Chapter Twenty-One #2
“Of course poor Wicky finds you interesting, Lady Priscilla, you have one of the best dowries in Derbyshire. The poor boy hasn’t a farthing to live on.” Mrs Younge had informed her charge.
“He is not interested in my dowry!” Priscilla had been outraged.
“Of course he is, do you think handsome and intelligent men such as him are interested in your sweetness and innocent face? He cannot marry without attention to money, but that is not so surprising. Few men marry without attention to money, even the rich ones, look at your cousin, Mr Darcy.” Mrs Younge knew just how to plant the seed of distrust
Priscilla, filled with guilt for the doubts she now feared, tested her young gentleman.
When Wickham spoke to her about eloping and then returning for her dowry, she lied and said that her dowry was protected in a trust that she would not receive until her mother’s death, so he would need to ask Lord Matlock for her hand, and quickly, so they might be married before it was known that she was already with child.
Then she went a step further, thinking that she would show Mrs Younge…
Priscilla informed her lover that her dowry was only five thousand pounds.
That few knew, but Matlock was in trouble, and the rest of her dowry had been lost to the viscount’s gambling debts.
Mrs Younge would see how much Wickham loved her when he married her in church after having been told she only came with five thousand.
Wickham had flown into a rage upon hearing this news, and accused Priscilla of seducing him into marriage under false pretenses when the truth was quite the opposite. He informed her that her dowry would not even cover his debts, and abandoned her.
The next day, Mrs Younge came to her as she lay miserable in her bed and chided her soundly for having seduced that sweet young man.
“The way you pulled him into your web is appalling, you disgusting girl, knowing that the debts of such a man would be too numerous to marry you. And if you think to send any of those animals you are related to after my dear Wickham, I will make sure all of London knows the lengths you went to in order to get him into your bed, you uncontrollable, lustful chit. You shall not have him!”
“I do not think you will have him either,” Priscilla observed. “Perhaps he only wanted me for my fortune, but you don't have a farthing to your name, do you?”
She spent a day in her room hiding the handprint Mrs Younge left on her face before the woman packed and left Matlock in under an hour. Then Priscilla went to Pemberley and visited Darcy, where she begged him not to inform her family who the villain was, and not to attempt to make her marry him.
“I know I have made my own bed, but I cannot lie in it for the rest of my life with him, Darcy. And if my father or brothers find out who did it, they will kill him. I do not care anymore what happens to him, but can you imagine Richard or the viscount challenging him to a duel? Or Lord Matlock accused of murder? And though you will want retribution, at least I will not have you becoming a murderer upon my conscience, Cousin, I cannot bear it. At least I can trust you not to be stupid enough to do that.”
Darcy could not deny that his cousin was right.
The Fitzwilliam men were not fool-hardy, but they were calculating and vengeful.
Darcy was more like his father; rational, and mindful; unlike his mother’s clan.
Richard in particular might be a particularly dangerous man if crossed.
And to make matters worse, Darcy could not even have the scoundrel sent to prison, for the damned companion had already written to Priscilla informing her of the delightful chat she had with a good friend when she returned to her home in London.
Darcy had to worry that if anything happened to Wickham, that Priscilla’s companion or another would expose her secret.
Lady Matlock had seen through their ruse to take Priscilla away instantly, causing a family upheaval when Priscilla could not be made to tell who the author of her situation was.
Richard, who knew Darcy best, instantly realised that his cousin and best friend was keeping such information from him, and reacted terribly, eventually volunteering for the front, and not returning for three years.
Now, in his study, Darcy watched as Richard poured himself a brandy, offered one to Darcy, who shook his head, then Richard fell into a chair. “If I have to sit in your company, you could at least drink with me. ‘Twould make the experience more tolerable for me.”
Darcy sighed heavily. “Richard, I have been here looking after our family for the last three years while you have been off having a tantrum on the continent. I have done my best to support my sister, your sister, my wife, our aunt, your mother, who, by the way, was terrified the entire time you were gone, and your father and brother, who did their very best to pretend not to be worried for you being gone so long, and failed abysmally. Now you are back, and your behavior is as bad as it was just before you went away. It causes grief for Priscilla, and anxiety for Georgiana, who does not understand it. I beg your pardon if I do not feel much like drinking with you, nor do I care much anymore what you find tolerable.”
“Perhaps if I could only understand why you would not trust me, Darcy,” Richard said angrily.
Darcy was beginning to get angry. How could his cousin, an intelligent and rational man, remain this unreasonable and obtuse for so long?
“Richard. If you came to me with a problem and a secret you felt you could share with no other…no matter what your reasoning was for secrecy, would you wish for me to be trustworthy?”
When Richard did not answer, Darcy pressed him again. “That was not a hypothetical question, Cousin. I am demanding an answer. Would you not feel entitled to my confidence if you needed it?”
“I would not have to wish for it,” Richard admitted.
“No, you would not, because you have it, and you always have. You still have it to this very day. You do not even need to think about it, that is just how it is and how it always will be. I am not ashamed to say that you are not the only person who can trust me in the same manner.”
Darcy rose from his desk and faced his cousin who was lounging in his chair in defiance.
He glared into Richard’s eyes. “Your sister came to me believing that she had no one she could turn to, and I was there for her. I kept her secret when she asked it of me, when she had no one else that she felt she could trust.” He shook his head in disbelief.
“That you could answer in any other way but to thank me for being there for your sister is unconscionable. I still cannot believe it of you, but after your three years of staying away and pouting, perhaps I do not know you as well as I thought.”
“Am I ever to know?” Richard demanded.
“That is up to Priscilla,” Darcy answered bluntly.
“As the matter stands, there is another party aware of the matter in case we seek vengeance. I hope you do not think that I would have just allowed the man to walk away without following him closely ever since and collecting everything I might use against him if the opportunity ever presents itself. But sadly, he is still protected by one or more others who know, and I cannot reveal anything or pursue him unless your sister agrees. She does not wish to be forever tarnished in society because you and Ashley could not hold your tempers.”
“I can hold my temper.” Richard sounded hurt.
“Balderdash,” Darcy scoffed. “You may not show your rage like a bull in a china shop. You might even seem entirely calm upon learning the identity of the man, but the result will remain the same, and that is why I am sworn to silence.”
Richard rose and stalked from the room. Darcy wondered how much longer his cousin would take to be reasonable. That was, if he ever became reasonable again at all.