The earl left, closing the door behind him. The colonel was sitting in the same place, while Darcy was still standing unmoved in the middle of the room, trying to gulp down the lump in his throat.
Chapter 7
“This is madness,” Darcy eventually said, sitting down in his chair.
“I imagined as much. Let me pour some drinks and you can tell me what this is all about. And please be calm, I beg you. Nobody who knows you would believe such a fabrication.”
The colonel filled two glasses with brandy and offered one to Darcy.
“So?”
“There is no‘so’, Richard. I am stunned by how ridiculous the story is. And I am not worried about those who know me, I am concerned about the harm this might cause to Miss Bennet. This is a true madness… I just hope people in Meryton have enough common sense to dismiss such obvious falsehoods. Even more so as everybody knew that Miss Bennet despised me.”
The colonel was confused. “Who despised you?”
“The lady in question.”
“The one with whom you were seemingly involved?”
“Yes, Richard… she despised me and everybody knew that—except me.”
“I feel I am losing my mind too. You must explain to me what is happening—as you said, this sounds like total madness.”
“There is not much to explain, Richard. It is a family with five daughters, whose estate is close to Bingley’s. He was charmed by the eldest sister—Miss Jane Bennet. The second daughter is the lady we are talking about. Exceptionally smart, well-read, witty, easy in conversation, pleasant manners. Quite outspoken. I had a small incident involving her the first evening we met and she has apparently held a grudge against me ever since. I was not aware of it, so we had what I believed to be a normal relationship between new acquaintances.”
“I see. You never mentioned anything of the kind.”
“There was nothing to mention, Richard. I did not spend much time with the family—the mother and the youngest sisters are quite insupportable. Loud, shallow, ill-mannered…the father is a country gentleman, pleasant company, with a tendency to make sport of people. Too tolerant with his wife and daughters.”
“It seems you disapproved of them. And I would assume they did not like you too much either,” the colonel laughed.
“Precisely. I cannot deny that I was quite impressed with Miss Elizabeth Bennet. She spent several days at Netherfield, caring for her ill sister, and it was delightful to watch her arguing with Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hurst. Such a sharp mind.”
“Sounds amusing indeed.”
“The amusement passed very soon, though. The regiment that was camped in Meryton had a new addition. George Wickham.”
The colonel startled. “Wickham? What was he doing in Hertfordshire? And how did he join the regiment?”
“I never found out, nor even enquired. I just saw him one day; he was talking to the Bennet sisters. With Miss Elizabeth in particular. As you would expect, from that moment severalstories about my cruel behaviour that ruined the poor man’s life were spread around. You may imagine that I did not have much consideration for Wickham’s lies, especially since I planned to leave the county soon. But then…”
He stopped and gulped some brandy.
“Then?” the colonel asked impatiently.
“Bingley hosted a ball and issued a general invitation to all the officers. Wickham had the nerve to attend. He was impertinent as always and I noticed a close friendship between him and Miss Elizabeth Bennet. I danced one set with her, he danced two.”
The colonel responded with an arched brow. “You danced at a country ball? And you counted the sets?”
“Don’t be annoying, Richard. I am only telling you this because it matters. So while watching Wickham among several honourable families from the village, I realised he could easily deceive them. So I demanded he join me in the library, to talk privately before throwing him out. He eventually agreed so we entered the library.”
“This sounds like a mystery story,” the colonel declared. “Why do you keep pausing?”
“Because I am growing angrier as I speak. So, we entered the library and we argued. He accused me of not giving him the living, I mentioned the compensation. I threatened to expose him to his colonel and purchase his debts, he threatened me with revealing the incident involving Georgiana.”
“What?!”
“Indeed! I was close to hitting him in the face. He also accused me of being jealous of his friendship with Miss Elizabeth Bennet and claimed that she favoured him and despised me.Those were likely his only true words. I tried to end the argument and leave, but in doing so I pulled the doorknob violently and it broke, so we remained locked inside.”
