There was a silence about the room, then Colonel Forster added in a slow, halting voice, “She is exceedingly fond of him. You said he seduces the daughters of tradeswomen – does he refrain from looking higher?”
“I cannot make any reply,” Colonel Fitzwilliam replied. “For it might touch upon the honor of more than one woman of my acquaintance.”
“Damn!”
“You only married her a few months ago,” Darcy said, hoping to calm the man. “You surely can have no reason for—”
Colonel Forster angrily rose from his desk, and he picked up a decanter of wine and hurled it on the floor. “Damn, damn, damn. Us men — fools, all of us. I heard how that chit seduced you, Mr. Darcy. And now—”
“I would appreciate,” Darcy said sharply, “that you do not speak of my wife in such a manner.”
An enlisted man who’d stood by the entrance as a guard opened the door and looked at his commanding officer. Forster shouted, “Get the damned maid here to clean this mess — and have my wife sent for.”
“Yes, sir.”
When the soldier disappeared, Colonel Forster took a deep breath. Let it out. “Yes. Of course. Doesn’t matter. She is your wife.” A long pause. “And Mrs. Forster is my wife.”
“She is,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said quietly. His manner was sympathetic. It was clear that he hadnotexpected rousing the officer’s suspicions about his own wife in such a way.
After another minute, Colonel Forster formally bowed to Darcy. “I apologize, and I am certain that anything I heard which spoke ill of your wife was a matter of misunderstanding or calumny. I beg you not to hold my repeating such slander against me.”
“By no means,” Darcy said quietly. “And I assure you, and not as a matter of form, that my wife is of the highest character.”
Seeing Darcy’s serious expression, Colonel Forster nodded. “Makes more sense that the story is not true at all. I was surprised to hear such a story about Miss Elizabeth.” He then closed his eyes with pain. “It would not surprise me at all to hear a story of that sort about my Harriet. She is enthused, happy, but there have been things, times when she hid things from me. Maybe I am foolishly suspicious. When a man marries a woman more than fifteen years younger than himself, such suspicions arise easily.”
“You should always,” Darcy said, “look to see the best in your companion in life. You are more likely to be correct.”
“Damn, damn, damn.” Colonel Forster looked pale and as though he wished to spew forth his accounts.
After the young Harriet Forster arrived in the room, she managed to convince her husband over the course of several minutes that she was wholly innocent of any intrigue with Wickham.
This was because, upon seeing how seriously her husband was concerned, she confessed that she had been helping to arrange clandestine meetings between her dear friend, Lydia Bennet, and Mr. Wickham. The two of them in fact planned to elope, taking off for Scotland during the afternoon following Miss Bennet’s nuptials with Mr. Bingley.
As for herself, Mrs. Forster did admit that she had once or twice shared a kiss with Mr. Wickham, but that had been just a joke, and of course she would never, ever, ever do anything that would give her husband reason to be unhappy.
She quickly came to perceive that a once or twice shared kiss was in fact a reason for her husband to be unhappy. However, the real affection and contrition that Mrs. Forster showed, and the fact that none of her behavior had been of the sort to be unforgivable led to a happy reconciliation between the couple.
Wickham was called forth to face questioning and punishment for his deeds. The plan was for him to be removed from the regiment, and then placed in debtor’s prison. At least Darcy hoped that he had in fact put himself in sufficient debt for the expedient of a debtor’s prison to be used to remove him from general circulation for a time.
The call went unanswered.
Wickham was, at present, nowhere to be found.
Colonel Forster now called Denny and Carter, who had been Wickham’s closest friends in the regiment, to ask them if they knew anything of the whereabouts of the young man.
Based on their tale, it seemed that upon being informed that a Colonel Fitzwilliam had called on Colonel Forster,along with Mr. Darcy, that he’d shown an extreme state of nervousness, and swore that they meant to turn the officer against him.
When it was heard that the colonel had destroyed a wine pitcher and called his wife to immediately attend him, that state of nervousness turned to him confessing a need for a ride.
The young man did not return to Meryton from this ride.
After several hours of waiting for his possible return, Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam went to Longbourn, where Georgiana and Elizabeth would be. Despite her worry about Lydia, Elizabeth of course wished to spend as much time as she could with Jane before the wedding in two days.
When they arrived at Longbourn they found several people from around the town, including Elizabeth’s aunt, Mrs. Phillips, in the drawing room telling stories about how shocked everyone was by Wickham’s disappearance.
Lydia sat alone on a flower patterned divan, her eyes red as she glared out the window.
After everyone greeted Darcy, and introductions to Colonel Fitzwilliam were made — Lydia refused to accept such an introduction — Mrs. Phillips continued her tale of what everyone said about Wickham in town. “Once it was known that he’d fled, half the merchants in Meryton descended upon Colonel Forster to demand some help to cover his debts. He’d wheedled credit out of near everyone, even old John, who once swore he wouldn’t give credit to his own mother if she asked.”
