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“I am a friend of the Bennet family and do not wish them to suffer because of your actions.” Darcy kept his tone as casual as possible.
“Are you truly a friend to the whole family or are you only ‘friendly’ with Elizabeth?” Wickham asked slyly.
Darcy had hoped that word of his relationship with Elizabeth would not reach Wickham’s ear, but was not surprised that the other man had learned it somehow. “That is not your business.” Darcy tried not to allow his dismay to show on his face. “Returning to the topic of—”
Wickham interrupted. “I know you have your hooks in her. I suppose should not be surprised.” Wickham idly picked up a glass paperweight off the desk and gazed absently at it. “You’ve always wanted what’s mine….”
“She is not yours!” The explosive exclamation was out before Darcy could censor it. Damn, I am permitting Wickham goad me already! Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm his anger.
Wickham leaned forward in his chair, grinning. “She fancied me and you knew it. So you swooped in and took her. I should be very angry at you.”
“Elizabeth never cared about you!” Darcy snarled.
Wickham shrugged. “Believe that if you want. But the truth is she longed for my company. She was searching for me at the Netherfield ball – she asked my friends for my whereabouts. She wanted me. And, if I had any money she would be in my bed, not yours.”
“That is not true. Elizabeth is not mercenary!” Darcy kept his voice low, but he did rise out of his chair, calling on every shred of his self-control to avoid punching Wickham in his smug face.
“Elizabeth is it?” Wickham asked silkily, brushing a speck of dirt from his jacket sleeve. Inwardly Darcy cursed himself for the slip. “How much is she costing you? Or did you give her carte blanche?”
Darcy wanted to strangle Wickham for implying that Elizabeth was his mistress. He could not stop his voice from rising. “Out, Wickham! Leave before I have you thrown out.”
Wickham made no move to depart, continuing to speak as if he had not heard. “Not that I blame you. She is a toothsome morsel. I wouldn’t mind getting my hand on that….” He gestured obscenely with his hands.
Darcy saw red and his hands clenched into fists, but he maintained his self-control – just barely. “If I were you, I would be wary of angering the man whose good opinion stands between you and your fortune,” he growled.
Wickham met his eyes as Darcy leaned menacingly across the desk. His tone was more mocking. “I wager Elizabeth never told you that she kissed me.”
“You are lying,” Darcy said quickly.
“So she did not mention it! Not surprising. It was in the garden at Longbourn just before she departed for Kent. Quite a good kiss, for all that she said it was her first. Very passionate. It was her idea too. She wanted me to have something to remember her by while she was gone. But when she returned from Kent, you had twisted her opinion of me and she would speak to me, but I could still see the desire in her eyes. I am certain it is still there.”
Suddenly Darcy was standing on the other side of the desk. “She never wanted you!” He hit Wickham square on the jaw.
Wickham staggered a little, but did not fall. As he cradled his jaw in his hand, he smiled at Darcy’s anger. “It’s amazing how ten thousand a year increases a man’s attractiveness. But you’ll start to bore her quickly enough.”
Darcy laughed derisively. “And you believe she would prefer the man who ruined her sister?”
With a shrug and a grin Wickham waved away this concern. “Oh, she would be angry with me at first, but she wouldn’t stay that way for long.”
“You delude yourself,” Darcy ground out, but the other man merely laughed.
Darcy gritted his teeth, restraining his rage with difficulty and reminding himself that it would not serve his purposes to strike Wickham again. Stay in control! He told himself. Do not let Wickham get the better of you! Moderately more contained, Darcy stepped behind his desk and rang for a footman.
“You are leaving, Wickham. My offer stands at ten thousand. I expect to hear from you in two days’ time or I will seek out someone else who will be happy to take the money – and Lydia.” Darcy’s voice was harsh from the effort of controlling himself.
“Oh, I am sure you will pay more before we’re done. Far more.” Wickham still fingered his jaw, but had recovered his smirk.
Thomas appeared, looking at Darcy inquiringly. “Take out the rubbish,” Darcy said tersely, gesturing at Wickham before taking up his quill to resume his work.
Once the two men were gone, Darcy set it down again. Was it true that Elizabeth had once preferred Wickham? He knew she had been friendly with the erstwhile militia officer – that was how Wickham had managed to feed her so many lies—but had she truly been seeking Wickham at the Netherfield ball? Had she actually kissed him in the garden at Longbourn?
Clearly she had severed ties with Wickham after her visit to Kent, once she understood his real character. But was she still attracted to him? Many women were, he knew, drawn to men with a dash of wickedness – even men they knew they should not like. There certainly were plenty of men infatuated with women who they knew were not good for them.
Darcy shook his head, crossing to the window, wishing he could go for a ride to clear his head. This is Elizabeth, he reminded himself sternly. She loves me! If she only wanted my money, she would have accepted my proposal at Hunsford. But, had she rejected him in part because she harbored affection for Wickham? After all, at that point she had not known of the militia officer’s true wickedness.
He thought about their travels in France. No, such love was not possible to counterfeit. Even if she once entertained an attachment to Wickham, she married me. But, he visualized Elizabeth kissing Wickham. He could picture the garden, imagining what she was wearing and how the garden would appear at that time of year, seeing Elizabeth giving Wickham a pert smile – their lips meeting. He could not shake the image from his mind.
Darcy had insisted that Elizabeth use the carriage rather than walk to visit the Gardiners. Although that area of London was quite safe, Darcy worried that it would not be difficult for a lone miscreant to attempt to hurt her. Elizabeth had sighed and agreed although she thought the precaution quite unnecessary.
