Chapter 7 #2
“Bingley and his leased estate just over twenty miles from Town in the wilds of Hertfordshire,” Richard informed his brother.
“Bingley? Oh, you mean Darcy’s friend. Is our reserved and taciturn cousin not there teaching his friend estate management?” Andrew remembered.
“Correct. In fact, it is our reserved taciturn cousin who penned the note,” Richard responded.
Before his brother asked why the host did not pen the note, the Colonel pre-empted him.
“If you ever had the displeasure of trying to read Bingley’s atrocious script, you would know why William performed the office. ”
“Bingley,” Lord Reginald Fitzwilliam, the Earl of Matlock, intoned, “is he not the puppy Darcy leads around by his nose?”
“The same. Very affable and jovial, but no backbone and hates confrontation,” Richard confirmed.” He turned to his brother. “Well Andy, are you joining me, or should I depart in an hour on my own?”
“I will join you. Let us see what Hertfordshire has to offer. Wait, Rich! Will not that awful Miss Bingley be there?” Andrew asked with distaste.
Georgiana Darcy, who had been sitting quietly during the exchange, giggled. “She thinks we all are enamoured with her,” Georgiana said softly.
“Then she is delusional, Gigi,” Lady Elaine, Countess of Matlock, stated firmly.
“D-did W-William not invite me?” Georgiana asked timidly.
“I am afraid not, Gigi. Allow us to arrive and get the lay of the land. I am sure William wants to protect you from Miss Bingley’s false friendship,” Richard assured his ward. He shared guardianship with his cousin and was pleased to see Gigi perk up as she accepted his logic.
The Colonel was certain before he gave her his supposition, she assumed her brother did not want to be in her company because of Ramsgate. How he would like to get his hands on one George Wickham’s scrawny neck!
Within the hour, the brothers were on their way to Netherfield Park.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
After the four men canvassed the town’s merchants and tradesmen, they met at Mr. Phillips’s office to tally the totals.
As each came in, they handed their notes to Charlotte, who quickly tallied them.
When she was done, she gasped. “How did they allow one man to amass close to four hundred pounds in debts?” Then she examined some of the notes again.
“It seems like the good Lieutenant also enjoys seducing young girls half his age.”
“How much?” Phillips was flabbergasted. Charlotte showed him the list and total, and all Phillips could do was shake his head. He was disgusted when he saw the names of the tradesmen’s daughters with whom he had dallied.
“Mr. Phillips, could you send your clerk to Colonel Forster’s office and request the Colonel attend you urgently?” Charlotte suggested.
Within minutes, the young man was on his way to the regimental offices. Less than a half hour later, Colonel Forster returned with him. “Gentlemen and Miss Lucas,” he said in greeting, “how may I be of assistance to you?”
“We are hoping we may be of assistance to you, Colonel,” Sir William began. “The militia had always been welcomed in Meryton, but we have discovered a situation which could sour the relationship between your unit and the town irrevocably.”
“This must be grave; I will do all I am able to rectify the situation, as we would hate to lose our welcome here,” Colonel Forster stated with all seriousness. “Please give me the details so that I may correct the problems.”
“Problem, Colonel Forster, problem,” Bennet emphasised. “You seem to have one rather bad apple in the barrel who, if unchecked, will ensure the militia will never be welcomed in our town again.”
“One man has caused such a problem as to threaten our welcome here?” the Colonel asked. He was visibly shaken there might be such a man under his command. “Who is it?”
“Lieutenant Wickham,” Sir William informed the Colonel.
“Lieutenant Wickham?” the Colonel repeated. “He is one of my better officers. He warned me Mr. Darcy might spread lies about him; is that man the source of your intelligence?” The Colonel bristled, as he had assumed the proud man from Derbyshire was blackening his officer’s good name.
“Mr. Darcy has never mentioned the Lieutenant’s name to any of us.
No, the problems we now know of were discovered because the Lieutenant told my second daughter a tale full of contradictions, which we now believe to be falsehoods spun around a kernel of truth,” Bennet explained.
“My betrothed, Miss Lucas, noticed some behaviour of the man which made him suspect. On her suggestion, Sir William, his sons, and I canvassed all the merchants and tradesmen in Meryton.” Bennet paused and then asked a direct question.
