Thanks for joining me on our Create Your Own JAFF Adventure! Just starting? You can catch up on previous posts collected here: https://austenvariations.com/category/sarah-courtney/ .
Feeling a little lost? You can read a summary of what has happened so far in the story here: quick summary.
Last post, Andrew recovered from his accidental poisoning with the laudanum meant for Mr. Darcy, but his parents are furious. Uncle Gardiner considered throwing the gentlemen out of his house for putting his son at risk, but he has decided instead that it is time to formulate a plan to expose the villain once and for all. Before Elizabeth goes to speak with Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam about the plan, however, she has a letter from Jane to read.
If you’d prefer the third person version, you can read it here. There’s a link at the bottom of the intro part that will jump you to the newest part. Just don’t forget to come back and comment to tell me what Elizabeth should do next!
You open your letter, eager to hear the news from Meryton and from Jane. It begins in the usual way, Jane passing on tidings from Charlotte and Maria Lucas, describing one of Kitty’s paintings and the new sonata Mary is struggling to learn.
Lydia mourns the presence of Mr. Wickham and is inadequately consoled by the host of available officers.
You shake your head. From what you now know of Mr. Wickham, it can only be a good thing that he is removed from Meryton, and that your sisters are not at risk from him.
Have you seen much of Mr. Bingley? Has he spoken of when he might return to Netherfield Park?
You wince. The Mr. Bingley you have met in London is every bit the Mr. Bingley you knew in Meryton, and yet your own perception of him changed. Despite his affability, you cannot help but wonder if his smiling face conceals something darker.
Is he the one who tried to murder Mr. Darcy? Is it for the best he remain in London and away from Jane?
Jane would notice if you responded and did not mention Mr. Bingley, especially considering how encouraging you had been before. You told her of Mr. Bingley’s visit to enquire after the injured Mr. Darcy.
Biting your lip, you continue reading. Jane’s handwriting changes about halfway down the page.
Since writing the last, I have startling and possibly unwelcome news for you and my aunt and uncle. Mamma has decided that Lydia and I must go to London immediately. She is anxious for news of Mr. Bingley and determined that I should not languish here while he is in town. As for why she sends Lydia as well, it is because Lydia set up a wail the moment she heard I was bound for London and would not relent until Papa did. Now it is Kitty who is bemoaning her fate, but as Kitty has not yet learned to do so at a volume or pitch to rival Lydia, it is Lydia alone who will travel with me.
I urged Papa to write to the Gardiners first as they have guests and likely do not have room, but he said we would have no peace at Longbourn until Mamma got her way, and so Lydia and I will be following this letter to London. Perhaps you might warn our aunt and uncle, as our father has failed to do so.
You drop the letter in dismay. Jane and Lydia are coming here?
There is room, just barely, since Miss Darcy went to her aunt’s house. But having Lydia in the same house as Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam, while there is a murderer afoot no less, will be adding a powder keg to the fire.
And Jane! Much as you love and usually long to see Jane, this is one time when you would happily forego the pleasure. If Mr. Bingley is the attempted murderer, it will hurt Jane. This is going to complicate things tremendously.
Your visit to the gentlemen is delayed as you must find your aunt and convey the news. Aunt Gardiner is in her parlour and no more pleased than you yourself are, but she takes it in stride.
“Thank goodness we have the room now that Miss Darcy has gone on to Lady Matlock’s.” Aunt Gardiner sighs. “I will have our housekeeper make up the room, but I will also have your uncle write a stern letter to your father. I suppose we shall have to keep Jane and Lydia for a few days at least, but I will not allow your father to determine whom we must invite to our own house.”
“First I arrived without warning and brought the injured Mr. Darcy along with me, then his family arrived to stay, and now Jane and Lydia,” you say ruefully. “What must you think of us Bennets?”
Aunt Gardiner laughs. “It has been an exciting week, I will say. Now, if you would, please go speak to Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam. I know there is some sort of plan afoot, and they will need to be apprised of our additional guests. I must speak to Miss Hammerlin about packing for the children.”
“Packing?” you gape at your aunt. “For what?”
Aunt Gardiner sighs and sits down. “Your uncle is furious about Andrew’s near poisoning. As am I, I will freely admit, although our anger has taken different directions. He is determined to find the culprit and has plans to lure the Bingleys and Hursts back to the house. However, we are not willing to put the children at risk. The children will be removing to my mother’s house in Kensington. She will be happy to have the children, Andrew will have peace and quiet to recover, and we will not need to worry about the risk to the children in whatever the gentlemen plan to expose the villain.”
“A wise consideration,” you admit. You will miss them, but you understand. “Is Andrew well enough to travel?”
