He looked surprised, but said: ‘Very well.’
As I left the house, the memory of his insolent smile
went with me.
Thursday 14th August
I met Wickham at my club and the negotiations began.
‘You must marry her,’ I said to him shortly.
‘If I do that, I give up for ever the chance of making
my fortune through marriage.’
‘You have ruined her,’ I said.‘Does that mean nothing
to you?’
He crossed one ankle over the other and lay back in
the chair. ‘She ruined herself,’ he said.
A waiter passed, and he ordered a whisky. I did not
react, knowing he did it only to annoy me.
‘How much do you owe?’ I asked, going straight to
the heart of the matter.
‘Several hundred pounds.’
‘Whether that is true or not, I do not know but I
shall. If you give your bills to my agent, he will pay them
for you. In return, you will marry Lydia.’
‘Come now, as you are so anxious to see her wed, she
is worth a lot more than that. Is it Miss Bennet who has
caught your fancy, or is it the lovely Elizabeth?’
‘I am doing this for my own conscience,’ I said.
He laughed in my face.
‘No man goes to such lengths to ease his own
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conscience. Let me guess. It is the beautiful Jane Bennet.
Sweet-natured, beautiful Jane. She would make a splendid addition to Pemberley. I congratulate you, Darcy.’
‘I have no intention of marrying Miss Bennet.’
‘Then it is Elizabeth.’
I said nothing, but he must have guessed it from my
face.
‘Ah! So it is! Her liveliness appeals to you. I would not
have thought it.You are so pompous, Darcy, but they say
that opposites attract.’
He had the upper hand, and he was enjoying using it.
‘Have a care,’ I warned him. ‘I will do much to save
Lydia Bennet from disgrace, but if you go too far, instead
of having your debts paid and something more besides,
you will find yourself pursued by every creditor in
Brighton, and maybe the army, for I will give them all
your address.’
‘I can go to Bath, or Lyme, or the Lake District,’ he
said. ‘I do not have to live here.’ But I could tell he had
no stomach for further flight.
‘Do so,’ I said, calling his bluff. I stood up and turned
towards the door.
‘Wait,’ he said.
I paused.
‘I will marry her – ’
‘Good,’ I said, sitting down again.
‘–for thirty thousand pounds.’
‘What?’ I cried.
‘It is the sum I should have had from Georgiana.’
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I mastered my temper with difficulty. ‘I will give you
nothing of the kind.’
‘Very well, then, twenty thousand.’
I stood up and left the club.
He will come to me soon enough. He has nowhere
else to go.
I do not relish seeing him, but the knowledge that it
will ease Elizabeth’s fears recompenses me for any time
or trouble I might take, and I hope that, before very long,
I will see her happy again.
Friday 15th August
Wickham called on me this afternoon, as I knew he
would. His situation is desperate, and he cannot afford to
throw away assistance. Only the thought of Elizabeth’s
happiness sustained me throughout the ordeal, which
was as unpleasant as our last encounter. If not for her, I
would have abandoned the matter.We settled at last on a
thousand pounds to pay his debts and a further thousand.
‘And a commission,’ he said.
‘I cannot believe you will be welcome in the army.’
‘You have some influence there. Come, Darcy, I must
have something to live on. How else am I to support a wife?’
At last I agreed, on condition he join a regiment in the
far north. I do not want to see him when Elizabeth and I
are married. If Elizabeth and I are married. I made the
mistake once before of thinking that she was wanting me
to propose to her, but I was wrong. I will not make the
same mistake again.
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Having settled everything with Wickham, I decided to
call on Mr Gardiner to let him know what had been
decided. I soon found his house, but when I asked to see
him I learnt from the servants that Mr Bennet was with
him. I hesitated. In the first flush of discovery, I feared Mr
Bennet might do something rash. On further enquiry I
found that Mr Bennet will be returning home tomorrow. I therefore judged it wiser to wait, thinking it would
be easier to talk to Mr Gardiner than Mr Bennet. Mr
Gardiner is of necessity less closely involved, and therefore he is likely to be more rational.
Saturday 16th August
I called on Mr Gardiner and this time found him alone.
He was surprised to see me, but welcomed me cordially.
‘Mr Darcy. I did not know you intended to visit town
so soon. How is your sister? Well, I hope?’
‘Very well.’
‘We were delighted to meet her in Derbyshire. She is
a beautiful girl.’
‘Thank you.You are very kind. It is not about my sister
I have come to talk to you, however, but about your niece.’
I saw him change colour.
‘Will you not sit down?’
‘Thank you. I called on her shortly after her sister’s
letter was delivered,’ I said,‘and learnt the unhappy truth.
I felt responsible for the situation, for I knew of Wickham’s character and yet I kept silent. He had done something similar before, but I had not mentioned it because
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I had wanted to protect the young lady’s reputation. If I
had made his perfidy known, then no woman would
have been able to love him, and Miss Lydia Bennet
would have been safe.’
His expression said that nothing would have kept a
girl as wild as Lydia safe.
Aloud he said: ‘It is really not your fault.’
‘Nevertheless, I took it upon myself to track him
down. I knew his acquaintances, and knew how to find
out where he might be. I have seen him, and persuaded
him that a marriage must take place.’
He looked more
