Pride Prejudice and Perplexity

The Mystery of Lydia

Prologue

Consider the enormous part that chance plays in our lives. A minute difference in circumstances, or some seemingly innocuous event, might well cause our life to unfold in an entirely different way.

Take for example the wholly unexpected meeting of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy at Pemberley – consider how very different their lives would have been, had it not taken place. What if Elizabeth had not spent quite so long contemplating Darcy's portrait in the picture-gallery, and had set out with the Gardiners on their tour of the grounds just a little sooner... or if Darcy had arrived home just a few minutes later...?

This tale departs from the original story at a much later point – very close to the end. The point of departure is on account of another chance meeting of two persons. One of them is a young lady by the name of Mary King, whose uncle, with whom she resides in Liverpool, has brought her to London with him, where he has business. The other is George Wickham, who, upon recognising Miss King in the street, surreptitiously passes her a message, resulting in a clandestine meeting, a renewal of the fondest affections, and a speedy departure for Gretna Green – all of this before Darcy has been able to discover where Wickham and Lydia are lodging.

Consequently, Darcy has nothing to report to Mr Gardiner, and hence no reason to meet with that gentleman, who in turn sends no express to Mr Bennet in Longbourn, where the mood remains low, and Mrs Bennet remains above stairs in her apartments – blaming all the world, except herself, for the great misfortune which has befallen her favourite, who now seems lost to them forever.

Mr Bennet found himself able to endure his lady's self-imposed seclusion with remarkable good grace, and might have happily habituated himself to a quieter and more sensible table and sitting room had not his wife been stirred from her invalid's bed by news from her sister, Mrs Phillips, that the housekeeper at Netherfield was preparing for the arrival of her master, who was coming down to shoot.

Lydia was forgotten, as Mrs Bennet occupied herself with hopes and schemes for her eldest daughter – in which she was not disappointed. Mr Bingley came – with that unpleasant Mr Darcy – to wait upon the ladies; and a few days later, the same two gentlemen dined at Longbourn; and not many days afterwards, to her mother's maternal ecstasy, Jane was betrothed to Mr Bingley.

Due to the persistent whispers in the neighbourhood concerning Lydia's failed elopement and her subsequent abandonment in London by Mr Wickham, Jane was considered fortunate, indeed, to be engaged to so fine, and wealthy, a gentleman as Mr Bingley; however, the suggestion that the arrogant Mr Darcy might equally overlook such a blemish upon the name of Bennet, seemed improbable, indeed. Thus, there were no rumours in circulation linking the name of the second Miss Bennet with that of Mr Bingley's friend, and consequently, no alarming report to that effect reached Lady Catherine concerning her nephew; and Elizabeth was thus spared the unpleasant visit and acrimonious words of the great lady.

It would seem that, in spite of the chance meeting in London between Miss King and Mr Wickham, everything is proceeding very much as anticipated... but, will it continue to do so? Read on…

Chapter One – The Mystery of Lydia

While the happy news of the engagement of her eldest daughter had driven all care and concern of the fate of her youngest from Mrs Bennet's mind, it was not so for her two eldest daughters, who, in the absence of the least bit of news concerning Lydia, could not help but fear the worst for what she must presently be suffering, and feel all the shame of a sister thus degraded.

Charles Bingley was pained to see his beloved Jane suffering on account of her sister, and most especially at this auspicious time in her life when she should be full of carefree joy and felicity; in consequence of which he was provoked to break a confidence.

“Dearest Jane, it grieves me to see you suffer so – most especially because I know that the belief which causes your suffering is wholly incorrect,” he said to her while they were strolling alone in the garden at Longbourn.

“What are you speaking of, Charles? Am I mistaken in believing that my sister, Lydia, is... lost? Do you have some intelligence concerning her?”

Bingley sighed and nodded. “I do; but it is something that I am not authorised to repeat.”

“I would prefer that you keep silent, rather than behave dishonourably.”

“Ever since I learned of it, my mind has been torn between speech and silence. On the whole, I believe it would be more dishonourable to allow you and your family to continue to suffer unnecessarily. Yes – I am determined to set your mind at rest on the matter! My dear Jane, your sister is alive and well. She is secluded in the country in comfortable circumstances, and is in the care of respectable people.”

