Page 83 of The Shades of Pemberley

“ M y cousin’s death was not an accident,” murmured Fitzwilliam, unable to keep the shock from his voice.

“Colonel Fitzwilliam!” exclaimed the lead hand, his shocked eyes wide. “No one at Pemberley would lift a hand against the master! We all respected him, and he treated us with honor.”

With a visible effort, Fitzwilliam tamped down on his emotions. “Do not concern yourself, for I was not accusing anyone. Could someone have entered to do this without your men seeing them? Could it have been done by someone not employed here, yet known to you?”

The man frowned. “There are always men going in and out of the building. During the day, I would say it is nigh impossible.”

“Were there any visitors to the estate that day or in the preceding days?”

For a moment, the man did not respond, then his eyes widened, and he stared at Fitzwilliam. “As I recall, there was a visitor that very morning. Mr. Wickham came to Pemberley to speak to the master and came out soon after with a face like a thundercloud.”

“Wickham!” spat Fitzwilliam. “Was he alone in the stables at all?”

The man blew out a heavy breath. “Not long, but when he returned from the house, he spurned any suggestion that we would fetch his horse. I cannot say there was no one else in the stables, but it is possible.”

“Keep this silent,” instructed Fitzwilliam. “At present, there is no proof, and I do not wish to spread rumors.”

“I shall not speak of it,” assured the man, appearing most apprehensive.

Fitzwilliam nodded and turned, beckoning Darcy, his jaw harder than granite, leading them to the house. As he was engaged in dark thoughts, Darcy left him alone for the moment, caught up in the morning’s shocking revelations. Was it true that he had gained the estate by murder?

“Gates,” said Fitzwilliam when they entered the house, “please have Bingley and Bennet summoned to Darcy’s study at once.” Fitzwilliam paused and grinned, a feral approximation of amusement. “Make it clear to Bingley that not even his lady friend should prevent his attending us.”

Despite the dark attempt at humor, the butler appeared to understand this was no normal request. With his promise in hand, Darcy and Fitzwilliam made their way to the study and entered, and when Darcy thought to speak, Fitzwilliam waved him off, instead pacing the floor deep in thought.

Darcy felt some need for occupation himself, but opted to control his emotions and sit, considering the enormity of what they had just discovered.

“Darcy,” said Bennet when he stepped into the room. “And Fitzwilliam. Given the urgency of our summons, I might have thought the house was about to fall around us.”

“I caught a distinct whiff of command when the footman directed me here,” added Bingley.

Though they entered with jests on their lips, both men noted Fitzwilliam’s state at once. “What is it?” asked Mr. Bennet, all levity now absent.

“It would be best if you sat,” said Fitzwilliam, not stopping his agitated movements. “Darcy and I have made a discovery that has profound implications and represents potential danger to us all.”

In a few clipped sentences, Fitzwilliam related all they had learned, from Darcy’s guess about the entail to their investigation in the stables, the discovery, and what the lead hand had told them.

The telling was not long, but the impact was profound, for no one considered a potential murder like they were discussing the weather.

When Fitzwilliam completed the account, he finally sat, his tension exhausted.

“At least you are not a suspect in this affair, Darcy,” said Bingley, another weak attempt at a jest. “After all, you were the one who ‘benefited’ from your cousin’s death.”

“It never occurred to me to suspect Darcy,” said Fitzwilliam, fixing Darcy with a grim smile. “Had we not found evidence of Wickham’s involvement...?”

“Who is this Wickham?” asked Bennet. “Was there not a man in the Meryton regiment by the name of Wickham?”

“There was,” agreed Fitzwilliam. “When we left London, I sent someone to check if he was still there, but he had resigned from the regiment by that time.

“Wickham is the son of Pemberley’s late steward, a man who served in the position under my uncle’s management of the estate.

Wickham is of age with my cousin and associated with him as a young boy.

The older they grew, however, the more Jameson understood that Wickham did not possess an upright character. ”

“A libertine?” asked Bennet.

“There is no vice that is beyond Wickham’s ability to pursue,” replied Fitzwilliam, disgust coloring his voice.

