Page 85 of A Life Diverted
“George, how do you think you will support yourself if you do not learn a trade?” Mr. Wickham asked.
“Mr. Darcy will take care of me,” George replied, his tone surly.
“How many years has it been since Mr. Darcy has not allowed you into the park, never mind at the manor house?” Mr. Wickham asked and George turned away.
“No matter how much I have tried to counteract the lies your mother told you, you have refused to heed my words, and it ruined your chances of a gentleman’s education which Mr. Darcy would have provided for you.
Before you start blaming one and all for your lot in life, for once in your life be honest with yourself.
Your choices alone have set you on the path you are on. ”
“How can you say that about my mother, she was…” George began to say when his father cut him off.
“She was delusional, George. Not only that, but she was also a liar, a gambler, and a spendthrift. Do not become like her, always wanting what others have and not willing to work to gain that which you desire. If you become covetous like your mother was, it will lead to nothing but ruin for you,” Mr. Wickham told his son, who was getting angrier by the minute.
“You lie! My mother told me you would never allow her to have an allowance; that is why she had to gamble to make some money,” George spat back at his father.
Lucas Wickham stood and pulled a ledger from a pile on his desk. He handed it to his son without a word. It was titled ‘Helen Wickham – Allowance’ on the cover. George opened it and there he saw each and every month his mother’s allowance recorded with her signature next to each one.
“Why would she lie to me?” George asked quietly, his confusion sudden and overwhelming.
“I am afraid your mother did not tell the truth about much, Son,” Mr. Wickham replied gently.
“If I had not had to cover so many debts she ran up in Lambton and Kympton, as well as her gambling debts, I would have had the money to send you to school and university without Mr. Darcy. Your mother’s profligate habits all but destroyed my savings.
In the years since her death, I have tried to rebuild my savings, but I am still far from what I used to have.
If I am lucky, I will have enough to leave you a small legacy one day. ”
George Wickham felt as though his whole world was crashing down around his ears. If his mother lied about this, what else did she lie about. “How did mother die? You did not tell me at the time.”
“In childbirth,” Wickham senior shared. He hoped his son would not ask more as he did not want to disparage his late wife any more in his son’s eyes than had been done already.
“I would have had a brother or sister, and you another son or daughter?” George asked.
“You would have, I would not,” his father averred. Lucas Wickham could not lie to his son any more about the mother the boy had too long idealised.
“What do you mean, Father?” George demanded.
“George, you are an intelligent young man. If you want me to say it I will, but I think you know well what I mean,” Mr. Wickham replied sadly.
“How do you know she was unfaithful to you?” George asked.
“Things had not been well between your mother and me for a long time, so she had refused to do her duty to me for more than a year before she passed,” Mr. Wickham informed his son.
He was mortified to admit such, but if it helped break the grip his late wife held on their son from beyond the grave, he would not shy away from doing so.
“When she became with child, she tried to convince me we had been together, but that I was in my cups and did not remember. Although I knew it was not true, I chose not to provoke a confrontation. Have you ever seen me in my cups, even once, in the whole of your life, George?”
“No Father, I have not,” George admitted quietly.
“On her death bed, your mother took pleasure in telling me she had been sharing her favours almost from the beginning of our marriage,” Mr. Wickham shared the fundamental truth of his late wife with his shocked son.
“D-does that mean I may not be your son?” George asked the question he was petrified to hear the answer to.
“No Son, it means you may not be my blood son; however you are, and always will be, my son. Whatever your mother did or did not do was not your fault, and I love you now as much as I did before she made her dying declaration to me.” After he avowed his love of his son staunchly, Lucas Wickham stood and pulled his son, who was in a stupor, into his arms for a hug, something he had not done since he was a small boy.
George Wickham cried into his father’s chest, also something he had not done since he was a small boy.
His father handed him his handkerchief to dry his eyes when the tears ceased.
“It seems I have a lot to consider,” George stated stoically. “I will accept my apprenticeship with good grace, Father. Carpentry may not be for me, but I will try to see if it is a trade I will enjoy.”
“Will you commit to stay with it until you are eighteen?” Wickham senior asked and George nodded his agreement.
“What you have learnt here today could have broken a lesser person, George. I am very proud of you,” Mr. Wickham told his son sincerely.
“The direction of your life is your choice, Son. Just remember, you and you alone are responsible for the choices you make. Lastly, there are consequences to every decision we make; whether they are good or bad depends on those decisions.”
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“It is good to see that the coldness between your Lizzy and our William seems to have been set aside,” Lady Anne observed one evening when the three sets of parents were seated together in the drawing room after dinner.
“We spoke to Lizzy before you arrived,” Fanny shared with her friend, which caused both Lady Anne and Robert Darcy to smile widely.
“It seems we had the same idea, for we spoke to William before we departed London,” Lady Anne informed the group.
“In my opinion, you both showed sagacity, as those two would have not corrected things on their own; they both like to think themselves correct too much,” Lady Elaine opined.
“Fanny, have you decided what to do about Jane’s coming out and London?” Lady Anne asked. “Does she object to waiting a year so she can have her come out with Cassie?”
“Not yet, Anne, although I am leaning towards Edith’s suggestion we have her ball at Holder Heights as they are her godparents,” Fanny averred.
“Also, Jane has no objection to waiting for Cassie, especially with the close relationship she has with Anne and the three having decided they would like to celebrate together.”
“Do you think the three girls will object to their ball not being held in London? What will you tell Jane if she asks why the ball will be out of Town?” Lady Elaine asked.
“The other two will be happy no matter where their ball is and I do not believe that is in Jane’s character to complain about the location. She is well aware how much Thomas eschews the Ton —present company excepted—and Town,” Fanny explained.
“It seems my aversion to society in London is very useful,” Bennet drawled with jocularity.
No one disagreed with his statement. “What if Jane asks why the ball cannot be in Town?” Darcy asked.
“Then I will explain the true reason to her,” Fanny replied without hesitation. “She will be nineteen, and I do not believe it will change how she feels towards Lizzy one whit. Even now, Jane is like a steel trap when one shares a confidence with her that she is asked not to share.”
“Given how protective she has always felt towards Lizzy and her siblings, I dare say you are correct in your estimation, Fanny,” Lady Elaine stated.
The conversation halted as they were joined by their children.
It was pleasant to see Elizabeth and William enter the drawing room deep in conversation and seemingly enjoying the company of one another with ease.
There was no more trace of the moue of distaste which had been seen in past interactions between them; for all intents and purposes, it was banished.