Free Consequences by C.P. Odom Page B

the search, as his business affairs were suffering and thus required much more of his attention. Instead, he engaged several agents to carry on in his place, employing them with a small daily remuneration and with the promise of a larger reward if they were successful in locating either Mr. Wickham or his niece. He stated he actually expected them to have a greater chance of success since they knew the lay of the land much better than he, but Elizabeth thought his encouraging assurances seemed forced. She was beginning to despair either her sister or her erstwhile lover could ever be found.
    Over the next fortnight, her fears were largely confirmed, as her uncle’s reassuring forecasts brought no dividends. Mr. Wickham, if he were in London at all, appeared to have burrowed into the seamy underside of the city and pulled the plug in after him. Finally, Mr. Gardiner regretfully informed his Brother Bennet the agents seeking the missing couple could no longer be induced to continue a search, since their efforts brought little return with an ever-dwindling possibility of earning the promised reward.
    This news at last stirred Mr. Bennet from his normal habit of indolence. The fortnight past served to abrade the detached manner he initially assumed upon his return to Longbourn, and he was daily growing increasingly despondent and frustrated by the absence of any successful news from his brother.
    At dinner, he paused partway between one bite and another to suddenly stand and throw down his napkin.
    “Enough is enough!” he stated loudly, and the eyes of his daughters instantly focused on him. “I have just decided I cannot allow matters to drift along in negligence any longer! I am resolved to return to London and personally resume the search for my missing daughter.”
    Everyone at the table was struck speechless by this sudden and uncharacteristically forthright statement from Mr. Bennet.
    “But, Papa,” said Elizabeth finally, “how can you hope to do more than my uncle? You remember what he said about the agents he hired, that—”
    “I mean no disrespect to my Brother Gardiner, but he is right that he could not search any longer, for he must attend to his warehouse. But I am doing nothing meaningful except worrying, and I will return to the search, even though your uncle is likely correct that the chance of success is less likely every day.”
    “Still . . .”
    “I am fixed on this, Lizzy. I will not budge. If I can but locate Lydia, I can at least bring her home, since I doubt I could force Wickham to marry her. Her reputation is certainly ruined beyond salvage, but I can do what is usually done in cases such as this and consign her to the care of a farm family as far from Hertfordshire as possible.”
    “Mama would be quite unhappy at such a course of action,” Elizabeth said.
    “In fact, Mrs. Bennet will likely give forth wails of displeasure sufficient to wake the dead,” said her father acerbically, “but, as I just said, I will not budge an inch. After my daughter is banished to the countryside, I might, in time, salvage at least some shreds of respectability for my remaining daughters. As the scandal dwindles in importance and is replaced by other news, there may even be some hope for future marriages for the rest of you.”
    What was left unsaid, because he did not wish to state it aloud, was that the small dowry within his power would be attractive only to a man of limited means, such as a clerk or the owner of a small farm. He knew any possibility of marriage to a gentleman was gone forever.
    But if he could not return Lydia home so that she might at least be seen at Longbourn before she was dispatched to the hinterlands, he knew the neighbourhood wags would assume the worst. Inevitably, it would quickly become settled fact the disappeared girl was walking the streets of London, whether true or not. In that case, it was exceedingly unlikely any marriage could ever be arranged for his remaining