The men went around the table, placing their bets, and then Wickham checked his card and doubled the stakes. After watching Wickham, Darcy addressed the entire table in a blighting tone: “Mr Wickham always doubles his bet when he has an ace.”
Groans were heard as the men shook their heads and tossed their cards on the table. Wickham’s shoulders tensed, and he exhaled angrily as he slowly set down his cards. He looked up at Darcy, and all pretences of polished manners were dropped.
“You think so little of me as to interfere with my play! Is this the reason you have come to Bath?”
“I think you have turned out very wild, but that is not what brings me here. I again ask to speak with you privately, Mr Wickham.”
“I think not,MrDarcy. The distress of my circumstances, prior to my marriage, was entirely your doing. I shall not interrupt my game for your convenience.”
A few gentlemen nodded to one another, and others whispered to the man next to him. Watching the rising tempers proved far more entertaining than a high-stakes game. Pairs of eyes from the neighbouring tables had also turned their way. Perhaps having an audience for this interview could be to his benefit. If Wickham preferred to save face in front of the wealthy and influential, Darcy might shame Wickham into doing right by Lydia.
“I am here to see that you acknowledge the young woman you seduced and who is now carrying your child.”
Wickham’s confident demeanour slipped, but his gentlemanly attitude was soon put back in place. “Perhaps you have not heard, but I am a married man.” He gave an unaffected smile. “You ought to be careful what you say of me. My wife’s uncle is an earl.” Darcy lifted his eyes at this inanity from such an insecure man.
“You can still be held accountable—easily done now that you have control of your wife’s money. I know that you will spend her fortune to set up your mistresses and gamble to your heart’s content. However, I will see you use some of your ill-got fortune to provide for your child by Miss Lydia Bennet.”
“Lydia Bennet is a strumpet and a senseless flirt!” Wickham then lowered his voice so only Darcy could hear. “You had an opportunity to preserve her honour, but chose not to act.” He shrugged before raising his voice so the crowd could once again hear him. “What does it signify to me or the world whether a slut has a bastard?”
“Unless you are royalty, illegitimacy is frowned upon. Perhaps you have been removed from the realm of gentlemen for too long. You ought to have remained with the regiment in Brighton.”
“Soldiers play high, Darcy, and I have always been expensive,” Wickham answered with a disarming smile. “I was a dove—plucked of all my money. My fortune, due entirely to your cruel neglect, has never been large.”
“From what I understand of your new wife’s fortune, that is no longer a distress under which you must suffer. I am here to see that the Bennet family name is restored to some respectability by your public acceptance of the connexion between you and Miss Lydia Bennet’s child.”
“You mean to say that you are here in a cause of compassion and honour?” Wickham asked in a tone of mock surprise. “No, you are here for the sake of your family pride since you have become entrapped by that whore’s sister.”
However little Darcy might have liked such an address, he contented himself by coolly replying, “I will see you meet your obligation to your child.”
Emboldened by his newfound wealth and perhaps by the desire for dominance over him, Wickham rose and stood nearly eye to eye with Darcy. “I acknowledge no child, and you have no right to accuse me!” His voice was piercing, dripping with contempt. “I think you are here because that whore’s sister has taken you in and you must preserve your family name. Why else, but for your own sake, would you concern yourself with Lydia?”
Darcy felt the gazes of the nearby parties and knew he was losing the upper hand in this disgraceful conversation. It went against his character to hold a private conversation in view of the gawking public. Leaving now was not an option, and Darcy had no alternative but to see this confrontation concluded, preferably without giving in to his building rage. There was no way he could return to Elizabeth unless he had done all he could to see that part of her family’s reputation would be restored.
He answered with a calm he did not feel. “I am not here to discuss anything other than your open acknowledgement of Lydia Bennet’s child and your promise to provide for their upkeep.”
Wickham then clapped him on the shoulder, giving every appearance to their assembled audience that they were long-parted friends. Speaking quietly so that only Darcy could hear, Wickham leant closer with a cold glint in his eye and murmured, “I havedespisedyou for a very long time, and I finally know how to have my revenge over you.”
Wickham smiled broadly and stepped away and, in a louder voice, said, “I hear you are to be married! Lizzy Bennet is a prime article.”
“Refrain from speaking about Miss Elizabeth Bennet.”
“Come now! She is lovely. Any man who has seen her would agree—charming, pretty, though poor with bad connexions. I was surprised to learn of your engagement. I was certain you were destined for your cousin. You must have been willingly tempted by Miss Elizabeth’s…alluring femininity.” Wickham gave a knowing smile to the crowd, and Darcy bit back the bile that was rising in his throat.
When he finally spoke, he knew his accent had none of its usual sedateness. “I will not tell you again: do not speak of Miss Elizabeth Bennet. I am enduring this mortification only to see that you preserve what is left of Miss Lydia’s respectability and to ensure the protection of your child.”
“It is a shame that Lydia is a fallen woman!” Wickham smiled with unrestrained amusement. “The virtuous among us are so eager to apply the term ‘prostitute’ to an unmarried woman who has mislaid her virginity.”
Wickham’s merriment as he maligned the Bennet women deepened the wounds of his vicious insults. All of this brought anew to Darcy’s mind the rage he felt when this man had attempted to elope with his own sister.How much farther beyond all decency would this wretched man go?“It was ‘mislaid’ because you seduced her and left her with child,” he replied through gritted teeth.
“I acknowledge no child! If Lydia Bennet sprained her ankle, it is no fault of mine. You are here because you have become entangled yourself and do not want your proud family name sullied by a connexion to a household with such fast daughters. You need someone to take responsibility for ruining Lydia Bennet, and you have chosen me.” Wickham winked at Darcy, and then continued in a loud, clear voice, “Elizabeth Bennet is a lively young lady. She has much in common with her forward youngest sister. Is she foisting a bastard child on you as well? It would not surprise me if it were true.”
He felt his heart pounding faster. “I will not allow you to defame that lady’s good name!”
“I speak only the truth, Darcy. Lydia Bennet is a wicked whore, and so is her sister Elizabeth. If you allow Elizabeth’s child by another man to inherit Pemberley, it is no concern of mine. Now go back to Derbyshire, and leave me to my game.” Wickham returned to his chair, and Darcy felt the ungovernable outrage that had been building within his chest burst forth.
“Mr Wickham,” cried Darcy, “I expect your apology in person and in writing tomorrow morning, or you will answer for your words!” Darcy promptly turned on his heel and exited the room.
Darcy passed from the assembly rooms—with no memory of the journey—to discover himself outside near the sedan chair entrance: dazed, nauseous, and with trembling hands. The night air was still sweltering, but Darcy felt inexplicably cold.
