Chapter 34 #2
Mueller nodded, read a few lines from the notebook, and then looked up at his fellow officer.
“I concur. I met with Wickham last night in the holding cell, and the man is an arrogant fool. He confessed, nay, he boasted, that he laid hands on Miss de Bourgh with the intent of forcing her into marriage. More than that, he claimed that before her rescue, he…”
Mueller trailed off at the thunderous look on Fitzwilliam’s face. “I daresay you have a good idea of what was said about Miss de Bourgh. I need not say more.”
“My cousin is also my fiancée,” Richard said grimly. “As the daughter of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and niece of the Earl of Matlock, her reputation is of great concern to our family. I hope that Wickham’s guards are discreet men?”
“You need have no concern about that, I promise you. I have arranged for four of my most reliable men to watch over Wickham, and they will pay no attention to his lying mouth. I will arrange for the court martial as quickly as possible, and he will be executed in short order.”
“Do you need me to be present as a witness?”
“No. The man has openly confessed to attempted abduction, along with admitting that he deserted his militia regiment in Brighton. I suppose we should be thankful he is an idiot.”
Richard grimaced and said, “He is not a simpleton, but he is supremely arrogant. Wickham, a mere steward’s son, was fortunate enough to win the favor of Mr. George Darcy, my uncle.
Wickham has long presumed on his position as godson of his father’s patron and has been in the habit of lying, stealing, gambling, and whoring without fear of repercussion. It has finally caught up with him.”
“Indeed, it has.”
/
“My lady?”
“What is it?” Lady Catherine demanded irritably.
To her surprise she had slept long and hard and thus was breaking her fast later than expected.
She had assumed she would be awake at dawn, if not all night, which would have given her more time to determine how to coerce her younger relations into submitting to her will.
“My lady, two carriages are being prepared for travel in the courtyard.”
Catherine cast aside her piece of toast and rushed over to the window, where her maid had been watching the adjacent house.
“Tell my coachman to prepare for a journey,” she ordered, “and pack up my clothing.”
“Yes, my lady.”
/
“I hope we will see one another soon,” Anne said, embracing Elizabeth as the two ladies approached their respective conveyances in the courtyard.
Elizabeth returned the hug and said, “I hope so too, but if not, I promise to write frequently.”
“Elizabeth,” Darcy said, “perhaps you should step inside the carriage with Georgiana. I see my aunt approaching, and I do not wish to expose you once again to her insults.”
Elizabeth glanced over to observe Lady Catherine, with two footmen in her wake, marching rapidly toward her.
She had no fear of the lady, but she also knew that her beloved would be more comfortable if she was out of sight.
She deliberately rose to her toes and planted a kiss on Darcy’s mouth, then accepted his helping hand into the carriage.
She sat down next to Georgiana, who looked rather alarmed, and said, “Do not worry, my dear. Lady Catherine can do nothing but squawk, you know. Perhaps it would help if you imagine her to be a loud, rare, type of bird.”
This brought a smile to Georgiana’s face and she settled comfortably into her seat.
“What are you doing?” Lady Catherine demanded shrilly as Richard closed the carriage door behind Anne. “Where are you going? I demand to be informed of your plans!”
“We have no intention of telling you our plans,” Richard said in his blandest tone. “You have no authority over me, Darcy, or Anne, Lady Catherine. The sooner you accept that the better!”
“I am your aunt, and Anne is my daughter! You may not care about ruining your own lives, but I will not allow you to destroy Anne’s life, do you hear?”
The door to the Rosings’ carriage swung open at these words, and Anne surged out, her usually pale face flushed with anger.
“Darcy has been a wonderful, kind host, and Richard will soon be my husband. Neither of them has tried to ruin my life – you have, with your insistence that I do exactly what you want and marry the gentleman you have chosen for me. This ends now, Mother! I will marry Richard within the month, and you will be sent to the Dower House. Do you understand?”
Lady Catherine stared at her only child in wonder, her mouth gaping open.
What was Anne saying? Everything she had ever done was for Anne’s sake!
The girl was far too sickly and fragile, and frankly stupid, to manage a great estate, and as for Colonel Fitzwilliam, an army man, a second son, he was in no way prepared to administer Rosings. It was completely absurd…
“My lady.”
She turned in confusion toward her footmen, one of whom repeated urgently, “My lady, you should move out of the way.”
She did move, numbly, as the two carriages were set into motion and her two nephews, and niece, and daughter, and their accursed guest, Elizabeth Bennet, rolled away smoothly toward a nearby road. She felt like screaming and shouting and howling, but there was no reason to do so, was there?
She had lost.
