“I have hardly had an opportunity to discuss it,” Elizabeth responded. “The whole household has been in a bit of an uproar since I returned.” Although Darcy and Bingley knew of Lydia’s situation, she felt it would be indelicate to refer to it in front of her father.
“The only news we had of the Gardiners was that you had to leave in a hurry without their company and that you were detained for a time at the home of a friend because of an illness. There must be more to the story than that.” He was regarding her sharply. Elizabeth felt a flutter of panic; this was neither the time nor the place she would have selected to share these facts with her father.
“I shall tell you another time,” she demurred. “I do not wish to bore everyone with such details.”
“Come, come,” her father smiled. “Do tell. I daresay we could all do with a little diversion.” Elizabeth wondered if he suspected Darcy’s role in her misadventures. Her conversation with him the previous day must have piqued his curiosity, but she was uncomfortably aware that it would be difficult to relate the story without giving the impression that Darcy had compromised her reputation.
“Yes, Lizzy, tell us,” Jane said quite innocently. “I would like to hear more of your travels. I am certain they were very interesting.”
Elizabeth realized she could not avoid telling the tale and rapidly reviewed which portions she could relate and which she must omit. Her eyes darted to Darcy and he shrugged slightly as if to say, “Might as well.”
“How did you escape the city?” Her father’s tone was casual, but his eyes were unusually intent. “Did Mrs. Radnor arrange for transportation?”
“Well…she attempted it, but few carriages were available. Everyone was trying to leave Paris at the same time. Nothing was available for hire,” Elizabeth admitted, knowing what was coming next.
“So how did you leave?” Her father seemed a little irritated at having to drag the story out of her.
“Mr. Darcy was kind enough to hire a carriage and offer me transportation.” Elizabeth tried to keep her voice nonchalant, but even Bingley’s eyebrows raised at this information.
“Mr. Darcy!” Her father’s eyes swung to Darcy. “Did Mrs. Radnor accompany you?”
“No,” Elizabeth in a neutral tone. “She sent a maid to accompany me, but Mr. Darcy could only hire a curricle, so we did not have space for the maid and sent her back to Radnor House.” She hoped that their attempt to accommodate a chaperone would mitigate some of her father’s anger.
“So you and Mr. Darcy left Paris together? In a curricle?” Her father’s voice was rising and Elizabeth knew he was struggling to stay calm.
“Yes, but when I fell ill, it was apparent that I could not travel all the way to Calais, so Mr. Darcy took me to the house of a friend of his: Mr. Whitmore.” She found herself staring at her hands because she did not want to meet her father’s gaze, but the moment she realized this, she lifted her head, reminding herself that they had done nothing wrong. Their behavior had been unconventional, perhaps, but not wrong.
“Whitmore is a friend of mine from Oxford,” Darcy interjected for the first time in the exchange. “He took orders soon after we graduated, but he has since moved to France to be with his wife.” Her father seemed a little mollified at the thought that Elizabeth had been staying at the home of a married clergyman.
“Mr. Whitmore and his wife took very good care of me, Papa,” Elizabeth continued, seeing this as an opportunity to demonstrate Darcy’s good judgment in caring for her. “They made sure I had everything I needed. And so did Mr. Darcy. ”
“And what did Mr. Darcy do for you, pray tell?” Her father’s eyes flashed with anger again. We did nothing wrong, Elizabeth reminded herself. However, she felt guilty about what she was not telling her father and he probably sensed she was holding something back. She felt her face turn red. I probably look extremely guilty.
“He found a doctor, gave me medicine, got me food….” Belatedly Elizabeth realized how these actions could be misinterpreted.
“He was in your room?” Her father said sharply. Bingley and Jane had identical expressions of shock on their faces.
“I was ill! He was helping to take care of me…with the maids and Mrs. Whitmore…” She stopped; if she protested too much, her father might think they were concealing something.
“Why was I not informed of this situation?”
“He wrote to the Gardiners and kept them informed. They did not pass the details along to you because they did not want to distress you about a situation you could do nothing to change.” Elizabeth spared a look for Darcy; she was mortified about her father’s behavior – about what he was implying. Darcy was sitting very still with little expression on his face, a pose she now recognized as betraying his anger.
“How dare they decide—!” Her father almost shouted. Jane and Bingley appeared to wish they were anywhere else, but did not dare to leave.
Elizabeth closed her eyes briefly, trying to quell her anger with her father. “It was in the midst of the distress about Lydia. They did not want to worry you about another daughter. Mr. Darcy took very good care of me—”
“I am certain he did!” Sarcasm laced his words.
“I was very ill! Nothing improper took place.” Her father launched himself from his chair and was pacing the room, his face redder than she had ever seen it. “Our situation was quite perilous; surely the ordinary rules of propriety do not apply. If Mr. Darcy had not been willing to take me from Paris without a chaperone I might never have left.” Her father’s unreasonable anger was raising her own ire. A glance over at Darcy revealed that he, too, was close to the breaking point.
“Why did you conceal all of this from me? I believed Mrs. Radnor escorted you and a friend of hers cared for you! You and the Gardiners deliberately deceived me!” Elizabeth thought wryly they were lucky he did not know what else they were concealing.
“Mr. Bennet!” Darcy stood and towered imposingly over her father. “Elizabeth will not tell you this, sir, but she almost died in France! Her fever was so high and her breathing was so labored, there were several days when the doctor did not think she would recover. Surely you have noticed the cough that still lingers and how easily she is fatigued?” Darcy’s voice had been rising. He swallowed and lowered it to a more socially acceptable level, but the intensity of his sentiments kept everyone’s attention focused on him.
“She also has been protecting you from the knowledge of how we were almost killed by brigands in Paris and nearly arrested in Dunkirk! She knew you were anxious about being unable to protect her in France and sought to spare you the guilt. But, you are demonstrating that she need not have bothered. You are not concerned about her well-being, only that she did not commit the smallest appearance of impropriety! You should be grateful you still have a daughter whose reputation you can worry about!”
Mr. Bennet’s face reflected outrage at the rebuke. Jane and Bingley were staring in amazement at Darcy, apparently attempting to assimilate this new information. Darcy turned on his heel and strode out of the drawing room. Every eye turned to Elizabeth.