Chapter 5 #3
“Oh, Papa…is this possible? But why did Lydia say she will marry in a few days?”
“Because Lydia is silly and childish…and always hears only what she wishes to. The tragedy, Lizzy, is that we do not have a way out of this. If Lydia did not want to marry Wickham, I would readily accept any consequences, and we would all go home safely, hoping for the best. But she does —it is her only purpose in life now. If we do not let her marry him, we will be thrown into the midst of a scandal that Lydia herself will perpetuate. If we approve her marriage, we must pay Wickham’s debts and then find a way for them to live.
Most likely we will condemn her to a life of misery and will also obligate ourselves to a degree from which we will never recover. ”
“Papa, but…how can you provide them with the means of support? Neither you nor Uncle has any connections for such an endeavour. And how much money can he expect from you? How large could his debts possibly be?”
“I talked to your uncle when he returned last night, Lizzy. Wickham has already presented a list of creditors, which does not include those from Hertfordshire. I would venture to presume the total sum owed is close to several thousand pounds.”
“Dear Lord, several thousand pounds?” Elizabeth rose and paced the room in great torment and needed several minutes before she managed to stop. “Papa, how could you afford to pay even half this sum? How could anyone dare to demand such a sacrifice from you?”
“Lizzy, calm down my dear. Your distress only troubles me more. I am not certain how we will fix this, but my brother Gardiner promised he will help me find a way.”
“But, Papa —I know for certain that my uncle cannot spend such a sum either. And even if he could, he has children of his own, and he must take care of them.”
Mr. Bennet waved his hand to stop her tirade, wiping his forehead with his handkerchief.
“My child, what concerns me even more is this: If Wickham accumulated such debts when he had a commission in the militia and no one to support, what will happen once he marries and has no income at all?”
“True, Papa…God help us, this is such a tragic situation. There is nothing we can do…”
“It is tragic indeed,” said Mr. Gardiner, entering the room and greeting them briefly. He poured himself a cup of coffee then sat near his brother-in-law.
“Upon my word, I have never been as furious at another man as I was last night,” Mr. Gardiner continued. “And I am still astonished that Mr. Darcy was able to control his rage. Several times, I was sure he would harm Wickham. God knows, I would not have stopped him.”
Elizabeth listened with growing turmoil; the image of an angry Mr. Darcy was not entirely strange to her. Mr. Gardiner continued, gently touching her hand.
“Lizzy dear, what was in your mind that you admired that fellow so much? I always praised your wit and your wisdom, but somehow you did not use either when it came to Wickham. By the way, he had the nerve to mention to us that you and he were always good friends, and he is pleased that you will now be family as soon as his unfortunate situation is solved.”
Elizabeth clasped her hands together to stop their trembling, narrowing her eyes to stem her angry tears. She was mortified by Wickham’s impertinence but even more by her own folly; she lowered her gaze and sealed her lips. What could she answer? What explanation could justify her stupidity?
Finally, she murmured, “No censure is undeserved, Uncle, and I blame myself more than anyone else could. If only I could do something to remedy my wrong. But what should we do now?”
“There is nothing we can do. As I told my brother Bennet last night, Mr. Darcy instructed me to wait until we have word from him. I do not know what this means precisely, but I could not possibly contradict him. He seemed to believe he could find a reasonable outcome to the situation. Besides, I would not know how to proceed anyway. Wickham does not wish to marry as he claims he cannot support a wife. Lydia wishes nothing else but to marry, which I imagine would be the best solution for the entire family. Therefore, we must find a way to accomplish it. We just received another letter from Longbourn with my sister demanding details about the wedding. We have little choice in solving this madness, Lizzy. I shall go out to meet some of my customers and see how I can put together the payment for Wickham’s debts.
You must encourage your father to rest as much as he can. ”
“I will rest, do not worry,” Mr. Bennet answered bitterly. “I have little to do anyway. I have no choice at all; we must force Wickham to marry Lydia, and that is the end of the story.”
“Such a sad conclusion, so painful and tedious. He is such a dishonourable man. Poor Lydia will be so unhappy,” Elizabeth whispered.
“Yes, he is. And we must beg him to marry your sister and give her a miserable life. What more can a father bear?”
“Dear Papa, please do not trouble yourself so…”
“I must —it is the truth, Lizzy. Now please do me the favour of writing to Jane and telling her something to calm your mother. I will lie down a little longer; I am in no mood for breakfast.”
