when I had said I loved him.’
‘When did you say so?’ I demanded.
‘When I fell off the gate in the courtyard and he
picked me up.’
‘But you were seven years old!’
‘Of course, it was just a childish thing to say at the time,
but the more I saw of him here, the more I became convinced I was in love with him in earnest. Only I did not
like to think of deceiving you. I wanted everything to be
open. I told him he must ask you for my hand in the ordinary way, but he said you would not let us marry until I
was eighteen, and that it would be a waste of three precious
years of our life together. He said we should elope, and then
send you a letter from the Lake District afterwards.’
‘And did you agree to this?’ I asked, stricken.
Her voice dropped.
‘I thought it sounded like an adventure. But now that
I see you, and know how much it grieves you, it does not
seem to be like an adventure at all.’
‘It is not. It is trickery of the basest kind. He has made
love to you in order to gain your fortune, and in order to
hurt me! To persuade you to forget friends and family
and run away with him to your utter ruin is monstrous!’
‘No!’ she exclaimed. ‘It is not so. He loves me.’
I saw the fear in her eyes and I did not want to go on.
For her to learn that the rogue had never loved her must
hurt her. But I could not let her continue under such a
misapprehension.
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‘I do not want to tell you this, Georgiana,’ I said softly,
‘but I must. He does not love you. He has used you.’
At this she broke down. I was helpless in the face of
her tears. I did not know what to do, how to comfort
her, and in that moment I missed my mother more than
I have ever done. She would have known what to do. She
would have known what to say. She would have known
how to comfort her daughter, whose affections had been
played upon. I could only stand helplessly by and wait for
Georgiana’s grief to spend itself.
When her tears began to subside, I handed her my
handkerchief. She took it and blew her nose.
‘I must speak to Mrs Younge and make sure she knows
what has been going on behind her back,’ I said. ‘It has
been negligent of her not to notice.’
Something in Georgiana’s expression stopped me.
‘It was behind her back?’ I asked.
Georgiana looked down into her lap.
‘She helped me plan the elopement.’
I felt myself grow grim.
‘Did she indeed?’
Georgiana nodded miserably. I was cut to the heart by
the sight of it. For my sister’s happiness to be destroyed
by such a worthless man!
I put my hand on her shoulder.
‘Never fear, Georgie,’ I said, overcome with tenderness. ‘When you are older you will meet a man who
will love you for yourself. A good-natured, charming,
respectable man who is liked by your family. A man
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who will ask me for your hand in the proper manner.
There will be no need for an elopement.You will have
a grand wedding, with splendid wedding clothes and a
honeymoon wherever you wish.’
She tried to smile, and she put her hand on mine.
‘I have been a sore trial to you,’ she said.
‘Never,’ I told her gently.
I wanted to find something to distract her thoughts
from their unhappy path. I glanced around the room and
my eye came to rest on one of her sketches.
‘This is well done,’ I said. ‘I see you have caught the
fishing boats just coming in from the sea.’
‘Yes, I had to get up very early to catch them.The fishermen were surprised to see me sitting there,’ she said.
I was pleased to see that she put aside my handkerchief as she took the sketch, and to hear that her voice
was stronger.
‘Perhaps you would like to finish it. Can you do so
indoors, or would you need to go out again?’
‘No, I can do it here. I have done enough to show me
what is needed.’
‘Good.Then I will leave you for a few minutes whilst
I talk to Mrs Younge.’
‘You will not be angry with her?’ asked Georgiana.
‘I will be very angry with her. She will pack her bags
and leave this house within the hour.’
My conversation with Mrs Younge was not pleasant.
First of all she denied all knowledge of a friendship
between my sister and Wickham, saying she had never
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admitted him to the house and indeed that she did not
know such a man.
To hear her call my sister a liar made me more angry
than I have ever been and she shrank, admitting at last that
she had encouraged Georgiana’s friendship with him.
Upon further enquiry I found that Mrs Younge had known
Wickham previously, and had planned the first meeting
between him and Georgiana. She had then told him where
they would be every day, so that he could arrange several
further ‘chance’ encounters. After this she had encouraged
Georgiana to invite him to the house, and had taught her
to see him, first as a friend and then as a lover.
‘And why shouldn’t I?’ she asked when I berated
her. ‘After he’s been so badly dealt with by you. Why
shouldn’t he have what’s owing to him, and a little bit
of fun besides?’
I had been going to allow her an hour in which to
pack, but I changed my mind.
‘You will leave this house immediately,’ I said to her
coldly. ‘I will send your boxes on.’
She seemed about to refuse, when one glance at my
face told her it would be unwise. She muttered curses
under her breath, but put on her cloak and bonnet, then
gathering up her basket she left the house.
When my anger had cooled, I wrote to Wickham, Mrs
Younge having given me his address, telling him
