Page 40 of The Wager
“Pray, excuse me. I must find my friend Denny and make plans for tomorrow’s drill exercise.”
Elizabeth could not explain what prompted her actions, but she latched onto Mr. Wickham's left arm, forestalling his exit.
“May I assume your godfather’s son is none other than Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy?”
“Yes.”
Wickham attempted to slither from her grip but she held firm.
“Well then, how fortuitous that we are here with you now, in front of all these guests.”
“How so?” Wickham inquired, scuttling to position himself behind her while Darcy bored down on them with the speed of a violent summer storm.
“We must decry your terrible treatment and have Mr. Darcy fulfill his father’s dearest wish.” Elizabeth tightened her hold. “If nothing else, he must give you the pecuniary value of the living. It is only right and just.”
“That is not necessary, Miss Elizabeth. I have learned to forgive and forget.”
By this time, Darcy had reached them. He towered over Wickham, his fists clenching and unclenching. He was – she thought with a smallfrissonof awareness – quite magnificent.
“I invite you to join me outside, Wickham.”
“I am here with my compatriots, Darcy. I do not need to leave the party at this juncture.”
Mr. Wickham must be worse than I imagined, Elizabeth thought, making note neither gentleman made any attempt to greet the other.There is much history between these two.
“We are so glad you arrived when you did, Mr. Darcy.”
Elizabeth dared to engage the glowering bear.
“You are?” he asked, without once removing his gaze from Wickham.
“Most assuredly, for Mr. Wickham shared with us how he was unjustly kept from receiving a living your father had promised to him.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, he was very clear inmostof the details when telling ushisversion of events.”
Upon hearing the inflections in Elizabeth’s voice, Darcy finally turned his attention to her. She was able to wink with either eye and as one side of her face was concealed from Mr. Wickham, she used the left eye to do that very service. Mayhap it was her imagination, but she thought Mr. Darcy’s shoulders physically relaxed.
“Did you inform these fine ladies that in lieu of the living, you asked for and received three thousand pounds, in addition to the one thousand pounds settled on you by my father at the time of his death?”
Darcy’s voice had turned as hard as the granite peaks of Derbyshire.
“You arrived before I had a chance to share that part of history.”
“To be fair,” Elizabeth interjected. “Mr. Wickham did inform us he was originally intended for the church and having received an excellent Cambridge education; he likely used those funds toward pursuing holy orders, which unfortunately did not pan out along with his lackluster attempt at becoming a solicitor.”
“I truly must leave. I see my fellow officers are waving me over.”
Elizabeth released her hold and Wickham tugged down the front of his new red tunic before giving all of them a polite half-bow. He turned to leave but halted midstride when Mr. Darcy spoke again.
“I shall give your regards to my cousin when I write him tonight,” Darcy said, his tone almost conversational. “Richard is most anxious to make your reacquaintance. You should know he was exceedingly upset that we had missed you by a few days this past summer.”
Wickham’s face turned ashen, the last vestiges of color draining from his features. Elizabeth found it very interesting that the panicking gentleman bypassed all his fellow officers and fled the house without saying farewell to anyone.
Ittookmorethana half hour before Elizabeth and Darcy had a modicum of privacy for a more intimate conversation. They stood in a loose conversation circle, which now included the viscount and Charlotte while the others played cards and games of chance. She was burning with curiosity about Mr. Wickham but dared not bring him back into their discussion, having seen how angry Mr. Darcy was toward him –andjustlyso, she thought with vigor. Even though she and Jane had taken measure of the man, it rankled that he had tried to lie so blatantly to them upon first acquaintance.
“I am very sorry you were importuned by Wickham,” Darcy said.
