He kept smiling, the smile going to his eyes.
Denny said, “The father decides. Way it is. Way it should be.”
“Eh.” Carter shook his head. “I shan’t confess to agreement. I always admire any Miss with the spirit to choose her own. Her life, she shouldn’t only worry about marrying the man who’ll make the father happiest. That is no profit to thedaughter.”
“Some girl’s father disliked your estate?” Denny poked Carter.
“No, no. I can confess to no particular ill usage. I speak in generalities.”
After that they quieted down, the lantern was blown out, the other two went to their cramped little bedrooms, and Wickham stretched out his legs out on the divan in the sitting room that he rented for half the price of one of the actual rooms, and he tried to fall asleep.
He’d nearly left the regiment when Colonel Fitzwilliam denounced him. HeknewColonel Fitzwilliam had expected him to.
The militia, pathetic, small, purple bruised — Colonel Fitzwilliam wanted to rip another opportunity away.
Oh, he hated them. He hated them all.
George Wickham’s charming grin as he stared up in the dark at the crumpled little roof right above him was a rictus so wide that it hurt.
There had been no call for Colonel Fitzwilliam to insult him, scorn him, and attack him in such a way in front of the whole community, and his officers. He’d promised to not say anything about Georgiana, and he meant it.
Well he would have said something about her after Colonel Fitzwilliam had insulted him in such a harsh manner. In fact, Wickham had every right to challenge him to a duel. Some would say he ought to have.
Except…
The look in Colonel Fitzwilliam’s eyes had given him a cold shudder. A feeling had swept over him, like a premonition:One day, oh Wickham you fine charmer, one fine morning a little after dawn this man will kill you.
A silly nonsense of a thought. Of course Colonel Fitzwilliam would not kill him.
But every time he thought about the officer Wickham felt sick and cold with shivers.
The natural consequent of that event would have been if Wickham removed himself from the scene of his disgrace. Militia officers served at their own pleasure, and were able to bring such service to a cessation upon short notice — so long at least, as Boney didn’t actually land with a hundred regimentsfrancaisupon the white cliffs of Dover.
But…
There were three chief considerations which had led Wickham to prolong his connection with the regiment: Leaving immediately, while it was obvious to everyone that it had been Colonel Fitzwilliam who convinced him to go, grated against Wickham’s natural instinct to spite any man who spat upon him.
No!
He had done nothing wrong.Theywere the ones who had been bamboozled by the falsified references of a woman who leapt from her employment relationship with Darcy into the management of a bawdy house. In essence he had provided a kindness to Georgiana — some other gentleman who lacked his undoubtable virtues would have made love at her if he’d not been there to do it.
Nothing wrong.
It was for Colonel Fitzwilliam to leave the neighborhood if he wished to avoid Wickham, and not for Wickham to remove himself to avoid him.
The second consideration had been the simple delight he felt a week later in listening to the gossip about justwhatMr. Darcy had really done to that Bingley chit before he’d cursed her as a slut.
Wickham managed to add a great many pieces of disreputable, and not necessarily accurate, information about Darcy into the general rumor mill — though he said nothing that even Colonel Fitzwilliam’s viciousness would treat as an excuse for murder.
The delightful scandal!
Hisname talked about, and talked about with scorn, laughter and amusement. Darcy being laughed at.
Thiswas precisely the sort of situation that Darcy never seemed to enter into, and that in fact his general habit of life would lead him to make a studied effort to avoid.
Ha. Ha. Ha! Maybe there was justice in this world!
Except, of course, there was not.
