Chapter 6
Adam Lambert followed his sister’s advice and called at Pemberley the next day.
The butler, Mr Douglas, showed him in as he always had in the past. As he took the stairs to the first floor, Adam could feel the blanket of melancholy which seemed to envelop the house.
The servants he saw were all on edge as if putting a foot out of place would be a disaster.
Even though Darcy was not an ebullient man, his house had always had an air of contentment, something which was decidedly missing now. Adam could not imagine what had occurred, but he knew that whatever it was, it was something very serious.
As he approached the study door, it opened and Miss Darcy, who looked decidedly wretched, stepped out.
Adam was used to her being shy, but what he noted was far more than that.
It was easy to see her cheeks were tear-stained.
As soon as she saw him, she got a haunted look on her countenance, burst into tears, and ran up the stairs to the family floor.
“Who upset Miss Darcy…” Darcy stepped out of his study ready to sack the one who had made his sister feel worse. He was brought up short when he saw Lambert looking back at him calmly.
“Darcy, I did nothing and said not a word to your sister. She saw me, began to cry, and ran, I assume to her chambers. What on earth is going on here?” Adam demanded.
He did not miss how all of the anger bled out of his friend, and it was replaced by guilt.
“Let us enter your study; we need to speak.” Adam did not wait for Darcy to respond; he took him by his arm, led him into the study, and closed the door.
The scene which met him on entering his friend’s study spoke of the perturbation Darcy was suffering.
He was normally very fastidious. Everything on his desk had its place, and Darcy would never touch spirits before the evening, or late afternoon at the earliest. The top of the desk was a mess, things strewn here and there without a care, and there was a half-empty decanter of brandy, a cut crystal tumbler with a measure of the amber liquor within next to it.
“I failed her!” Darcy bemoaned. He proceeded to tell his friend everything from the employing of Mrs Younge to the almost disaster in Ramsgate. “I have not been able to tell Richard yet,” he admitted at the end.
“Fitzwilliam is her guardian as much as you are; you must inform him as soon as may be.” Adam paused as he cogitated. “I am sure you want no one else to know of your sister’s almost ruin.”
Darcy nodded emphatically. Moving his head at that speed made him feel somewhat bilious. He stopped and hoped he would not cast up his accounts.
“Drinking yourself into oblivion will not help you or Miss Darcy. You know I keep nothing from my wife, do you not?” He saw a nod, this one at a much gentler pace.
“I need your permission to speak to my sister, who is visiting the parsonage with her family.” Adam saw the vehement protest forming on his friend’s lips.
He raised his hand. “My sister and her husband are the souls of discretion and would do nothing to damage Miss Darcy’s reputation.
They are very wise, and I believe they would have perspectives we do not.
There may be some useful suggestions to assist Miss Darcy to commence the healing. ”
Although he had never met Lambert’s older sister, through his brandy-fogged brain, Darcy remembered many instances over the years when his friend had spoken on his sister’s wisdom. If Lambert said they would not tell anyone else, they would not. “You may speak to your sister, but no one else.”
“You realise that means her husband as well,” Lambert verified.
There was a nod of confirmation from Darcy. “I have a letter to write to Richard. I cannot speak of any of this in writing, so I will leave for London in a few days. My Aunt Elaine and Uncle Reggie are in Town, and they may have some good advice, especially regarding assisting Anna to recover.”
Once Darcy moved the decanter to the tray upon the sideboard and tidied his desk, Adam left him to write his letters.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
That evening, when all of the children had gone to bed, Adam asked his sister and Gardiner to meet Eve and himself in their small, private sitting room.
As the servants had been dismissed for the night, it was a perfect time to speak with complete privacy.
Once he was sure the door was securely closed, Adam paced back and forth once or twice as he collected his thoughts.
He stopped his pacing and sat next to his wife, who took his hand.
“Maddie, your advice was very timely; my friend needed to unburden himself. Before I continue, I have his permission to speak to all of you about the travails. Other than among ourselves in privacy, we may not discuss any of this with any other, besides William Darcy himself. Is that understood by all of you?” Adam laid out.
