Page 152 of A Debt Inherited

“Protection?”

“Favour, education, expectation. More than many sons receive from their own fathers.”

Miss Bennet was quiet.

“He did not repay it with gratitude?”

“No.”

“That does not surprise me as it ought.”

Darcy looked towards the opposite wall, though there was nothing to see but cracked plaster and the bar of morning light beneath the shutter. “My father intended a living for him. Wickham declined it and took money instead.”

“And spent it.”

“Yes.”

“Then returned.”

“Yes.”

A faint breath touched the wall. “How constant he is in disappointment.”

Darcy’s mouth tightened before it could become a smile. “He dresses disappointment very well.”

“He dressed it for Meryton.”

“Then you saw him clearly.”

“Not at first.” She paused. “Nor did my elder sister.”

The admission came quietly. Darcy heard the anger beneath it, turned inward.

“Wickham is practised.”

“Then Meryton was not his first performance.”

“No.”

“Nor his worst?”

Darcy’s hands closed against the rope before he could prevent it. The hemp bit deeper.

“No,” he said.

The answer left no room for pretence.

Miss Bennet spoke more softly. “I have no wish to compel a confidence.”

“You do not. But you must understand the men who hold us.”

“Men?”

“Wickham first. Kerr because of him.”

Darcy kept his voice low. “Last summer, at Ramsgate, Wickham attempted to obtain my sister’s fortune by deceit.”

No sound answered him.