Page 1 of Wickham Likes 'Em Young
Prologue
1802
Lizzy and Jane had begged to go to Hyde Park during their visit to London, but with their aunt, Madeleine Gardiner, still recovering from having her third child and Uncle Edward’s business growing so quickly, it seemed that an outing with the entire family would not be possible.
But Aunt Maddie was a kindly woman, and her extremely capable housekeeper, Mrs Drake, knew the park well and could elicit her brother’s assistance in attending to the two girls. So it was that the girls’ aunt arranged for the four to be dropped off at the Stanhope Gate and picked up at the Cumberland Gate later.
Of course, the best-laid schemes….
Mrs Drake suddenly took very ill and violently cast up her accounts, right there in Hyde Park! Her younger brother, Bill, was so upset by what he assumed was the onset of a deadly disease (although, they later learnt, was actually a much happier and longed-for condition), he practically forgot about the two gentleman’s daughters in his care as he wiped his sister’s mouth and supported her. He led them all as quickly as his weakened sister could manage to a gate.
The fact that he had led the group to the wrong gate was only made apparent when they reached the street. Mrs Drake lookedaround, said, “Oh, Bill, this is the Grosvenor Gate!” and then heaved again. He looked frantically around for a slightly more private place for his sister to be sick, and he called to Jane and Lizzy over his shoulder, “Stay right there. Do not dare to move!” as he hurried his sister around a nearby hedge.
Lizzy and Jane therefore found themselves, for the first time in their young lives, standing on the walkway next to a street in London, to all appearances without supervision or chaperonage.
“Maybe we should just follow Mrs Drake and her brother,” Lizzy said. At age eleven, she was ever practical, and she knew it was not seemly for them to be alone.
“But Mrs Drake’s brother told us not to move from where we are,” Jane replied. Even though she was two years older than Lizzy, she was not one to question orders, even when they were given by someone who was barely of age and apparently quite capable of making mistakes.
Lizzy looked around. If she saw a respectable looking woman, or even a couple, she might have asked strangers to stand with them for a few minutes, until the servants were back. However, she only saw a few groups of men. One group was three very young men, who were walking towards the park from a building bearing a proud sign identifying it as the Coach and Horses. One of the three, who seemed to Lizzy to be walking with the unsteady gait of the inebriated, stopped and stared at them.
Lizzy turned her back to the young men and said, “Come on, Jane, we cannot just stay here and be ogled by men twice our age; we should try to find Mrs Drake. Her brother could not have taken her far, could he?”
Jane was just standing there, looking pleasant and placid as usual, but she murmured, “No, Lizzy, we cannot even see them; what if we should miss them? We had better do as we were told. They will surely be back immediately.”
Then, her eyes fixed on something or someone she spied over Lizzy’s shoulder, Jane blushed deeply.
Lizzy wheeled around to see that the young man was still staring at Jane, and now he was staggering determinedly towards them. She glared at him, legs in a wide stance, arms akimbo, and although she noticed that he was dressed beautifully, like a gentleman, and he himself was quite beautiful, as well, his public drunkenness and his forward behaviour seemed anything but gentlemanly.
Thank goodness, the two young men accompanying him hustled to catch up, grab his arms, and wheeled him around so that they all walked away from Jane and Lizzy. Lizzy heard the words, “Good God, Wickham, I know you like ‘em young, but that girl was a practically a baby!”
Another voice said, as if through gritted teeth, “Please cease speaking, cousin….”
Lizzy could no longer hear any of the young men. But she had a vivid memory of a split-second during the encounter: one of the young men who had grabbed his intoxicated friend was the handsomest man she had ever seen. His dark eyes, as they swept over her and her sister with unspoken apologies, seemed to be windows into the soul of a person who was every sort of good: honest, intelligent, caring, respectful.
“Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth!” Mrs Drake’s voice sounded as full of apologies as that young man’s eyes. She hurried over to them and said, “I am so sorry to have become ill during our outing, but if we walk this way, we will soon see your uncle’s carriage!”
Jane and Lizzy walked behind her. Lizzy was happy that Mrs Drake seemed much recovered. She was also happy that Bill was following behind in a protective way, rather than leading them (in what would almost certainly be the wrong direction).
Before long, the two girls found themselves back on Gracechurch Street, back in the lovely home of their relations, sipping tea and telling their aunt what they had seen at the park: children playing with paper boats on the Serpentine; two middle-aged men who had looked like identical twins riding horses so well matched in size and colouration, that the horses might also have been identical twins; and the most beautiful carriage they had ever seen—all white, and pulled by four white horses!
Aunt Maddie smiled at all of their stories. Mrs Drake, who had excused herself to wash up when they first arrived at the house, respectfully waited for a break in the conversation, and said, “Mrs Gardiner, I apologise profusely for interrupting, but I must confer with you about a rather upsetting incident and an important piece of information.”
Lizzy and Jane knew that the housekeeper would be informing their aunt that she had been quite ill, but they were not at all certain if she would tell her about the girls being alone for a few minutes. However, having a few minutes to chat, Jane eagerly asked, “Was not that young man we saw today the handsomest man you have ever seen?”
Lizzy smiled. Her sister seemed quite dreamy about handsome men, these days, but Lizzy knew that they were both little girls, not ready for romantic actions or romantic relationships, and so they probably should not give too much credence, even, to romantic emotions. Still, she had eyes, and she totally agreed with her sister’s words.
“He was way too old for the likes of you, Jane, let alone me, but yes, he was very, very handsome.”
“And those bright blue eyes!” Jane said, quite rapturously.
“Blue?” Lizzy said. “They were very dark brown eyes!”
Jane looked bemused. She laughed and said, “He had the brightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen, and beautiful blond curls, and such a beautiful face!”
“Oh, good heavens, Jane, you are not speaking of the man who was so much in his cups that he could not walk straight, are you?”
Jane queried, “In his cups?”
