Alias Thomas Bennet (19 page)

“I would be honoured to assist you, Mrs. Collins.”

Chapter 12:
Mr. Wickham’s creditors become vocal, and he identifies his new adversary.

December 1811

George Wickham thought it ironic that a man to whom he had never spoken could wreak such havoc in his life. Wickham was vain and greedy, and his gregariousness usually allowed him to wheedle or charm his way into getting what he wanted. But in Meryton, his charm had recently become ineffective, and it was looking like the problem centred upon one, small-town squire named Thomas Bennet.

The gossip that caused him to have less luck with the ladies was probably spread by the Bennet daughters after he paid them a little attention at a small, local party. Wickham was disgusted that the man would allow his daughters to freely disparage him to their neighbours; he was used to easily seducing local girls with his good looks and pretty words in every town through which he passed.

Then, appallingly, he was refused credit in the shops of Meryton. He customarily obtained his purchases with a promise of reimbursement, and even when the tradesmen pressed him about outstanding debts, he found it relatively easy to manipulate them into allowing more time to pay. But now he found himself no longer able to get credit at any of the shops—and so soon after coming into the community. Angered with any interference into his profligacy, Wickham was eager to find the reason for it. He expected it was Darcy; however, inquiries to his remaining friends revealed Thomas Bennet as the source of rumours of his inability to pay for his extravagant lifestyle.

Wickham was feeling increasingly frustrated and finding no way out. Without credit, he was unable to live on his pay, and with his penchant for gambling, he was running short of funds. His debts of honour had mounted, and rather brutish officers were calling them in. He had no doubt that his difficulties in Meryton were caused by his nemesis named Bennet and vowed retribution. He spent his evenings getting drunk and, in his state of anger and inebriation, uttered oaths of retaliation against Bennet for all to hear.

In a short time, his one remaining ally was a maid he had easily charmed before those Bennet girls accused him of libertine ways. Initially, her high regard fed his vanity. Her lack of self-esteem and willingness to do anything he wanted allowed him to manipulate her into believing him innocent of all charges laid against him—that the stories she heard were just idle gossip and soon would be of no importance. He felt a sense of power over her; she was so smitten that she would willingly serve as an accomplice in his plans.

When he told her he was forced to leave the area quickly, she was heartbroken and begged him to take her with him. To appease her, he promised to collect her once he made his fortune. But truthfully, he was fed up with her whinging and glad to be done with her.

Wickham felt desperate and decided that running from Meryton was the only solution. It had worked in both Lambton and Cambridge because Darcy would always pay his debts to the local tradesmen—as he should, since Darcy cheated him out of the living promised by his godfather. By the time the colonel of his regiment was ready to confront him regarding his gaming debts amongst the officers, Mr. Wickham could smugly say he fooled them all. He had already left the vicinity, along with one of the horses belonging to the ——shire.

Wickham held a grudge as large as one can be. He was livid at Thomas Bennet because he thought it was Bennet’s fault that his fun in Meryton was ruined, just as he had been angry with Darcy for denying him the living in Derbyshire. He was unrelenting in his anger and resentment towards both gentlemen. He swore to get even and dwelt on his ill fortune incessantly. He thought about ways to create havoc in Bennet’s life—somehow attributing his own debts to Bennet, causing a fire at Longbourn, or hurting one of his daughters—but these actions were too risky. In the meantime, his impulsive flight from Meryton had caused more problems than it solved because now, instead of being in a tight spot of his own doing, he was forced into hiding as a deserter. He blamed Bennet.

Rumours abounded regarding his whereabouts. The local drunkard reported seeing him approach the woods near Lucas Lodge a few days after his disappearance, but there were no confirmed sightings. The gossips conjectured and supposed any number of situations, including his being in debtor’s prison and sailing to the Americas. Unknown to all, a very contemptuous Mr. Wickham had gone into hiding near Westerham in Kent in the stables of a relative’s home.

***

March 1812
Rosings Park, Kent

Elizabeth was surprised to meet Mr. Darcy as she walked the grove, and he politely asked to join her on her walk. She obliged him while indicating this was her preferred path, hoping he would take a different route in the future if he chose not to be in her company. She was not aware of his promise to Charlotte, or that his propensity to walk with her was because he had once again been drawn to her vivacity.

The first time they walked together, he seemed comfortable carrying on in silence, but Elizabeth felt it her duty to encourage him in making small talk regarding their families, the weather, and their enjoyment of Kent. As they met with increasing frequency, he became a more comfortable conversationalist. Elizabeth warmed to this new relaxed manner and an apparent regard that was not unwelcome.

They resumed their intellectual discussions, and Elizabeth inwardly acknowledged that she was enjoying them more than she had at Longbourn. She was reminded of his dry sense of humour and ability to withstand her teasing. She once thought him arrogant and proud but now saw him as self-assured and dignified.

As their conversation turned to other matters, she was surprised that Darcy expressed delight at Bingley’s courtship of Jane; she was so certain that he had played a part, along with Miss Bingley and her sister, in separating the two. She began to realize she had misjudged Mr. Darcy and, as such, could not help but see the folly in her prejudice. She was not insensible to the compliment of such a man’s attention and was rather flattered that he liked to spend this time with her.

***

Wickham believed that the last thing he deserved in life was this sorry state of living in his cousin’s stables, exiled from polite company. The nights were cold, the straw was itchy, the cattle smelled, he could not stomach the disgusting meals his cousin provided, and the man was always in a foul mood, causing Wickham great agitation. He hoped to find a way to regain his position in society, which, in his opinion, was nearly equal to Darcy. He savoured dreaming up unscrupulous ways to recover his good luck, whether it was a gambling windfall or an advantageous scheme, even if it did not have an immediate monetary payback. He aimed to exact revenge against Bennet and to obtain more funds from Darcy. Although his exile made it difficult, Wickham was quite confident in his ability to make the gains necessary to accomplish those goals.

