Chapter 16 Inheritance
Fitzwilliam Darcy put down the quill he had been spinning between his finger and thumb while George Wickham presented his case. "No, George," he said firmly, "I am not cheating you and I do not owe you anything else, no matter what you may have decided was your due."
"Decided was my due? What do you mean by that? I was your father's godson. He always intended to provide for me. He told my father so."
"And he did provide for you - very handsomely, and with far more than you ever had a right to expect.
He provided you with the opportunity for a good education, both at Eton and at Cambridge.
He provided you with a generous allowance.
He provided you with the strength of his contacts and a place under a prosperous solicitor when you decided you wished to study the law.
In his will, he has provided you with a bequest of four thousand pounds to help you establish yourself to use all those other benefits he gave you.
His gifts would be considered generous by many younger sons of my station.
Few men would do as much for the son of their steward, godson or no.
What makes you think you have a right to anything more? "
"Four thousand? It is a pittance. I know you must be holding something back.
" Wickham tried to take a threatening stance, but the width of the desk between them prevented him from appearing truly menacing to Fitzwilliam.
He had learned enough about his one-time friend not to be too surprised that Richard's prediction had come true.
Richard had said George would not be satisfied with the bequest and would demand more.
Fitzwilliam sighed. He owed Richard a new saddle now.
He never should have taken that bet, not that he truly begrudged his cousin the gift.
"Come now, George," he said in a tone that matched the sigh, resigned but not angry.
"You know better. You know me better than that.
You should also know I cannot be bullied or threatened by you.
Take the bequest and have done with it. Do not give me a reason to break ties with you or throw you off this estate. "
George suddenly stood upright, shaking his head slightly with the shock.
He must have realized he had overplayed his hand.
"I did not mean any offense, Will. It is grief talking.
You know we have always been good friends.
I would not wish to insult you. It is just that I thought your father intended more for me. "
"Perhaps, at one time, he did. We will never know now.
All we have is his will, and that is very clear.
You have what you are meant to receive. As to any friendship between us, well, we both know that is more fiction than fact.
So long as you behave with civility, I will not cut you in public, but any illusion of intimacy between us has long since dissipated. "
"That is all Richard Fitzwilliam's fault. He lied to you and to your father. He made you see what was not there," George said, desperately. He had remembered that Lady Catherine would be furious if Fitzwilliam Darcy broke ties with him completely.
"I think that was your role, George," Fitzwilliam said almost genially.
"Do the wise thing. Leave now before I decide it is time to break all ties between us.
Show me by your behavior who you truly are and make the most of all you have received.
" Fitzwilliam picked up the quill and began to roll it between his forefinger and thumb again.
George took the hint. He bowed and with his most charming smile said, "Thank you for your time, Will. I hope to see you in town."
"I may look you up at your law office. Let me know when you have finished your studies," Fitzwilliam replied. He did not, however, rise or otherwise acknowledge his one-time friend, who left the room with only a quick backward glance before he closed the study door.
Fitzwilliam sighed again. This was even more difficult than he had expected.
He hoped Bingley would arrive soon in answer to the invitation Fitzwilliam had sent a few days before.
After tending to his father's funeral and all the other necessary business, he needed a dose of his friend's good cheer.
That -as another one he owed Richard - it might not be part of the bet, but in gratitude he would make his forfeit a top-quality saddle, one worthy of a general, not just a captain.
Without the prompting from his cousin, Fitzwilliam probably would not have pursued a friendship with the tradesman's son at Eton.
When faced with the loss of his cousin's company, however, Fitzwilliam took Richard's advice and contacted Charles Bingley with an invitation to spend a few weeks at Pemberley.
Their liking for each other had increased during that visit and in the months that followed.
By the time they left Eton the following summer, Will Darcy and Charles Bingley had the kind of friendship Fitzwilliam's father had always hoped his son would have with George Wickham.
As a result, although Fitzwilliam roomed with George at Cambridge, he spent most of his free time with Bingley.
They carried on the activities Richard had prompted his cousin to join at Eton - rowing, fencing, chess.
Bingley even cajoled his friend into playing some cricket, although neither of them were good enough at it to play on any of the established teams.
Because Bingley was such a cheerful fellow, people liked to have him around, whether for an idle game or as a dinner companion.
Fitzwilliam might have had the connections, but it was Bingley who won them the repeat invitations.
It was not that Fitzwilliam would have been shunned or reviled without the presence of his friend.
Acting on Richard's advice and with some help from Bingley, he had learned to be more open and to actively engage others in conversation.
He would never be the life of the party, and he was still not comfortable in large groups, but in situations with a few good companions he could now be sociable and avoid giving offense.
His new-found social abilities were sorely tried when Fitzwilliam visited with Bingley's family the first summer after they started at Cambridge.
Not with Bingley's father, of course. Mr. Bingley, senior, was as sunny and jovial a character as his son.
Fitzwilliam felt at ease with him immediately.
The same could not be said of his first meeting with Bingley's two sisters.
Louisa Bingley was three years older than his friend and hoping to find a wealthy and/or titled husband.
Fortunately, Fitzwilliam was really too young for her.
After a few very obvious attempts to draw his interest, she gave it up as a bad job.
She soon returned to her pursuit of Gilbert Hurst, who was a local landowner's son, although without expectations of much wealth or a title.
He would still lift her beyond the social sphere in which she was currently placed.
The younger sister, Caroline Bingley, was not so easily deterred.
She was only seventeen and had just enjoyed her first Season.
After hearing her brother's descriptions of Pemberley, she had a good idea of what Fitzwilliam would be worth one day.
She also realized that it was only chance that had placed her in a position to possibly catch him since he really was above her touch.
With a much more subtle approach than her sister, Miss Caroline laid her snares.
She knew that the presence of her prey as a guest in the same house gave her a powerful advantage over any other young woman of her set.
Having seen his clear disgust at her sister's obvious plays, she knew to make her initial approach slow and gentle.
She must seem to be a friend before she tried to make him anything more.
While her ideas were good and her initial execution went smoothly, Miss Caroline failed to consider the consequences of making her move with her brother also in the house.
"You really need to be more careful, Will," Bingley said as they relaxed in the library one evening about three weeks into Fitzwilliam's stay.
"What do you mean?" Fitzwilliam said unconcernedly as he leaned comfortably back into his armchair.
"I mean that you need to be more careful when you are around Caroline. My sister is aiming to bag you, but you do not seem to have noticed. You are usually so quick at spotting fortune hunters that I was surprised you have let her go on with her plans."
Fitzwilliam looked at his friend oddly. "Miss Caroline? No, it was your older sister from whom I had to fend off advances. But she gave up last week."
"You really have not seen it, then. No, it is Caroline you need to worry about. She is much cleverer than Louisa, and I would not put much past her. She is trying to worm herself into your confidence now, in order to strike later."
"Are you certain? I have not seen any of the usual signs."
Bingley laughed. "Oh, yes. I know my sister and her behavior.
If you doubt me, pay close attention to how she reacts during tomorrow's dinner at our cousin's home.
She will keep you to herself while pretending to help you feel more comfortable in the crowd, all the while implying to others that the two of you are very close. "
Now that he had been warned, Fitzwilliam paid attention to the situation and found that Bingley's assessment rang true.
Almost right away he could see that she was trying to isolate him in the crowd and warn others off.
When Fitzwilliam realized what she was doing, he also realized why he had not seen it before.
She had been behaving exactly as George Wickham always did.
The pattern was so familiar Fitzwilliam had overlooked it.