The Plight of the Darcy Brothers by Marsha Altman Read Free Book Online

Bennet.
    “Mr. Bennet, please do listen to Mrs. Darcy and take some deep breaths.” With that, Dr. Maddox bowed to him and took his leave, shutting the door behind him.
    Mr. Bennet did not respond, but he did take a deep breath. There was silence in the room as he visibly regained his composure, or attempted to do so. “I have every right as a father to make myself ill over this.”
    “As a father to Mary, perhaps. But not to the rest of us,” she said gently. “Papa, please.”
    Mr. Bennet took one of his hands out of hers and used it to hold up his head. “What am I to do? I have ruined one of my daughters by sending her to France.” He added quickly, “And don't bother me with the business of it being of her own volition, because Mary tried to assign as much blame to herself as possible. She may be out, but she is my responsibility until the day she is married, and now it seems she never will be.” When he looked up, there were tears in his eyes. “I have ruined her.”
    “Papa, you have not.”
    “If only I'd not let her go to France—”
    “She took liberties there you did not know of—”
    “But she seemed so sensible! Well, perhaps not sensible, but so religious! I thought the worst of it would be she might endup in a nunnery, and if that would make her happy, then… so be it. I only wanted to see her happy.” He gave a sad smile. “I only wanted to see you all happy. I put you out one after another, when it wasn't proper to do so. I sent Lydia to Brighton. Oh god, if Darcy hadn't saved us all—”
    “Papa, that is in the past.”
    “I know. I know.” For once, he seemed very old and bumbling and somewhat out of his senses. “Even Darcy cannot save us now. Though, I thank God, Lizzy, you and Jane do not need saving, and Lydia is at least settled, and perhaps Kitty will survive— what with two older sisters who did well—and we shall not lose Longbourn. I have that solace, but so little it is. Even if I forgive Mary, as I will eventually manage to do, she will not forgive herself.” He was now openly crying. “Lizzy, what am I to do?”
    “I do not know,” was her honest answer as she embraced him.
    “I suppose,” he said, after trying to regain his composure again, this time in a different way, “that Mr. Bingley will take her in for the rest of her term and shelter us all, for a time, from the scandal. That may be enough time to marry off Kitty, or perhaps something else will come up. I find myself without an answer to our question. But now—I must discuss it with my sons-in-law, and I must be the properly angry father again. So, please, give me a moment and send them in, will you, darling?”
    “Of course, Papa.” She kissed him on his forehead and left the room. She needed a moment herself, before she could face the waiting crowd in the next room.

    “I'm quite well now,” Mr. Bennet announced as his twosons-in-law and the physician entered the room. He shooed Maddox's attentions away, though he clearly was calmer now, if still not considerably angry. “This is a situation with only one obvious remedy.”
    There was a long silence.
    “I'm very sorry, but I can't go,” Maddox announced.
    “Daniel,” Bingley said, “You had never even met Mary until this day. You can hardly be expected—”
    “But I am the only one here beyond Mr. Bennet with a proficiency in Italian, and I spent a month of my life in Rome itself. So I would be the most logical choice, and Caroline would love to see France. But she cannot travel… right now.”
    “I don't see—,” Darcy said, and then stopped. “Were you ever going to tell us?”
    “I left that up to her. After all, she has to do most of the work.”
    “My sister. With child.” Bingley was stupefied. “I don't know whether to throttle you or shake your hand, Doctor.”
    “They are married, Bingley,” Darcy reminded him. “Out of curiosity, when does her confinement begin?”
    “In four months.”
    “In four…” Bingley had