Chapter 20 Mischief in Meryton
Mischief in Meryton
While Elizabeth was being courted in London, Charlotte was holding court in Meryton. She had been carted around by her mother to various teas and functions, and made to repeatedly describe Rosings, her parsonage, and how Lady Catherine allowed them to walk in the gardens whenever they wished.
Charlotte found it all tedious, but it made her mother happy.
She was happy to see her old friends again, and she could not help but notice the change in attitudes around her.
Her entire life in Meryton, people had known her as the eldest Lucas girl.
Pleasant, but not handsome, and with a dowry as small as hers, she had needed to be handsome.
She had been declared a spinster in the making at fifteen, and by two and twenty she was a spinster in truth.
No one had ever thought she would marry, and she had occupied a strange place in society.
She was respected as the eldest daughter of one of Meryton’s most prominent members, as well as for her own good nature—she hoped.
Yet she was pitied as well. Her fate was to live at Lucas Lodge all her days, assuming her father lived into old age and her brother did not force her out.
The people of the town had thought to watch her grow upward in years and downward in consequence until one day she was simply forgotten. Charlotte had expected it as well.
And then Mr. Collins came to Longbourn. He was a bumbling fool and said the most ridiculous things, but he was respectable, had good prospects, and he was not a cruel man.
She knew she could do a great deal worse, and she had long wished to have a family and home of her own.
She leapt at the chance to cease being the Spinster of Lucas Lodge and instead take up the mantle of Mistress of Hunsford Parsonage.
Being a vicar’s wife suited her. She felt useful in the community, and she truly thought she was helping the parishioners with their concerns.
She listened when an ear was needed and sat with the bedridden and the elderly so they would not grow lonely.
She mended and sewed and consoled as she could, and she thrived on the busyness and the joy of running her own home.
It had given her a confidence she had never before possessed, and she idly wondered if this was how Elizabeth felt all the time and subsequently why she was willing to take risks Charlotte never would have imagined.
Thinking of Elizabeth made Charlotte think about all she had learned with her friend in Hunsford.
Chiefly, what they had learned about Mr. Wickham.
Even now, he was flirting with Miss Long on the other side of the room, acting for all the world as if his engagement to Miss Mary King had not ended only a week ago.
He was certainly not heartbroken, nor did he even have the decency to act as if he cared about her departure.
Charlotte shook her head. She could only think Mary King had made a lucky escape. Such a man would only make his wife miserable.
She was incensed when she thought about how Mr. Wickham was free to move about, charming as he pleased, where he pleased, with no consequences for his actions.
She knew such was the way of the world—men were granted freedoms women could only dream of—but women were not without their own form of power.
She knew there were ways to stop someone of Mr. Wickham’s ilk. She would begin tomorrow.
She was drinking tea with her mother and her friends in the parlor when Charlotte began her first maneuver.
“Do you know, I heard the most awful thing in Kent.”
Four pairs of eyes moved to her instantly.
“What was that, dear?” asked Mrs. Lucas, thinking it could not be so very interesting as Charlotte had been home three days already and had said nothing of it.
“It was about one of the officers in the militia here.”
Now Lady Lucas perked up. “One of the officers? Which one?”
“I heard the most dreadful things. He is a liar and a gambler, leaving debts everywhere he goes.” She waited until they were watching her carefully and added, “And he is a seducer!”
They gasped in unison, just as she had planned.
“Who is it?” asked Mrs. Long.
“It must be that Mr. Saunderson. I have always wondered about him,” added Mrs. Goulding.
“Oh, yes! His eyes are shifty. He cannot be trusted!” exclaimed Mrs. Phillips.
Charlotte wanted to correct them and say that one lazy eye did not make a man untrustworthy, but she refrained. “It was not Mr. Saunderson. He is not charming enough to be a seducer, do you not agree?”
They looked thoughtful, considering her statement.
“I suppose it could be Captain Carter. He is a handsome one,” said Mrs. Phillips.
“Oh yes!” cried Mrs. Long. “My nieces have said as much many a time.”
“Yes, is it Captain Carter?”
“No, for he is rarely at the gaming tables when we have parties. Or has he changed since I left?” clarified Charlotte.
Mrs. Goulding shook her head vigorously. “No, you are right. He has no head for cards. I remember him telling me he did not gamble as a rule. How could I have forgotten?”