“Mr. Bartley thinks he can withstand the short journey without complication.” Aunt Gardiner closes her eyes. “I only hope your uncle may find the poisoner as soon as possible so that we may have peace in our home again.”
Something tightens in your chest as you realise that your aunt would no doubt have gone with the children if she were not required to stay here because of your presence, and soon Jane’s and Lydia’s. None of the girls can be left in the house with only their uncle and the men. Aunt Gardiner does not show her dismay, but you know she cannot be happy to be parted from Andrew so soon after his terrible experience.
You thank your aunt, but guilt weighs on you heavily as you trudge upstairs to speak to the gentlemen.
You brought this upon them by taking the injured Mr. Darcy to their house instead of finding his own or taking him back to Netherfield Park. While you are still certain that you did the best thing for Mr. Darcy, it has not been the best thing for the Gardiners.
Andrew is alive, and for that much you are grateful. But you must catch the attempted murderer before he succeeds, either in his original target or in those innocents who stumble upon his path.
To that end, you hurry to the sitting room where the gentlemen are waiting.
“Ah, Miss Bennet. Excellent,” says Colonel Fitzwilliam as the men rise to greet you. “We have been contemplating options.”
“We need to bring the Bingleys and Hursts back to this house,” Mr. Darcy says. “Our thought is to give them the opportunity to take some action, but this time we would be watching to catch the culprit in the act.”
You lower yourself into one of the chairs, and the gentlemen follow suit. “My uncle said that you may pretend to have succumbed to the laudanum poisoning,” you say, “but I cannot think that a good idea. If you are dead, the situation changes entirely. The Bingleys and Hursts would not be invited to a house of mourning.”
“No, I agree,” Mr. Darcy says immediately. “I cannot die.” His eyes twinkle, but you feel a twinge at the thought.
It was not so long ago when you had feared for his life—twice. The first time, you had worried more in the way you would for any wounded person. But the second time, you had felt all the terror that you would lose someone who had become important to you.
“What if you had another relapse?” you say slowly. It had been the physician’s theory at the first laudanum overdose. “Perhaps Mr. Bingley and his family might be invited to dine, but when they arrive, we tell them you have had a relapse and are too unwell to dine. You will appear to be left alone upstairs, and . . .” You trail off. The rest is too awful to contemplate putting in words.
“Will they dare act so overtly?” Colonel Fitzwilliam asks, stroking his chin. “I do not think they would know we suspect laudanum, but they may not be willing to risk sneaking upstairs to attack Darcy again, especially as they would know he was in the room. It would be one thing when we are all downstairs, another when Darcy might, for all they know, be awake and aware enough to see them enter. Unless we talk about how he has been unable to stay awake, but that may be obvious enough to rouse suspicions.”
“If they thought it would be simple and easy,” Mr. Darcy muses, “they would be more likely to take the bait.”
You lean forward. “We could invite them for tea. If Mr. Darcy’s tea was sitting unattended and they knew it was his . . . Perhaps if my aunt spoke to a maid within everyone’s hearing, saying that the tea she had just poured should be taken up to Mr. Darcy, something like that.”
“Tea will not hide the taste of laudanum.” Colonel Fitzwilliam exchanges a glance with Mr. Darcy. “But it is a good idea.”
“Coffee,” you and Mr. Darcy say together.
“We are back to inviting them to dinner, I think,” Mr. Darcy says. “When your aunt is pouring out the coffee after dinner, she should announce to the maid in front of all that a cup is to be sent to me.”
You nod. “It was done before, of course, but would they not be all the more likely to try it again? For all they know, it worked, it was just insufficient to kill him. They might believe it a safe risk.”
“We could mention Darcy’s relapse, and how the physician believed it was a common result of serious head injury and that he was at risk of it happening again,” the colonel says.
“What about the laudanum?” Mr. Darcy asks. “It would not be so convenient this time.”
“As to that,” Colonel Fitzwilliam says, “I have been doing a little investigating on my own there. Miss Bennet, I believe you had assumed that the laudanum given to Mr. Darcy was from your aunt’s supplies, but I found that it was not.”
“No? But hers was not in the medicine closet.”
“It was not, because it was brought to the sickroom that first day. After Mr. Darcy woke, the physician did not want him dosed again, so he removed it from the bedside table but did not know the location to put it. He sent it down to the kitchen with the other supplies, and it was only returned to the proper place later. That fits with my suspicions.”
“They planned it in advance,” Mr. Darcy says slowly.
“Yes. The poisoner could not have known that laudanum would be found easily to hand. Initially, I thought as you did, that the attempted murder was done on the spur of the moment without advance planning, but after the previous attempt, that seemed unlikely. From what we know now, it seems certain that the murder brought the laudanum with them. It would also prevent anyone from making the connection or from noticing how much was missing from the bottle.”
