Chapter 19 #2
As he agreed with Gardiner, Bennet rang for Hill and instructed him to bring his youngest to the study. “If she is still caterwauling, gag her and have one of Mr Gardiner’s footmen carry her.”
Hill bowed and left to carry out his orders.
Ten minutes later, there was a knock, Hill entered followed by Johns who had Lydia under his enormous arm like she was a small package he was carrying. She was gagged, her flailing arms and legs having no effect on the giant of a man.
Gardiner grinned when Bennet’s eyes became large on seeing Johns. “He is the smaller of my two large footmen,” Gardiner quipped.
When the huge man put Lydia onto her feet, she attempted to kick him, but she could not reach him. Bennet could see his daughter was in the middle of a major tantrum. He stood, rounded his desk and delivered a ringing slap to his daughter’s rump.
Lydia’s eyes became as large as cricket balls, and her eyebrows shot up in shock. Neither her mother nor her father had ever disciplined her with corporal punishment. She refused to cry.
“I will have the gag removed as long as you do not scream. Do so, and it will go right back, attempt to harm anyone else, you will be secured with rope, and if you think you can run, think again. Now will you be calm?” Bennet saw a curt nod. He nodded to the huge man who removed the gag.
Before she used every profane word she knew, Lydia stopped herself.
She did not want to be gagged again. She sat in the chair to which her father pointed.
She could see the enormous man standing at the door while another man was just outside the study’s windows.
Hence, she reasoned that attempting to escape would be fruitless.
“We are aware that you met with Mr Wickham before you were caught on your way to see him again last night. When and how many times,” Bennet questioned.
Rather than answer, Lydia crossed her arms across her chest and looked away from her father.
She would never talk to any of them again; she hated every last one of them.
Even Mama! She had not come to rescue Lydia from the degradation of being confined in the nursery.
That meant her mother no longer loved her.
What she could not understand was why Uncle Edward was in the study with Papa, and where had the new footmen come from?
“What did you know of the man you were about to meet before you agreed to do so?” Gardiner queried.
“Mr Wickham loves me! You just do not want me to have the fun I was to have with him!” Lydia huffed as she stamped a slippered foot. “Like I had been disinvited to the ball, so was he.”
“Lydia, you are not out, you were never invited in the first place.” Gardiner turned to Bennet. “Were not all of the officers invited to the ball?”
“That rude, proud Mr Darcy had Mr Bingley refuse an invite for poor Mr Wickham,” Lydia asserted. “He told me, and he only tells the truth!”
“I heard Mr Denny tell Lizzy that Mr Wickham chose not to attend. Not one single officer was disinvited. In fact, I spoke to Colonel Forster who told me that he was thankful that every officer, bar none, had been invited,” Bennet related.
She did not want to believe that the handsome lieutenant had prevaricated. Surely not? Lydia was about to protest when Uncle Edward spoke.
“Two of my footmen were watching the man before the ball. They heard him boast how his choice to not attend the boring ball was better because he would be taking a stupid chit’s virtue, one who believed he loved her.
” Gardiner sat back and saw how Lydia was trying to explain these things to herself.
She was not worldly, but Lydia knew what it meant for someone to take her virtue. Surely that is not what Mr Wickham meant when he said they would have fun, was it? Did he not mean more kisses and perhaps him exploring her bosom?
“Lydia, you are not the first maiden he has attempted to lead astray, and if he was not about to be stopped, you would not be the last. Even Lizzy, who you know is an intelligent girl, was fooled by him, just not in a way which would have had her surrender her virtue to him. From what we know he has fathered four or five children out of wedlock, and we know of more than one lady who died in childbirth,” Gardiner stated gently.
“He normally tells young ladies around your age that he loves them, promises them marriage and persuades them to anticipate their vows to prove their love. Once he has got what he wants, he leaves them. There are also cases of him forcing his attentions on young girls who have had the good sense to refuse him.” He ceased speaking to allow his niece to absorb what he had said.
Gardiner did not miss seeing Bennet’s pallid complexion.
He had told Bennet that Wickham was a seducer, but had not shared details as he had just done.
Listening to his brother-in-law speak, and beginning to grasp the snake who had fooled both Lizzy and Lydia, albeit in different ways, made Bennet want to cast up his accounts. He fought to not do that. He may have to become foxed later to try and assimilate all of the errors he had made.
