Page 52 of These Dreams (Heart to Heart Collection #1)

Chapter fifty-two

“D arcy! So, my eyes did not deceive me that night, and you have come back to Pemberley, safe and sound. I cannot tell you what relief that gives me. When I think of your father, and all his kindnesses toward me—”

“Oh, stow it, Wickham!” Richard growled. “You know very well what had happened to Darcy. Come now, out with the whole truth!”

Wickham looked hurt. “I meant no offence, Fitzwilliam. I never lifted a finger against my old friend. May I not be permitted to express my joy that he has been recovered?”

“Your sincerity is touching,” Darcy deadpanned. “Have you depleted your funds?”

“Well, Darcy, as a particularly enchanting young lady once expressed to me, we must all have something to live on, regardless of our personal charms. I had a wife to consider, as you know, and would have been a fool to turn down a lucrative offer of employment. How was I to know that it might appear disloyal to the family to whom I am indebted for all my advantages in life?”

Richard was rolling his eyes and hissing through his teeth. “I have heard enemy spies tell fewer lies! Darcy, let us take him directly to Newcastle and have done with it.”

Wickham’s eyes went wild for half an instant, but he seemed to draw breath and calm himself. “My dear Fitzwilliam, as a fellow man in uniform, you understand honour and integrity better than anyone. If granted an opportunity to guard the back of your comrade, whether he wore a uniform or not, is it not your duty to step up? So I have done, but I fear my actions will be misjudged by many. I know that I may depend on you, however, to see clearly and act fairly.”

“We will do nothing to prevent whatever military justice you have merited, Wickham,” Darcy broke in. “A man who deserts his regiment before he has even joined it deserves judgment.”

“I am of little value to you at the end of a noose, Darcy.”

“You are of little value anywhere!” spat Richard.

“Calm yourself, Cousin,” Darcy gestured mildly with his hand. “Allow him a moment to consider the proper course. If he is, indeed, concerned about justice, he will share with us what he knows.”

“I would be most obliged to, Darcy,” Wickham smiled. “But, you know, I am in a ticklish spot. I fear that my memory at present is somewhat muddled. You do understand how it is, when a man does not know who his friends are, he is like to act rashly. I would rather not speak in haste and regret my words, Darcy.”

“I do not know what protection you seek from me. The army will find you at length, and as a loyal subject to the crown, it is my duty to surrender you.”

“Oh! There is always a back door in, as well as a front. Surely you cannot have lived so long without knowing that.”

“You will have to lump it, Wickham,” Richard crossed his arms, a faint satisfaction glimmering in his eyes. “Whatever your sentence, you have earned it. I’ve no patience for deserters.”

“If it is my duty to give my life on the altar of justice, I shall be honoured to do so,” Wickham bowed gallantly. “But there is a matter of more lasting harm, and I think you would be unwise to overlook it. You see, nothing but the gravest of matters could have called me away from my comrades in arms and my adoring bride. Even should I be taken by the army—as is no doubt right and just, as you say Fitzwilliam—the danger to you, Darcy, is as real and potent as ever.”

“I will have what you know straight out, Wickham. I can promise you no protection beyond fair treatment for your crimes, so you are wasting both your time and mine trying to extract such a promise from me.”

Wickham turned his fingers over to inspect them. “Tell me, Darcy, how is my dear friend Miss Darcy faring? It has been too long since I had the pleasure of her company. Is she relieved to have you come back at last?”

Darcy glanced to his cousin, who seemed to have grown horns and fangs, and was balling his fists. “Calm yourself, Richard.”

Wickham’s confidence grew. “I also trust that Miss Elizabeth Bennet is well? A fine young lady, Darcy. May I presume that congratulations are in order? You have excellent taste, old boy, the Bennet ladies are of—forgive me—robust and spirited natures. I imagine that her grief over your disappearance was unparalleled. Fancy it, now you are come back to both lovely ladies, and nothing can ever again disrupt the tranquil future you have planned for your family. Oh, well, I suppose there is one matter, but surely you will find your way round that obstacle.”

“I tire of your empty words,” Darcy commented in a bored tone. “Either you intend to make yourself useful, or you do not. I have no doubt that I will discover the truth without the benefit of your rather dubious advice.”

