Page 84 of May I Have the Pleasure
“Perhaps you should. Disguise is your abhorrence, so you will have to tell him.”
“You are right. He will be furious, but he shall not interfere with her life again.”
“Can we, at long last, utterly, and completely abandon the scheme to have him married to me. I will not be anybody’s second choice.”
“Agreed. I imagine I must face the lion now,”
“Courage mother. Remember who you are.”
“I am the mother of Anne de Bourgh!”
“Very well! Go talk Darcy off the cliff.”
Brighton, January 1814
2 Years after Netherfield
“Your husband is dead, Mrs Wickham.”
“DEAD?”
“Yes madam, dead”
“Probably for the best.”
“That is not the reply I expected!You do not seem overly surprised or alarmed.”
“Dead husbands happen to me all the time, Lord Mawbry. They no longer surprise me any more than having a previously-unheard-of earl appear at my home to introduce himself and tell me about it.”
“You have more than one dead husband?”
“Yes sir. This is not the first husband to die on my wedding day. I believe I may be gaining a fatal reputation, but it matters not, since I have no intention of marrying again.”
“Nevertheless, you have my condolences. I do not wish to be indelicate, but I must appraise you of the particulars of his demise, as they will affect you and decisions must be made.”
“Lord Mawbry, it seems that my new husband managed to abscond with my ten-thousand-pound fortune. I believed him an honourable man and also believed my fortune secure from any and all—but he charmed my banker as thoroughly as he charmed me. He seems to have disappeared before my wedding night yesterday.”
“THE SCOUNDREL! He is even worse than I thought, and I believed he was very-very bad.”
“Indeed! I have learnt some things of my husband I never knew before this morning, my lord. Gambling, lying, and ruining women seem to have been his favourite hidden pleasures—well hidden—by a handsome mien, excellent manners, affability, a seemingly deep knowledge of the world and society, and an uncanny skill at picking out ignorant lambs like me for the slaughter. Apparently, one vice wasstronger than the others though, as he forsook the pleasures of his new wife in favour of my fortune, or more likely he just thought he could get to me at his leisure.”
“With a bride like you, that would also make him at least three-quarters insane, and probably more… ah… my pardon, Mrs Wickham. That was abominably rude and indelicate.”
“I am not in the least offended, my lord. In fact, I take it as a compliment. I am not missish, so do not trouble yourself. You said you have more details! Let us get on with it, if you would, kind sir.”
“Your husband died from an apoplexy when he won a hand of cards. I was not in the game, but I observed it and took it upon myself to return his winnings to you.”
“I thank you. That is the most gentlemanly act I have ever heard of, and I am very much in your debt.”
“It was the least I could do.”
“I thank you anyway. Pray how much do I have left?”
“Just over fifty and a few other items.”
“Well, I suppose fifty pounds will keep me from starving for a while. Perhaps if I join a trade, I can dispense with the tedium of mourning yet another husband who did not survive his wedding day and was not worthy of my hand in the first place.”
“How many have there been if I may be so bold as to ask?”