“How much does a Lieutenant earn on an annual basis, Colonel?”
“Four and twenty pounds per annum,” Colonel Forster shared. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had been played by his new Lieutenant.
“Then how do you suppose Mr. Wickham will pay the debts he has accumulated so far, Colonel?” Sir William handed over the list his daughter had tabulated, which listed the merchants by name and amount owed to each.
Thankfully, like the tailor, it was the cost of an order not yet collected, and for the most part not made; after the advice he had received today, nothing further was being sewn.
The Colonel felt defeated; he was usually such a good judge of character. How had this man slipped passed him? “Three hundred, four and seventy pounds! How is a fraction of that debt to be paid?”
Charlotte spoke up for the first time, “Luckily, about half is for orders he placed, which the cobbler, blacksmith, and tailor have stopped. Thankfully, none of them had expended much for materials yet. His single largest debt, over fifty pounds, is to the inn where he drinks and eats. It is also where he seems to host a few with his fellow officers to get on their good side.”
Having been the recipient of the Lieutenant’s largess more than once at the Red Rooster Inn in Meryton, the Colonel could see how the man had incurred such a debt in a short time.
“He told me he had a legacy from his late godfather when I asked how he could afford to keep paying for others to drink and eat,” the slumping Colonel revealed.
“I would wager, Colonel, if you had your men check, you would find out the man has large debts of honour as well as money he has borrowed from his fellow officers,” Charlotte suggested.
“According to what we already know and my estimation of the man, I would not be surprised if some of your officers found items of theirs were missing, as it seems to me your Lieutenant is a man who believes it is his due for others to pay his way, whether they agree or not!”
“How do you suggest we proceed?” the Colonel asked. He was determined to deal with the scourge in the midst of his militia unit.
“Before we address that, there is more, I am afraid,” Bennet informed the shocked man.
“More, as if his debts and possible thefts are not bad enough?” the Colonel exclaimed.
“He has been seducing young daughters of the same merchants to whom he owes so much money!” Sir William related.
“From what we were told, he uses the line that if they love him, they will not make him wait for the wedding, and then once he has what he wants, he threatens them with ruin if they tell anyone. The man is not just a wastrel and profligate; he is a black-hearted libertine!” The Sir William who was mayor and protector of his town and friends was fully evident, and Charlotte smiled, grateful her father took even his ceremonial title to heart.
“Colonel, I believe we should reconvene at Longbourn in a few hours. I will invite Mr. Darcy to join us, as I am sure he has information which we could use,” Bennet suggested.
“Thomas, may I suggest Eliza be included in this meeting?” Charlotte recommended.
Bennet saw the sense in his betrothed’s suggestion, as his daughter still was not of a mind she was wholly wrong. “In the meanwhile, I will have my adjutant, Captain Carter, tally of all of Wickham’s debts within the unit,” the Colonel stated.
“Colonel, if I may, I would suggest you have the man watched. From everything we have seen and taking the massive orders for clothing and footwear into account, I am sure he is preparing to escape his obligations. He will try to desert if he catches a whiff that the truth of his character is known. Lieutenant Wickham does not seem like the type of man who would be willing to face the consequences of his actions,” Charlotte proposed.
Colonel Forster agreed it would be so and the group set a meeting at Longbourn three hours hence.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Richard and Andrew, Welcome! I was not sure Andy would accompany you, Rich.” Darcy was fairly ebullient; he was more than pleased to see his cousins with whom he was so close, and he gave each of them a back slapping bearhug. Due to their closeness in age, Richard was more brother than cousin.
“I second your cousin’s welcome,” Bingley stated affably.
“Where are you off to, Darce?” Richard enquired.
“I am to the neighbouring estate, Longbourn. Rich, I should have told you, Wickham is here.” Seeing his cousin was about to blurt out his displeasure, Darcy shook his head and directed his eyes to Bingley. “Evidently, dear Georgie boy is the subject of a meeting to which I have been invited.”
“I am joining you, William!” Richard stated. It was not a request.
“Me too!” Andrew insisted.
So it was the carriage departing Netherfield Park held one Darcy and two Fitzwilliams. Miss Bingley was most put out her highborn guests departed without a word of greeting to her.