∞∞∞
Darcy breathed deeply as he left the inn, furious at the image of Wickham’s impertinent smirk. How could he put himself in the strange position of negotiating with that scoundrel? If only Lydia Bennet had the good sense not to marry him, things would be so much easier.
But surely, that would be disastrous for the entire Bennet family. The meagre chances they had to make honourable marriages would be gone forever. The scandal and its effects were impossible to avoid.
Wickham demanded that Mr. Bennet pay his debts.
He had evidently lost his mind completely.
How could he imagine that was even possible?
He was even more stupid than he was reckless.
He attempted to blackmail Mr. Bennet, forcing him to put his entire fortune at stake.
Of course, Wickham had little to lose while Mr. Bennet had everything to fear.
If the deal were not sealed, Miss Lydia would return home, and the entire shame would fall upon the Bennets.
Nothing good would come of that situation —and they could not afford an even bigger scandal by telling the world how Wickham deceived them.
Of course, the idiot would remain without his commission, without a means of support, and with more debts to follow.
But that was his usual way, and he would surely find another victim.
The colonel —his cousin —furious after Wickham’s attempt to elope with Georgiana, had proposed finding a way to get rid of Wickham for good.
Darcy should have listened —a colonel in his majesty’s army surely knew better about these things.
But for the time being, it was his duty to make amends in a situation that was mostly his fault.
Darcy was certain the Bennets and the Gardiners together could not afford to pay Wickham’s debts and were even less able to ensure him a proper commission, which would cost at least five hundred pounds.
Even a partial attempt would mean a pecuniary sacrifice that would jeopardise their families’ futures, and it was not fair of him to allow it.
The entire Darcy family should have been more rigorous in curbing Wickham’s recklessness. They should have dealt more harshly with his faults and punished him accordingly before he succeeded in damaging more than one honourable family.
And when they met in Meryton, he —Darcy —should have warned Colonel Forster at once about Wickham’s true character before people fell victim to his dishonourable schemes.
Since that did not happen —since he was too proud and too careless of the feelings of others and of the possible outcomes of his indifference —it was now his responsibility to remedy his mistake.
And he had already found a way. He would repay Wickham’s debts; besides helping Mr. Bennet, it would be gratifying to hold the power of throwing the rascal into debtors’ prison at any time.
Wickham would be at his mercy, and he could demand anything from him.
As for the rest, it depended on Miss Lydia Bennet’s final decision.
Perhaps her relatives —and her older sister —might succeed in putting some reason into her head.
Again, his thoughts turned to Elizabeth.
A thought —cruel and selfish, he admitted without hesitation —troubled him.
He wondered how Elizabeth felt at that moment.
Did she blame herself, not only for being partial to Wickham and believing his lies but also for rejecting a marriage proposal that would have given her and her entire family a bright future?
Were she Mrs. Darcy now, the scandal would mean little to the Bennets.
She would have no worries —it would be her husband’s duty to settle the matter.
Did she feel any sort of regret? Was she suffering for her unwise decision not to read his letter?
Likely, yes, those things and many others probably tormented Elizabeth now. He knew he should be satisfied with the situation. Any man —any human being —would be. He finally had his revenge. Life itself had accomplished enough to satisfy his four months of rage.
Perhaps, this was the Fates telling him his proposal was a mistake.
He imagined what the scandal would have meant for the Darcys —and the entire extended family —if Elizabeth were now Mrs. Darcy.
Wickham would be his brother-in-law! Poor Georgiana would be forever troubled, Lady Catherine and likely the Matlocks would cut any connection with him, not to mention the gossips of society.
Yes, it seemed Elizabeth Bennet’s horrible rejection was a lucky one for him.
He was such a fool to have suffered all that time. He should be relieved. Pleased. Happy.
And yet, he felt nothing but a grip in his chest and a wave of ever-growing anger against Wickham.
There was something good in that anger, though.
The more he helped the Bennet family, the sooner he solved this matter.
Elizabeth and her father would return to Hertfordshire, and the turmoil of knowing she was in dangerous proximity would end.
Perhaps he would see her again a couple of times before then —if the situation required it. Would he? Should he?
Caught deep in thought, he entered his house, retired directly to his library, and then hurried to write several notes.
He had things to take care of, which was much better than sitting in the dark and suffering in solitude.
These two days were so different from the last four months that they seemed a breach in his life.
It was still related to Elizabeth; she was still at the centre of his distress but not in the same way that he feared a few days ago.
She was still ever-present in his mind —in his thoughts —and close to him in her presence; therefore, he could not possibly be at peace.
But he was content to have something to do —even if it meant unwillingly helping Wickham.