“Oh, yes!His eyes are shifty.He cannot be trusted!”exclaimed Mrs.Phillips.
Charlotte wanted to correct them and say that one lazy eye did not make a man untrustworthy, but she refrained.“It was not Mr.Saunderson.He is not charming enough to be a seducer, do you not agree?”
They looked thoughtful, considering her statement.
“I suppose it could be Captain Carter.He is a handsome one,” said Mrs.Phillips.
“Oh yes!”cried Mrs.Long.“My nieces have said as much many a time.”
“Yes, is it Captain Carter?”
“No, for he is rarely at the gaming tables when we have parties.Or has he changed since I left?”clarified Charlotte.
Mrs.Goulding shook her head vigorously.“No, you are right.He has no head for cards.I remember him telling me he did not gamble as a rule.How could I have forgotten?”
“It must be Mr.Denny!”cried Mrs.Phillips triumphantly.“He is always at the gaming tables, and he can be charming when he wishes to be.”
“True,” said Charlotte thoughtfully.“I heard nothing about him specifically, but I agree he should be watched carefully.He keeps unsavory company.”
“Unsavory!”cried Lady Lucas.“Whatever can you mean, Charlotte?”
“Why, I speak of Mr.Wickham, of course.”
The room erupted.She was thankful she had had the foresight to eliminate a few of the officers before she told them his name as they were now trying to say it could be anyone but him, for he was so very charming and affable.
“Do not seducers and rakes find charm to be their greatest weapon?”she said sagely before hiding behind her teacup.
Mrs.Long looked stricken, and Mrs.Phillips was red and spluttering.
“Come now, we must know all,” demanded Mrs.Goulding.“What do you know?”
“I know that what Mr.Wickham told us about the living Mr.Darcy owed him was all a lie.He refused the living, never took orders, and was offered three thousand pounds in lieu of the preferment.He even signed papers to that effect.”
Lady Lucas gasped.“No!”
“Yes.He was also given a thousand-pound legacy from old Mr.Darcy.After he spent the four thousand pounds he was granted—a single man with no home or family to support—he returned to ask Mr.Darcy for the living.I think we could all agree that Mr.Darcy was well within his rights to refuse to give it to him.”
Mrs.Long was fanning herself vigorously now.“Oh dear!How very distressing!”She continued to mumble incoherently as the other ladies seconded her disbelief.
Mrs.Goulding looked at Charlotte with sharp eyes.“How have you come by this information, Mrs.Collins?We must know the facts before we condemn the man.”
“Of course.I’m sure you required the same of Mr.Wickham when he was slandering Mr.Darcy.”
Spinster Charlotte never would have said such a thing, but Charlotte Collins was certain of her position and had no patience for tomfoolery.
“I had it from more than one source.Colonel Fitzwilliam was the first.He is the nephew of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, son of the Earl of Blackburn, and a colonel in His Majesty’s army.He is also Mr.Darcy’s cousin and was an executor of his father’s will.He has known Mr.Wickham since childhood and is a kind, intelligent, trustworthy man.”
Mrs.Goulding did not like looking the fool, so she asked, “And how are you certain of that?We would have said much the same about Mr.Wickham yesterday.”
“Colonel Fitzwilliam offered to have papers brought from the solicitor’s office that prove the whole of it.Has Mr.Wickham offered any such proof?”
She sipped her tea calmly as the ladies looked back and forth at each other, doubt clouding their expressions.
“It was all seconded by Mr.Darcy, of course, who has direct knowledge of all of their dealings.He has become a friend.”She looked significantly at her mother.Surely that woman would see that being friends with Mr.Darcy was much more advantageous than being friends with Mr.Wickham.“And of course Lady Catherine could tell you a dozen stories of Mr.Wickham’s misdeeds.”Those stories were more about how he had broken the glass in her carriage window while playing by the stables as a boy, but she could tell them, so Charlotte had not told a falsehood.
“He did spread a personal story rather freely,” said Mrs.Long uncomfortably.
“Yes, and he conveniently waited for Mr.Darcy to leave before he did so,” added Mrs.Goulding, now convinced and ready to throw her considerable moral weight against Mr.Wickham.
