“Think nothing of it, Miss King,” he replied gallantly. “I shall, of course, be eager for an introduction to him when he returns. At present, however, it is indeed no hardship, for I am quite able to enjoy your amiable company here in the estimable Mrs Long’s parlour. It is indeed fortunate for we friendless militia officers, is it not, that she is such an obliging hostess?”
Miss King’s shoulders hunched slightly in bashful appreciation of his bold compliments. She clasped her hands together in her lap, her pale lashes shading her grey eyes. Such a pleasing address he had! She had not thought to attract the notice of the town darling—his attentions had always tended in another direction until very lately.
“La, there you are, Mary!” Lydia Bennet’s unmistakable voice caught the pair’s attention. “What a good joke, I had not thought to find you out all alone today!” The flamboyant Bennet girl plopped herself down next to her slightly annoyed companion.
“Oh, Mr Wickham, what a fun thing to find you today!” Lydia plucked up a bit of biscuit from the tea tray, causing Miss King to glance at her in thinly veiled consternation. “I could do with some jolly good times. We had to suffer thedullestdinner last night. I declare, Miss Darcy is every bit as stuck up and boring as Mr Darcy is!”
Wickham gave a start which he barely concealed. “Miss Darcy is in town, you say?”
“Oh, my, yes. I suppose her brother forced her to come and meet Lizzy, though I daresay they cannot hope to like each other. Such a mousy little thing! The colonel, though, nowheis quite a worthy acquaintance! What a shame—me and Kitty called at Netherfield this morning—on Miss Darcy, you know,” she winked suggestively, “but the colonel had already departed again for London. I suppose he will be back for the wedding, but how dreary that he should have gone away already!”
“How very intriguing, Miss Lydia. Tell me, do you know how long Miss Darcy intends to remain?”
“Oh! La, I could not say. Me and Kitty left directly. There was nothing interesting to be had. That horrid Miss Bingley was not taking callers, and since the colonel was gone, we wanted to get away before she came back downstairs.”
Wickham recovered his voice smoothly. “Fitzwilliam gone away already? Hmm, I shouldn’t wonder,” he mused, allowing his thought to remain significantly incomplete.
Lydia Bennet may have been obtuse and flippant, but one thing she most definitely wasnotwas insensible to the expressions of handsome gentlemen. She tilted her curly head with a penetrating expression that Wickham found eerily similar to her more sensible sister. “Why should you not wonder, Mr Wickham? Do you mean to imply he is not well received? I think him perfectly amiable! I am quite sure he liked me too, you know he talked to me a great deal last night.”
“Oh! Forgive me, Miss Lydia, I had no intention to cast aspersions upon any favourite of yours. I quite imagine the good coloneldidlike you very much. His tastes are… well, I should not go on, I fear I may already have said too much.”
Though never fond of each other in any sense of the word, the two young ladies cast titillated glances toward one another. This had the ring of good gossip, of the very juiciest kind. If they were only persuasive enough, they might be counted among the privileged first to know. As one, they leaned forward with bated breath.
“You needn’t fear anythingImight say,” Lydia flicked her brown eyes toward the other girl.
“Nor I!” Mary declared with spirit. She glared back at Lydia in challenge. “Do tell us, Mr Wickham. You know you can trustuswith any secrets.”
“Of course, you are quite right,” he conceded with an air of reluctance. “I suppose it would be only right that I should tell you at leastsomeof his affairs so that you may be put on your guard.” The girls’ eyebrows rose in unison. A regretful tug softened his mouth, lending him such an air of benevolent authority that the young ladies in attendance hung devotedly on his every word.
“You know I grew up with Darcy, I expect, Miss Lydia? Has…” He paused hesitantly. “Has your sister shared with you any of my history with the Darcy family?”
Lydia’s brow furrowed; her eyes narrowed. It would not do to confess that she had not, in fact, heard any sumptuous rumours from her sister’s lips. “I… I think she said he did you some wrong?” she guessed, hoping by his tones that she had judged his meaning rightly.
“One might say that, yes. I have, however, quite forgiven him and bear him no malice. It is not of that matter I have to speak.”
“Such forbearance!” murmured the awestruck Mary King. “Only a true gentleman can forgive such…” she glanced to Lydia for her concurrence, “...such a grievous wrong! You are too good, Mr Wickham.”
“Oh, no,” he shook his head modestly. “I am no greater than many others in my same position.” The girls both sighed. Truly this was the finest among men!
Wickham went on. “It is, naturally, my youthful association with Darcy, which brought me often into the company of his cousin the colonel. He was a few years older than I, of course, and as such was frequently our “captain,” we called him. There were a few others who would join us, but old Richard—you will forgive me, ladies, if I slip in addressing the son of an earl by his boyhood name, as I knew him—Richard was always the roughest and toughest of the lot. I believe I might say we were all frightened of him. Not one of us could stand up to him when he commenced any endeavour, whether we wished to or not.
“I remember noticing his less than sterling character more than once, but until we were well past our boyhood—but not fully into manhood, you understand—I never thought him a dangerous fellow. Then I started hearing rumours of… oh, I must really stop there. It is not a thing which a gentleman ought to repeat before young ladies.”
The girls, both leaning forward with their lips slightly parted in the most profound interest, each gave a little gulp of dismay. “Well, I don’t care for all of that nonsense, Wickham!” Lydia asserted. “Youdidsay, did you not, that we ought to hear the full truth for our own protection, did you not? You are too much the gentleman to withhold such valuable information!”
He smiled a little, relenting. Clearly, his marvellous scruples warred within him, and the interests of the innocent young ladies before him won out. “Very well, Miss Lydia, I bow to your wisdom and discretion in the matter. Well, then, yes, there were many rumours of young ladies of the neighbouring towns and farms mysteriously sent away, for one poor excuse or another. I began to notice that most often, a rash of such incidents would occur near the end of our summers home from school.”
The girls’ eyes were rounded in wonder, their pretty puckered lips drawn into delicious little rosebuds. “Did they….” Lydia leaned close, cupped her hand about her mouth and whispered something to him, causing Miss King to cover her own mouth in abject horror.
“I am afraid so, Miss Lydia. One poor young girl even died of it, she and… well, this is a respectable house, and I shall say no more aloud. It was some years, however, before I learned to suspect Fitzwilliam. Then one day, I caught him in the home of my neighbour. They… well, they had a fair young daughter. More than one scullery maid later confessed his attentions as well. It was always the youngest and most innocent he would prey upon—those who would never suspect.”
Fifteen-year-old Lydia and seventeen-year-old Mary straightened, both squaring their shoulders with grave dignity. It was, Wickham reflected, a very beguiling enterprise, as a young lady with erect posture tended to show off her most pleasing attributes rather well.
“Well, I should just like to see him try me!” Lydia announced. “I am nobody’s fool, and I shall be certain to tell him so should he ever again come near me!”
“I have no doubts about you.” Wickham dipped his head respectfully. “You do, however, have sisters to protect, and I fear not all are as astute or as well-informed as yourself.” Lydia nodded in hasty agreement.
“It likely does not matter, however. My old friend has since moved on to larger quarry. He still appreciates a pretty face often enough, I daresay, but he is getting older and must set up an establishment someday or another. The ladies I fear for are those with a large purse to their name as well as innocence and beauty. It is they who are at the greatest risk from him these days.”
