Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
After escaping Mr Wickham’s company, Elizabeth joined Kitty, Mary, and another soldier at a game of whist. She played appallingly, much to Mary’s chagrin, but it was no surprise, for her mind was elsewhere.
From the corner of her eye, she watched Mr Wickham circle the room, flitting between tables, befriending her neighbours, smiling most charmingly at all the young women.
With his fine figure and pleasing manners, he was undeniably very attractive, and she well understood how an impressionable girl could have lost her heart to one such as he.
Once, he had caught Elizabeth regarding him and he had smiled with a near scandalous light in his eye that had made her blush and return her attention back to her cards.
Oh that this evening would pass quickly and I might return home!
An announcement from a servant signalled that her night was to become much worse, for Frederick Lucas had arrived.
If Elizabeth harboured any doubts regarding her intention to rebuff Mr Lucas, they were assuaged at the sight of his waistcoat.
Large yellow and pink vertical stripes were punctuated with ostentatious buttons and a garish golden thread.
He reminded her of a circus tent, all colours and bits of frippery.
A dislike of a man’s clothes is not reason enough to refuse his hand in marriage.
But consider that I might have arrived late tonight waiting for my husband to dress himself in that ensemble.
Mr Lucas drew up a chair next to Elizabeth, his knee pressing uncomfortably close to hers.
“How do you do, Miss Elizabeth! I must own, I was troubled to keep you waiting, anxious as I was to enjoy your delightful presence once more—but you must allow a man his idiosyncrasies, and mine is never to attend a social occasion with a button out of place.” He gestured to his outfit, of which he was clearly proud.
Under his breath, he murmured, “I could not stay away from you a moment longer, not when I learnt that you had taken a fall.”
“I am well enough, Mr Lucas,” she replied courteously, reflecting that in actual fact he had been in no hurry to check if she was uninjured. “I hope you have arrived in sufficient time to enjoy the cards this evening. I believe there are a few spaces left at the other tables.”
“I should much rather be at your side.” A horribly sycophantic expression settled across his face and Elizabeth fancied she could hear him privately add, ‘forevermore’.
She nodded in thanks, spending the rest of the game pretending to listen to his advice and then tactfully ignoring it.
She excused herself at the earliest opportunity but was vexed when Mr Lucas stood and offered to accompany her.
His loud voice drew the notice of others and Elizabeth sensed Mr Wickham’s eyes upon her again.
She made to leave but was stopped by Lady Lucas who had returned to the drawing room.
“A pretty pair you two make!” Her gaze lingered on Elizabeth for longer than was comfortable.
“Surely you must agree that dear Fred is very handsome. He must be kind to his poor, dear mother and find a wife soon. I hope I shall be alive to see my son happily married.”
Mr Lucas gave his mother an insipid smile and then took a step closer to Elizabeth.
“No one could ever replace you, Mama. But I have sufficient confidence in my abilities to choose wisely. My excellent taste is often remarked upon. It is not for nothing that I am known as Hertfordshire’s answer to Beau Brummell. ”
Charlotte, who had entered just behind her mother, caught Elizabeth’s eye, before observing, “If you are the answer, I dare not ruminate on what the question was.” She addressed Elizabeth directly. “I came to find you, for I wish to speak with you on a private matter.”
“Oh do not be so tiresome to your brother! He is having a wonderful time with our Lizzy. And why should he not, when there is so much fun to be had this evening? And what girl would want to be parted from such an eligible man as my darling Fred!”
“I am at Charlotte’s disposal as much as I am at Mr Lucas’s.” Elizabeth gave a quick curtsey, thankful for an excuse to leave their conversation.
“Come now, surely we can cease with this formality. You must call him Fred, as we all do, for we are as good as family are we not?” The older woman’s eyes gleamed wickedly. “Why, I remember a time when you all ran about our gardens in nothing but your white cotton frocks.”
A bubble of anger in her throat, Elizabeth opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by Charlotte.
“I must talk to you.” She took Elizabeth by the arm and swiftly guided her away in the direction of the Philips’s modest book-room muttering under her breath, “I am sorry for my mother. She is impossible. You must know she is quite determined for you and Fred to be married.”
“Oh really? She scarcely mentions it.” Elizabeth could not hide the sarcasm in her voice.
The pair, she saw with a backwards glance, were now deep in conversation and heading towards the dining room.
She checked herself. “Forgive me. For your sake I keep my own counsel, but I do not know what I might have said, had you not intervened.”
“Do not feel sorry. She is dreadfully indiscreet.” Charlotte grinned and then gave Elizabeth a sly look.
“Do you know, the strangest event occurred the other morning. My brother is never up before ten o’clock, and it takes him forever to get dressed.
Imagine my surprise when I learnt that he went for a walk just after sunrise! ”
Elizabeth glanced at Charlotte, her cheeks suddenly hot. Reluctantly, she told her of the events of yesterday morning, careful to omit any reference to Mr Darcy or Mr Wickham.
“And you are certain you must refuse him?” Charlotte took Elizabeth’s hand into hers. “I might be able to bear a spinster’s existence with you as a sister-in-law.”
“I must—for my own happiness, and for his.”
“Do you know he and Mama still believe that one day you will be a wealthy woman?”
“Yes! Despite all my efforts to persuade them of the contrary.”
Charlotte shook her head. “They think you are lying—that your godfather has warned you of fortune hunters and that is why you have persisted in keeping your dowry a secret. Have you not heard of a more ridiculous notion?”
Elizabeth found a chair in a quiet corner and sank into it. “What more can I do to convince him of his mistake?”
“My brother is never wrong. It is the rest of the world that has erred. He is quite incapable of attending to rational argument. At times it is as though I am talking to a child.” Charlotte drew up another chair and regarded Elizabeth shrewdly.
“I quite understand your reservations regarding Fred, but think, if you do not marry him, then what man would catch your eye?”
Unbidden, the silhouette of Mr Darcy atop his horse as he left Longbourn flooded Elizabeth’s memory. Certainly not him, she thought, pushing the image from her mind. “I do not know—one whom I could respect and admire. One who loved me for who I am, not what they believe me to be.”
“What of Mr Wickham? He seemed very taken by you—he was asking all manner of questions about you once you left us. And there is certainly a great deal to admire in him.” Charlotte leant closer to Elizabeth. “Did you know that he is acquainted with Mr Darcy—who treated him very ill.”
“He spoke of an acquaintance with Mr Darcy?” Elizabeth could not keep the astonishment from her voice. “What did he say?”
“That Mr Darcy’s father promised Mr Wickham a living in the church and that Mr Darcy refused to respect his father’s wishes and cut him adrift.”
“If it were true, then it would be shocking behaviour on Mr Darcy’s part.”
“You think it to be a lie?”
From the conversation yesterday, it had been abundantly clear that Mr Darcy believed Mr Wickham was not of good character.
In preventing him from taking his holy orders, one might conclude that Mr Darcy had done the church a service.
With this in the forefront of her mind, Elizabeth answered carefully, “I think it to be a matter of which we know little, and one that Mr Wickham should not speak of in polite company.”
Charlotte affixed Elizabeth with an interested look. “Never did I think I would hear you defend Mr Darcy.”
“I do not defend him, merely I warn of the imprudence of giving credence to a man whom we have scarcely met.”
The muffled whine of a man complaining alerted them to Mr Lucas’s approach. “I asked for a carafe of wine, not a glass!” Elizabeth sighed heavily at his imperious tone.
Charlotte gave her a compassionate glance. “Fear not. I shall not leave you two alone.”
“I am very grateful.” Elizabeth drew out her fob watch, fighting the impulse to collect her cloak and run home.