Page 3 of Brighton Rescue (Pride and Prejudice Variation #23)
“Elizabeth intercepted a letter from her youngest sister, Miss Lydia, addressed to her sister Kitty, only yesterday. She is greatly disturbed at its contents because there are references to a Mr. George Wickham, whom Elizabeth tells me is a reprobate.”
Darcy gritted his teeth and confirmed, “He is a degenerate scoundrel. ”
Gardiner nodded, pulled a letter out of his pocket, and handed it to Pemberley’s master. “Would you be kind enough to read this letter from my youngest niece, then? I know it is asking a great deal, but I wish to know your opinion as to whether Lydia is truly in danger.”
Darcy took the letter and read it with disquiet, which rapidly shifted to horror. He read it again, and once more, and then lifted his head to stare into his guest’s eyes. “Wickham will ruin her.”
Gardiner winced. “That is Lizzy’s concern, of course, but I admit to doubt.
Certainly I am experienced enough to know that there are men who seduce young women, but Lydia is the daughter of a gentleman and the guest of Colonel Forster, the regiment commander.
Would Wickham dare to do such a thing to my niece? ”
Darcy leaned back and drummed his fingers absently on the desk. These were good questions, but…
“Wickham racks up debts wherever he goes,” he said finally.
“He joined the militia regiment in November of last year, and it is now July. He has no doubt amassed hundreds of pounds in debts to shopkeepers and fellow officers, and if he repeats his former habits, he will shortly flee to avoid his creditors.”
Gardiner’s brow darkened ominously. “And what of my youngest niece? ”
Darcy hesitated. He had enraged Elizabeth when he pointed out her family’s poor behavior, after all. “Mr. Gardiner, I would not wish to be discourteous regarding your sister’s family.”
His guest waved an irritable hand. “I am well aware of my sister’s foolishness and Lydia’s proclivities. Please, I beg of you, do not hesitate to speak openly as my only concern is the safety and credit of my niece, and by extension, her family.”
“Very well,” Darcy said, clasping his hands tightly in front of him.
“Wickham has long looked upon women entirely selfishly. He considers heiresses possible sources of wealth, and poorer women as a means of satisfying his more … carnal …desires. I am not aware that he has ever ruined a gentleman’s daughter, but, with all due respect, Mr. Bennet has not shown himself inclined to either protect or direct his daughters. ”
“You are entirely right, sir. My dear wife and I have long mourned my brother’s disinclination to stir himself from his library to rein in the excesses of his wife and younger daughters. In a way, it is quite a miracle that Jane and Elizabeth have turned out as well as they have.”
Darcy swallowed hard. Yes, it was indeed a miracle, though based on the demeanor of the man sitting across from him, he guessed that the Gardiners had a great deal to do with the charming temperaments of the two eldest Misses Bennet .
“Wickham has always allowed his passions to rule him,” Darcy continued gravely.
“You are correct that to run away with a gentleman’s daughter who is under the protection of his regiment commander is idiocy, but so is running through four thousand pounds in less than two years, and disdaining a valuable living in the church, and a host of other things that he has already done.
Wickham can never say no to his short term desires even if in the long run he suffers.
Not that he has suffered much. He has managed to charm and fool many people, including my father, who could never see Wickham for who he was.
Those around him suffer, not he himself. ”
Edward Gardiner blew out a slow breath. “Thank you very much, Mr. Darcy. Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth and I were intending to take a holiday north, but given this information, we will go to Brighton instead. While we do not have the authority to remove Lydia from Brighton, we can at least provide some oversight. I greatly appreciate your willingness to give me a few minutes of your time, sir.”
“Mr. Gardiner,” Darcy urged, “please do not depart yet. I wish to help you in this matter of Wickham.”
The tradesman frowned in confusion. “Help us? Mr. Darcy, you have already done more than I expected. You have given us vital information and it is my duty to assist my sister’s family in the hope of preventing a scandal. It is not your concern. ”
“It is mine,” Darcy insisted. “I ought to have exposed Wickham’s vile character in Meryton. I was too proud of myself and my name to lay open vital facts about the man’s instability. This is my fault.”
“It is the fault of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, sir,” Gardiner declared with a grim shake of his head as he rose to his feet. “They have neglected my nieces dreadfully. I thank you again, but I cannot...”
“Please, Mr. Gardiner, sit down. Did Miss Elizabeth inform you of the details of our interaction in Kent when we discussed Wickham?”
The man lifted a curious eyebrow and returned to his chair. “No, she did not, except to say that she challenged you regarding the church living which you supposedly withheld from the rogue.”
Darcy found his gaze dropping to stare at a tidy pile of correspondence. “I asked Miss Elizabeth to marry me, and she refused, citing my treatment of Wickham and her sister, Miss Bennet.”
Gardiner sucked in a sharp breath. “You made Elizabeth an offer?”
“I did.”
Darcy’s guest ran his hand down his face wearily. “She neglected to tell me but that is no surprise; Elizabeth is obviously ashamed of her championship of the despicable lieutenant.”
Darcy shook his head gloomily. “I am most at fault in the entire matter. I was proud and arrogant in my words and demeanor, and I should have told her earlier about Wickham.”
“Be that as it may, sir, it is still not your concern now.”
“It is, because I still love your niece very much,” Darcy blurted out, lifting his gaze to observe Mr. Gardiner, his eyes compassionate, staring soberly at him.
“I know I have no hope with Eliza ... with Miss Elizabeth, but I could not live with myself if she and her family came to ruin over the matter of my father’s vile godson.
I insist you allow me to help you in this matter.
I have much experience with the man and connections in Brighton, which will make it far easier to protect Miss Lydia. ”
Edward Gardiner leaned back and nodded. “In that case, Mr. Darcy, I can only say yes, and thank you. Now you spoke of his debts; is the solution to our problem perhaps a simple one? Might I buy up his debts and cast him into Marshalsea or the King’s Bench prison?”
Darcy bit his lip. “In truth, I hold a number of vouchers for Wickham; he ran up debts in Lambton near Pemberley, trading on position as my father’s godson. I could not bear to allow the merchants to suffer when he fled the area without paying.”
Gardiner eyed him shrewdly and said, “You obviously have the means to cast the miscreant into debtor’s prison; is that too harsh a punishment for your father’s godson?”
Darcy groaned and confessed, “For many years, that was true. I have known for nearly a decade that Wickham is a contemptible, depraved individual, but my father loved him to the very end of his life and indeed, in my father’s last days, Wickham could always make him laugh.
That was, of course, artifice on my old playmate’s part; Wickham made himself agreeable in the hopes of gaining more in my father’s will.
Now, yes, I am at peace with sending him away to Marshalsea, but. ..”
Darcy hesitated again and then said quickly, “The truth is that Wickham conspired with my young sister’s companion last summer, and Miss Darcy was convinced to believe herself in love and to agree to elope with the villain.
By the very grace of God, I decided to visit Georgiana at Ramsgate before the couple fled to Gretna Greene, and my dear sister told me all.
I threw Mrs. Younge and Wickham into the street, but Georgiana’s reputation would be greatly damaged if word were to get out to polite society that she agreed to wed the rascal. ”
He stared at the older man, his expression agonized, and Mr. Gardiner nodded.
“I entirely understand, Mr. Darcy. Your concern for your sister’s reputation and well-being do you great credit.
Do not be dismayed; I am confident that together we will find a way to deal with George Wickham which will not harm Miss Darcy in any way. ”