Darcy in Want of a Wife

Chapter 9

Jane’s Bedchamber

Longbourn

Later that Day

Jane Bennet held the simple pendant in front of her, angling it to catch the rays of evening light that came through the windows of her bedchamber.

“I do not think I will bother to bring this,” she commented as she laid it to one side. Elizabeth glanced over at her, folding Jane’s gowns in order to pack them away in her trunks.

“I am certain that with an income of four thousand pounds a year, you will never want for jewelry,” she said merrily. Jane laughed as she set a bracelet beside the necklace.

“Oh Lizzy, you know I care little for such trinkets.”

“I can see why,” Elizabeth remarked, tucking one of Jane’s favorite books into the trunk alongside her gowns. “It is difficult to enhance what is already perfection.”

Jane arched a brow in her direction and rolled her eyes before returning to her task of sorting jewelry.

The two eldest Bennet daughters had spent their evening packing up many of Jane’s belongings so that they might be sent ahead to Netherfield Hall in preparation for her imminent marriage. Already, Jane’s bedchamber was beginning to look empty and bare.

Elizabeth was beyond joyful for her sister, for her good fortune in finding a handsome, rich, and gentlemanly husband. Even so, she could not deny that her delight was mixed with sorrow at losing the constant presence of her dearest companion. Elizabeth knew that Jane would be happy to move away from her childhood home. Between her youngest sisters’ noise and chaos, Mrs. Bennet’s fits of nerves, and Mr. Bennet’s cynical attitude, Longbourn was often a wearying place. Netherfield would be a welcome respite, especially as Jane truly loved Charles Bingley, and he loved her in return.

Elizabeth comforted herself with the reminder that Jane would not be far from Longbourn. Indeed, she was only a long walk away, and Jane had promised already to host her sisters for a night or few on occasion should they wish to spend time apart from their childhood home.

“Jane, Lizzy!” shrieked a familiar voice from the corridor, and a moment later, Jane’s door swung open and Lydia and Kitty tore into the room, still attired in hats and gloves and pelisses, with flushed cheeks and, in Kitty’s case, tears on her face.

“What is it?” Jane asked, reaching out her hands and absently pulling Kitty’s gloves off. “Whatever is wrong?”

“It is Wickham!” Lydia exclaimed, and Elizabeth, watching her, felt her heart beat faster.

“What about Wickham?” she demanded.

“He has been arrested!” Lydia shouted, “by Charles! Jane, Charles has had Wickham arrested for debt and locked up in Mr. Harding’s house.”

“Good!” Elizabeth returned promptly and passionately, which startled her youngest sister so much that the girl’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. Kitty, whose tears were now flowing freely, cried out, “Lizzy, how can you say such a thing?”

“I can say that because Wickham is a vile rogue,” Elizabeth replied, and Jane said, “Girls, let us all sit down and speak of this calmly. I know you are upset…”

“A rogue!” Lydia shrieked. “He is not! He is quite the most charming, handsome…”

“I thought you cared for him!” Kitty interrupted.

Jane had, by this time, shut the door to her room, in the hopes of preventing servants from overhearing the forthcoming conversation, while Elizabeth pushed her two sisters into the window seat and took her own place on Jane’s bed.

“Sisters,” she said, forcing herself to use a calm tone, “I used to admire Mr. Wickham very much. Indeed, I wondered if I was at least a little in love with him. But I have learned more about the lieutenant of late, all of it to his detriment. I fear where Mr. Wickham is concerned, his outer charm masks an immoral and resentful rogue.”

“Whatever are you talking about?” Lydia demanded angrily, though her brow was wrinkled. “He is the very best of men.”

“He is not, ” Jane declared. “As hard as it is for me to acknowledge it, Mr. Wickham is a dishonorable liar. That church living, for example, which he claims Mr. Darcy cheated him out of? He was paid a full three thousand pounds to give up all rights to that living!”

“Three thousand pounds?” Kitty demanded, her pale blue eyes wide.

“Yes, and he was given an additional thousand pounds from his godfather’s will,” Elizabeth declared.

“He spent all of it, on dissipation and gambling and wild living in the last four years and worse than that, he has left substantial debts wherever he goes,” Jane said.

“How can you be certain that this is not just a lie from Mr. Darcy?” Lydia said resentfully.

