“But that is not sound, Mr. Darcy,” protested Elizabeth. “We were not in each other’s company for four months complete after the ball.”
“Wickham would have attributed that to my overweening sense of pride,” said the gentleman, a faint whiff of discomfiture coming over him. “And he would have been correct, as you must understand.”
“It is still not enough,” said Elizabeth. “That is an enormous leap in logic for anyone to overcome, even one who sees what he wishes.”
Mr. Darcy considered her. “When you returned from Kent, did you have any interaction with him?”
Taken aback, Elizabeth considered the one visit thereafter. “Once in company,” said Elizabeth. “He asked questions of you and my time in Kent.”
“And what was the result?”
Not responding for the moment, Elizabeth considered Mr. Wickham’s behavior. “He was rather... knowing about it all, really, though I cannot recall giving him any reason for it.”
“I cannot say I understand how Wickham thinks, Miss Elizabeth,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam. “For the present, however, I cannot say that our guesses are incorrect, and shall not allow my guard to falter until I confirm there is no danger to you or your sisters. Until he is apprehended, for we have all agreed it is time that Wickham paid for his crimes.”
The colonel’s words pricked Elizabeth’s interest, leading her to deeper thought on the subject. While she could also not understand Mr. Wickham suspecting anything between her and Mr. Darcy on such scant evidence, she did not discount the possibility they were right. Why would he return here, a place where, she had heard it rumored, he had left substantial debts, for the possibility of vengeance when he did not have all the facts? Surely he must know that Elizabeth would not play along with his schemes, and would allow him no liberties with her person. Whatever else he was, Elizabeth could not believe he was a violent man, for he had never displayed such tendencies before. There was something else at work here, something he might contemplate without the risk of capture, something that would be just as devastating to Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.
Elizabeth’s eyes whipped up to meet her suitor’s as a notion occurred to her. In her breast, her heart beat wildly as the implications of her suspicion made themselves known to her, spoke of dire consequences that they had evaded with only the barest of chance. Had a slippery step and a defective boot not interfered, it might already have been too late for her family’s reputation.
“You have thought of something, Lizzy?” asked her father.
“I am not Mr. Wickham’s objective,” blurted Elizabeth, desperate to inform them of what she now suspected. “Not when Mr. Wickham might have had an easier path to his vengeance.”
Mr. Bennet frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Lydia, Papa. Lydia was to go to Brighton. Had she gone, Mr. Wickham would have had all the time in the world to work on her and persuade her to throw all caution to the wind. You know she would have had no distrust for his motives.”
At once, by the paleness in his features, Mr. Bennet understood the import of Elizabeth’s assertion.
“Your youngest sister?” asked Mr. Darcy, confusion evident in his intent look at her. “Is there something of which we are not aware?”
“Lydia was to go to Brighton this summer, Mr. Darcy, at the invitation of Mrs. Forster,” said Elizabeth. “She was prepared, her trunks packed and on the carriage, to the point of farewelling us all. At the last moment, she suffered mishap and injury when she tried to enter the carriage, rendering her unable to keep her engagement.”
“Yet even then she would have gone had we relented,” said Mr. Bennet, his voice shaky.
“Then there is her odd behavior of late, statements that seem strange, her surety that she is to be married before the rest of her sisters, her promise to lord her new situation over us. Could she have had contact with Mr. Wickham?”
“I know not,” said Mr. Bennet, his features fixed in an angry mask. “But I mean to discover it.”
“Perhaps that is not the best way to go about this,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam when Mr. Bennet rose to summon a servant, presumably to instruct his youngest and silliest daughter to join them in the study.
“How do you mean?” asked Mr. Bennet, his movement arrested for the moment.
“Only that we may have a better chance of ending this matter once and for all if we do not interrogate Miss Lydia.”
“Are you suggesting we use my daughter asbait, sir?”
Never having seen him like this, Elizabeth regarded her father, wondering at his curt tone. One might suggest that his current displeasure was pure silliness, given how he had been willing to dispatch his daughter to Brighton to preserve his peace not long before. Elizabeth knew she was doing her father a disservice, for while his conclusions had been erroneous, he had not known the full extent of the danger, from Mr. Wickham in particular. Now that he understood it, he would not countenance placing her in a situation that might pose a hazard. Any father, no matter how divorced from his family’s affairs, would feel the same.
“Not as such, sir,” replied Colonel Fitzwilliam. “Please hear me out before you brand me as uncaring regarding your daughter’s wellbeing.”
After a long searching look, Mr. Bennet offered the colonel a curt nod.
“If you forbid Miss Lydia from going out, you may protect her from Wickham’s depravities, but you will harden his resolve—Wickham is not one to allow his designs to be frustrated easily. Wickham might remain a threat for many months if he evades capture and may cause you no end of trouble.”
“If, on the other hand, we allow matters to play out, ready to step in at any moment, we can capture Wickham as he attempts to accomplish his design and end the threat. I suppose if you look at it from a certain perspective you might think of her as bait. I prefer to consider the benefit of ending Wickham’s ambitions once and for all.”
Mr. Bennet was silent for several long moments, considering the import of the colonel’s words. “Do you suppose we can keep her from harm?” Mr. Bennet’s mien softened, and he looked to Elizabeth. “Your sister is one of the silliest girls in all England, but I would not have her ruined by a reprobate intent upon vengeance.”
