She had come to care for Elizabeth sincerely and would not understand the sudden distance.
Yet it had been a close thing.
Providence had intervened at the last possible moment, and he had no intention of ignoring the warning.
Darcy picked up the pen once more and continued writing.
˜ ˜ ˜
Colonel Fitzwilliam arrived at Netherfield that evening, mud-splattered and entirely himself, which was to say composed, direct, and asking questions before he had removed his coat.
Darcy told him everything he had witnessed that day. He described his meeting with Wickham, the note dispatched to Colonel Forster, and the reply assuring him that the matter would be acted upon at once.
Fitzwilliam listened without interruption, which was how Darcy knew he considered the matter serious.
They rode to Colonel Forster's quarters within the hour.
What they found there surprised Darcy considerably.
Wickham was already under arrest.
Forster received them with a satisfaction tempered by regret. Darcy's warning, it appeared, had been only too well founded.
Though he admitted he had never suspected anything wrong in Wickham's character, Darcy's letter had persuaded him to keep a careful watch upon the lieutenant. The caution was rewarded sooner than expected.
Wickham was apprehended at the coaching inn that evening, luggage already loaded and one foot upon the step of a northbound coach.
"It was not the conduct of a man intending to remain and answer questions," Forster observed dryly.
The debts Darcy documented were substantial. The apparent attempt to abscond only strengthened the case against Wickham.
"He was very nearly gone when my men intercepted him," Forster said. "Another few hours, and we might have had difficulty finding him."
Darcy felt an unpleasant mixture of satisfaction and irritation. It was exactly what he had expected of Wickham, and yet some part of him had hoped to be wrong.
"Would you like to see him?" Forster asked.
"No." Darcy said instantly.
Forster raised an eyebrow in evident surprise.
Darcy understood the reaction. Most men would have wanted a confrontation, an explanation, or at least the satisfaction of seeing their adversary brought low.
"There is nothing he could say that I have not heard before," he said. "He has been lying with remarkable consistency since he was sixteen. I see no reason to provide him a fresh audience."
A brief smile touched Fitzwilliam's mouth.
Forster inclined his head. "As you wish."
Forster asked that the practical arrangements for Wickham's trial be left in his and Fitzwilliam's hands. Darcy readily agreed. He had no wish to involve himself further in the matter.
Only one thing concerned him.
"Wickham must not escape."
"He will not," Forster assured. "You have my word on it."
They rode back to Netherfield in darkness. Darcy said little. Fitzwilliam, who possessed the valuable skill of recognizing when conversation was unwelcome, said even less.
