“No, I do not. He is a liar above all else and he knows how to hurt people. At that moment he had nothing else to hurt you with other than smearing the name of one of your sisters. Usually that below the belt tactic is his best line of attack when he runs out of wicked ideas.”
“I should not have given in and satisfied my thirst for revenge, I should not have provoked him by striking him.”
He chuckled, “I disagree. It was something to behold and I loved the fact that you did it... twice.”
“I feel guilty in so many ways. I must ask you most humbly for your forgiveness, sir.”
“Miss Bennet, you must not be consumed by guilt madam, let us place the blame where it actually belongs: on mine and Wickham’s shoulders!”
“You are blameless in my eyes.”
He shook his head, “Hardly! Had I behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner when I first met you he might not have had such success in gaining your quick approval. You might have been sharper in detecting that his stories were meant only to malign me and blind you to his true character.”
“You are being very kind to me Mr Darcy, but please tell me sir; I understand from what we heard when he tried to assault Miss de Bourgh, that he also tried similar strategies with your sister? Was there any truth in the story he told me about the denied living left to him by your father?”
“Yes and no. It was denied since he failed to take holy orders, but only after he informed me himself that he had no desire to become a clergyman, but instead hoped to study the law.” Darcy looked ahead as if lost in that memory, “I wished it more than believed it. He was then compensated for the loss of the valuable living with three thousand pounds and one extra thousand left to him as a legacy from my father, for the attachment he felt towards Wickham was steady to the very end.
“Once he ran out of money a few years later, with his profligate living, he returned and demanded the living that had become vacant. I of course refused it, especially since his character was set as a rake, with several illegitimate children in and around Lambton.”
Elizabeth gasped and looked at Mr Darcy, “How awful,” she whispered, “He spun a tale of woe with bits of truth here and there but left the most relevant parts out.”
“When he realised he was never going to get another penny from me,” continued Darcy, “he devised a new plan for revenge and profit that included a new associate: one Mrs Young! Shewas hired as Georgiana’s companion. With his help she forged an impressive reference and presented it to me.”
At this he looked extremely chagrined.
“It was negligence from my side, when instead of investigating and confirming the accuracy of such a grand list, I simply saw... I mean...I was blinded by pride to believe that I could share such an employee with the likes of dukes and earls.”
“Did he hurt Miss Darcy?”
“No, but it was by the grace of God that I arrived in time at Ramsgate to ruin his plans to elope with her.” Darcy raked his fingers through his hair in obvious torment, “She was but fifteen years old.”
“I am so sorry.” Elizabeth whispered.
“Miss Bennet you have nothing to apologise for. Wickham is not what he is because of you; he is what he is because he chose that path. Nobody forced him; he chose it with his eyes open. Unfortunately his sins have caught up with him.”
They walked for a few minutes longer before returning to the house. The whole time Darcy wanted to ask her for a courtship, but he did not.
He feared she had forgiven him for all his wrong doings, but not actually gotten to like him, so the fear of rejection was great. He went from an arrogant conceited fool who believed she would accept him with the uttermost gratitude, to a timid man without the confidence to ask the lady he loved for a chance to get to know her better.
The next day as she was leaving with her sister and Mr Bingley he helped her into the carriage and held her hand a little longer than necessary and she looked at him with an inquisitive gaze.
“I hope to see you again one day Mr Darcy.” She said timidly
“Would you like to see me again Miss Bennet?” He said very quietly with an intense gaze of his own.
“Oh yes, sir, good, honest friends do not come by every day. When they do we need to hold on to them.”
Friends!
His heart went from silence to performing summersaults to bleeding. She saw in him nothing more than a faithful friend; somebody whom she appreciated for his honesty and nothing more.
He nodded and let her go.
She smiled encouragingly but realised he had turned his back to the carriage to walk away into the house again.
She sighed.
It had been a most interesting holiday. Her life had changed little, but her heart and character had gone through a major alteration.
