On a sudden thought, he turned to look at Georgiana. He had half expected her to be looking studiously at the stage, uncomfortable with the moment of dissent, and pretending she had not seen it.
To his surprise, he found it was not so. Georgiana was looking at him steadily, curiously, with a knowing expression that surely belonged to an intelligent young woman rather than an ignorant girl.
Then she smiled a little, as though she had learned something and was pleased by it. Darcy looked away, hiding the embarrassed flush of his cheeks in the dark of the theatre.
Chapter 11
Elizabeth greeted the arrival of 1812 with rather dampened enthusiasm. Though there was always something exciting in the changing of one year for the next, the first days of January were not encouraging. The new year saw Charlotte Lucas become Charlotte Collins and leave her family home for Kent. It saw likewise a succession of wet and dirty days, a fitting accompaniment to a discouraging spectacle.
It was on one such day, not long after the wedding, that the three eldest Bennet sisters closeted themselves in Elizabeth’s bedroom for a council of war. None had forgotten the danger that Mr Wickham presented, and all had accomplished their various roles as quickly as opportunity would allow.
Elizabeth had taken a seat on her bed; Jane sat next to her with worried eyes, while Mary sat very upright on the low chair by the window.
“Well, then,” Elizabeth said at last, breakingan uneasy silence. “I believe we ought to begin, though it is difficult to know how. We may not have long to speak in confidence, for the rest of the family will begin to wonder where we are.”
Jane nodded. “Yes, we had better use our opportunity while we may. Lydia will not thank us if she discovers that we have held a council without her.”
“She would thank us still less if she knew the subject of it,” Elizabeth replied. “Come, Jane. I am afire with curiosity. What did Hill learn?”
Jane hesitated, as she always did when obliged to repeat anything unfavourable of another person, and there was such obvious reluctance in her face that Elizabeth immediately felt both sorry for having asked and more anxious than ever to hear the answer.
“She was very cautious,” Jane said at last. “Indeed, she would hardly speak plainly at all. At first, I believed she knew nothing of consequence, for she only said that young men in the militia were not always prudent and that tradesmen in Meryton must be patient when so many officers passed through the town.”
Mary’s brows drew together. “All the same, that sounds as though it means debt.”
“I fear it does.” Jane sighed softly. “There is worse to come. She did not name Mr Wickham atfirst, but when I said that I hoped no gentleman we knew had behaved in a manner to bring inconvenience on respectable people, she became very grave. She said there was one officer who was quick to make friends, but slow to satisfy his obligations. And when I inquired whether she was referring to Mr Wickham, Hill confirmed it at once.”
Mary made a small sound of disapproval.
Though she had expected something of the sort, Elizabeth felt her indignation sharpen. “And still he smiles, bows, and is welcomed everywhere.”
Jane nodded. “Hill says there are at least two shopkeepers who have begun to complain of him privately, but do not wish to offend an officer who is so much liked. They hope he will settle matters when his money improves, but she gave me the impression that they are not easy in their minds.”
Elizabeth was silent for a moment. Wickham in debt was hardly a surprise, yet the confirmation of it brought with it a fresh sense of danger. A man careless with his creditors might be careless with everything else.
“Was there more?” she asked.
Jane’s colour altered slightly. “Yes. Though I wish there were not.”
Mary looked at her with immediate interest, but Elizabeth saw that Jane’s hesitation arose lessfrom uncertainty than from distress.
“Hill would not speak directly,” Jane continued. “She only said that a handsome gentleman who knows how to please himself with attention is not always so scrupulous with those beneath him as with those above him. There was mention, or rather the strongest hint, that Mr Wickham has behaved with too much freedom toward one or two tradesmen’s daughters.”
Mary’s eyes widened. “How shocking.”
Jane looked deeply uncomfortable even in repeating it. “I do not know the particulars. I could not ask them. Hill seemed unwilling to say more, and indeed I was thankful she did not. But she meant me to understand that he has sometimes been — too amiable. Such that his actions were not those of a true gentleman.”
Elizabeth felt her hands grow cold inside her gloves. It was not surprise that chiefly moved her, but the miserable satisfaction of seeing her worst suspicions confirmed. If Wickham had once attempted to injure a young woman of fortune, there was no reason to suppose that principle would restrain him from trifling with those who possessed none.
“I am afraid that whatever Hill withheld was likely worse than what she implied,” Elizabeth said grimly.
Jane looked pained. “I hope not.”
“So do I,” Elizabeth agreed. “But hope has done enough for Mr Wickham already.”
Mary’s expression had settled into solemn disapprobation, and she said earnestly, if rather pedantically, “A man who neglects his debts and takes liberties where he ought to show protection displays a very dangerous deficiency of character.”
Elizabeth smiled faintly. “You may say so with safety. Indeed, I begin to think deficiency is too mild a word.”
