Chapter 20 Desperate Measures
Unable to concentrate on the novel, Georgiana asked, “Lizzy, shall I write to my brother about George Wickham?”
“Yes, I think that is a very good idea. Do you know where to send the letter?”
“He traveled to Nottinghamshire to conduct business for my uncle, and then he will call upon my cousin Phillip. If I address it there, he will find it when he arrives.”
“Then you should write to him. He will know to hurry himself back to London, and to see how you go on.”
Georgiana took up the novel again and began to read aloud, but they had scarcely settled when they heard the unmistakable sound of a key turning in the door.
Georgiana looked at Elizabeth, who raised a finger to her lips, bidding the girl keep silent.
Then Elizabeth motioned toward the shovel and pointed to the drapes.
Georgiana rose at once, took up the heavy little shovel, and moved soundlessly to the window, slipping behind the heavy floor-length drapes.
Elizabeth, meanwhile, seized the poker and positioned herself along the wall, concealed behind the door, where she might strike unseen should Wickham be stealing his way into the room.
She raised the poker, poised to strike, and waited.
Surely it could not be the butler or the housekeeper. Either would have knocked and identified themselves.
Instead, the person on the other side tried again, Elizabeth guessed, with another key. Then another.
At last, on the third attempt, the lock clicked. The knob turned, and the door opened.
Elizabeth heard heavy footsteps enter the room and then silence. Her heart beat with such force that the sound of it seemed to fill her ears, and she feared that the trembling of her limbs would render her entirely useless.
The intruder must be surveying the chamber. Fear escalated and gripped her in a vice that twisted her stomach and caused her heart to race uncontrollably. Yet she stood silent and motionless, waiting to see who had entered the room.
The steps advanced farther inside, and then she saw him.
Mr. Wickham.
His back was to her as he stood, motionless, surveying the space.
Elizabeth swung the poker as though it were a cricket bat. It was heavy wrought iron, and when it struck his leg at the level of his knee, the force of it sent him crashing to the floor.
Wickham shrieked in pain, stunned and gasping, and he lay for a moment where he fell.
Elizabeth ran to the door and began to scream. “Higgins! Send the footman! Wickham is here, in Georgiana’s room!”
Georgiana ran out from behind the drapes, crying out in fear at the sight of Wickham sprawled upon the floor.
But when he twisted sharply and caught Elizabeth’s ankle in his grasp, Georgiana acted without hesitation, striking down with the little shovel upon the arm that held Elizabeth fast.
He screamed in agony and released her.
His arm lay at an unnatural angle.
“You broke my arm, you little witch!”
Elizabeth seized Georgiana’s hand. “Come. We must find the footmen.”
Georgiana dropped the shovel as they hurried past George Wickham, who curled upon the floor, where Elizabeth had felled him, his deformed arm cradled against his chest.
They fled down the corridor, calling desperately for Higgins.
At the head of the stairs, they looked down to see the butler and two footmen running toward them.
Georgiana cried out, frantic, “Wickham is in my bedchamber!”
Mrs. Nichols came rushing from another passage. “Oh, my Lord,” she exclaimed, “what is this world coming to?”
Higgins did not hesitate. “Restrain that villain and bring him down to the cellar until I can make arrangements to transport him to gaol.”
The two footmen flew past and ran down the hall.
Georgiana whispered, “Lizzy, I do not wish to see him when they bring him out.”
“Nor do I. Take me to the pretty blue parlor where you served Jane and me tea on our first visit.”
Georgiana grasped her hand tightly and drew Elizabeth along, hurrying down the corridor.
They entered the family parlor and locked themselves inside. Elizabeth looked at the child before her. Georgiana’s face was pale and drawn with shock.
Elizabeth led her to the sofa and drew her close, wrapping an arm about the trembling girl as they waited in strained silence.
At last, Georgiana whispered, “Lizzy, will George Wickham be able to kidnap me?”
Elizabeth answered firmly, “No, my dear girl. Higgins will lock him in the cellar tonight, and in the morning, he will send for your solicitor, who will deal with Wickham until your brother returns.”
She softened her voice. “If it would ease your mind, you may ask Higgins to send for Mr. Darcy’s solicitor at once, so that you may ask him to begin proceedings immediately.”
Elizabeth glanced at the small watch hanging from her waist. “It is only half past five. It is quite early enough to call upon Mr. Darcy’s solicitor.”
“Will you stay with me while I speak to him?”
“Of course, my dear.”
Georgiana moved to the door and rang the bell.
A few minutes later, a tap sounded.
Georgiana leaned close and called softly, “Who is it?”
“It is Ruby, Miss Georgiana.”
The young girl unlocked the door.
“Ruby, have they moved Mr. Wickham to the cellar yet?”
“He is being taken there now, Miss Darcy. Higgins has sent for Dr. Curtis to set his broken arm.”
“Ask Higgins to send for Mr. Kendall. I wish to speak with him.”
“Yes, mistress, at once.”
Georgiana shut the door and locked it again. Then she turned back, her voice trembling.
“Lizzy, I have never in my life passed such a horrible day. I do not know how I shall endure the waiting.”
Elizabeth said, “Then let us go to your desk, so that you may write to your brother.”
The young girl sprang to her feet. “Yes, that is what I shall do.”
