Chapter 14 #2
“Revenge alone, no, I don’t think it is enough for Wickham.
If Mr Pinnock’s client had wanted money for those letters, I could have been more confident of his involvement.
But asking for ‘truth,’ drip-feeding lies to the scandal press over months, interfering with administration at my club – that speaks of a different kind of intelligence and intent than those possessed by George Wickham. ”
“You are sure of this? I do not doubt you, Darcy. It is only that I have no experience or knowledge of Wickham beyond what you have shared. Do you understand his character and motivation so well that you can be sure he gains nothing from insulting and humiliating you?”
Did Darcy know Wickham so well? Yes, he thought he did, but could he be sure?
When Darcy foiled Wickham’s scheme to marry Georgiana, he had assumed that would be an end to the rogue’s ambitions with regard to the Darcy family and its fortune. There was no reason for him now to return and begin needling Darcy with this dirty whispering campaign.
Had Darcy somehow misunderstood the man or his motives?
Wickham could not possibly have been in love with Georgiana, then a mere girl of fifteen with an unformed view of the world.
Having seen the legal trust documents, nor could Wickham believe that Georgiana’s dowry would ever be within his reach.
“I know George Wickham. He once believed that he might be able to lay his hands on my sister’s dowry…” Darcy began to say to Bingley but then the words dried in his throat, and his unread newspaper dropped to his lap, as a new and frightening idea occurred to him.
What if it was not only Georgiana’s dowry that Wickham now aspired to acquire? What if his ambitions were still greater? Deringham had been clear that if Darcy had been born illegitimate, then Georgiana would have been the rightful heir of Pemberley instead.
Could Wickham believe there was a prospect of ousting Darcy as master of Pemberley and then renewing his addresses to Georgiana as sole owner of the estate and its fortunes?!
It was too ridiculous an idea to credit, wasn’t it?
He did not need old Deringham to remind him that Georgiana would remain a minor under the guardianship of Darcy and his cousin for a further five years.
Now did he need to be told that no court action could realistically be brought by an unrelated third party and so long after the event in an attempt to rule Darcy illegitimate.
To have any real chance of success, any action to disinherit Darcy in favour of Georgiana would surely have had to have been brought by old Mr Darcy himself. His father and mother were both long dead, and both had acknowledged him as their legitimate heir, whatever the truth might be.
Whatever the truth?! Had the campaign against him now been so effective that Darcy was questioning his own birth? He thought of the portraits and busts of both his mother and father at Pemberley. The strong resemblance between them was evidence enough that he was his father’s natural son.
Still, even without his parentage being called into question, the dates on those letters still placed his birth on the wrong side of the blankets.
Wickham might be wrong in thinking he had any chance of success in such a far-fetched scheme, but he could still do a great deal of damage to Georgiana in attempting to realise it.
“Darcy? Are you quite well?” asked Bingley with some concern as the long pause continued.
Darcy nodded, although he actually felt as though he might be going mad.
“Something rather alarming has occurred to me,” he told his friend, rising from his chair. “It is likely nothing, but I must write to London and to Derbyshire immediately.”
“If it is about George Wickham pursuing the dowries of rich young ladies, have no fear. Miss King’s family have already removed her to Liverpool and beyond his reach,” Bingley informed him.
“What?”
“When you spoke of Wickham once having designs on Georgiana’s dowry, I supposed you were thinking of Wickham’s pursuit of Mary King and planning to warn her uncle.
My sisters know some of the King family’s relatives in London.
They were talking of her close escape when I called at Grosvenor Square before setting out with you for Kent. ”
Darcy was befuddled by this news, previously barely even conscious of Miss Mary King’s existence, never mind her links to Bingley’s sisters, or Wickham’s pursuit of her fortune.
“That was not on my mind,” he told his friend, “although it shows that Wickham’s unscrupulous pursuit of heiresses is still a real and present threat against which their families cannot be too careful. Now, I have letters to write. I shall see you at supper.”
No matter how absurd the plot that had occurred to Darcy, nor the smallness of any chance of its success, Georgiana would be safer from George Wickham at Pemberley than in London, he decided. As long as Wickham was with the militia in Meryton, he could not go to Derbyshire.
Darcy would write immediately to Georgiana, instructing her removal to Pemberley for a time, with Mrs Annesley.
With some misgivings, he would also write to both Mrs Annesley and to Ludlow Fitzwilliam, warning them that his sister’s correspondence should be watched carefully and any letters from Hertfordshire opened only in their presence.
Darcy himself would explain everything to Georgiana in person as soon as he could, but explanations must wait. He must call again on Mr Moreton and Mr Deringham in London before setting off for Derbyshire. The ugliness of the plot that seemed to threaten them was too great to omit any precaution.
“I cannot be too careful,” he reminded himself as he sat back down at his desk and took up his pen.