Jane gasped; after some moments of silence she asked, “Are you quite certain, Charles?”

“Though I know none of the particulars; nothing more than what I have just spoken – neither her location, nor the identity of her present companions – I have the utmost confidence in my source, whose name I cannot reveal.”

“Nor shall I ask it, or anything else related to the matter, for I suppose that it was told to you in confidence,” said Jane, distressed that Bingley had broken a confidence for her sake, and yet enormously relieved to hear the comforting news. “I know it is very wrong of me to make such a request, but would you mind very much if I was to tell it to my dear parents and sisters, for I know it would lift an enormous burden of worry and shame from them all.”

“Of course, my dear, it would be cruel to do otherwise, but it must go no further; and I request that you do not reveal from whom you heard the news – only that it may be entirely relied upon.”

“Thank you, Charles, you are kindness and consideration itself,” said Jane, rewarding him with a joyous smile, the likes of which he had not very often seen play upon her beautiful face in recent days.

~~~~~

Jane was more than happy to conceal the identity of her source when she gave the comforting news of Lydia to her parents and sisters, for it would spare Bingley a great deal of awkwardness, and very likely the embarrassment of being applied to for further details by her mother.

Her sister, Elizabeth, however, had very little difficulty in guessing from whom the intelligence originated. On a sunny afternoon while the two eldest Miss Bennets were strolling in the flower garden, Elizabeth said, “I believe I have guessed the person under whose protection our sister, Lydia, is now sheltered.”

“Who do you think it can be, Lizzy, for I have not the least idea?”

“Oh, it is mere speculation – and yet I believe it is very probably correct. To begin with, I strongly suspect that your information came from Mr Bingley.”

Jane let out a gasp, and turned away to deny her perceptive sister the opportunity of observing her reddened cheeks.

“Unless you secretly received a letter in the past few days, of which the whole family is entirely ignorant, there is no other plausible source from which it might have come.”

Were Elizabeth in need of confirmation of her surmise, her sister's embarrassed silence and refusal to meet her gaze were evidence enough.

“Fear not, Jane, I shall breathe not a word of my suspicions to a single soul – nor shall I press you for confirmation. I imagine that Mr Bingley has begged you not to reveal him as being the source – and I perfectly comprehend his desire. However, for the sake of argument, let us assume that I am correct in my conjecture, as to the source of your information. From there proceeds the question of who, in turn, is Mr Bingley's source?”

“Of that I have not the least idea – assuming your original conjecture is correct,” added Jane quickly.

“But I do. I believe it is Mr Darcy.”

“Mr Darcy?” exclaimed Jane, “What leads you to suspect it could be him?”

“Who else might Mr Bingley have heard it from? He has been in Hertfordshire for the past fortnight. Had he heard it in town and known it all this time, he would very likely have told you sooner. If the information concerning Lydia came from the neighbourhood, we would have heard rumours of it long ago.”

“Bingley might have received it in a letter.”

“Yes, it is possible, but why would anyone think to write to Mr Bingley with intelligence concerning Lydia?” asked Elizabeth. “What business could it possibly be of his?”

Jane shook her head. “Lizzy, I have the strongest impression that Bingley's source had reason to wish to keep the information secret. Bingley knows no more of the matter than he recounted to me, and which I, in turn, told my parents and sisters. Though he was given the information in confidence, comprehending my anxiety concerning Lydia, he was unable to withhold it from me.”

“He is compassion and kindness itself; and I shall think more rather than less of him in consequence. It shows his love for you is greater than his fear of the disapprobation of his friend.”

Jane smiled.

“I wonder that Mr Darcy told him at all,” continued Elizabeth, “for he knows his friend's character well enough to suspect that the temptation to divulge it might be too great. I wonder...?”

“What, Lizzy?”

“Could it be that Mr Darcy secretly wished that Mr Bingley should pass on the information?” pondered Elizabeth.

“Perhaps – it is impossible to know,” said Jane, shaking her head. “What I cannot understand is the need for secrecy. Surely, if Mr Darcy is in possession of good news concerning Lydia, he would wish for her whole family to know of it. He must be well aware of how troubled and perturbed we are on Lydia's account.”

“That is precisely the question that perplexes me,” said Elizabeth. “And why would he provide so little information? There is nothing about where she is now living, with whom, or of what were the circumstances that preceded her present situation; nor any explanation of how she arrived in her current secure state after being abandoned, presumably penniless, by George Wickham.”

“Perhaps Mr Darcy is not privy to further information? Perhaps he, himself, had no direct knowledge of our sister's affairs, and the intelligence he provided to Bingley came from another – perhaps the very person who was responsible for it all?”

“Or perhaps that person is Mr Darcy, himself?” conjectured Elizabeth. “I have a strong suspicion that it is. He behaved most awkwardly on the two occasions he was lately in Longbourn; I was quite at a loss to understand his exceedingly reserved behaviour.”

“But, Lizzy, if it was Mr Darcy, then he must know everything! Why ever would he wish to conceal the information from our family, whom, he must be aware, are deeply anxious to know the all of what has befallen Lydia since she left Brighton?”

“I have not the least idea,” replied Elizabeth, shaking her head.

“Well I do!” said their mother, emerging from behind the hedge.

“Mamma!” exclaimed the two sisters in surprise and embarrassment, suspecting that their mother had been listening to their conversation for a good while.

Heedless of her blatant breach of propriety, Mrs Bennet continued, “It does you both credit, I suppose, to be so innocent in the ways of the world.”

“Whatever do you mean, Mamma?” asked Jane.

“Only, that if Mr Darcy has something to hide from the world concerning his behaviour towards my poor Lydia, then you may be certain that it is to conceal his own guilt in the matter! No gentleman would take a pretty young girl, to whom he was wholly unconnected, under his protection unless his motives were of the most disreputable kind.”

“Good heavens!” exclaimed Jane, “I cannot believe it of him.”

“Nor I!” agreed Elizabeth.

“Rich men like Mr Darcy behave as they please – without a thought for the harm they do to a poor girl like my dear Lydia. That disgraceful man – he had better not dare to show his face at Longbourn again, or I shall not be responsible for what I say to him!”

“Mamma,” pleaded Jane, “we know nothing for certain.”

“Jane is correct, Mamma, our conversation was all idle fancy and conjecture – there is absolutely no evidence of Mr Darcy being involved in any way with Lydia.”

“Oh, yes there is! I knew from the start what sort of man he was! From the very moment that I first set eyes on him, at the Meryton assembly, I knew he was a man not to be trusted! But would anyone listen to me? Well now you see what it has come to – and how right I was all along!”