The two young women passed the next half hour in conversation upon the events of the day, Georgiana pausing from time to time to add to the letter she had written to her brother, until at last there came another tap at the door.
Georgiana went and stood near it. “Who is it?”
“It is Ruby, mistress.”
Georgiana unlocked the door. “Yes, Ruby?”
“Miss Georgiana, I have a fire lit in the drawing room. Shall we prepare a tea tray for Mr. Kendall?”
“Yes, Ruby. Thank you.”
The two young women followed the servant and waited in the drawing room. Georgiana asked the butler and housekeeper to join them. When Kendall arrived, she introduced Elizabeth to the solicitor, and then she explained what had occurred.
When she finished the explanation, she turned to Mrs. Nichols. “Did Mrs. Younge return her set of keys to you when my brother released her from service?”
“No, Miss Georgiana. She did not.”
The girl’s expression tightened. She turned to the butler.
“Have you been able to ascertain how Mr. Wickham entered the house?”
The butler reddened. “One of the kitchen maids has… formed a romantic attachment to Mr. Wickham. Though Mrs. Nichols locked the kitchen entrance and warned the staff not to grant him entry, Betsy did admit him nonetheless.”
Mrs. Nichols spoke sharply then.
“I have dismissed her, Miss Darcy. Her loyalty lay with Mr. Wickham, not with the family, the house, or the staff. I let her go at once, and without a character.”
“It relieves me to learn that all the doors were locked, as I specifically requested.” Georgiana’s voice faltered. “But I am dismayed that the disobedience of one person might have cost me my life and my future.”
Georgiana closed her eyes, and Elizabeth saw her tremble. She took the young girl’s hand in her own.
“Mr. Kendall, my brother told me that he has purchased Mr. Wickham’s debts over these past years, and intends that he should either serve time in debtors’ prison or be transported to Australia. Do you know whether my brother has already obtained the magistrate’s order for either course?”
“Yes, Miss Darcy. We have the authority to hold him in debtors’ prison until such time as passage to Australia may be secured.”
Georgiana’s expression hardened.
“Then, Mr. Kendall, please make arrangements for Mr. Wickham to be conveyed to debtors’ prison as soon as possible. I do not wish him to remain in my home overnight. Is it possible, so late in the day?”
“Yes, I shall only require a carriage and men to restrain him while I transport him to the Marshalsea. As soon as the physician has finished attending to Mr. Wickham, I will have him removed to gaol.”
The housekeeper spoke then. “Miss Georgiana, we have prepared tea. Shall we bring it now?”
“Yes, please.”
She turned to the solicitor. “Mr. Kendall, I believe you have time to take tea with us, if you would like it.”
“Yes, please. For I doubt I shall have time for dinner until late tonight.”
Georgiana turned to the housekeeper. “Mrs. Nichols, please prepare a dinner tray for Mr. Kendall.” Then she asked him another question. “Sir, do you know where Mrs. Younge is? She had a part in this attempted kidnapping. Mr. Wickham used her set of keys to gain entry into my bedchamber.”
The solicitor replied, “No, I do not know where she is, but I intend to ask Mr. Wickham to tell me how she may be found.”
Hearing this, Elizabeth could not remain silent. “Why would he give you any information about his accomplice?”
Mr. Kendall answered confidently. “I will offer to pay for his meals in exchange for her address. If he gives false information, he will not eat particularly well in prison.”
“When you speak with Mrs. Younge, will you ask her when she first came to know Mr. Wickham, and when her loyalties turned to him? She and I grew very close. I trusted her, and so did my brother.”
Her voice faltered. “I look back over the past two years and cannot name a moment when her loyalties appeared to change.”
Mrs. Nichols returned then to show the solicitor to a small dining room to eat his dinner, and about an hour later, Wickham was removed from the house immediately after Dr. Curtis set his arm.
Dusk had fallen, but there was still sufficient light for the two young women to see him escorted out to the carriage. He was limping, and his broken arm was strapped to his chest in a makeshift sling.
Just before he stepped inside, he looked up toward the second floor and saw them standing at the window.
Then he turned away and entered the carriage.
Georgiana clutched Elizabeth’s hand.
“Did you see his eyes, Lizzy? They were… evil. And if he ever had his freedom again, he would take vengeance upon us both.”
“Yes, I saw them. They were pure evil. It sent a shiver up my spine.”
“Will you sleep with me in my room tonight? I am so afraid. I know all danger is past, but I cannot shake the feeling.”
“Of course I will. When morning comes, you will feel better. Georgiana, we acted to save ourselves. That makes us heroines. Heroines of our own stories.”
The young girl tried to smile. “Yes, we are heroines in our own lives. But I hope very much I shall never again be called upon to act with such courage, Lizzy. I do not think I could bear it.”
That night, as Elizabeth lay in the bed beside her young friend, she wondered whether she ought to send a note to her uncle, explaining what had occurred with Mr. Wickham.
From there, her thoughts turned to Mr. Darcy.
She saw his dear face in her mind's eye.
He would be affected when he learned what Georgiana had suffered.
She wished she could offer him the same comfort she had given his sister.
Then her mind returned to her uncle and the note. At last, she drifted off, having resolved not to write. Wickham was safely confined in the Marshalsea, and Georgiana needed her more than ever.