Chapter Twenty-Nine #2
“Then I suppose we are to speak of Mr. Wickham.”
“We are.”
For several steps Darcy said nothing. He had considered the conversation repeatedly since the previous afternoon, yet now that Elizabeth walked beside him, the words seemed more difficult than they had in the privacy of his room.
“I must first apologise for my conduct yesterday. I should not have left as I did.”
“You were angry.”
Darcy glanced at her. “I was.”
Elizabeth's mouth curved slightly. “I confess I had never seen you in such a temper. Even Mr. Bingley knew not what to say to excuse your actions.”
Despite himself, Darcy smiled. “Bingley attempted to explain it?”
“He suggested you might be unwell.”
Darcy closed his eyes briefly.
Elizabeth laughed. “I am sorry. I ought not to find it amusing.”
“I assure you, Bingley's attempts to explain my conduct were considerably more charitable than I deserved.”
Her amusement faded. “You need not apologise to me for being angry, Mr. Darcy. Though I admit I have wondered what could have caused it.”
“That is what I wish to tell you.”
“Mr. Wickham seemed almost inclined to offer me his own account,” Elizabeth said, “but I thought I would rather hear yours. Though from the manner in which he spoke of you, I had already gathered that your connexion was not a friendly one.”
Darcy drew a slow breath. “Wickham and I have known one another since childhood. His father was steward to mine and a man whom my father valued very highly. George was his godson, and my father treated him with great kindness. He paid for much of his education and intended to provide for him in the church.”
Elizabeth listened without interruption.
“Upon my father's death, Wickham informed me that he had no intention of taking orders and wished instead to study the law.
He surrendered any claim to the living my father had intended for him and requested money in its place.
I gave him three thousand pounds in addition to the thousand pounds left to him under my father's will.”
“That is a considerable sum.”
“It was.”
“That does not quite explain why you both behaved as though you were sworn enemies yesterday.”
Darcy looked at her.
Elizabeth lifted one shoulder. “Forgive me. I am attempting to discover where the anger enters the story.”
“That is what I am coming to.”
Elizabeth nodded but said nothing further, leaving him to continue.
“Within three years, Wickham had squandered the money upon various vices and contracted debts which he had no means of satisfying.
I discharged several of them myself, partly out of regard for my father's memory and partly to keep him from a debtor's prison. When the living at Kympton, which he had willingly relinquished, later became vacant, Wickham returned and demanded that I give it to him despite our previous agreement. I refused. He was not pleased by the refusal and has since represented the history between us in whatever manner best serves him.”
Elizabeth's brow furrowed. “Then when he said yesterday that your acquaintance had not always been a fortunate one...”
Darcy stopped walking. “He spoke to me to you?”
“Very little.” Elizabeth's expression turned thoughtful. “Yesterday was the first time I had ever seen Mr. Wickham, much less made his acquaintance. Had Mr. Denny not introduced him, I should not have known the gentleman at all.”
The answer relieved Darcy more than he cared to acknowledge. Whatever Wickham's purpose in Meryton, he had not yet had sufficient time to establish himself amongst the Bennets or gain any particular influence over Elizabeth.
“He told me only that you had known one another from childhood and that the acquaintance had not always been fortunate,” Elizabeth continued. “I might have asked him more, but I thought it better to ask you.”
Darcy stared at her. Something warm and painful moved through him at once. “You preferred to ask me?”
“Of course.”
The simplicity of the answer affected him more than any elaborate assurance could have done.
Elizabeth resumed walking. “Though I confess his departure shortly afterwards made me considerably more curious.”
“His departure?”
“He suddenly remembered some business elsewhere when I told him I meant to ask you about what had happened.”
Darcy's mouth tightened.
That sounded very much like Wickham. He knew the man's character too well not to suspect that Wickham had meant to say considerably more, had Elizabeth shown herself willing to hear it.
Perhaps her preference for hearing Darcy's account had discouraged him.
Wickham was accustomed to finding his charm readily received, and Elizabeth's refusal to be drawn into his confidence might very well have persuaded him that retreat was the wiser course.
“There is more,” he announced with a sigh.
Elizabeth looked towards him again, the line between her brows deepening with surprise.
Darcy had known they must eventually reach this point. He could speak of the living, the money, and Wickham's resentment without difficulty. What had happened at Ramsgate was another matter, for it was not his history alone to tell.
“There is another offence,” he said. “A far more serious one, and what I am about to tell you must go no further than your ears.”
Elizabeth's expression became grave. “Of course.”
“It concerns my sister, Georgiana.”
Her eyes widened, but she remained silent.
“She is much younger than I, and last summer she was staying at Ramsgate with the lady who then had charge of her. Wickham contrived to renew his acquaintance with her there. Georgiana had known him from childhood and remembered the affection my father had always shown him. She trusted him.”
Darcy paused. Even now, the recollection was difficult to endure.
“Wickham persuaded her that he loved her and intended to marry her. She was just fifteen.”
“Fifteen?” Elizabeth repeated, shocked.
“Yes. Georgiana has a considerable fortune, and I have never doubted that it was his principal object. He persuaded her to elope with him to Gretna Green. I arrived unexpectedly only a day or two before they intended to leave, and Georgiana, unable to conceal anything from me, told me everything.”
Elizabeth had gone very still beside him. “Good heavens.”
“When Wickham discovered that I knew, he abandoned the scheme and left Ramsgate. I have not seen him since, until yesterday.”
“Then that was why...” Her expression altered with sudden understanding. “When you saw him in Meryton.”
“Yes.”
Elizabeth was silent for a moment. “I cannot wonder that you were angry.”
“I ought nevertheless to have governed myself better.”
“I think you governed yourself remarkably well if riding away was the alternative to what you wished to do.”
Darcy looked at her.
A faint smile touched her lips. “You did look as though you wished to murder him, Mr. Darcy.”