“Considering how much they must have used, an excellent point.” You tap her chin. “But that does bring up a problem with luring them into a trap. If they do not know until their arrival that Mr. Darcy is ill in bed, they may not bring it.”
“It is a risk,” Colonel Fitzwilliam admits. “And we cannot put about that Darcy is ill in bed in advance, or it would make no sense to invite them to dinner in that situation.”
“There have been two attacks already,” Mr. Darcy says. “They are growing increasingly desperate, I would say. If they do not bring the laudanum but discover my weakness, they may try something else.”
You swallow hard. “What if they bring a weapon?”
“I cannot imagine it,” the colonel assures you. “The men who attacked Mr. Darcy at Netherfield Park appear to have been paid ruffians, and laudanum was subtle and almost missed, even the physician assuming the result was a relapse from Mr. Darcy’s original injuries. The would-be murderer does not want his or her deeds known. A sword or pistol would make their crime impossible to hide and would likely lead to their arrest and execution.”
He makes a good point, but is he willing to risk Mr. Darcy’s life?
“I believe it worth the risk,” Mr. Darcy says softly, as if he can read your mind. “I do not believe they will stop trying until they succeed or are caught, and if we can control the circumstances, the outcome leans in our favor.”
“Then we are back to leaving the coffee unattended in the hopes that they will take advantage of the situation.”
Mr. Darcy nods. “I think the idea has merit, if the Gardiners feel they could support it. It will take some degree of acting skill to keep from appearing false.”
“My aunt and uncle are fond of home theatricals, especially at Christmas,” Elizabeth said. “I believe they could do it. But what part would be assigned to whom? It would be most natural for my aunt, I believe. Perhaps when the coffee is brought in, she might instruct the maid to carry a cup upstairs to Mr. Darcy. Then, as soon as the maid is leaving the room, my aunt might suddenly recall an urgent business in the kitchen and order the maid to leave the coffee on the table in the passage while she goes on the other errand.”
“We could then see who leaves the room,” Mr. Darcy says.
“We would do more than that,” Colonel Fitzwilliam says. “We would have someone stationed where they can observe the coffee without being seen. We must be absolutely certain. After all, three of them left the room last time, and for all we know, two of them did so innocently. They could be working together, but we should not assume they are.”
“I will speak with Mr. Gardiner,” Colonel Fitzwilliam says, standing. “We will have to make sure the children are kept safely upstairs.”
“My aunt is taking the children to her mother’s house.” Your face heats with the guilt over your choices leading to this, the Gardiners’ children being forced to leave their home for their own safety.
Mr. Darcy winces, and you can see the same guilt in his eyes. “Mrs. Gardiner is likely right to do so, but I wish there was another way to do this to avoid putting the Gardiners in this position.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam pauses at the door. “We can only hope that this plan will work and put an end to this.” He bows before leaving to share the plan with Mr. Gardiner.
“I wish beyond words that I had not put you in this position either, Miss Bennet,” Mr. Darcy says. “You have risked yourself time and again to help me. I am endlessly in your debt.”
“Do not speak of debt,” you say quickly. “I could not have left you on that road, no compassionate person could. And after all, none of this has been your fault.”
“I should have insisted on being moved to Darcy House as soon as I regained my senses,” Mr. Darcy protests. “I knew I had been attacked.”
“You could not have known it would be repeated, or that you would be in danger from your own friends!”
Mr. Darcy closes his eyes, and you regret it immediately. It must pain him to think that Mr. Bingley or one of the Hursts could have done this. And why?
“I hate to think of it.” His voice is soft and rough. “I am eager, too, to determine the culprit . . .”
“Because until you do, it is as if they are all guilty.”
“Exactly.”
It seems impossible to think of bright, cheerful Mr. Bingley as being capable of trying to kill Mr. Darcy. But it seems equally impossible that lazy, gluttonous Mr. Hurst or foolish, haughty Mrs. Hurst could do it, either.
Miss Bingley, you could suspect more easily, especially if Mr. Darcy turned her down once and for all. Miss Bingley seems the type of woman whose admiration could turn to fury if she were denied the objection of her desire. And yet she is the only one who did not leave the room! How infuriating.
Is it possible she could have poisoned the chocolate without you noticing her leave? Perhaps you were distracted at just the right moment?
Mr. Darcy’s voice cuts through your musings. “Miss Bennet, I wonder if . . . I wonder if after this is all resolved, if I might call on you? Here, at the Gardiners’ house, if you intend to stay for some time.”
Heat rushes to your face. Mr. Darcy must be in a similar state, as you can see a hint of red to his ears, but his dark eyes are intent on yours, and there is a warmth in them that you feel down to your toes.
