A Most Respectable Elopement, Part Twenty Eight

The unthinkable has happened and George Wickham’s apology to Darcy has resulted in a new friendship on the eve of his wedding to Lydia. With Mr Gardiner making up the group, it’s time for our gentlemen to get their stag do on the road!

Catherine Curzon and Nicole Clarkston

Catch up on previous adventures here! One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve,Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty One, Twenty Two,Twenty Three, Twenty Four, Twenty Five, Twenty Six, Twenty Seven

Edward Gardiner sputtered, wheezed, and held the remaining contents of his glass to the candle. “What did you call this product of Hades, Wickham?”

“Holy water,” Wickham told him with a sly smile. “What else would it be?”

“No wonder it scorches the soul! I must find out where the proprietor obtained this sinful concoction at once! Perhaps I could purchase a lot… you do not suppose it is smuggled, do you?”

“Of course it is,” Darcy calmly drained his own glass. “But I have a case of this very ambrosia at Pemberley. Perhaps you might call on me again, and we can tip a glass.”

“Perhaps I will,” his friend decided, refilling each glass in turn. “What say you, Mr G, will you join us in toasting Pemberley?”

Gardiner wiped the tears from his eyes, coughed mildly once more, and raised his glass with gusto. “To Pemberley! A place where the impossible becomes a reality.”

Darcy chuckled quietly. “You do my home too much credit, sir. It is hardly a land of fairy tales.”

Gardiner caught Wickham’s eye with a smug little grin. “We shall see, Darcy. Oh, Mr Wickham,” he changed tacks, “did my brother Bennet extend an invitation for you and your bride to visit Longbourn after the ceremony, on the way to Newcastle? I wish you would convey my very best to my sister and my nieces.”

“And we shall happily do so,” Wickham beamed. “The soon-to-be Mrs Wickham and I intend to liberally distribute best wishes to the entire length of the country as we go!”

He looked around the establishment, at the tables where respectable men were growing ever looser with drink and the knowledge that they were surrounded only by their peers. Then he leaned forward, dropped his voice and confided, “There is much to be said for falling in love, is there not?”

“There is Indeed! Why, I became twice the man I was before I met my dear Mrs Gardiner. A man well matched is a man made, eh Mr Darcy?”

Darcy stirred, his cheeks ruddy from the drink– or perhaps it was some other intoxicant which made his eyes glitter strangely. “You are most fortunate, sir.”

“As might you be, if you would be allow it,” Wickham observed shrewdly, though he said no more on the subject. This was a night to tease, not bait. Still he could not resist adding, “A chance should always be taken, I think.”

The dark eyebrows raised over eyes which seemed clearer than the amount of drink would have permitted. “A man can take only so many chances before he learns that he was mistaken.”

Gardiner leaned back in his chair. “Is it only gentlemen who can be mistaken, my friend?”

Darcy’s head jerked toward him. “What can you mean by that?”

Gardiner looked as he were a cat that had just swallowed a mouse.  He tucked his fingers into his waistcoat and deferred to Wickham.

Wickham smiled a most saintly smile and considered the liquid in his glass. He swirled it, peering at the surface, then lifted his gaze to meet Darcy’s.

“I believe that a lady might be equally given to mistakes. Why, might it even be that two people fail to see their likeness in the countenance of the other?” He frowned. “How many might have lived a span and gone to meet their maker wondering, what if I had taken the untraveled road?”

“That road has been taken,” Darcy insisted with a faint slur. “It led to nowhere but regret.”

“Do you know,” Gardiner shifted forward in his chair, “I was just speaking of a similar matter rather recently with another. This… person… had held an opinion thought to be infallible, unshakable. I happened to be present for the moment when that opinion toppled like the behemoths of old. Imagine, if you will, the light of humiliation in my young friend’s countenance! But there was more, for I also saw something spark there, as if the confession of abject error came as a joy and a relief, rather than the burden of guilt.”

“Holy Water has loosened my tongue and the Lord above all will tell you that I have never been one for taking a shuffling step when I might take a great leap,” Wickham decided. He took a long drink and declared, “We all know of whom and of what we speak, gentlemen. Darcy, for heaven’s sake, she knows her error, you know your error– By God, man, if I can apologise for my indiscretions, will you not put right your own mistakes too? Mark well, someone will snatch away that treasure if you do not, and you will be all the more miserable for it!”