/
Longbourn
Two days later
Mr. Bennet was happily reading one of John Home’s plays, Douglas, when a loud shriek jerked him out of his contentment. He sat up in concern and leaned forward just as the door to the library was flung open, and his wife rushed in, her face suffused with delight.
“Mr. Bennet, oh, Mr. Bennet! Such wonderful news…”
“Mama,” Elizabeth chided, hurrying in after Mrs. Bennet, “you should not…”
“Lizzy!” her father exclaimed, rising to his feet in order to embrace his favorite daughter. “My dear, this is a delightful surprise. Given your happy countenance, I assume that nothing is amiss, but I am confused; why have you returned from Ramsgate so quickly?”
“Well, as to that, Father, Mr. Darcy has a question for you,” his daughter said, turning an arch smile on the gentleman from Derbyshire, who had quietly stepped into the library.
Mr. Bennet’s brows lifted, and he looked at Elizabeth, who was blushing, and his wife, whose smiling cheeks were indicative of her joy, and said, “Please do come in, Mr. Darcy.”
/
“Ten thousand pounds a year,” Mrs. Bennet squealed, “and a large estate in Derbyshire! Oh Lizzy, Jane is nothing to you! Oh, I shall die of happiness!”
Lydia, who had descended from her bedchamber in response to all the noise, stared incredulously at her second sister and said, “You are truly marrying Mr. Darcy, Lizzy?”
“I am,” Elizabeth said.
“How can you do such a thing, when Mr. Darcy was so unkind to poor Mr. Wickham?”
“Now Lydia, you will hush now!” her mother ordered, casting an anxious glance toward the drawing room door. “It matters not what happened between Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy. The lieutenant is poor, and Mr. Darcy is rich, along with being handsome and tall.”
“Nor is Mr. Wickham a good man,” Elizabeth said firmly, grateful that Georgiana had elected to stay back at Netherfield with Mary and Kitty, who were currently helping Jane. “He has a reputation for leaving unpaid debts, you know.”
Naturally she would not tell her family about Wickham’s thoroughly evil acts at Ramsgate, but his less scandalous crimes could be discussed with ease.
“That is true enough,” Mrs. Bennet admitted. “I heard that several officers left unpaid debts when they left Meryton, including Mr. Wickham.”
“If Mr. Darcy had given Mr. Wickham the church living, the lieutenant would not be so poor!” Lydia flashed back.
Elizabeth caught her mother’s eyes and shook her head, causing the Bennet matron to subside, muttering irritably.
“Lydia, why do you care so much about Mr. Wickham?” Elizabeth asked gently.
Lydia champed her jaw angrily and said, “He is so handsome and charming, Lizzy. If I had gone to Brighton with the regiment as I wanted to, I think that maybe…”
She trailed off and Elizabeth leaned forward, her eyes boring into her sister’s. “Maybe what?”
“You think that Mr. Wickham liked you, Lizzy, did you not?” the girl said, tossing her dusky curls. “Well, before he left, he said that he greatly admired me. Perhaps if I had gone to Brighton, Wickham and I would be married by now!”
Elizabeth paled and was actually thankful when her mother cried out, “Marry Mr. Wickham, Lydia? A penniless steward’s son? Do not be ridiculous! With your elder sisters married to wealthy men, there is an excellent chance that you will find a rich man of your own in time…”
Elizabeth allowed the words to wash over her as she contemplated the potential disaster of Lydia becoming involved with Wickham.
The latter would not, of course, marry a woman with no dowry, but Lydia was probably too stupid to realize that.
If Wickham had succeeded in seducing the youngest Miss Bennet, it would have been a catastrophe for the entire family.
“Lydia,” Elizabeth said suddenly, breaking into her mother’s diatribe, “Mr. Darcy gave Wickham three thousand pounds to give up all rights to the living, and at Wickham’s request.”
Lydia stared at her sister in wonder. “Three thousand pounds?”
“Yes. I am afraid Lieutenant Wickham was not an honorable man in spite of his endearing appearance.”
The door to the drawing room opened, and Mr. Bennet stepped in with Darcy behind him.
“Mrs. Bennet,” the master of Longbourn said, “you will be pleased to hear that Mr. Darcy has offered his hand in marriage to our second daughter, and I have granted him permission.”
“Oh, Mr. Darcy! I am so very happy,” Mrs. Bennet exclaimed rushing forward.
“I am as well, Mrs. Bennet,” Darcy replied courteously and pressed a kiss on the matron’s gloved hand. “Your daughter is a treasure.”
Mrs. Bennet had found her second daughter thoroughly bewildering, and often exasperating, for many years, but she could only agree. “Yes, my Lizzy is absolutely wonderful. Now, we need to start preparing for the wedding!”