Wickham began to show the first signs of tension. “Surely you understand how it is, old boy. Your money and Fitzwilliam’s connections can purchase freedom for me—and Mrs Wickham, of course. You would ever have a loyal man in me, for if you knew how diligently I served the Darcy family in your absence—”

“I have heard enough!” bellowed Richard. “I do believe I shall have to bathe after listening to your filthy lies. You will accompany me to London for a court-martial.”

“London!” Wickham’s voice changed in pitch and his colour heightened, all his former bravado now evaporated. “Oh, that cannot be necessary! Surely my own commanding officer in Newcastle may judge this business, and I am confident that your word will carry much weight. I was merely absent without leave, I did not truly desert. Some may see it that way, but I assure you, it would be a gross miscarriage of justice to label me a malicious deserter! I never left the country, sir, and I always intended to return to my ranks.”

“London,” Richard repeated, leveling a searing look of hatred at the scoundrel.

“Darcy! I beg you, talk some sense into him. I can help you! Did anyone ever mention a deed to you? I can help you find it!”

“You know of this supposed deed?” Darcy asked cautiously.

“Naturally! Oh, I do not know in whose hands it rests, but it is genuine, I have seen documentation referring to it.”

“And where was this?”

Wickham closed his mouth and looked at Richard.

Darcy exchanged a glance with his cousin. “Make yourself comfortable in the stable, Wickham. You are bound for London on the morrow.”

“Darcy!” he protested. “You are acting the fool! I can help you!”

“I have no reason to trust in your assistance. Good-day.”

“T he scheming, groveling, filthy blackguard!” Richard was fuming. “Darcy, how the devil did you not choke him to death where he stood?”

Darcy’s eyes followed the graveled drive as they walked. “I have encountered worse men since my last meeting with Wickham. I find that he no longer holds the power to infuriate me.”

“Well, that makes one of us! Now I know why he was so easy to find. He wanted us to discover him.”

“Indeed,” Darcy mused. “But I believe he fears someone else as much as he fears the army. Otherwise, why wait until now? And why ask our assistance, we who best know his crimes and have the least motivation to aid him?”

“Someone paid him to lie to us, obviously.”

“No, I believe his fear was genuine, and he may have even intended to speak the truth. I think he has now been cut adrift by his former benefactor, and no longer has the resources to remain in hiding. He may have forced a bold front, but he knows what fate may await him if he is found at last.”

“And you have rescued him time and again! What I want to know is how he was getting his money. Was he in direct contact with his source, or was there another?”

“Without question, there must have been another—a messenger, at the very least, unless he was the messenger, and his duty was to find a contact already installed here at the estate. I intend to have Hodges interview all the footman and maids again. Jefferson expressed his concerns regarding Mr O’Donnell, for one. I also intend to look over the accounts myself.”

Richard grinned suggestively. “Miss Bennet may be able to offer you some perspective. I believe she spent some time studying them with Georgiana—after she restored your library, that is.”

“I intended to ask her if she had noted anything. She is… rather clever.” Darcy was grateful once again for the concealing facial hair. It would not do—no, it would not do at all! —for Richard to perceive the simple pleasure warming his expression whenever he thought on Elizabeth. A man with his cares had no right to take leave of his senses simply because a woman had smiled at him, but hang it all, it was his delight in Elizabeth Bennet that helped him to cling to his senses. He would go right on as he had done.

They gained the house, and Darcy at once summoned his steward. “Jefferson, will you attend me in the study? I have a number of questions pertaining to recent events, and I would like to look over the accounts with you.”

“Certainly, sir. The rents and investments are all in order, and I will deliver them directly. The shopkeeper bills are not yet totaled for this month, but I will complete them right away.”

“Very good. I shall also require the household records, as well as a current summary of cash, Mrs Reynolds’ funds, and pin monies.”

Jefferson’s eyes widened at the surprising request from his master. It had never been Darcy’s custom to scrutinise the minor expenditures of the estate. “Of course, sir,” he answered in a tight voice. “When did you desire my presence?”

“An hour will suffice, if you can be ready with the figures. I have yet to break my fast.”

Jefferson glanced at Richard—rather curiously—and then made a brief bow. “I shall be ready, sir.”

