Chapter 7
Paul King was seated at his desk when his butler brought him an express that had just arrived.
He accepted the epistle, and his eyebrows knit together.
He had been friends with the late Elias Gardiner but had not had much contact with the son who lived in London.
His friendship with the man’s late father ensured that he would read the missive. He broke the seal and began to read.
London
Mr King,
Please excuse the liberty I take in writing to one who was a good friend to my late father but not an acquaintance of mine.
I beg you to believe me that if it were not of the utmost importance, no less than the protection of your niece, Miss Mary King, I would not have written to you.
It was at my nieces’ urging that I write to you, more specifically Miss Bennet, who you will know is loath to say a bad word about anyone. The information was imparted to one of my other nieces, and the man who did so has proof to bolster his assertions.
George Wickham, the man who is courting Miss King, is, I am afraid, a seducer of young ladies, a fortune hunter, a gambler, a cheater of tradesmen, and a liar.
My nieces tell me that he only became interested in Miss King after her inheritance became common knowledge in Meryton.
From the information we have, he is the worst kind of man who will run through Miss King’s fortune in a few years and then either come to you with his hand out or abandon her for greener pastures.
These are not charges I level without cause. Allow me to supply you with some examples.
The tale of woe Mr Wickham tells regarding Mr Darcy is fiction built around a small kernel of truth.
Mr Darcy did deny him the living in Kympton.
However, Mr Wickham omits the fact he flatly refused to take orders and was compensated for the living, even though Mr Darcy had no legal or ethical imperative to do so because the presentation was dependant on Mr Wickham taking holy orders.
Mr Darcy has a document which was signed and witnessed relinquishing all rights to the living for the sum paid.
In two short years, ?4,000 were spent on a debauched lifestyle and gambling.
Still not having taken holy orders, Mr Wickham then demanded the living. It was only then he was refused.
Mr Wickham is in the habit of leaving unpaid debts in his wake, not caring that he beggars honest tradesmen. I am aware that more than ?3,000 of his markers are being held by one who purchased them so that the men who had extended credit would not suffer because of a dishonourable man.
There are at least 4 bastard children Mr Wickham has sired; all being cared for by others. He thinks nothing of promising marriage, convincing the lady to anticipate their vows, and then abandoning them.
It is known that he attempted to get one heiress, younger than 16, to elope with him so he would have unfettered access to her dowry.
If you require proof, it can be provided, but I suggest you immediately do what you need to do to protect Miss King from such a man.
Sincerely,
E Gardiner
“Kinsley, attend me at once!” King called out as soon as he dropped the epistle onto his desk.
“Sir.” The butler bowed.
“Is my niece at home?” King was flooded with relief when the butler said it was so. “Have her attend me right away. Then give orders to pack; we are for my house in Liverpool. And Kinsley, if Lieutenant Wickham calls, he is not to be admitted to my house ever again.”
The butler bowed and left to carry out his master’s orders.
King and his late wife had not been blessed with children, so when his nephew and his wife were lost, he had seen the care of Mary as a sacred trust. He did not need to see the proof of Wickham’s perfidy.
He had never felt comfortable with the man, but Mary seemed to receive his attentions with pleasure, and King had had a devil of a time refusing her anything. That stopped now.
“Uncle Paul, you called for me,” Mary King stated cheerily as she entered her uncle’s study.
“Mary, your courtship with Lieutenant Wickham is at an end, and we depart for Liverpool today. You are to have no further contact with him ever,” King commanded.
Seeing the look of horror on his niece’s face was hard but did not weaken his resolution.
He wavered when she began to sob, but he did not break.
“Why?” Mary managed between sobs.
King came around his desk and sat next to his crying niece. “You need to know the truth; read this.” King proffered Mary the letter.
Her first thought was that the Bennet ladies were jealous of her, but as she read and saw that there was proof, the reality began to dawn on her.
By the time she had read all, she realised that she had been saved from making the worst mistake of her life.
“Uncle Paul, just yesterday George…Mr Wickham told me that if I loved him, I would agree to anticipate my vows. He is to call on me this afternoon to receive my reply.”