~~~~~

Elizabeth was most uneasy following her conversation with her mother, whom she feared was bent upon spreading wild stories about Mr Darcy throughout the neighbourhood. Seeking out her father in his library, she related to him the pertinent points of what had transpired, and begged him to prevent her mother from blackening Mr Darcy's name.

“I have never had any great success in prevailing upon your mother to behave sensibly in such circumstances – or in any other circumstances, for that matter – and I doubt very much that my cautions would have the least effect upon her in this instance.”

“But Father, how shocking it will be if my mother should tarnish Mr Darcy's name in the district – consider how uncomfortable it would be for him to spend any great length of time with his friend, Mr Bingley, at Netherfield, or to show his face in the neighbourhood.”

Mr Bennet laughed. “I doubt very much that so proud a man as Mr Darcy would entertain the smallest concern for the opinion of those whom he doubtless deems to be so very far beneath himself. In any case, the regard in which he is held hereabouts is already so low that it could hardly sink very much further.”

Elizabeth was greatly pained by her father's comments, and the injustice of the general view of Mr Darcy's character, which she knew to be entirely false.

“Do not trouble yourself, my dear, about your mother spreading malicious gossip; for its very source must necessarily devalue any reliance upon its veracity.”

“Then you give no credence to my mother's abominable assertions concerning Mr Darcy?”

Mr Bennet stroked his chin and considered the matter for some time before replying. “I must say that upon learning that Lydia had been abandoned by that rogue, Wickham, I could comprehend no more favourable an outcome for my foolish daughter than a short life of the greatest ill-repute and misery in London. Her shame must be so great as to prevent her from wishing to return to her family, or to contact any of her former acquaintances. If Mr Bingley is correct in his belief that your sister has been rescued from such a fate, and is now safely secluded in the country, then the only possible explanation is that she has been taken under the protection of a gentleman of some means – and one can hardly doubt as to what purpose. I believe your reasoning as to the identity of the gentleman is very likely correct.”

