Page 64 of The Riches of a Life Well-Lived
D arcy held himself rigid as he stood next to the window in Colonel Forster’s office. There had not been chairs enough for everyone and, though he had been offered a seat, his concern that Wickham would yet find a way to wriggle free left him too much on edge to sit. Instead, he had opted to stand beside Constable Dunlow.
After he had torn himself from Elizabeth this morning, he had met with Mr. Phillips, who had verified the debts and his right to have Wickham arrested. They had then gone to Sir William Lucas, who had called for Mr. Dunlow, the local constable, and the four of them had gone to see Colonel Forster.
Colonel Forster had professed surprise at hearing that Darcy intended to pursue legal action, given his previous warning; however, once the colonel had perused all the documents, he could not argue with Darcy’s chosen course. He had sent for Wickham some ten minutes ago, and, while they were waiting, the gentlemen had asked Darcy more about Wickham and conversed about the local happenings.
Darcy only hoped the man had not caught wind of his entourage and fled.
He was just considering the merits of sharing his concerns when a knock sounded at the door and Wickham was announced. The gentlemen all stood.
“You called for me, Colonel?” Wickham asked, standing at attention in front of Colonel Forster’s desk and ignoring everyone else in the room.
Colonel Forster nodded grimly. “Charges have been brought against you.”
“On what basis?” Wickham asked with a friendly smile, a momentary paling the only indicator of his concern.
Colonel Forster gestured to Sir William Lucas.
Sir William cleared his throat. “On the basis of your considerable debts. I am afraid that Mr. Darcy holds more than enough debts to have you arrested.”
“Arrested?” Wickham gave a forced chuckle. “I do not think that is necessary.”
“Still, it is his right,” Sir William said, his round face unnaturally serious.
Wickham scoffed. “I apologise, gentlemen, that you have been dragged into a schoolboy grudge. Darcy has always resented me for being his father’s favourite. I did not think he would go so far as to fabricate debts, but here we are.”
Colonel Forster fixed him with a stern look. “What about these documents with your signature on them?”
“A boyhood companion is perfectly capable of forging one’s signature.” Wickham gestured to the brief-bag in Mr. Phillips’s hands. “I doubt the evidence of him denying me my rightful inheritance is in there. Nor has Darcy been honest about his true motivations for having me arrested.” The look he gave Darcy was tinged with malice. He turned his attention to the rest of the men. “My true crime, gentlemen, is one of the heart: I was in love with his sister and she with me, but Darcy did not approve. He separated us most cruelly and now refuses to let me even see her.” Wickham put on a sorrowful expression. “I joined the militia to escape from my broken heart and from Darcy’s influence. I see now that he will follow me wherever I go.”
Darcy’s hands clenched together behind his back as Sir William and the constable began eyeing him. He had not wanted to share the truth about Georgiana with so many people, but the doubt in their eyes convinced him it was necessary. “She is fifteen , Wickham, and you beguiled your way into seeing her in the first place. I doubt these gentlemen would appreciate similar behaviour with the young ladies in their lives any more than I did.”
Wickham shook his head sorrowfully. “You see, gentlemen? Darcy is determined to ruin my life for the mere fact that my heart dared to dream!”
Darcy pulled the paper on which he had written a short summary of last summer’s events from his coat pocket and handed it to Mr. Phillips.
The man read it, his expression growing grimmer by the moment, and then handed it back to Darcy. “What about these letters signed by various young women?” Mr. Phillips asked, removing a considerable stack of papers from his brief-bag and holding them up.
A hint of confusion crossed Wickham’s face before he replaced it with an unconcerned smile. “I do not know what you are referring to, but truly, Darcy will go to any lengths to pursue his grudge.”
“Mr. Wickham, why did you come to Hertfordshire if you knew Mr. Darcy was here?” Mr. Phillips asked.
Wickham shrugged. “I did not know he was here. I had heard this was a congenial corps with a superb colonel and I needed something to take my mind off things.”
“When did you decide to accept a commission here?” Mr. Phillips pressed.
Wickham gave a little laugh, his posture loose. “I could not tell you the exact date. Mr. Denny convinced me to come with him on his trip to London in November.”
Colonel Forster pulled out a ledger from the bookshelf behind him and scanned it. “Mr. Denny was on leave Thursday, November 14th to Monday, November 18th.”
“Mr. Darcy arrived before you did then,” Mr. Phillips said. “If you did not know you intended to join the militia until mid-November, then Mr. Darcy was not following you, as you say, but rather you were following him . Or, if, as you state, you were unaware of his presence, then it was coincidence that brought you both to Hertfordshire.” He tapped the pile of paper on Colonel Forster’s desk. “I am afraid, Mr. Wickham, as you have already attempted to circulate a falsehood in the form of Mr. Darcy refusing to give you your inheritance―”
“And so he did!” Wickham exclaimed. “When the living became vacant, Darcy refused to give it to me.”
Mr. Phillips pulled out another paper from his brief-bag. “I have documentation here that you received ￡1000 from the late Mr. Darcy and a further ￡3000 in lieu of a living at Kympton.” He gave Wickham a hard look. “Mr. Darcy has also procured a statement from a Mrs. Younge, averring your connivance with her to obtain Miss Darcy’s dowry.”
Wickham took a step back before recovering. “Lies. Another forgery, I am certain.”
