The Ballad of Gregoire Darcy (37 page)

Grégoire said his Latin prayers, whatever they were. When he was finished, Darcy spoke.

“Hello, Uncle. We've come to bring you home.”

CHAPTER 24

“OH, EDMUND, WHAT A FINE THING FOR OUR GIRLS!”

“What?” Mr. Bennet said, hardly looking up from his paper. “Has Netherfield Park been let at last? Again?”

“Oh, Mr. Bennet! You tease me so! You will drive me to distraction!” she said, and rushed over to kiss him on his forehead.

“Always my intention, my dear,” he said, and she hurried off to do some errand, real or imagined. It did worry him that her brain had been damaged by a stroke, and that sometimes her words or actions could not be properly accounted for. But in this case, Mr. Bennet knew precisely what she was talking about. Dr. Bertrand was leaving, set to head back to Town, and she was watching his departure from the window.

His serious daughter entered the sitting room, a book in hand, so he did not even have to get up to find her. “Mary,” he said, in the sort of fatherly tone that got a daughter's attention, “why do you play with that man's emotions? At this point, it's positively rude.”

“Papa!” she said. “I am not. I have been completely civil to him.”

“Nonsense. He has been coming several times a week now for almost a month to call on you.You are in love with him. He is in love with you.Yet you have given him every subtle indication that if he made an offer of marriage, you would reject it. That is my conjecture, anyway, or he would have done it weeks ago.”

She pursed her lips. “It is not so simple.”

“Please.” He gestured. “Sit down and explain to me the complexities.”

“There is—well, he lives in town, and I could hardly—”

“Yes, leave Longbourn while I am still alive. I agree with you on this point, if you would be so kind as to grace us with your presence and Joseph's presence. I dread the idea of an empty nest. Have you said as much to him?”

“You mean, have I told him that I have no wish to leave Longbourn until I am forced by the entail?”

“Precisely.”

“Yes,” she said.

“And what did he say to this, our Town doctor?”

“He said he would manage.”

Mr. Bennet nodded. “He's a young fellow and the situation would be temporary. Apparently, he does not think fifty miles that far at all. What other nonsense bothers you?” But instead of responding, she looked away. “It cannot be Joseph. He adores the man. And if you think he is too young to realize that you may well marry Dr. Bertrand, you are underestimating your son.”

“He may not wish it. I promised myself that Joseph's wishes would always come first.”

“He
may
not? You have not had this conversation with him?”

“I have not. No, Papa.”

“Goodness! What are you waiting for? Ask the poor boy already and be done with it!”

“Papa!”

“Mary,” he said a bit more sternly, “the best way to decipher his wishes is to ask him about them. All of these studies will do you no good if you are not capable of reaching that logical conclusion.”

She colored at this.

“Now ask him. Not this moment precisely, but by dinner at least. Or I will tell your mother that Dr. Bertrand is really Mr. Collins, and she will insist that you marry him immediately and save us all!”

She protested but it worked. Four of his daughters had married without much help from him. Now, at least, he could be of assistance.

After pacing for some time, Mary finally entered the nursery, where Joseph was finishing lunch. “Mummy!”

“Joseph,” she said. “Come. We are going to take a walk.”

Of course, it was not so easily done, as it was now October and he had to be bundled up properly, something Mary did herself. At last, they made it out the door and walked slowly down the path that circled the grounds. “Joseph,” she began, “what do you think of Dr. Bertrand?”

“I like him a lot,” he said, looking up at her. “Are you going to marry him?”

Feeling her face go red, she turned away.

“Mother?”

“I'm not sure,” she answered. “What do you think? You know that I will always love your father, but that does not mean he is here.” She looked down and saw his frown. She stopped in her tracks and knelt down to face him. “What is it?”

“I like Dr. Bertrand. I think he knows a lot of things and he makes you happy and I think he likes me. And I know it's different because my father isn't dead, but Isabel says that after Aunt Bradley remarried, and had her own children with Uncle Bradley, it was
different
. As though…she forgot about them.”

“Did George say anything like that?”

“I haven't asked him, but he seems lonely. His brother is a baby!”

She chose her words carefully. “Joseph, you are my son. My wonderful child, my first child. That would never change. Even if I were to have children with Dr. Bertrand, I could not forget about you, not for a second.”