“No, Father!”

“In Lydia's fallen circumstances, it is the very best that could have been hoped for. I think we must be thankful for small mercies.”

“But... I cannot believe it of him... I would have expected far better of Mr Darcy!”

“I fear you are innocent in the ways of the world, my dear. It is not at all uncommon for a gentleman of means to keep a pretty young mistress. Mr Darcy did not seduce Lydia; and it would appear that he has saved her from a terrible fate. Your sister would be fortunate, indeed, to be taken under his protection.”

~~~~~

Charles Bingley, who was now a daily visitor to Longbourn, confided in Jane, who very soon told it to Elizabeth, that Mr Darcy was returned to Netherfield, having concluded his business in town. His failure to call upon them at Longbourn, Bingley hinted, was not intended as a slight to the Bennets, but arose rather from his desire to avoid embarrassment, in light of a certain rumour presently circulating in the neighbourhood.

Elizabeth was well aware of the liberally embellished story concerning Mr Darcy's lecherous behaviour to which his friend had alluded, and from whence it had originated. She hoped, rather than believed, that its subject was at least ignorant of the source. Elizabeth did not know whether she was more disappointed or relieved that Mr Darcy would not come again to Longbourn.

She had relived her meetings with him in Derbyshire many times over, as she lay awake at night, and could arrive at no other conclusion than that he had forgiven her the angry and unjust rejection of his addresses in Kent, and, against all expectations, he still loved her. All his actions in Derbyshire had spoken of it: his eagerness to introduce her to his sister and the warmth and passion of all his looks. What other explanation could there be for him riding to Lambton on the very morning that Jane's alarming letters concerning Lydia had arrived, other than to renew his addresses?

But rather than her hearing his addresses, he had heard of the shame and disgrace of Lydia's elopement with Wickham. After the news of her sister's abandonment, Elizabeth had given up all hope of ever seeing Mr Darcy again, and had been astonished when he had returned into Hertfordshire with his friend. Had he come despite her – or because of her? She had dared not hope. But when he had come to Longbourn with Mr Bingley to call on them, she had allowed herself to believe it must be the latter.

In what other way was it possible to comprehend his return into Hertfordshire with Mr Bingley, if it was not with the resolve of renewing his addresses? But then he had behaved so very awkwardly, and without any of that openness and warmth he had shown in Derbyshire – both during the morning visit to Longbourn, and when he had come with his friend to dine with them. In consequence, Elizabeth had reconciled herself to the loss of Mr Darcy's regard – all hope seemed finally gone.

Then came the news from Mr Bingley that Lydia was safely secluded in the country – and the suspicion that it was Mr Darcy's doing; and furthermore, that his reason for furnishing his friend with the intelligence concerning Lydia was in order to allay his concerns over the propriety of a connection with the Bennets. And if, indeed, it had been Mr Darcy's desire to undo his previous mischief in separating his friend from Jane, by now forwarding a match between them, Elizabeth wondered if, in concert with his rescue of Lydia, it was done, in some measure, to please herself. Thus did Elizabeth allow herself to once again believe that Mr Darcy might yet care for her, and that a second proposal was not beyond the realm of possibility. Of her own feelings, and the joy with which she would receive it, she was no longer in any doubt.

But then came the shocking accusations of her mother, which cast Mr Darcy's actions in an entirely different light. Elizabeth had refused to believe him capable of such disgraceful, libertine behaviour; which if true, must cast doubt upon the likelihood of him paying her his addresses – and ensure the certainty of them being rejected.

And her father, whose opinions she had always respected, and whose knowledge of the world was far greater than her own, appeared to concur with her mother in the matter. Elizabeth very much hoped that he was wrong, and consoled herself with the recollection that her father was entirely ignorant of Mr Darcy's feelings for her. He knew nothing of events in Kent and Derbyshire, which suggested the possibility of an entirely different motive from the one he had attributed to Mr Darcy for wishing to save Lydia. Should she trust her father's greater wisdom – or her own feelings? Elizabeth found it impossible to decide, and with Mr Darcy avoiding Longbourn, on account of her mother's rumours, there seemed little chance of an opportunity to converse with him, or any hope of uncovering the truth concerning Lydia.