Page 12 of Brighton Rescue (Pride and Prejudice Variation #23)
“Mr. Wickham!” Lydia enthused, beaming at the young man as he approached Mrs. Forster and her younger guest. “How wonderful to see you this lovely morning!”
Wickham responded with a gentle smile and courtly bow, which provoked soft sighs of admiration from the two ladies.
Mrs. Forster, dressed in an expensive, if not especially attractive, yellow silk walking dress cried out, “Oh Mr. Wickham, I am so sorry you were forced to leave the assembly early yesterday evening. Lydia and I had a most delightful time. I danced with an old acquaintance of yours, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam. He is such a gentleman, and with such easy manners given that he is the son of an earl!”
Wickham managed another smile through gritted teeth and said, “I am pleased you both had an excellent time. Regrettably, I had some duties to attend to which forced me to leave early. But tell me, what do you plan to borrow from the library today? Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage , perhaps?”
“Oh, I wish we could!” Mrs. Forster exclaimed. “I long to read it, but every time I come here, every copy has been snatched up by another patron. Divine Byron! How I long to read his work! ”
“Are you quite certain there is not a copy available?” Wickham asked in well simulated surprise. “I thought I heard from Captain Denny that the library recently received several more quartos of the book. Perhaps you should inquire of the librarian?”
Mrs. Forster nodded eagerly and exclaimed, “Thank you, sir! I will!”
She started off immediately toward the other end of the library, her face set with hopeful determination, and Wickham turned immediately to Lydia, who was gazing up at him adoringly.
“My dear,” he murmured softly as he thrust his chest out into his most attractive pose, “I fear I dissembled a little in sending Mrs. Forster away. I cannot bear to be parted from you any longer and am ready to journey to Gretna Greene. Will you come with me soon, my darling, to join our hearts forever?”
Lydia’s eyes glowed with ecstasy, “Oh yes, my love. That is what I wish above all things! When shall we depart?”
“Might you be willing to meet me tomorrow morning at nine at the south entrance of the Promenade Grove? I…” He trailed off as Lydia’s cheerful expression shifted into a frown. “Whatever is wrong, my dear?”
“We cannot leave Brighton tomorrow. I am to meet the Prince Regent shortly. We can elope after that. ”
George Wickham blinked in astonishment. “The Prince … my dear Lydia, whatever are you talking about? You are hardly going to meet with the Regent, even if he is in Brighton at the moment, and I am not certain that he is.”
“But I am, I assure you!” Lydia insisted.
“His Royal Highness arrived only a few days ago, and Colonel Fitzwilliam knows him, and he says Lady Amelia and her party, and the Forsters and I will all be invited to the Marine Pavilion to meet the Regent. Oh, Wickham, I will beg the Colonel to include you in the invitation. Will it not be marvelous to meet the man who will be king?”
Wickham opened his mouth in protest and then closed it with a snap.
There was no use arguing with the silly girl.
The colonel, obviously bent on pulling her away from Wickham’s snares, had found a most powerful lure.
Lydia would never pass up the chance to meet with the Prince Regent as it would elevate her standing in the little community of Meryton.
Of course, if Wickham ruined the girl, she would likely never see Meryton again, but he could hardly tell her that.
“Of course, I understand entirely,” he breathed, smiling fondly down upon her pretty face.
“But I do miss you, my love, and with all your social activities, and my duties with the militia, I feel as if we are merely ships passing in the night. Would you be willing to meet me tomorrow at the Promenade Grove so that we can steal a few minutes together? It will be quiet there, and peaceful, and we can make our plans for next week, after we have met the Regent.”
“I will be there!” Lydia assured him ecstatically.
/
“Here is a letter for you, Jane, from Elizabeth and one from Lydia to you, Kitty. I do not understand why our daughters never write me, their mother!” Mrs. Bennet complained, handing over the missives and sinking into her favorite puce chair in the drawing room.
“I suspect it is because you do not write them in return, Mrs. Bennet,” Mr. Bennet responded drily, proceeding to rise to his feet and wander toward the door.
He had been enjoying a short tete-a-tete with Jane who, since Elizabeth was with her Gardiner relations, was the only other sensible member of his family currently in the house.
Now that his wife and Kitty had arrived, he would retire to his library to read in peace.
