send Peter and Robert Miller to Meryton. They are two of my most trusted servants. Wickham will be watched.”

Elizabeth looked up at him. “And if Lydia goes with him?”

“They will be armed. If Wickham attempts to leave Meryton with Lydia, they will take him directly to his colonel and insist that he be held until I can have him taken for debt.”

“Have you enough of his debts to imprison him?”

“Yes. I have purchased nearly one thousand pounds of debt. He cannot keep two coins long enough to rub them together, Elizabeth. He spends whatever comes into his hands and then spends what he does not have.”

“Then you can have him sent to debtors' prison?”

“I shall instruct my solicitor to take the matter to court and obtain the necessary order. While Wickham is serving with the militia, I cannot simply seize him and carry him away. But if he attempts to elope with your sister, I shall insist that his colonel act. If necessary, I will ask the colonel to surrender him into the custody of the men authorized to convey him to the Marshalsea.”

For the first time since Wickham had appeared in Meryton, some of the fear left Elizabeth's face.

Darcy covered her hand more firmly with his.

“I cannot take you home with me today, Elizabeth. But I can help you protect your sister until I return.”

Chapter 47: Two Weeks

May 12, 1811

News from Netherfield Park reached Longbourn, and Mrs. Bennet could speak of little else throughout breakfast.

They heard from Hill’s sister that two women from Meryton had been engaged to help prepare the house, and Alice knew that the butcher had received an order large enough to supply a considerable household. By the time Mrs. Bennet came down, Kitty had learned that wagons had been seen on the Netherfield road, fires were being lit in rooms that had been shut for months, and another servant had been hired to assist in the kitchens.

“They are coming,” Mrs. Bennet declared. “I knew Mr. Bingley would take the house. Such a charming young man! I said from the first that he must be delighted with Netherfield.”

“I believe he was delighted by Jane, Mamma,” Mary observed.

Mrs. Bennet stopped and nodded knowingly. “Yes, he was. And now that he has seen the neighborhood, what possible objection could he have to Netherfield? Mrs. Long says they are expected within a fortnight.”

Elizabeth looked across the breakfast table at Jane and caught the color rising in her cheeks.

Mrs. Bennet saw it as well. “There, Jane! You see? I told you he admired you. I knew it from the way he looked at you. Such a handsome young man, and five thousand a year!”

“Mamma, Mr. Bingley came to Longbourn upon business with Papa.”

“Yes, indeed. He began with tenants and drainage and ended with a beautiful young woman.”

Mr. Bennet lowered his newspaper. “I have often found drains and tenants more dependable than beautiful women, my dear.”

She raised her brows in protest before he disappeared behind the paper.

Elizabeth finished her breakfast without joining the discussion. Two weeks had sounded bearable when Fitzwilliam stood beside her among the roses. Now it seemed an unconscionable length of time.

Later that morning she found Jane in their room folding a length of ribbon into her workbox.

“Alice has learned from Mrs. Long that Mr. Bingley is bringing his sisters with him, and a Mr. Hurst as well,” Jane said. “I imagine they are as amiable as he is.”