Chapter 53 Attack #2
They clattered up the stairs followed by their mother and the maid.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party headed into the sitting room.
Mrs. Bennet called Mrs. Hill and ordered drinks sent in while everyone else claimed seats in their favorite part of the room.
Madeline soon joined them, having settled the children in the nursery.
It was only when the tea arrived and Kitty and Lydia started serving it that they noticed someone else was missing.
"Where are Mary and Mr. Bingley?" Mrs. Bennet asked loudly.
"Right here," came Bingley's voice from the door. He and Mary walked into the room arm in arm. "We have an announcement to make."
"Have I not already spoiled your announcement?" Anne asked cheerfully. Martin nudged her to be quiet.
Bingley laughed. "You did take care of announcing my courtship, but now I would like to announce that Miss Mary and I are betrothed."
"Betrothed?" came the predictable loud response from Mrs. Bennet. "Oh, my!"
"I do not recall you asking my permission for this announcement," Mr. Bennet said sternly.
Apparently, Bingley realized he was being teased. "Oh, you gave it to me implicitly when you agreed to the courtship. After hearing that Mary was threatened on the way here, I was not going to wait another minute to settle our future."
"Wise decision," said Bennet, "but I would really like to hear what happened on the journey. Gardiner, I think you have delayed long enough. We can congratulate Bingley and my daughter once we have the most pressing news."
The rest of the room’s occupants agreed, although several offered congratulations to the couple as they made their way to seats near Lizzy and Darcy. They were just about to take their seats when Anne stood.
"Wait," she said. "Although I feel as if I already know Mary, I still think Martin and I need to be introduced to her and the rest of the new arrivals."
Everyone laughed as Mrs. Bennet said, "We already consider you so much a part of our family that we forgot about the need to introduce you to others. We must also present Mrs. de Bourgh and Georgiana."
The introductions were quickly made as the younger girls finished serving the tea to all the group.
Mrs. Hill also brought in a selection of biscuits and small cakes, and those were quickly passed around as well.
Soon everyone was settled with their refreshments and all eyes turned expectantly to Edward.
"First off, you should know we left the house as early as we had hoped.
The children were cooperative, and even though it was a bit crowded in the carriage, we all started off in good spirits.
Despite the gray skies, the weather remained as dry as it is here, and the roads were in fairly good shape.
We made good time and had no problems until we reached the village about halfway along where I normally stop to rest the horses.
The coaching inn there has a nice fenced-in side yard where the children can run around a bit while we wait, while being out of the way of other travelers.
Mary had joined the nursemaid near the fence so they could watch the children.
Well, you know what coaching inns are like.
People are always moving through, arriving, leaving, wandering around.
Even if you are on the alert, it is not easy to keep track of everyone, and I was not entirely on the alert. "
"So, you never saw Wickham coming?" Darcy surmised.
"Exactly," Edward said. "I was generally keeping an eye on the people coming in and out of the inn, but I think he must have been hiding around the back of the stables.
Anyway, before I realized what was happening, he had come out from wherever that was, and advanced on Mary with a drawn pistol, shouting as if he thought she was Lizzy.
It took me a minute to realize who he must be, but then I caught sight of the network of red and swollen cuts and scratches on his face and understood.
My driver and footman normally have weapons ready as we travel, but they were busy getting the horses hitched back up and were not close enough to get them in time. "
Mrs. Bennet had started fanning herself with her handkerchief as her brother spoke. "What did you do?" she asked.
"Well, yesterday evening Colonel Fitzwilliam and his wife came to our house for dinner.
Before he left, he gave me a small pistol and said he just had a feeling I might need it.
His feelings of that kind have kept him alive on the battlefield, so I took note.
I had the pistol loaded and ready, tucked into a pocket just inside the door of the carriage near where I stood.
Wickham was advancing on Mary quickly, shouting foul things all the while.
I took out that pistol and, as soon as I had a clear shot, I took care of him.
He dropped, and that was the end of him, although not the end of the matter. "
With a gasp, Mrs. Bennet swayed and it looked for a moment like she might faint again. Mrs. de Bourgh, on one side of her, and Jane, on the other, patted her hand and reminded her that everyone was safe.
While this was going on, Darcy took the opportunity to ask for confirmation. "So, Wickham is dead?"
Edward nodded solemnly. "Yes, Wickham is dead. He will not present a danger to anyone else again."
"Why was he calling Mary by Lizzy's name," Bennet asked. "No matter how closely they resembled each other as children they would not be mistaken for twins now, even though it is clear they are related."
Lizzy and Mary both found themselves under scrutiny from the others in the room. Since they were sitting right next to each other, it was easy to see the strong resemblance between them, although it was just as easy for those who knew them to see the many differences.
"I have been thinking about that as we traveled," Edward said. "I know Lizzy distrusted him before she ever arrived back in Meryton. Lizzy, is it true you never spent much time in close enough company that he would know your features well?"
"I stayed as far away from him as I could," Lizzy confirmed. "Even when he attacked me, he probably did not see my features well enough to know me from Mary, especially since he had never seen Mary before."
Edward nodded. "That is what I thought. I also do not believe he was seeing or thinking very clearly.
He moved and sounded like someone in the grip of a fever, while his actions were fueled by rage and delirium.
I also think one of his eyes was damaged, making it more likely he would mistake someone with as close a resemblance as the two girls do share for the other.
Honestly, shooting him felt more like putting down some dangerous beast with the foaming sickness.
It is never pleasant, but taking the action is for the protection of everyone in addition to putting the affected creature out of its misery.
There is little doubt he was for the gallows anyway.
This way was easier for him and makes us all safer. "
"Very true," Bennet agreed. "You said that was not the end of the matter. What happened next?"
"Well, the shot drew the notice of several of the inn's patrons.
The yard was busy and several people had seen him running to attack Mary, which was a strong point in my defense.
All the same, a crowd gathered wanting to know what had happened, who the man was, why he had attacked and so on.
As far as I knew, Wickham was still in custody of the local militia colonel, but with the damage to his face and hands, the attacker could be no one else.
Colonel Fitzwilliam had told me that Captain Jackson was still in Meryton investigating Wickham, so I sent an express to the captain even before I started answering the local constable's questions.
I thought about sending an express to you as well, but I did not expect there would be much of a delay before we were back on the road. "
"But, of course, there was," said Lord Sheldon.