Page 20 of Done for the Best (Engaged to Mr Darcy #5)
CHAPTER TWENTY
ANOTHER SNAKE IN THE GRASS
M r Wickham appeared to be all humility as he said to Elizabeth, “I sense a coldness in your manner to me and it grieves me. We have been good friends in the past. I would hate to imagine that we could not be so now.”
“Friends do not lie to one another,” Elizabeth replied loftily. “And it seems you have spoken many lies to me, Mr Wickham, even if I do not remember them.”
“I do not doubt that my old friend Darcy has blackened my name.” He shook his head sadly.
Elizabeth gave a quick glance round them to ensure privacy before saying in a low voice, “I think any person who attempts to seduce the innocent sister of a friend, with the object of gaining her fortune, will be thereafter vilified by the family.”
Mr Wickham’s reply was not what she expected. He merely winced and said, “Seduce little Georgiana? The very notion!”
Elizabeth raised her brows. “Do you deny it, sir?”
“With everything I have, yes, I do deny it. You must understand, Miss Elizabeth—growing up at Pemberley as I did, very nearly a son of the house, she was a sister to me. I assure you, when I met her in Ramsgate, I had no design on Georgiana Darcy whatsoever, save for friendship.”
“Indeed?”
“I was excessively fond her of when she was a child, you see. I devoted hours to her amusement, but I had not seen her since Darcy’s father sent him and I to school. I saw her as my sister , always,” he said, very earnestly. “I could no more seduce her than I could seduce my own father!”
The manner in which he said it bespoke truth, yet it was very different to how Darcy had related the circumstances to her. “Mr Darcy thought otherwise. He believed he interrupted a near elopement and that your object was to obtain Georgiana’s dowry.”
Mr Wickham shook his head and sighed heavily. “Here is where I must admit some fault. I still looked at her as a child, just as she had been when she was toddling about, and we would laugh and play games together. I did not guard myself or restrain the ease with which I greeted her. I had no idea how that same friendliness might be…misinterpreted by a fifteen-year-old girl with a fondness for romance novels.”
“Do you mean to tell me that Miss Darcy believed you were seducing her when in fact…you had no such intention?”
Very earnestly, he said, “I greeted her with all the old fondness, never suspecting she might take it as anything besides brotherly affection. It was all a grave misunderstanding.”
“I see.” This was very different from how Darcy had viewed it, and yet, it made sense. Elizabeth did have experience with fifteen-year-old girls, had once been one herself. Well did she know how the slightest looks or most banal conversations could be conflated into grand romantic tales!
Her doubt must have shown on her countenance, for Mr Wickham leant towards her. “And with all due respect to your own charming sister—” He nodded to the shop Kitty had entered. She was visible in the window and had picked up a length of lace and draped it on her head like a bridal veil. “—I cannot look seriously upon a lady who is half my age. A mere child! As I said before…the very notion! It…well, if I am honest, it rather disgusts me.”
With marked scepticism, Elizabeth asked, “Why do you not go to Mr Darcy, then, and explain your side of things?”
“I have tried,” he said simply, and there was truth in his looks. “It was too late, unfortunately. Darcy and I have had our disagreements for some years now. I enjoy fun too much for his liking, and he is grown too serious for mine. I like to gamble, I like to drink, I stay out too late…these things I do not deny. But I am no seducer of children.”
“Mr Darcy has had a great deal of responsibility thrust upon him,” Elizabeth said, surprised herself by the impassioned manner in which she defended him.
“He has. I do not doubt he has heartily resented those of us who could enjoy our youth,” Mr Wickham owned. “Who would not?”
Darcy does not , Elizabeth thought. He accepted his burdens without flinching. Oh, how very confusing it was to simultaneously loathe and long for a man! To admire what she wanted to despise!
“I suppose there are always two sides to every story,” she acknowledged. Was it wrong of her to soften towards this man? Darcy had blackened his name, but perhaps—as it was in the case of her ‘engagement’—it was all a misunderstanding. Of course, Darcy had also told her of Wickham’s profligacy…but her own parents routinely overspent their income. She was the last person who should judge a man for that.
They were interrupted by Kitty who had returned from the shop and posed enquiries as to why Mr Wickham remained in town when the other lieutenants had already gone on to Brighton.
“I will only be here another week,” Mr Wickham explained. “I am assisting Colonel Forster’s removal from this fine place.”