“Go ahead and read your letters, girls,” Mrs. Bennet suggested. “I suppose Lydia is having a lovely time with the officers, and Elizabeth a wonderful time with rocks and trees! ”
Jane happily removed a hairpin from the knot holding up her golden tresses, and carefully used it to break the wax on the letter. She sank down onto a chair next to the window, through which the early afternoon sun shone brightly, permitting her to read the words with ease.
Dearest Jane,
I know this will be quite a shock to you, my dear, and I do hope you will forgive me for unintentionally distressing you. Aunt and Uncle Gardiner and I are not traveling north but are, in fact, residing in Brighton in the mansion of Lady Amelia Hartford, a friend of the Darcy family.
I showed Uncle Gardiner Lydia’s letter, you see, and he too was disturbed by its contents.
He informed me, upon our departure from Longbourn, that he thought it best to go to Brighton to check up on our youngest sister.
Believe me, Jane, I did not know what he intended and thus when we departed, I truly thought we were going north.
I am most thankful to Uncle Gardiner for his resolve to investigate the situation.
We stopped in London on our way to Brighton and our uncle consulted with Mr. Darcy, which, while I found it embarrassing, was without a doubt the right decision.
Mr. Darcy, who is very familiar with Mr. Wickham’s vile proclivities, agreed that Lydia was in great danger from the miscreant.
Mr. Darcy arranged for us to stay in Brighton with Lady Amelia, who is an old family friend of the Darcys.
Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, Darcy’s cousin whom I met at Rosings last spring, has also joined us.
We have seen Lydia and she is very much herself, except more so given that her only chaperone is Mrs. Harriet Forster, who is nearly as flighty as she is. However, I am confident that with the oversight and assistance of our new friends, she will be kept safe from Wickham.
I hesitated to write of this matter because I know it places a burden on you.
If you feel you must, you may tell Mother and Father, but my preference is that you keep silent about our decision to go to Brighton.
Father will no doubt feel we are overreacting, and Mother will be indignant that we are attempting to spoil Lydia’s fun.
I trust your delicate sense of propriety will guide you as to whether to tell our parents or not.
I confess that in the midst of my worries about our youngest sister, I am enjoying myself a great deal. The sea is marvelous, Lady Amelia a charming and fascinating hostess, and Mr. Darcy has been most kind and honorable in his dealings. I wish you were here; that would make my joy complete.
With much love,
Your dearest Lizz y
Jane realized her hands were trembling slightly. The letter was indeed a most profound shock. Mr. Bennet had specifically told Lizzy not to worry about Lydia, and instead of journeying north to enjoy herself, she had embrangled the Gardiners in her concerns and traveled south to Brighton!
She read the letter again, and a third time, and then lifted her face to stare at her mother, who was now on her feet fussing over a set of ceramic ornaments on the mantelpiece. Mrs. Bennet would undoubtedly be outraged at what she would term Elizabeth’s interference.
Elizabeth’s preference was that Jane keep the letter private, and Jane would submit to that desire. It would be better if neither of her parents learned of…
“It is not fair!” Kitty squealed suddenly, causing her mother and Jane to jerk in shock. “Why is Lizzy permitted to go to Brighton when I am not? Oh, Mama, it is not fair!!!”
Mrs. Bennet’s face was a study in amazement. “What are you speaking of, Kitty? Lizzy is traveling north with the Gardiners.”
“No, she is not!” shrieked her fourth daughter, shaking the letter in her hand angrily.
“Lydia says that Lizzy is in Brighton with the Gardiners and is staying in a beautiful house with a Lady Amelia Hartford, and Mr. Darcy is there, and his cousin, who is the son of an earl, and she is going to join them at elegant parties, and oh, I am two years older than Lydia. It is not right!”
Mrs. Bennet hurried forward to snatch the letter from her daughter’s hand. “Nonsense, Kitty, you must have misread it. Elizabeth cannot be in Brighton. She and your aunt and uncle are going north!”
“What is the meaning of this row?” Mr. Bennet snapped, erupting into the room with his face most unusually flushed.
“I am accustomed to noise and nonsense in every other room of the house, but I expect to be able to read in my library in peace! It sounds as if someone is being slowly murdered in here!”
“She is there!” Mrs. Bennet exclaimed, her white lace cap bobbing with incredulity. “You are quite right, Kitty, that is exactly what Lydia writes. Lizzy is in Brighton, Husband, along with the Gardiners! What can she be doing there?”
Mr. Bennet’s face, already red, turned nearly purplish as he took the offending letter, lifted up his monocle, and hastily read the words scrawled on it.