His optimism came in the form of the young woman of little consequence he had seduced while in Hertfordshire. When he looked back on how the relationship started, he never expected the dalliance to be more than an outlet for his lust. He smugly thought his paramour’s wanton devotion guaranteed that she would go to almost any length to gain his approval.

As much as she annoyed him at times, he believed that she brought him good luck because she had been able to provide him with helpful intelligence. In a twist of fate, they met again in Kent, where she had accompanied Miss Elizabeth Bennet on a visit to Mr. and Mrs. Collins. He asked her to help him watch Elizabeth while he devised creative ways to gain his vengeance towards her father. He could not admit that he became aroused whenever he thought about compromising one of the Bennet girls.

He reluctantly agreed to meet the chit in the gardens near Hunsford behind a tall hedge where they could not be seen from the house but close enough to the thick undergrowth of the woods that he could easily come and go as needed. He was not pleased with this arrangement and told her so. He thought she viewed it as a romantic tryst but he was concerned about the surroundings and required her assurance that she was not followed before beginning the conversation.

“My plans for revenge are not going well,” he said. “It seems she always starts alone and then Darcy shows up. I do not think she likes it; they always seem to be arguing.”

“They speak very little to each other when I see them. He looks at her a lot, and I think it is in disapprobation.”

“Can you arrange for her to walk alone?”

“I do not know how,” she whispered. “I am not much of a walker.”

“You could find a way to distract Darcy.” He was exasperated with her; she seemed to be making excuses.

“I am not comfortable with that idea,” she said hesitantly. “Mr. Darcy makes me nervous, and I find I am not able to speak in his presence.”

“Then fake a swoon or some other such thing, woman!” he said with frustration. “Then I can take her out of sight, and by the way she will look when she returns, no one will think otherwise than that she is fully ruined. All her sisters will be shunned as soon as word gets out. That will show Bennet!”

“Is there not another way to get back at Mr. Bennet without damaging her reputation? She has always been kind to me.”

“Damaging Bennet himself would not be as painful to him as ruining one of his daughters.” And that made him revel in his cunning.

***

Oblivious to the conniving that was occurring elsewhere as they walked through the park, Elizabeth and Darcy enjoyed each other’s company as they once again engaged in a hearty match of wits. Blushing, Elizabeth took the arm Darcy offered to her.

“Mr. Darcy, we once spoke of Mr. Leslie’s experiments with heat theory. Have you studied and revised your opinion on that matter?”

“I must take care in expressing my opinion on this subject,” he said in a teasing manner, “because last time we differed, you quit the room suddenly. Perhaps we can discuss a safer subject, such as balls. I have observed that ladies are very energetic on that topic.”

“If you insist upon diverting the conversation, I have no choice but to believe that you must have concluded my observations were correct and you are preserving your pride by changing the subject. You may well be afraid of humbling yourself because of my perspicacity.”

“I have no need to save face,” he said with a becoming smile on his lips, “but I thought you might enjoy my choice of another theme as it gives you an opportunity to discuss something other than men’s topics.”

“You have conversed with me often enough on scientific topics that I know you get enjoyment from these discussions, especially when I play devil’s advocate. I also know most men detest speaking about balls and lace, so you must feel that your opinions are so ill-formed on Mr. Leslie’s theories that you would not be pleased to be bested by my knowledge.”

“Very well. I read the treatises your father lent me, and I found the information to be quite intriguing—that a dark vessel causes water to heat more rapidly than a lighter coloured one.”

“Why is it so?” Elizabeth asked.

“Perhaps because the light-coloured vessel has less caloric properties, while the darker one maintains the caloric flow to the water it contains.”

“As much as I like to disagree with you, that has been my own conjecture, though I would have worded it differently: that the darker-coloured vessel has caloric heat so the flow of caloric to the colder water takes place, and the lighter vessel has no caloric and thus the temperature of the water remains the same.”

“By most modern definitions, our discussions are not pragmatic,” Darcy countered. “The vessels are not fluid, so they cannot be the means for the flow of caloric, rather it must be the water.”

“Perhaps, but if the water is from the same source, how can it have more caloric in the darker vessel?”

“Miss Bennet, I suspect you are again professing opinions that are not your own.”

She protested, “But is that not the way of the scientific method; that we make a hypothesis and test it?”

“I believe that is what Mr. Leslie was trying to do with his cubes. Count Rumford said that liquids have no caloric so they cannot transfer heat. So there is a conundrum, whether the caloric is a component of the vessel or of the water in the vessel.”

“The cubes were to prove Mr. Leslie’s theories on radiation of metals, and are not the same as the experiment with two vessels filled with water. They showed that different surfaces—the polished metal, the copper, and the black—had different properties of radiant heat. What I would like to see is an article that explains why.”

Darcy was quiet for a moment as he was yet again mesmerized by the scientific knowledge that this country maiden had gleaned. It was through these discussions that he was truly able to admire her mind, and he became more and more in love with her each time they debated. The discussions on heat theory also reminded him of the heat he felt in his body every time she was near.

“Mr. Leslie also made ice from water using an air pump,” she said, breaking the silence. “He was quite prolific in his experiments on radiant heat.”

“Yes, and he is still writing about his theories on physical science and the laws of nature. In his latest paper, he worked to show how water and air affect meteorology. I admire his tenacity in experimenting and sharing with the scientific community.”