“Wickham is a gamester, a debtor, a womanizer, and a man who takes whatever he wants without concern for those he is hurting. Until this morning, the one sin I would not have laid at his door was a penchant for violence or the ability to plot another’s death, but it appears that I underestimated him. ”

The judgment settled over them all like a rockslide, covering them with uncertainty and horror. No man wished to contemplate such terrible acts as ending another’s life with malice aforethought, but the truth faced them, filling each with the potential danger of the situation.

“What could his motive be?” asked Bingley after several moments of silence. “Was it a simple desire for revenge?”

“No, Bingley, I suspect it was more insidious than that,” said Darcy. “It all ties in with Georgiana and our intruder in London, and Mrs. Younge’s insistence that Georgiana leave our protection for her own.”

“Ransom, I understand,” protested Bingley. “But why would this Wickham murder your cousin?”

“To gain control of Pemberley through Georgiana,” said Darcy.

“What of the entail?” asked Bennet.

“As Darcy pointed out,” replied Fitzwilliam, “society at large knew nothing of the entail. Though I cannot be certain, of course, I suspect Wickham was also ignorant of it.”

“Then he murdered your cousin, hoping to claim the estate through Miss Darcy?” Bennet shook his head.

“We are missing something of the timeline, for it makes little sense. Wickham must have known you would act to protect Georgiana—the only way he could have done what he wished was to spirit her away in the chaos following the event and make for Gretna Green.”

“Unless he learned of the entail before,” said Fitzwilliam. “Or if my coming was swifter than he expected.”

“Or he could find no way into the estate,” suggested Bingley. “Even with a willing conspirator such as Mrs. Younge, gaining entrance to the estate and convincing Georgiana to depart before pursuit could be mounted was a chancy business.”

Darcy considered this and shook his head.

“No, that is not it at all. Wickham must have known that you would not have allowed him near Georgiana, especially in the aftermath of her brother’s death.

But he had an ace you did not know about—his associate, the woman tasked with Georgiana’s protection and education. ”

Fitzwilliam eyed him and soon responded with a slow nod.

“I think you may have hit on it, Darcy. If he removed Jameson from consideration, the estate devolves to Georgiana. My father would have taken her into his house for her protection, but Wickham could afford to be patient, to watch and wait for an opportunity, one he knew his confederate would provide.”

“That is where his plan went awry,” said Bennet. “For instead of Georgiana inheriting the estate, you arrived to take control of Pemberley and summoned Darcy at once to inform him of his inheritance through the entail.”

“It seems this plan to go to Ramsgate must have been part of their schemes before he acted against my cousin,” said Darcy. “They just modified it to gain control of Georgiana’s dowry when their initial plan failed. It is much less of a prize, but all they could hope to obtain.”

“Then Mrs. Younge pushed the scheme, risking your investigation?” asked Bingley.

“Patience is not Wickham’s strength,” said Fitzwilliam. “Besides, the longer he waited, the greater the chance of discovery. I doubt he wanted to wait past this summer, even if Georgiana was to inherit the estate.”

“The curious part,” said Bennet, eyeing Fitzwilliam with some interest, “is his calculation concerning your reaction and that of your father. Did he suppose you would just accept his mastery of Pemberley without consequence?”

A growl of contempt was Fitzwilliam’s response to the question. “Wickham has ever been more confident than his abilities warrant. I suspect he considered it a fait accompli once he had Georgiana in hand.”

“Would that have stayed your hand?” asked Bingley, eyes wide at the implication.

“If you are asking if we would have... removed Wickham from the land of the living, the answer is no,” said Fitzwilliam.

“There are other ways to dispose of him. He could have been sent to the penal colony or even hanged for other crimes, for I am certain an investigation would reveal enough to justify such an action against him. My father’s position would have sufficed to receive an enactment of quiet annulment of the marriage. ”

“In some courts,” observed Bennet, “the act of stealing away with a prominent girl and scion of an earl may have been enough to consign him to the scaffold.”

Fitzwilliam’s evil grin revealed his feelings on the subject.

“That it would have, Mr. Bennet. Wickham would have attempted to publish his success with my cousin, but the Fitzwilliams have far more influence than he understands. In time, the matter could have been hushed up, and Georgiana married to a man willing to assume the Darcy name. Regardless, my father would never have allowed Wickham to take possession of Pemberley and bankrupt it.”