Page 48

The day after Mr. Darcy arrived in London, Colonel Forster had knocked on the door at Derwent House and was shown in to that gentleman’s study.

The militia officer was relieved to learn that Lieutenant Wickham was in the custody of Colonel Fitzwilliam and would have departed immediately for that man’s headquarters had not the officer accompanying him stepped forward and spoken.

“And what of Miss Lydia Bennet? Was she found? Is she well?”

“Ah, yes—I apologize. This is my aide, Lieutenant Sanderson. He is the one who first brought Lieutenant Wickham’s misbehavior to my attention,” said the Colonel.

Recognizing something in the young man’s earnest gaze, Darcy took pity on him.

“Yes, Miss Lydia is well and unharmed. We encountered them on the road not far from Meryton, so she was quickly returned to the protection of her father. She and her eldest sisters are staying with their aunt and uncle at Gracechurch Street.”

Before Sanderson could question him further, the butler showed in Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam.

The two colonels knew each other by reputation; Forster had been known as a reliable if uninspired officer in the regulars until he had resigned his commission upon turning forty.

Desiring to spend his declining years in his native land and with more domestic comforts than the barracks provided, he had offered his services to the militia and his hand to the first pretty young lady who caught his eye.

Currently, he was regretting one if not both of those decisions.

Forster might be well versed on how to defend Hertfordshire against the French should the need ever arise, but he was not at all conversant on how best to guard his wife against advances by his officers.

Once Richard had acknowledged the others, he turned back to his cousin. “Wickham is safely ensconced in the cavalry’s most luxurious accommodations… which is to say that he now greatly misses the room in which you locked him last night.”

“I did not know what to do with him when we reached London yesterday,” Darcy explained to Colonel Forster. “So I secured him here and sent messages to you as well as my cousin.” He was relieved when Wickham’s commanding officer merely nodded and then turned expectantly to Colonel Fitzwilliam.

“I just met with the adjutant to General Arlington and explained the situation.” Richard turned to Darcy with a smirk. “You will remember him, perhaps—Colin Pickering?”

Darcy’s first reaction was to grimace at the memory.

The man in question had been several years above him at school and widely despised by the other boys because of his dedication to seeing that the rules were enforced in every detail.

Darcy had not been at school for a month before Pickering had reported him…

for a minor infraction of a rule that Darcy had not known existed.

Still stinging from the headmaster’s stick, he had confronted Pickering, but the older boy had not shown the slightest shred of remorse.

“Rules are rules. It’s your responsibility to know the rules; ignorance is not an acceptable excuse. ”

After Darcy spent a moment wallowing in his memories, a new thought occurred to him and, seeing a glint in Richard’s eye, he realized that his cousin had been waiting for him to catch on.

His father’s godson had been at school with them, and, while Darcy had eventually earned some grudging respect from the head boy, Pickering had thoroughly despised Wickham.

The two cousins smirked at one another and Will could not help but note, “Well, it’s good to know that Pickering has found an appropriate niche for himself, one where his natural talents can be used to best advantage. ”

Doing his best to suppress those feelings of boyish glee that were entirely inappropriate for a colonel in His Majesty’s cavalry, Richard turned back to Forster.

“Pickering is a great stickler for regulations and will not let Wickham wriggle out of this with his usual slippery charm and silver tongue.”

Colonel Forster winced a little, knowing that he himself had been guilty of taking Wickham’s stories at face value.

“What charges are being brought against him? I can testify that he absented himself from his post without leave, but the duty logs will indicate he was off on Monday and I fear he will claim that Mr. Darcy here prevented him from returning in time to make curfew. I can also charge him with taking a horse and vehicle without proper procedure, but to be honest, the militia is not as meticulous about such things as the regulars.”

“Regardless, we shall formalize the charges with Pickering. Every scrap of evidence documenting Wickham’s bad character and misdeeds will add weight to the court martial.

And that brings me to another issue that we need to discuss…

” Richard turned to pick up a leather satchel that he had set aside upon entering.

Darcy recognized it immediately, having once had one very like it of his own. “My father gave that to George, just before we left for school.”

Richard nodded soberly, running a finger over the embossed initials before opening the strap.

“It is, indeed… though I fear he has not used it as my uncle would have hoped. Pickering and I found it when we searched his belongings. Wickham has been funding his poor attempts at the gaming tables by blackmailing various people… some for years.” He glanced toward Forster.

“Even his commission in the militia was signed over to him by some poor bloke with no other means to pay.”

Amid the other men’s exclamations of disgust, Colonel Fitzwilliam drew out a battered ledger stuffed with papers.

“I must give him credit for taking meticulous notes on who paid him when and for how much. Old Mr. Wickham taught his son well, though I must say I am glad he passed away before it was revealed just how his son was applying those skills.”

At Forster’s curious look, Richard explained, “George Wickham’s father was the steward at the Darcy estate in Derbyshire until he died more than a decade ago.

My uncle sponsored George’s education alongside my cousin here, a generosity that seems to have done little more than bring about an unjustified sense of entitlement. ”

The older man shook his head. “Envy and jealousy can do ugly things to a man’s disposition, particularly if he had some tendency toward evil to begin with; a natural defect which not even the best education can overcome.”

“That pretty well sums up George Wickham, I’m afraid,” agreed Richard.

Seeing that his cousin looked uncomfortable, however, he returned to the task at hand.

“With this evidence, we could easily win a civil case against him.

However, once you take a look at these letters, I hope you will agree that it would be best for all concerned if we keep the trial within the military so that the victims do not have their embarrassments bandied about in open court.

Pickering agrees, and General Arlington has said he will consider it.

“I’ve only skimmed them, but as best I can tell from the ledger, none appear to have done anything particularly criminal.

Rather, most seem to be the sort of youthful indiscretions that, if known, would embarrass or even ruin the victim and damage the family’s reputation.

” At Darcy’s sharp look, Richard shook his head slightly before turning back to answer a question from Forster.

Darcy moved to stand at the window for a moment, leaning against the casement and trying to regain his composure.

Although he was fairly certain that his sister would have told him if she had written a letter to Wickham, his heart had still clenched at the thought, for it would be just like the miscreant to tuck away such a thing until her debut.

Will suddenly had an intense desire for Elizabeth’s soothing presence.

However, he knew that the present duty must be completed first, and turned back to the others.

The sooner that Wickham was dealt with, the sooner Will could return to his fiancée’s side knowing that the viper his father had hugged to the family’s bosom would never plague him or his loved ones again.

The gentlemen settled around a large table in the library and began the tedious work of matching letters to the victims listed in the ledger.

It quickly became clear that since university, Wickham had been using the Darcy connection to insert himself into various circles that would not generally have welcomed the son of a steward, however handsome and charming.

Not a few notes were the na?ve, lovelorn ramblings of young maidens who had made the acquaintance of the enchanting Mr. Wickham through their brothers.

Their supposed paramour had then forced his old schoolmates to pay for their sisters’ indiscretions.

“Good Lord!” grumbled Colonel Forster upon reading a particularly flowery passage. “Obviously mistakes were made in not providing these girls with proper chaperonage, but do they not know better than to put such matters to paper?”

“There is such a sameness to them… almost as if the bastard told them what to write… which I suppose he might have, now that I think on it,” responded Mr. Darcy.

Forster shook his head bleakly. “Well, Colonel, I can’t argue with your plan.

These may document Wickham’s crimes right down to the last copper, but exposing all the sordid details would destroy more lives and reputations than even he did.

Why, this poor girl speaks of hoping that she will see him at her sixteenth birthday party! ”