“It must be Mr. Denny!” cried Mrs. Phillips triumphantly. “He is always at the gaming tables, and he can be charming when he wishes to be.”
“True,” said Charlotte thoughtfully. “I heard nothing about him specifically, but I agree he should be watched carefully. He keeps unsavory company.”
“Unsavory!” cried Lady Lucas. “Whatever can you mean, Charlotte?”
“Why, I speak of Mr. Wickham, of course.”
The room erupted. She was thankful she had had the foresight to eliminate a few of the officers before she told them his name as they were now trying to say it could be anyone but him, for he was so very charming and affable.
“Do not seducers and rakes find charm to be their greatest weapon?” she said sagely before hiding behind her teacup.
Mrs. Long looked stricken, and Mrs. Phillips was red and spluttering.
“Come now, we must know all,” demanded Mrs. Goulding. “What do you know?”
“I know that what Mr. Wickham told us about the living Mr. Darcy owed him was all a lie. He refused the living, never took orders, and was offered three thousand pounds in lieu of the preferment. He even signed papers to that effect.”
Lady Lucas gasped. “No!”
“Yes. He was also given a thousand-pound legacy from old Mr. Darcy. After he spent the four thousand pounds he was granted—a single man with no home or family to support—he returned to ask Mr. Darcy for the living. I think we could all agree that Mr. Darcy was well within his rights to refuse to give it to him.”
Mrs. Long was fanning herself vigorously now. “Oh dear! How very distressing!” She continued to mumble incoherently as the other ladies seconded her disbelief.
Mrs. Goulding looked at Charlotte with sharp eyes. “How have you come by this information, Mrs. Collins? We must know the facts before we condemn the man.”
“Of course. I’m sure you required the same of Mr. Wickham when he was slandering Mr. Darcy.”
Spinster Charlotte never would have said such a thing, but Charlotte Collins was certain of her position and had no patience for tomfoolery.
“I had it from more than one source. Colonel Fitzwilliam was the first. He is the nephew of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, son of the Earl of Blackburn, and a colonel in His Majesty’s army.
He is also Mr. Darcy’s cousin and was an executor of his father’s will.
He has known Mr. Wickham since childhood and is a kind, intelligent, trustworthy man. ”
Mrs. Goulding did not like looking the fool, so she asked, “And how are you certain of that? We would have said much the same about Mr. Wickham yesterday.”
“Colonel Fitzwilliam offered to have papers brought from the solicitor’s office that prove the whole of it. Has Mr. Wickham offered any such proof?”
She sipped her tea calmly as the ladies looked back and forth at each other, doubt clouding their expressions.
“It was all seconded by Mr. Darcy, of course, who has direct knowledge of all of their dealings. He has become a friend.” She looked significantly at her mother.
Surely that woman would see that being friends with Mr. Darcy was much more advantageous than being friends with Mr. Wickham.
“And of course Lady Catherine could tell you a dozen stories of Mr. Wickham’s misdeeds.
” Those stories were more about how he had broken the glass in her carriage window while playing by the stables as a boy, but she could tell them, so Charlotte had not told a falsehood.
“He did spread a personal story rather freely,” said Mrs. Long uncomfortably.
“Yes, and he conveniently waited for Mr. Darcy to leave before he did so,” added Mrs. Goulding, now convinced and ready to throw her considerable moral weight against Mr. Wickham.
“Oh, what are we to do?” cried Mrs. Phillips.
“Well, to begin with, he should not be around any young ladies. Think of his influence? I worry for Maria. What might he say to her? What might he attempt?” Charlotte widened her eyes dramatically and all the ladies nodded vigorously with her.
There was a chorus of exclamations and shocked half sentences before Mrs. Phillips jumped up and said, “I must go to my sister Mrs. Bennet! My nieces! Oh, they are so fond of the officers.” She wrung her hands and said her goodbyes quickly before hurrying out the door.
“I must go as well. My nieces must be told to stay away from Mr. Wickham and anyone he associates with. Can you imagine? The immorality!” Mrs. Long bustled out behind her friend.
Mrs. Goulding took her leave more slowly, stopping to say to Charlotte, “I thank you for the information, Mrs. Collins. It is well we know when there is a sheep among the wolves.”
Charlotte looked bemused, then chose not to correct the older lady. “Of course, Mrs. Goulding. I am happy to assist.”