They walked on toward the breakfast room, and Richard waited until he had closed the door. “Darcy, what are we to do about Wickham until tomorrow? We must tell his wife that he has reappeared, but how do we inform her without troubling Georgiana?”

“Why must Mrs Wickham be told anything? She is still a child, Richard—younger even than Georgiana, and certainly less mature. I foresee only trouble in alerting her to his whereabouts. Let the army judge what is to be done with him, and then if by some miracle they grant him clemency, we will think of how best to inform her.”

“Oh, come Darcy, you must do something, if for no other reason than the servants may talk. Mr Bennet and Mr Gardiner would no doubt be interested to know that the rascal has been found, you must at least allow them that satisfaction.”

Darcy poured his coffee himself and wandered to the window. “I continue to hear Mr Gardiner’s name. What is his interest in my affairs?”

“None, so far as I know, but he is understandably concerned about his nieces. Did you not work with the man yourself in recovering Mrs Wickham?”

“That was intended to remain private knowledge.”

“Well, for my part, I thought the man clever and honest. I needed a man I could trust to look to business while I was out of the country, and he obliged out of affection for his nieces. Did you read that letter I left from him?”

“I did, and I found nothing at all to give me pause. It is only that I was privy to a conversation that, in my state of mind, sounded rather damning. I would like to think the best of the man, for I had previously nurtured a good opinion of him.”

“You cannot always trust what you overhear, Darcy. I have absolutely no reason to suspect him, and every reason to place my confidence in him. Why, he even wrote me about a buyer he had found for your spring wool who was willing to pay a sixpence more per fleece than you had previously been getting. A sixpence! Now, does that sound to you like a man who would do you harm?”

“No,” Darcy confessed, then fell into thoughtful silence. He was still contemplating his hot cup when the door opened and Elizabeth entered.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” she smiled brightly, seeming not at all surprised at the colonel’s presence.

“Why, Miss Bennet, you are looking most refreshed this morning,” Richard made her a partial bow.

“Thank you, Colonel,” she answered, “I have just returned from a short walk about the garden. “May I ask, is something amiss? There seemed to be a disturbance in the direction of the stables.”

The men exchanged glances, and Darcy spoke. “Fitzwilliam has recovered Mr Wickham.”

“Oh!” She frowned pensively. “Has he spoken anything useful?”

“Useful!” guffawed Richard. “The most useful thing I should like to hear from him is ‘farewell,’ but I doubt we shall be so fortunate.”

“I intend,” put in Darcy with a sideways glance at his cousin, “to interview him once more before he is taken to London, but for now all we have are suspicions. I must ask for your discretion where my sister and Mrs Wickham are concerned.”

She nodded slowly. “Yes, I agree. I would fear for my own sister’s peace of mind, if she were to learn that he was here on the estate. I will speak to her, if you find it necessary, but it would not be my preference.”

“Just so. Might I impose upon you to look over some business matters after breakfast? I am hoping that your observations might help us to find anything amiss.”

She agreed, and the three fell quiet as first Mrs Wickham, then Georgiana joined them for the morning repast. A quarter of an hour had passed in relative peace when Mr Hodges appeared at the door.

“Sir!” he appeared to be holding his breath, “there is an urgent matter that requires your personal attention.”

Darcy looked quickly to his cousin, but Richard was already on his feet. They made their excuses to the ladies and followed the butler out of the room. “Yes, Hodges?” Darcy asked.

“It is the study, sir. One of the maids was walking by and she heard a noise.” Hodges’ eyes rolled back and he drew breath to compose himself. “Perhaps it is best if you see for yourself, sir. I have permitted none to enter the room.” He led them to the study and held back the door, standing aside and looking rather pale. Darcy spared him a curious glance, then entered.

“By heaven!” Richard breathed.

Darcy could not speak even so much as that. The fire in the study still blazed hot with what remained of several thick account books, but charred bits of paper already floated about the room. Dominating the centre, however, was a sight that made even Richard turn away, with his hand over his mouth.

The desk was strewn with random papers, and dangling just in front of it, suspended from a ceiling beam, was Jefferson. Darcy’s first instinct was to rush forward and cut the man down, but his face was purple, the life already gone out of his flesh. Darcy closed his eyes and spun away, shaking. “Have him taken down!” he ordered, then rushed from the room before he could become sick.