“Call on me,” you repeat, willing the heat to fade. “You wish to . . . I mean, you want to see me again? But . . .” Your brain flashes back to their first meeting, to your crushed hopes when you first glimpsed him, tall and handsome, across a public ballroom. “I thought I was merely tolerable.”
“You must know I think entirely differently of you now.”
The heat vanishes in the wake of a sudden chill. “Because you are indebted to me for saving you on the road.”
“No. I mean, I am indebted to you, but . . .” He clears his throat. “I had intended to leave Meryton that morning because of you.”
Is this supposed to be comforting? “Because of me?”
“Because I was attracted to you. Because I wanted to deny it, to escape before it was too late.”
How can two men like Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy be so different and yet so similar? Mr. Collins, it is true, saw no impediment to marrying you, but just like Mr. Darcy, he saw you not as yourself, but as the sum total of your connections and situation.
“I see. You were attracted to me, but you had no desire to marry me, because my situation was so decidedly below your own.”
“Yes.” He frowns as if he finally noticed how that sounded. “No, no. If it were only me whose desires and wishes I would consider, I would have proposed to you before I left Hertfordshire.”
It is as if all the breath has been knocked out of you. He does not just want to call on you—he wanted to propose? Before he left Hertfordshire? When you had done nothing but debate and argue and . . . and dance.
“But my marriage is not about me alone. It will affect Georgiana’s prospects upon her presentation, as well as those of my future children.”
Georgiana Darcy. The one who was willing to sneak out of the Gardiners’ home for who knew what purpose, putting her own safety and reputation at risk. The one who had almost eloped with Mr. Wickham.
“Miss Darcy’s own choices are likely to have the larger impact on her prospects and presentation,” you say coolly. “Good day, Mr. Darcy.”
Before he can stand up from his chair, you hurry out the door and toward the stairs. What a fool you were!
You swipe at your eye. Mr. Darcy can take his connections and just . . . stay in London where he belongs! Or better yet, go to his beloved Pemberley. What business has he in appearing noble and kind and clever and then telling you that he intended to flee from you because of your situation? What business has he making you fall in . . . well, you are certainly not in love with him. You could not love a man who cares more about whether his marriage improves his lying, sneaking sister’s connections and those of children who don’t even exist than whether he loves and respects his wife.
“Oh, there you are, Elizabeth!” Uncle Gardiner calls up to you “Your sisters have arrived!”
You hurry down the last stairs to find your sisters standing in the entrance removing their outdoor clothing.
“Lizzy!” Lydia tosses her bonnet in the direction of the butler and hurries to your side. “Uncle Gardiner says you have an officer living in this very house! What fun! Is he very handsome?”
Jane smiles ruefully at you. Poor Jane, to have been trapped in a carriage with only Lydia for several hours!
“I am so pleased to see you,” Jane says, taking your hands. “You have had an adventure since your arrival in London! You must tell me everything.”
“Mr. Darcy and his cousin are still here,” you say cautiously. “Mr. Darcy is very unwell and keeps to his rooms.”
“A colonel!” Lydia breathes, ignoring the rest. “Does he wear his red coat in the house, Lizzy?”
You choke out a laugh. “Sometimes, when he comes directly from his duty.” His duty. Like Mr. Darcy’s duty to marry well.
No. You can not think about Mr. Darcy, about the dismayed expression on his face as you fled the room, about his red ears as he tried to ask to call on you, at the sober arrogance with which he said he intended to flee Meryton to escape her.
You can not think of it. You have a plan to catch a poisoner. And even if Mr. Darcy is an arrogant man who cares more for his family’s name than love or affection, he does not deserve to die.
Lydia feigns a swoon at the mention of a red coat, but Jane’s expression is serious. And hopeful. She undoubtedly wants to know about Mr. Bingley.
And therein lay the rub. What should you tell her? After all, you know nothing for certain. Mr. Bingley may be innocent, and it may be another in his party who is guilty. But then again, it may be Mr. Bingley, and at the very least, it seems impossible that there is not at least one guilty person in close relationship with Mr. Bingley. If you are right, and one of the Netherfield party is trying to kill Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley will not remain untouched by the scandal. Jane should know the risk of allowing herself to fall more deeply in love.
Furthermore, Jane’s ignorance might even put her in danger, just as Andrew’s had.
Jane is excellent at keeping secrets, and she has a strong sense of justice. Yet she is not a good liar. You will certainly not ask her to play any significant role in their charade, but is it fair to tell her nothing at all? Is she more likely to make a mistake if she knows, or if she does not know?
What should you do? Should you:
tell Jane about the laudanum and your plans to expose the poisoner this evening
or
should you leave her in ignorance?
I hope that was the Darcy and Elizabeth togetherness time you all were hoping for! 🙂
I was really up against the wire for getting this one posted, so please forgive any typos or tense issues!
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