“Under the pretence that she was to be conveyed back to her parents.”
Wickham stepped back from him. “It was only a lark, Darcy. I’m a bit short of blunt, and the fifty pounds would set me up nicely for a month or more.”
“What fifty pounds?” Darcy spat.
“An anonymous letter arrived while I was still at Belle Vue Field. It offered me fifty pounds if I came to town to kiss Miss Lydia. In it was a five-pound note and instructions to take a room at the inn on Lombard Street to await further instructions. Today, I was sent a message that she would be present at that location, though she was late to arrive. I was about to return home when she finally appeared. It was only a peck, mind you. Nothing more than what you would offer any lady who had positioned herself under the mistletoe at Christmas. I was aghast when she reciprocated the insignificant gesture by nearly clawing my eyes out!”
“I do not believe you! If it was so, you had no need to haul her back to this filthy hovel.”
“I would not have, if not for the unhinged sister. First, she rejected my kind offer to convey her back to her parents. I thought nothing of it. Miss Bennet reminds me of Shakespeare’s sanctimonious pirate. The one who went to sea with the ten commandments but scraped one off the table.”
“Why? Because she is inured to your charms?”
Wickham laughed, shook his head, and continued his narration. “When we set off, she screamed like a banshee that I was kidnapping her sister. I thought it best to leave the area before one of the watchmen was stirred from his sleep and threw me into Newgate for absconding with a gentleman’s daughter.”
“Which you were!”
“No. I was not. I had yet to kiss Lydia, and she was laughing gaily at her sister’s expense. If you do not believe me, here is the note I received this morning.”
Wickham handed Darcy a tattered piece of paper, which he unfolded and read. It was not the words that surprised him but the writing. It was scribbled in the same hand as the rescinded invitation…
“Are you prepared to marry her?” Darcy asked whilst his mind was reeling.
“That wildcat?”
Darcy stepped closer in unmitigated rage. Wickham was backed against the wall with no means of escape, and his Adam’s apple bobbed in fear.
“Certainly, I would if you insist, but as I said, my finances are not what they ought to be to care for a wife. I have,” he cleared his throat, “run up somewhat of a debt.”
“How much?” Darcy growled.
“I’m not sure. Somewhere in the region of three thousand pounds.”
That Wickham owed such a sum surprised him not at all. It was enough to put him away at Newgate for the rest of his life—if he even managed to escape the noose.
“If you marry Lydia and move far away from me, I shall pay your debts. Her father might even be able to give her a small allowance from his estate. Do we have a deal?”
“Yes,” Wickham hastened to say and offered his hand to shake.
Darcy looked at the offending object with disgust. It irked him no end that he was forced to bargain with the miscreant. But he realised that he had no choice if Lydia were to escape with her respectability intact.
“You should remain here until further notice. If you flee, I shall hunt you down and maim you within an inch of your life.”
“Stand down, Darcy. I’m not a violent man.”
With a parting look of disdain, Darcy left the rogue and escorted Mr Bennet and Lydia to Gracechurch Street. It was out of the question to take the enraged girl to Darcy House. He had better summon Elizabeth to talk some sense into her.
But he had further proof of a nefarious scheme…
Chapter 19 All Mouth, No Trousers
Gracechurch Street, June 11th
“Please! I do not want to marry Mr Wickham,” Lydia pleaded in a thin voice, her meekness turning to outrage the next second. “You cannot make me!” she cried indignantly.
Elizabeth was stunned, horrified even. “You do not wish to marry Mr Wickham?” Her youngest sister’s change of heart was the last thing she had expected.
Lydia huffed and turned away with her lips pressed into a thin line.
