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“Yes. She was a foolish girl, and he took ruthless advantage of it. I am afraid I did not teach her very well, and her father taught her not at all. He would have ruined her and all the family if Mary had not saved her the night of your ball—with no help from either of her parents, I might add.”

We heard another scream from the cellar, so apparently, the two were still about their business, but it did not really matter.

“Were the things you said in the letter true? The things about Miss Elizabeth… I mean, Mrs Collins? Was that man down there really that vile?”

I wondered how wise it had been to tell him the truth, but could think of nothing else that would have convinced him to act. He had to know the stakes, and to tell the truth, I was not that concerned if he met difficulty. At the time, I was still angry about his abandonment of Jane, and my brother thought he would be equally satisfied with punishment on Wickham or Bingley, since he did not hold either in any particular esteem. However, in the end, Mr Bingley managed against all odds to redeem himself.

“I believe so. I took Mr Darcy’s letters a long time ago when we had to bribe some of your servants to keep quiet. I did not know all that happened until my husband sent the rest of my daughters away, but one of them still writes; and she does so with more candour than I deserve.”

“I am astounded… and quite impressed.”

I agreed the entire thing seemed farfetched.

“I must have seemed the silliest and most ignorant mother in the world. Am I correct? I will ask for your candour, sir.”

He just laughed a bit. “Not the most, certainly.”

I had to admire his sincerity, if not his sense.

“Can you tell me how you came to this… position? How did you even know all this?”

That was an excellent question. How had I come to this place at this time? I thought to begin with how it came about, and perhaps we would have time for why later… or perhaps not.

“I suspected something was very wrong last spring.”

I wondered just how much I could share with the man, and eventually decided he may as well know it all since he had certainly risked his health, and perhaps his life in my service.

“Did you know my husband and I forced Lizzy into the marriage?”

“I assumed so, since Miss Elizabeth could barely stand to be in the man’s presence.”

So, he either paid attention, or more likely, just noticed what was painfully obvious to everyone but me.

“I thought she would adapt. I thought she was strong enough and clever enough to work the man. I thought she had no idea the desperation she was facing if none of the girls married, as seemed likely after the ball. I thought she would work it out so she only spent a few minutes each day in his company, and soon enough she would have a babe to occupy her. At the time, I thought he would be no worse of a husband than any other she was likely to find in Meryton, and certainly no worse than I had myself.”

I looked at the man across from me intently and admitted my ultimate shame. “I was wrong. So very, very wrong, and she paid the price for it… is still paying.”

He seemed confused by that. “I must ask, was your intent tonight to hurry Mr Collins’ appointment with the Reaper, as seems likely?”

“Yes.”

“Why ask me to bring Wickham?”

That was a very good question. “Three reasons, really.”

I looked to make sure he was paying attention, as if he could do anything else.

“There was his attempt to ruin all my daughters, which demands retribution and some effort to protect the rest of the women of the world from the scoundrel.”

He nodded the good sense of that idea.

“Then, by some odd twist of fate, he is the next distant heir to Longbourn. If Collins should die, he would inherit; and my husband’s demise will be sooner than anybody thinks. Weeks or months at best.”

That shocked him, so I let him have a minute to think through all the particulars before he nodded.

“You must see that I had two miscreants, who were fit only for the gallows, but unlikely to go there. I did not think I had the courage to do what must be done until I saw Wickham being whipped. At that moment, I knew it must have been for one of the girls in Meryton, and felt perhaps part of that account should be laid at my feet. Charlotte Lucas left abruptly a month later, so it was not difficult to work it out. I had you bring him here to punish him for what he did, and to save my family’s estate, but I mostly brought him to deal with Mr Collins, since I do not truly have the courage to face the noose myself for either man.”

The man looked pale at the coldness of the calculation, but after a moment, he gave that little lopsided grin that Jane loved so much. “I imagine I should feel guilty about my part in this affair, but I find myself curiously disinclined towards it.”