Page 42 of One Night with Mr. Darcy
“Wickham.” Colonel Fitzwilliam blinked, thinking. “Oh, right, yes, Georgie Wickham. Rector now, in Derbyshire, yes?”
“Yes, exactly. What do you think of him?”
“I don’t think of him.”
Mr. Darcy raised his eyebrows. “Please, Richard.”
“Oh, fine, Fitz, I…” The colonel considered. “I don’t know. I don’t dislike him, I suppose, but there’s… I couldn’t say I wished to spend a great deal of time with him either.”
“Why not?”
“What is this about?”
“Do you remember, we were in a tavern in Cambridge with him one night, and there was a young girl he said something about?”
“Oh, right! Yes, he likes them young, doesn’t he?”
“You got that impression?”
“What’s this about?” said the colonel again.
“What if you heard that Georgiana was visiting him every Thursday alone for bible study? What if you tried to put a stop to it, and she went to pieces about it every time you tried to separate them? What if everyone in your entire household seemed determined to take his side against you, always hinting that you were jealous of him—”
“What’s he done?” The colonel was very serious. “To her? Our Georgiana?”
“I don’t know,” said Darcy, shaking his head. “Nothing, she says.”
“You don’t believe it?”
“I should believe it. After all, if he’s hurting her, why does she leap to his defense? Why doeseveryoneleap to his defense? Why am I made to feel, constantly, as if I’ve gone mad for thinking there’s something threatening about him?”
The colonel nodded slowly. “This is why you wanted to know my impression of him, then.”
“Yes.”
“Well, to be frank, Fitz, I’m never liked him. I didn’t know if I could speak freely about him. I know you and he were boyhood friends, and I didn’t wish to offend. But now that I understand, I’ll say that I think he’s a weasel. He’s a liar and a coward.”
“Truly?”
“All right, I’ll tell you a tale. I don’t suppose I’ve brought it up before, but stop me if I have. We were in Cambridge at this point, and I came across him on the streets. He latched onto my party and wanted to come along with us. We went to a tavern and he ordered food and a number of drinks—some for himself, some for others—and then he simply disappeared before it was time to settle the bill.”
“Sounds like him.”
“I said I would seek him out and that I would get him to pay, because I knew where his lodgings were, because of my association with you. But when I got there, he put me off. Oh, he said, he would be getting some money sent to him within the next week or two. I should check with him then. I did. I think he expected me to forget. Some wealthy men’s sons would, you know. But I did not, and we went round and round on it for nearly six months. He finally gave me some money—a pittance of what he owed, but I was disgusted with him at this point. And I’ll tell you this. I saw a girl coming out of his chambers once, and I’m not talking about a full-grown girl, I’m talking about a… she might have been twelve or thirteen, you see?Tooyoung.”
“Yes?” said Mr. Darcy, his heart pounding in his chest.
“I didn’t say anything about it, not then, but when I saw her another time and I recognized her and mentioned Mr. Wickham. She said, ‘Oh, don’t tell my mother, if you don’t mind. I lied to Mr. Wickham and told him I was older than I am. He doesn’t know how young I am.’”
“She said that?” said Mr. Darcy, his mouth tasting sour.
“Aye, and it was strange, because I had not questioned her in any way about it, and yet, she was frightened.”
“He makes them lie for him,” said Mr. Darcy. “Georgiana may be lying for him.”
“How does he do that?” said the colonel. “You think he makes other threats?”
“I don’t know,” said Mr. Darcy. “I don’t know. But Georgiana will not talk to me. Can you talk to her?”