Colonel Forster shook his head. “Men like you are the reason the militia is unwelcome in some parts of the country. You strain the local economy with your unpaid debts and turn the populace against us when you make free with the local young ladies.” He turned to Darcy. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I believe we have heard enough.” He sent a questioning look to Sir William, who nodded.
“I am only glad that Mr. Darcy warned us before Mr. Wickham could practise his deceits here,” Sir William said. “Constable―”
Wickham’s expression grew suddenly panicked, and he turned to Darcy. “You would never treat your father’s favourite like this, would you?”
“I would,” Darcy said firmly. “My father would not wish you to continue down this path, and if it takes debtor’s prison for you to change your course, so be it.”
Wickham stepped up to Darcy, standing only inches from him. “If you do this, I shall shout what I know from the rooftops,” he said in a low voice. “Miss Darcy’s reputation will never be safe.”
Darcy held Wickham’s gaze. “You will do your best to hurt us, and I have learned that no love for my father or for my sister will change your behaviour. However, you were precious to my father; the least I can do is offer you this opportunity to change. Take the opportunity, Mr. Wickham. Do not continue to ruin your own life.”
Wickham snarled. “Me? Ruin my life? You are the one who always ruins everything! Is it not enough that you have kept me from the life I deserve? You destroyed all my hard work with Miss Darcy when you arrived a day early.” He sneered. “I should have known you would only grow more meddlesome. You could not have waited a week this time? I would have been gone and free by then.”
“What do you mean?” Colonel Forster demanded from behind him. “I have not received any notice of intent to resign your commission.”
Wickham, who had apparently forgotten everyone else in the room, opened and closed his mouth and then turned abruptly to face his commanding officer.
“It appears, Colonel, that Mr. Wickham intended to desert,” Mr. Phillips said dryly.
Colonel Forster studied Wickham with steely eyes. “I cannot remand him to you, Sir William. Under the circumstances, I would prefer to take a more active role in this matter.”
Sir William bowed. “Of course, Colonel. We only wish for the safety of the community.”
“I—I had no intention of deserting,” Wickham said, beads of sweat standing out on his forehead. “I would never have been absent without leave.”
“I believe that is one lie too many, Mr. Wickham,” Colonel Forster said, standing and striding to the door. He requested the presence of four officers.
Wickham turned back to Darcy. “You cannot allow things to end like this. Please,” he said, his Adam’s apple bobbing like a ship in high seas.
Darcy studied the wretch in front of him. It had been harder than he had expected to see Wickham again. The last time, when he had finally gotten rid of the cords, the freedom had been incredible—so heady that it had overshadowed every other feeling. Today, though, grief once again weighed him down. If only Wickham had changed in some other fashion. If only such a step had not become necessary. He took a breath, allowing the grief to sit with him, recognising that watching a human being reach such a low was indeed cause for grief. It was like seeing a butterfly that could have been beautiful but instead had failed to develop properly and was twisted and impossible.
“You have made your choice, Wickham, and I will not overrule it,” he said sadly.
Colonel Forster returned and stared beadily at Wickham. “Is there anything else you would like to discuss at this time?” he asked sardonically.
Wickham looked around the room wildly, like a fox surrounded by hounds, and then slumped. He pressed his lips together and shook his head.
Once Wickham had been taken into custody, the room gave a collective sigh of relief.
“I apologise that one of my officers troubled you so, Mr. Darcy,” Colonel Forster said.
Darcy gave him a wry smile. “He was troubling me long before he was one of your officers, Colonel. I am only glad that he will no longer be free to injure anyone else.”
“He will likely be shipped off to the colonies,” Colonel Forster said, studying Darcy. “Unless you choose to intervene.”
Darcy hesitated for a brief moment before shaking his head. “Wickham is the man he is, in part, due to my mitigating of consequences. Doing so again would only compound my mistake.”
Mr. Phillips cleared his throat. “Mr. Darcy, I believe I speak for all of us when I say that Mr. Wickham has proven himself to be a liar; anything he said about your sister will be kept in strict confidence, especially since he is an untrustworthy source.”
Darcy glanced around the room and the men, one by one, nodded at him. “Thank you, gentlemen.”
“We would all be in trouble if our youthful follies came home to roost, eh?” Sir William said, with an attempt at his usual congeniality.
Constable Dunlow murmured in agreement.
“I would, however, like to convey some part of what occurred here to my wife,” Mr. Phillips continued. He smiled wryly. “She is a very reliable method of disseminating information and I would prefer some portion of the truth be spread rather than people laying further wrongs at your door, Mr. Darcy.”
“Matters of military justice are not generally made public,” Colonel Forster said. “Perhaps we can merely state that Mr. Darcy was here as a material witness only and that Mr. Wickham was found to be a reprobate.”
Mr. Phillips nodded.
Darcy suppressed a sigh. At least the neighbourhood gossip would be favourable, even if he hated being a subject of it. “Well, if you will excuse me, I have other matters I wish to attend to today.” Namely, he needed to return to Netherfield, inform Bingley, and make himself presentable before calling on the Bennets.
They all nodded, and Darcy walked out of the room. An hour ago, he had intended to send Wickham to debtor’s prison and hire someone to keep an eye on the man, ensuring that Wickham would neither trouble them nor be trapped in prison for the rest of his life (provided Wickham reformed). But perhaps this was better. He was now entirely free from the man, and Wickham’s fate was solely in the hands of Providence.