“But Aunt—”

“Your aunt is a different person from me,” she said. “You realize that, don't you?”

“Of course.”

“Your aunt and I have our different ideas about marriage. Let's leave it at that. Mr. Wickham died and left her penniless and with two young children. Had she had no family, her situation would have been desperate. She
had
to remarry if she was ever to leave Longbourn. But I have no obligation to find someone to take care of me and you. I consider Dr. Bertrand only because he might be a good man to be a father to you.You see how that is different?”

He mulled over it, and then nodded. “But you promise you will always love me, even if you have children and they're really special?”

“
All
children are special. And I do promise.” She kissed his cheek. “To my last day, you will be my first concern. I love you.” She hugged him. “I love you more than you can imagine.” She wiped her tears away before releasing him. She loved her son, but was not given to displays of emotion. “And it will always be that way.”

He did seem somewhat convinced. “All right. You can marry him now.”

“Darling, I have to wait for
him
to ask
me.
”

“Why is that?”

She stood up and they resumed their walk back to the house. “Because that's the way things are done.”

“Well, if he doesn't ask, then I'll tell him to!”

“Joseph Bennet, you will do no such thing!”

“All right,” he said. Then he mumbled, “But I will if I
have
to.”

Joseph did not have to. Andrew Bertrand came on time for services on Sunday, and then asked Mary to walk with him to see the changing leaves at Oakham Mount. It would have been hard to argue that a woman with a child needed a chaperone to keep her virtue intact.

“I thought you were Catholic,” she said. “What do you think of our services?”

“The last time I went to Mass was for my first Communion,” he said.

“But you wouldn't mind—”

“No, I wouldn't mind. Though, people do get sick on Sundays as often as any other.”

“So when is your day of rest?”

“When I manage it,” he said. “Like now.” He stopped in his tracks. “Are you decided?”

“Decided?”

“I apologize, Miss Bennet. You are at times easy to read. Until today, I could not be sure if you had formed an opinion of my character. But now, I'm fairly sure you have.”

She said nothing.

“Mary Bennet, will you marry me?”

She looked up into his eyes, hers already welling up. “Yes, Andrew, I will.”

They kissed for the first time, with the leaves blowing around them. The kiss was soft and gentle, but lingering. “What would you have done?” Mary said at the end of it.

“What?”

“If I had not come to a decision about your character.”

“I would have asked anyway,” he said with a smile. “I could hardly have waited any longer.”

“Well, my goodness,” Mr. Bennet said, not rising from his chair as Dr. Bertrand entered. “At least take off your hat first. Manners, Doctor.”

Dr. Bertrand blushed and removed his hat and gloves.

“Technically, you do not need my consent,” he said. “She is of age. But as her inheritance is somewhat conditional, you might want to ask for it.”

“I am not after her inheritance,” he said. “But I would like your consent to marry Miss Bennet.”

“The last one,” he said somberly.“The last Miss Bennet there is, and shall ever be in my lifetime.” He shook his head. “But of course, you have my consent.” They shook on it. “There is, of course, the matter of your profession as a royal physician.”

Dr. Bertrand had prepared for this. “Dr. Maddox and I have already discussed it. Because it is Mary's intention to live in Longbourn until your, um—”

“Long-predicted death, yes. Go on.”

“Yes. Well, of course, I do not propose otherwise, though I may be in Town for a few days every now and again. Or we may just hire someone new to add to the staff. Either way, it will be worked out to everyone's satisfaction.”

“Except perhaps the Prince's, what with his doctors always abandoning him,” Mr. Bennet said. “But my chief concern is my daughter and grandson and
your
concern is now my daughter and grandson. The inheritance, however, is still conditional.You will receive fifty thousand pounds with the marriage, and the other half when I die.”

Dr. Bertrand was dumbstruck.

“Joseph's father was quite generous in the settlement for ruining my daughter's virtue and reputation,” he said. “I confess that Longbourn was a shack compared with what it is now, and I was a man who was nearing debt, but we have been living happily off the interest from the account—that and only one daughter to support. Two, when Lydia was still mourning Mr. Wickham, but she was hardly doing
that.
” He studied Bertrand's expression. “You really had no idea. No suspicions whatsoever.”