It was clear to King that the man would have used his despoiling of Mary as a way to extort money without the trouble of a marriage.
“Mary dear, go supervise your packing. I will make sure everything else is taken care of.” King stood and had just reached the butler when the knocker sounded. He forestalled Kinsley.
He opened the door himself, and as soon as he saw the grinning visage before him, he planted a facer and had the pleasure of hearing the breaking of the libertine’s nose.
Wickham had been positive the mousy, freckled Mary King would agree to allow him to bed her.
Then he would get her fortune and not be tied to her.
He had felt so pleased with himself when he called; hence, when the door opened and Mr King struck him, it had been a great shock.
The force of the blow dropped Wickham to the ground.
King was sorry he had not been able to unleash his left fist as well.
The miscreant had fallen, and King was too honourable to kick him while he lay on the ground, no matter how satisfying that would have been.
He saw the lieutenant sit up, holding his bleeding and broken nose, looking very confused.
“How dare you ask my niece to anticipate her vows? Begone and never darken my doorstep again!” As soon as he had his say, he stepped aside and the butler closed and locked the front door.
Even though he had just entered his seventh decade, Paul King was still a fit man who had been a champion in pugilism when he had attended Oxford. It seemed he had not forgotten how to use his fists. It had been a great pleasure to wipe the smug look from the seducer’s face.
The chit had told her uncle! That was the last thing Wickham had expected. He picked himself up, and while still holding his mangled nose, he began to stagger back to his quarters.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
At almost exactly eleven that morning, the front doorbell jangled. The Gardiner’s butler opened the door and welcomed the gent who he had been told was to be expected.
From the instant he arrived at the house in his coach, Darcy had realised that any preconceived notions he had about the tradesman uncle Miss Bingley used to rail against were wrong.
The outside of the house was well maintained, and the small gardens either side of the path from the front gate, cared for and neat. Not only that, but they kept a butler.
When the butler admitted him, and after he had been relieved of outerwear, he could see from the entrance hall and as he followed the retainer to meet the residents that the house was decorated similarly to his own, in understated elegance.
As Darcy had not been sure Miss Elizabeth would be present, his breath caught as he saw the woman he still loved with a passion seated next to Miss Bennet. Near the sisters was an elegant-looking couple, who by their comportment and dress would easily be mistaken for gently bred people.
After bows and curtsies, Darcy requested that Miss Bennet introduce him to the couple he had not met. She introduced Mr and Mrs Edward Gardiner.
“Mr and Mrs Gardiner, if I may, I would like to apologise to you. On the word of one I should know better than to trust, I formed an opinion of you without the benefit of having met you, and I was not very complimentary when I spoke of you,” Darcy related contritely.
Elizabeth’s eyebrows shot up. She never expected Mr Darcy to humble himself in this fashion, and certainly not before her uncle in trade.
Gardiner looked at Maddie, who nodded. “On behalf of my wife and myself, I accept your apology and forgive you, Mr Darcy. Would you not like to sit?” Gardiner enquired.
“If you will allow me to first beg the pardons of your nieces, then if I am still welcome, I will sit,” Darcy responded.
He turned to the older sister. “Miss Bennet, I understand how presumptuous it was of me to assume I understood your feelings about Bingley, especially as I am one who hid his own desire so well that not even the object of my affection was aware.” He looked at Miss Elizabeth longingly.
Then, Darcy turned back to Miss Bennet. “I now understand you were acting within the bounds of propriety and could not show your feelings for Bingley until…” Darcy stopped speaking when Miss Bennet began to giggle.
“Mr Darcy, please do not think that I am laughing at you; I am most certainly not. I am amused by the irony of the situation,” Jane clarified.
“Irony, Miss Bennet?” Darcy wondered.
“Indeed. Although at the time I believed myself in love with Mr Bingley, I have come to understand that I did not, certainly not as a woman should love the man with whom she is willing to spend the rest of her life. Also, I am certain that Mr Bingley was infatuated with a pretty face and never loved me. How could he have when he did not know me at all?” Jane said calmly.
“But Miss Elizabeth told me…” Darcy began as he took a seat before he fell down with surprise. Who was this confident and outgoing Miss Bennet?