Darcy’s spine had stiffened like a ramrod, and his face had drained of all colour. “Mr Gardiner… you were speaking of… Miss Elizabeth? Had she truly revised her opinion of me?”

Gardiner snorted, shaking his head at Wickham in sympathetic awe at the other’s denseness. “None other, sir. But her mother will not long endure her second daughter’s unwed state, so any man of sense would not dally.”

“Then I should pay a visit to Bingley,” the frustrated lover breathed, his gaze starry and vague as he glanced about the table. “At once!”

“Perhaps not right away,” Wickham corrected. “The hour is late and you, my friend, are somewhat intoxicated. In the morning, when your eyes are a little less unfocused.”

“But I have not an instant to lose! She may have come to think I could not be made to see my own wrongs…. Good heavens, she may even be persuaded that I no longer think of her! A horse, I must call for a horse!”

“Indeed she may,” was Wickham’s merry confirmation. “Or she may – and I’m merely hazarding a guess – she may be in her bed, fast asleep and in no mind to be roused from dreaming by a lovesick fellow with alcohol on his breath. Tomorrow, my friend, for no man shall steal her away before that.”

“Indeed, Darcy, wait until after the wedding nerves have faded from Longbourn and my sister has already settled one daughter. It will make her less distressed about the elder two, for certainly you do not intend to ride to Hertfordshire alone. Go in a fortnight. As for myself,” he chuckled, “I cannot wait so long. Excuse me for just a moment, will you?”

Gardiner rose to attend to his calling. Darcy still seemed to be in an alcoholic daze, a silly grin warming his features and all thoughts of anything save brown curls and fine eyes far from his mind.

Wickham said nothing, but sat back in his chair, rather pleased with the way the night had turned out. Wrongs were righted, the path of true love was set and for once, just once, Fitzwilliam Darcy had allowed himself to be less than rigid. And that would do no harm to anyone.

“Wickham,” Darcy seemed to recall himself, “while we have another moment in privacy, what are your plans for the ceremony? What have you heard from Whitehall?”

“That my protection is now fourfold and that the villain has been reported in St Giles, so he is still in the city.” He dropped his voice again and whispered, “My plans are for grandeur and majesty and enough celebration that it shall be heard all around the world. What else would you expect of Miss Bennet and myself?”

“Do you have an expectation that the plan will succeed? I would not wish to think of Miss Lydia encountering danger on the road, if all does not go as planned. Think me a boor if you wish, for I had not meant to imply that you would not protect your lady, but… if… well, she is the sister of one I greatly respect, and….” Darcy cleared his throat and contemplated his drink again. “Have you an alternative plan, if your man is not caught?”

“We do, though it is terribly complicated and involves the horror of living a quiet life for some time, God forbid!” Wickham pulled a comical grimace. “But Bell is a loud and foolish fellow, even more so than I, he will not be able to avoid the temptation presented by bringing about my very public downfall at the very moment of my greatest triumph!”

A slow grin spread over Darcy’s face. “I am certain that many there are who would once have agreed with him. Do take proper precautions, for I no longer number among those. Wickham…” he frowned and squirmed faintly in his seat, then cast another glance toward the corner of the room to ensure that they had yet a few more moments of privacy. “I would wish you to know that my loyalty, once sworn, is not easily lost. However, to complete the illusion you would create, to protect your lady from scandal, I fear I must at least make the appearance of distance between us. I would not like you to misunderstand my intentions in that regard. Are you in agreement with this course?”

“On one condition, my friend.” He smiled. “That our division be temporary, for it has been too long already, and that we are brothers again once the villain is apprehended.”

Darcy arched a brow. “If I am doubly blessed, perhaps we might be brothers in truth.”

“I am sure it shall be so.” He held up the bottle. “Shall we continue communion?”

“Have I not drunk enough for one night? You have extracted from me a confession of love and an oath of friendship, neither of which would ever have crossed my lips had I been perfectly sober. Shall I dance on the tables next?”

“Good heavens!” Gardiner, just returning to the table, heard only that final remark. “Mr Darcy, are you feeling unwell?”

“No!” that gentleman laughed. “It was merely a joke for my old friend’s benefit. I have never been one to openly express myself, but tonight has seen several exceptions to that rule.”

“Then we need another bottle, do we not?”

Darcy’s eyes widened in genuine apprehension, but Gardiner laughed heartily and raised his hand to summon the waiter.

To be continued…

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