“You have enjoyed your time here? The country society is not agreeable to everyone,” Elizabeth asked, surprising even herself with the friendliness in her voice.
“One cannot find the equal of the fine people of Hertfordshire so easily! I should say that there are none so welcoming, nor so friendly, most notably your own good family.”
In the light of all her most recent realisations, it was soothing to hear someone say something kind about the Bennets. Elizabeth felt a faint blush colour her cheeks and murmured her thanks.
“But the seaside is sure to be very agreeable even for those of us who must spend half the day marching about and performing military exercises.”
Kitty let out a little cry. “I am sure the seaside should be very agreeable to me, too! I am still furious that Mrs Forster has invited only Lydia to join you all, and not me! I am just as much her friend and ought to have been asked along!”
“Miss Lydia is your youngest sister?” Mr Wickham looked to Elizabeth, seemingly for confirmation.
Elizabeth nodded. “Lydia is but fifteen. I understand Mrs Forster is quite young as well?”
Mr Wickham knitted his brow and nodded. “She is very young—seventeen, and only just.”
“Seventeen…as am I,” Kitty announced petulantly. Elizabeth ignored her.
“I daresay anyone within the household of the colonel must be afforded extra protection?” Elizabeth enquired.
“Something tells me that you have concerns about the scheme?” Mr Wickham tilted his head, looking thoughtful. “Perhaps you ought to accompany her? It would no doubt do you good as well. Some sea-bathing, to aid in your further recovery?”
“I believe my father has already put a stop to any hopes of a family sojourn to the seaside.” Elizabeth smiled apologetically. “Travel is never very agreeable to him.”
“If you feel you are well enough for the exertion, I may be able to arrange something with the Forsters,” Mr Wickham said slowly. “I will speak to the colonel when I return to the regiment.”
“Oh, no! I could not have you exert yourself on my behalf,” Elizabeth replied immediately. “Truly it…I am certain all will be well.”
“Miss Elizabeth, if I might be candid with you?” On Elizabeth’s nod, Mr Wickham said, very earnestly, “My particular regiment happens to consist of the finest fellows ever I knew, gentlemen in looks and comportment from first to last. But I fear it is not always so, and there are many different regiments in Brighton, men from many different walks of life. You are right to be concerned for your young sister. She will need more looking after than Mrs Forster will do, or the colonel can do, given the demands on his time.”
Elizabeth met his gaze. Mr Wickham was very earnest, with warmth and genuine feeling apparent in his eyes. He seemed to truly have her best interests at heart.
“Allow me to speak to Mrs Forster on your behalf,” he urged. “I do not doubt having another woman in the house would be enjoyable for her.”
With much hesitation, Elizabeth agreed. “If it is not too much trouble for you, then yes, I would appreciate anything you might be able to do.”
Mr Wickham was true to his word, for scarcely half the day had passed when a note came from Mrs Forster for Elizabeth. Of course, Kitty could only grow more peevish at the notion that now Elizabeth— ‘ who scarcely ever even spoke to Mrs Forster!’—was included while she herself remained excluded from the plans. Happily, she soon took herself to her bedchamber to sob out her indignation, leaving Elizabeth to argue her mother and father into agreement.
“Go to Brighton? Nonsense. You will stay right here where we can watch over you,” Mrs Bennet said immediately.
“With all due respect, Mama, I do not think I am the one who most needs watching,” Elizabeth said firmly. “And in any case, my health is almost wholly restored.”
“You scarcely know your own name one day to the next!” Mrs Bennet cried out theatrically.
Elizabeth sighed and then appealed to her father. “I know you think it a fine thing that Lydia should expose her nonsense to the world, or whatever it was you said on that score, but I cannot be so easy about it. I would like to accompany her.”
“You have only just got home,” Mr Bennet replied. “I cannot like this, you always here and there. What is next? The Continent?”
“After Brighton, I have no plans at all,” Elizabeth said. “I will be right here, snug at home, for…well, for all foreseeable future.” The thought gave her a pang of hollow dismay, but she pushed it back.
“She is too ill. She will suffer a setback and then what shall we do? What if another snake bites her?” Mrs Bennet demanded.
“The sea air will be therapeutic,” Elizabeth protested. “And I promise to avoid snakes at all costs.”
Mrs Bennet seemed as if she wished to further argue the point, but Mr Bennet had grown weary of the subject. “Let her go then, Mrs Bennet,” he said. “What harm could there be in it?”