“I have seen the documents myself,” Jane said coolly. “My dear Lydia, Kitty, I agree that Mr. Wickham seems, on the outside, a wonderful gentleman, but he is not.”

“And you know how our dear Jane wishes to think the best of everyone!” Elizabeth said.

“I did, in the past,” her eldest sister said. “I have learned to be wiser of late, though; Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hurst, for example, proved to be deceptive toward me in claiming friendship even as they denigrated our family behind my back. Lydia, Kitty, as much as it pains me, as much as it pains you, it is best for everyone that Wickham be carried away where he cannot harm the people of our little town.”

“How would he harm them?” Lydia demanded in exasperation. “What do they think he will do, murder them?”

“No, steal from them,” Elizabeth said sternly, “by not paying off his debts.”

“I thought every young man had debts,” Kitty said truculently.

“Not every man does, and no man should,” Jane said. “Our family income of two thousand pounds a year makes a few pounds seem like nothing in particular, but for the merchants and shopkeepers, the loss of five pounds is significant. By all means mourn the departure of Mr. Wickham, but only because he was not the man he pretended to be.”

Elizabeth gazed in wonder at her elder sister. Jane, it seemed, had matured substantially in the last few weeks.

“I do not believe it!” Lydia screamed, and leaped to her feet. “How can you say such things about dear Mr. Wickham? You…”

The door was flung open at this moment and Mr. Bennet, his expression thunderous, strode into the room.

“What is the meaning of this screaming?” he demanded. “Am I to have no peace in this house?”

Kitty shrank at her father’s obvious anger, but Lydia turned and said shrilly, “Father, Charles has arranged to have Mr. Wickham locked up for debt! Tell Jane she must make Charles let Mr. Wickham go!”

This provoked bewilderment on Mr. Bennet’s face. “What are you speaking of?”

“Mr. Wickham…!” Lydia exclaimed.

“Not fair!” cried Kitty.

“The man is…,” Elizabeth declared.

“Stop! I cannot hear you all at once. Elizabeth, explain the situation.”

She did so, succinctly, without mentioning Sophia Cooper’s pregnancy, and at the end of it, Bennet huffed and said, “It sounds as if Lieutenant Wickham is getting what he deserves. Frivoling away thousands of pounds in a few years and leaving hundreds of pounds in debts behind? He is not just a villain, but a total fool!”

“Father!” Lydia shrieked, only to fall silent when her father stepped forward, his brow furrowed in exasperation. “Lydia, if you do not stop shouting, I will hold back your next quarter’s allowance! There is no reason for such a fuss about Wickham, and I will not have you disturb me in such a way! Now go to your bedchamber now and stay there until dinner. Do you understand?”

If there was one thing that worried Lydia Bennet, it was losing her allowance, so she reluctantly subsided, though her expression remained stormy. Elizabeth watched as the girl marched angrily out of the room, followed by her father.

“Do you truly believe Mr. Wickham to be a bad man?” Kitty asked meekly. The fourth Bennet daughter was far less stubborn than the fifth, which meant she was more able to listen to reason, but also meant that she often got into trouble by following her volatile youngest sister.

“I am afraid so,” Jane said sympathetically, pulling the girl into an embrace. “It is sad, I know, but he cannot be permitted to continue harming people in such a way. Now come, my dear, I am looking through my jewelry and do not think I will bring all of it to Netherfield with me, as some of it is not at all my style anymore. Would you care to see if any of them meet your liking?”

Kitty’s eyes lit up at these words, and within a minute, she was eagerly trying out those bracelets, necklaces, and rings which Jane had decided she would leave behind. Elizabeth, watching, was torn between a mixture of intense relief and mild exasperation. On the one hand, she was overjoyed that Wickham was safely locked up. On the other, she was irritated by Lydia’s championship of the handsome lieutenant. Not that she was surprised, of course; Lydia cared for nothing more than a pretty face, fine figure, and charming speeches.

Indeed, she herself had been badly deceived by the man, so how could she blame her flighty sister?

The worst of all, though, was her father’s response to the affair. It was all of a piece that Mr. Bennet cared for little more than peace and quiet at Longbourn, and it was only when Lydia began shouting and squealing that he made any attempt to discipline her.

Given Lydia’s flirtatious behavior, and her ignorance, and her exuberance, it seemed all too likely that the girl would bring scandal down on the family sooner rather than later. But only Mr. Bennet had the authority to tame her, and he thus far was unwilling to do so.