“Silence!”
Wickham gulped and glanced back at the hand that was shackled to the wall. “May I presume that it shall be the case that I will not have an opportunity to refuse?”
“Of course you may refuse, or you may return if you wish — I have purchased the papers to more than a thousand pounds of debt that you have accumulated. If I ever hear that you have returned to England, I will prosecute you for that debt. But the choice is wholly yours.”
Wickham sighed and leaned against the stone wall, stuffing the hand that wasn’t shackled into his coat pocket.
Darcy held himself up on the crutches waiting while Wickham' thought. His arms began to grow tired.
At last Wickham shrugged. “Eh, no chance I’ll manage to marry Georgienow. And you’d be a fool to leave me free in this country. Kinder by far than I could have any reason to expect — you swear upon your honor that I shall receive this money? — five hundred pounds.”
“Yes, I swear upon my honor, and my Darcy name.”
“Good enough,” Wickham said.
That business settled, they set off to return to Longbourn. Colonel Fitzwilliam’s man and one of Darcy’s Pemberley footmen would escort Wickham to London by post when the roads diverged, from whence he would be put on ship and given the money.
Freezing air, but a bright and sunny day.
The three of them sat rather quietly in the carriage for the first hour of the journey. Georgiana was still subdued after her adventure, and Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam were drained from the long ride, though Darcy was far more so than his military cousin.
Darcy was beginning to become anxious again about how he would apologize to Elizabeth, and show her that he was committed to behaving better in the future — certainly he’d greet her aunt and uncle from Cheapside happily when he arrived. And he would engage her mother in conversation, and try to draw her out, and empathize with her supposed nerves. And he would… encourage Georgiana to spend time with all of Elizabeth’s sisters.
At this point the notion that any of Elizabeth’s sisters would be a bad influence on Georgiana seemed rather misguided. Mr. Bennet would have far better cause to be concerned about the possibility ofGeorgianabeing a poor influence on his daughters than Darcy had to fear the reverse.
Suddenly Georgiana exclaimed to them both, “How am I to be punished? — I know I deserve whatever my fate is. But I would rather know than wonder.”
Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam shared a long look. And then Darcy said, “Georgie, how doyouthink you should be punished?”
“Ummm. No society for a year. No chance to call on anyone — have me come out when I am nineteen instead of eighteen. No music. I dearly love music. Force me to learn geometry. No meat in my meals for the next six months. No, a year. Perhaps I should not even be allowed to leave the house to wander in the gardens untilnextwinter.”
“That hardly seems like it would be conducive to your good health.”
“Yes, but…” Georgiana shrugged. “I hardly know. Nothing seems as though it would be… sufficient to compensate for the magnitude of my crime.”
“It was not a crime, but an error,” Darcy said. “Do you think you are likely to elope with another amiable gentleman whose chief concern is your wealth?”
“Oh, his chief concern was to hurt you. He told me that when Viscount Shelham and his family took me in.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam laughed. “Are youcertainyou wish him to have that money to settle himself in America?”
Darcy shook his head. “At this point that question is irrelevant, I have committed my honor to it.”
“You are giving Wickham money!” Georgiana exclaimed in horror. “He deserves nothing but a whipping and a — that is how you can punishme. A whipping!” Georgiana cried out with sudden enthusiasm. “Like they give to sailors.”
Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam shared another glance.
This time it was Richard’s turn to respond. “Georgie, I’ve seen how they whip sailors. I’m only half convinced Wickie deservesthat. You certainly do not.”
“If you shall not listen to any of my suggestions,” she said a little stiffly, “I do not see why you have asked me how I ought to be punished — I certainly have not attempted to soften the suggested punishments merely on account of the fact that I would be the one to suffer from them.”
It was impossible for Darcy not to chuckle at that.
He put his arm around Georgiana and embraced her. “How about we say that you shall only receive a fourth of your allowance for the next six months, and that you shall need to ask me specifically for the money for any purchases beyond that. And beyond that you promise to never marry anyone without speaking about it at length with me and Richard.”
“Of course not, I am now determined to never marry anyone without your blessing and approval.”
“Then let us all strive to be happy.”
