He had been on the verge of courting her.
He had admitted as much to Georgiana.
Had Wickham engineered it?
The thought arrived cold and clear and settled in his chest like a stone.
Wickham knew about Lady Anne. He knew the effect a hard-of-hearing woman's example would have upon a man carrying Darcy's particular history. He knew Darcy would be drawn to a woman who navigated the world with such composure, such intelligence, and such confidence.
Had Wickham placed Elizabeth deliberately in his path?
Had he selected someone he knew Darcy would admire, someone with a hearing impairment, knowing precisely what it would mean to a man whose mother had been deaf and whose sister feared the same fate?
It was exactly the sort of calculation Wickham was capable of.
It was exactly the sort of thing Darcy ought to have anticipated and had not.
The argument seemed increasingly plausible the longer he considered it. Despite attending social functions throughout the neighbourhood, Darcy had never once encountered Wickham at any of them. What if Wickham had known he was in Hertfordshire with Georgiana and had orchestrated the entire thing? What if coincidence had merely favoured him, and Darcy had walked willingly into a trap laid long before he recognised it?
He reached Netherfield at a pace that brought two grooms hurrying from the stables. Handing over the reins without a word, he entered the house and took the stairs without slowing.
Once inside his bedchambers, he crossed directly to the writing desk.
Colonel Fitzwilliam was expected that day. If he had made good time, he might already be on the road. Until that morning, Darcy had intended for his cousin to make discreet enquiries of Colonel Forster regarding the George Wickham hehad mentioned. Fitzwilliam was better placed to do so without drawing attention to the matter.
That was no longer necessary.
George Wickham was no longer a name or a suspicion.
Darcy had seen him with his own eyes.
Wickham had spent years slipping through every attempt to bring him to account. Now he knew Darcy was in Hertfordshire. Worse, he knew Darcy had recognised him. If there was one thing Wickham excelled at, it was disappearing when circumstances became inconvenient.
Darcy was not prepared to allow it.
He reached for a sheet of paper and began a letter to Colonel Forster.
The colonel needed to know what sort of man he had accepted into his regiment. He needed to know that Colonel Fitzwilliam was due to arrive that day to address a matter of long-standing concerning Mr. Wickham. Most importantly, he needed to ensure that Wickham was not permitted to vanish before that meeting could take place.
Darcy wrote quickly.
Wickham had debts. Darcy owned every one of them.
For the better part of a year, he had held them in reserve, waiting for the proper moment to act. That moment appeared to have arrived.
As for Elizabeth—
Darcy set down the pen for a moment and stared at the wall, allowing himself a single breath of something that was not anger.
He would withdraw.
There was no other course.
He would withdraw from her entirely and ensure that Georgiana did the same. He would offer no explanation untilWickham had been dealt with and the truth could be laid before them plainly.
It would hurt Georgiana.
He knew that.