That Lizzy had been fooled by Mr Wickham made Lydia feel slightly better. She began to feel sick. If she had refused to allow him to take her virtue, would he have forced her? Then she remembered something.
“Is it not impossible for a lady to become with child before she is married?” Lydia enquired.
“Excuse me if this question is invasive, but, Lydia, have your courses begun yet?” Gardiner saw his usually unflappable niece turn bright scarlet.
She gave a quick nod. “Then, Lydia, you are able to become with child. It is to do with your courses, not whether you are married. That is a lie some seducers tell their victims. Did he tell you that?”
“N-no. I heard Mama and Aunt Maddie speaking one day. They saw me there and told me what they were discussing only affected married ladies,” Lydia explained.
“And this is one of the reasons, I believe that keeping young ladies ignorant harms them, not helps,” Gardiner opined.
Seeing how much calmer Lydia was, Bennet took the opportunity to repeat the question about how many times she had slipped out of Longbourn which she had refused to answer before.
“Only once, the night that the rain stopped, a few days before the ball…” Lydia told them all, fully and honestly.
“Lydia, I do not believe you are as unintelligent as some may think.” Gardiner looked at Bennet.
“However, what made you believe that a man you had seen once for some minutes could be in love with you? I know you will be fourteen in a little more than a fortnight, so there is no way you understand the intricacies of romantic love yet. However, to believe a man in love with you who did not know you at all, does not make sense. Why at such a young age are you seeking a husband?”
“Mama always talks about how we will end up in the hedgerows when Papa dies. She says the only way to save ourselves is to marry, and marry soon. According to her, Jane has failed so far, except until this morning, she thought Mr Bingley would marry her. It is up to me to save Mama because my other sisters will never marry,” Lydia reported.
“I only did what Mama taught me to do, how is that so bad?”
Gardiner looked at Bennet with raised eyebrows as Lydia spoke.
Bennet felt the shame burn all over again. Yes, Fanny was flighty and not the most intelligent woman, but had he driven her to feel that she needed to push their daughters at any man? Had he hidden himself away while his wife gave his youngest the worst possible lessons?
“Why an officer? Do you like having to cook and clean for yourself, not have any servants, not be able to buy new dresses and gowns?” Gardiner enquired.
“Mama always tells me how romantic it is to be in love with an officer, like she was with one of the lieutenants when Colonel Millar’s regiment was here when she was a young lady.
” Lydia’s cheeks pinked and she looked at her father.
“Sorry Papa, but that is where I heard all about officers.” She remembered her uncle’s words about what she would do without if she married an officer.
“But Mama said the army provides everything an officer needs.”
“They do. Except they deduct the costs from the officer’s wages.
Anyone below a major does not earn enough to keep a wife.
In fact, hardly enough for themselves. You would have to follow the drum, walk, or if you are lucky, ride for many miles, and when you arrive at the new location you would have to hope that you will have enough money to rent a small room and pay for food.
” Gardiner watched as his niece processed his words.
“I almost ruined myself and my sisters as well,” Lydia concluded after thinking for some minutes.
She watched as her father and uncle both nodded.
“There is much for me to consider. I am ready to return to the nursery now.” She stood and took a step towards the door before turning.
“I am so sorry, Papa.” Then she was gone, walking silently.
This time Johns followed behind and did not have to gag or carry the young miss.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Being summoned to see Colonel Forster was not something any officer in the regiment would think twice about. Hence, Wickham strutted in like a peacock, ready to garner some more sympathy for being robbed.
The adjutant told Wickham to go straight into the Colonel’s office.
Wickham did not look about the room, but came to a halt before Colonel Forster’s desk and gave what passed for a salute.
“Not a very good effort, Wicky,” Fitzwilliam drawled from behind the libertine.
How was it that Richard Fitzwilliam was here? Had Darcy called him? Wickham turned slowly and there, leaning against the back wall with his hand resting on his sabre, was the last man in the world he wanted to see. Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam in full regimentals.
“Hello, Wicky. I have been wanting to speak to you,” Fitzwilliam growled menacingly.
It was a fight for Wickham to control his bladder.