The Hellhole that is Marshalsea
Darcy,
The only reason I have already not sung about my activities in Ramsgate last year is because I know you had no hand in me ending up in debtor’s prison.
It was that ridiculous knight in Meryton who decided to check to see if there were debts owed by soldiers and officers before the regiment left Meryton. If it were not for that interferingbusybody, I would not have been kicked out of the militia and sitting in a gaol cell now.
“I always knew Miss Elizabeth was intelligent. She must have told Sir William to investigate all debts, not just Wickham’s,” Darcy said aloud. Things were better than they had ever been between him and Miss Elizabeth, but he had a long road to cover before there was a chance of more than friendship. Knowing that Wickham wanted something, otherwise he would not have written, Darcy’s eyes dropped back to the paper.
Unless you want me to tell the tale of Ramsgate everywhere I am able, you will come to Marshalsea and pay my debts, and you will give me an additional £5,000 for my trouble.
I expect to hear from you soon. You never know how long I will be able to hold my tongue.
You are not that brave, but if you get it in your head to have me done away with while I am in here, there is one who hates you as much as I do. That one has letters to be posted in the event of my death. I will hurt you from beyond the grave. We both know you have too much bloody honour to do that.
Hurry up and pay,
GW
The fool had signed his blackmail note. Darcy rang for Killion. “Have a footman go to Matlock House and tell Colonel Fitzwilliam he is needed for a most urgent matter.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“What can be so pressing that I barely had time to break my fast before you summoned me?” Fitzwilliam drawledinsouciantly as he entered the study.
Without a word, Darcy handed Richard Wickham’s note.
“This is his last move!” Fitzwilliam exclaimed. “It is time to end this murdering bastard. He thinks he is so clever. The only one who would help him and still believe his lies is Mrs Younge, and we know where to find her on Edward Street. As for Wicky, I have some men who will be perfect for what I have in mind.”
“As long as you do not end up with blood on your hands, go to it,” Darcy agreed.
When he entered the study, it had been the jovial cousin who had arrived; it was the hardened colonel who left. Fitzwilliam mounted Invictus and rode hard. He was certain he knew where to find the men he needed.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Fitzwilliam sent one of his officers to knock on the door of Mrs Younge’s boarding house as he pulled down his hat. As soon as the door was opened, the man pushed the maid back and covered her mouth, allowing the colonel and four other officers to enter.
Karen Younge was seated in her dingy office when the door was thrown open and there stood Colonel Fitzwilliam, a pistol in his hand, and four other men behind him.
“Where is the letter George Wickham gave you to post if anything happened to him?” Fitzwilliam demanded.
“I-I k-know n-n-not w-what y-you mean,” Mrs Younge stammered.
“In that case, we will arrest you, and you will be transported and spend fourteen years in servitude. Then, we will search your house and find what we want anyway. Have you not learnt that assisting Wickham never gets you what youthink it will? Your choice, Mrs Younge,” Fitzwilliam stated matter-of-factly.
Karen Younge made the correct decision; she reached into a drawer and handed over the letter.
“You had better pray you are not hiding another one. If you are, I will convince my cousin to have you charged with fraud, and you will be lashed before taking your very long voyage over the ocean,” Fitzwilliam threatened.
“I swear, it is the only one.” Mrs Younge reached into the drawer again. “Here is a list of newspapers he wanted me to send it to after I copied it. I ain’t made no copies yet.”
“If you have, you will pay a heavy price.” With the missive in his inside jacket pocket, Fitzwilliam led his men out of the dingy boarding house.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Wickham was losing patience. He had been certain the letter he had slipped to Karen to post to Darcy would have been delivered by now. However, his debts were still unpaid, and he was still living in the squalor that one who was supposed to be Robert Darcy’s godson should have never seen. The fact that he had been the one to make sure Mr Darcy met his maker was beside the point. At least, he had also managed to pass Karen the letter she was to copy and post to the papers if need be.
He realised that his plan to elope with Miss Darcy had one glaring hole in it. He should have killed Fitzwilliam Darcy first, then married Georgiana over the anvil. Instead of just her dowry, when his wife inherited Pemberley, it would have been his. He ignored the fact that there were two guardians, and the other one put the fear of God into him.