“You should know that without asking,” Maddie admonished lightly.
“Of course, I do, but nevertheless, it had to be said.” Adam took a deep breath and then began.
“You remember I wrote about my friend seeking a companion for his sister in March-April of this year?” Adam saw nods from both Gardiners.
“He erred greatly and employed a faithless woman, and he owns that his confidence in his own judgement stopped him from involving his co-guardian and cousin, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, or taking his aunt’s—the Countess of Matlock—offer to assist him in the search for a companion for Miss Darcy.
Then, in what he calls a gross error of judgement, he did not verify the characters of the woman he employed, one Mrs Karen Younge.
“In the first month or so she seemed just as she had presented herself—as a good companion for Miss Darcy. The woman manipulated her charge into requesting that they go to the coast, to Ramsgate, knowing full well that Darcy would not be able to be present for all of the time due to business commitments.”
“I was one of those commitments in June,” Gardiner reported. “Mr Darcy invests with me, and when he came to see me, he mentioned that he had recently conveyed his sister to one of the houses he owns near the sea.”
“By the Grace of God,” Adam continued, “Darcy was able to complete what he needed to do a week earlier than planned.
Rather than write to his sister, he set off for Ramsgate, intent on surprising her.
It was he who was shocked when he arrived.
There was no footman on duty at the front door, and when he slipped into the house, he saw Mrs Younge looking through a cracked-open door into the sitting room, rubbing her hands together in glee.
It was then he heard the voice of George Wickham from within with endearments for his sister.
“He growled his displeasure, alerting Mrs Younge to his presence. She turned white and fainted dead away. Darcy kicked the door open, causing it to slam against the wall with great force. It caused the miscreant to jump back from Miss Darcy as she sat looking very confused. Wicky tried to claim he and Miss Darcy were engaged. It was then Darcy grabbed the seducer by his neck. Had his sister not begun to wail, he is sure he would have choked the life out of Wicky. He threw the man, who was gasping for air, to the floor and turned towards his sister. He heard the footfalls as Wicky ran like the coward he is.”
“You know it was that waste of a human being who ruined Veronica and was ultimately responsible for her death, and those of Aunt Delorus and Uncle Peter, do you not?” Maddie reminded her brother.
“Indeed, I do. Once she calmed down, Miss Darcy told all. It appears that on the second day after Darcy departed to London, they came across Wicky by chance. With Mrs Younge’s encouragement, he called daily, and soon the two of them convinced Miss Darcy that she was in love with the seducer.
Once Wicky was courting Miss Darcy, Mrs Younge would make sure the other servants were not around to see what was occurring.
Miss Darcy had agreed to elope with the libertine, and they would have departed two days after the day Darcy arrived by chance.
It is obvious that Miss Darcy had very good memories of Wicky from her childhood, and it is equally obvious that Wicky and Mrs Young were cohorts.
“In his shame, he has not told his co-guardian or sought counsel from Lord and Lady Matlock. Darcy also decided that as long as Wicky did not say a word about what he attempted or approach Miss Darcy ever again, he would not hobble Wicky.”
“Then he is no better than his father, who used to turn a blind eye to his godson’s atrocious behaviour.
How many more Veronicas and Miss Darcys must there be before the time comes for action to be taken against the miscreant?
Or does he not care because most of his victims are below Mr Darcy in society? ” Maddie shot back.
“Maddie, that speech smacks of bitterness,” Adam pointed out.
“How could I not be bitter after what was done to our cousin, all in the name of revenge?” Maddie took some time to calm her ire. “Why is it you were allowed to share this with us?”
“I thought you and Gardiner may have some advice which I can pass on,” Adam explained.
“You already told him he must go speak to his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, did you not?” Gardiner verified.
Seeing the confirming nod, he continued after looking at Maddie, whose look told him to speak, as she did not want to.
“He will need a new companion for Miss Darcy, and this time he needs to accept his aunt’s assistance.
Lord Matlock is an investor, and I am sure he and his wife, with whom Maddie serves on a charitable board, will, without judgment, assist their niece in recovering.
Did Mr Darcy say why he would not move against Wickham? ”