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CHAPTER 17

A week later found Lydia and Wickham in what was by now their special place—tucked away just off a wooded path. The bliss of their early morning tryst having faded was evidenced by Lydia’s pouting lips. Her arms crossed over her bosom, she sang an all too familiar tune in Wickham’s ear.

“I am no fool. I know you like her, else you would not spend time walking about in the garden with her when she visits Longbourn. Why bother with her at all?”

Enough! Standing and securing his trousers, Wickham said, “The truth is, Lydia, I have been giving a bit of thought to the situation between Miss Darcy and me. I know precisely what it looks like. You must understand that I need to marry a woman of fortune in order to attain my desired style of living. I do not always intend to remain in the militia. That is the reason I have been spending time in her company. She is very rich, and she and I share a history.”

“La! You know how much I want to get married, and you promised me that once you were certain I would make a proper wife, you would marry me. I insist upon being satisfied.”

“And you shall be, if you will but hear me out. How should you like to be mistress of Netherfield Park?”

Although attempting to cover her bosom, she scampered to her knees. “Oh! Wickham, do you mean to say you plan to purchase Netherfield Park for me? I declare, I shall go distracted.”

“No, I do not have the means of buying such an estate. No—you shall set your cap on Charles Bingley, and I shall set mine on Miss Darcy, and we will both be rich. Then, as we shall all be family, we can always be in each other’s company, and only you and I will know and understand how much we love each other. Once you have satisfied your obligation to beget Bingley’s heir, you shall return to my bed. The best part is we shall have all the things we desire, and no one will be the wiser.”

Lowering himself to his knees, he bestowed a lingering kiss upon her swollen lips and then assisted her in righting her gown. “Because you and Miss Darcy are family, you and I shall have the best of both worlds, for we shall always have the means of being together,” he trailed his fingers along her cheek and brushed a light kiss upon her lips, “like this.”

He pulled her into his arms. “Surely you see the genius in my plan.”

She nodded.

“I knew you would, for you are such a clever girl. I mean to reward you for your understanding. Meet me tomorrow. After I have thanked you properly, I shall tell you what you must do to carry forth our scheme.”

“Oh! Wickham, I dare say you are far cleverer than I shall ever hope to be. While I do not know how I shall like being Mrs. Bingley, I do so like Netherfield Park and the delicious idea of being its mistress. And won’t we have a good laugh as we both are marrying someone else when we know in our hearts that we belong to each other?”

All Lydia’s efforts to persuade her sister Elizabeth to invite the Longbourn party to dine at Netherfield had been in vain. Elizabeth had insisted it was not her place to prevail upon Bingley’s hospitality in that way. How was Lydia to carry out her scheme in the face of such opposition? Bingley’s sister, Caroline, then joined the Netherfield party, and as Miss Bingley was by no means unwilling to preside at his table, Lydia prevailed upon him directly to host a dinner party just as she had persuaded him once before to give a ball with equal success.

After dinner, when the gentlemen had joined the ladies in the drawing room, the card-tables were placed. Mrs. Bennet, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and Mr. and Mrs. Collins sat down to quadrille; and as Miss Anne de Bourgh chose to play at cassino, Mary and Kitty had the honour of assisting Miss Caroline Bingley to make up her party. This left Elizabeth with the tiresome task of playing with her sister Lydia, all the while attempting to encourage in the latter some modicum of decorum. Bingley and Georgiana rounded out the game.

Darcy was the happy person whose unengaged standing allowed him to sit and read his book at leisure.

The mood at the first table was jovial, owing to the colonel’s amiable nature and Mrs. Bennet’s animated spirits. The mood at Elizabeth’s table was also lively, but not in a happy sort of manner. Lydia could be quite tiresome when she wanted to be, and that evening it seemed to be her fondest wish.

The attitude at Anne’s table, however, was rather subdued. Miss Bingley looked as though she would rather be anywhere on Earth but Hertfordshire. Mary, when she was not relating some anecdote on virtuousness, was intent upon winning the game. Kitty did not say much. Her attention was drawn by the goings-on at all the other tables. Not that Anne was one to find fault, for her cousin Richard’s scarcely concealed admiration of the beautiful Mrs. Jane Collins held her attention captive.

By now, Anne had abandoned her quest to garner Colonel Fitzwilliam’s favour. What was the point? He only looked at her through the eyes of a cousin, a trusted friend at best, but never through the eyes of a lover. With no one in Hertfordshire urging her along—namely her mother and her dear uncle, Lord Matlock—she simply taught herself to accept that she and Richard would never be more than friends. Thoughts of being of service to her friend persuaded her to approach him in the drawing room after dinner.

Anne cleared her throat. “If you are hoping for a chance to garner Jane’s affections, you had better get in line.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Well, look at her. She is happy with her husband and, perchance she is not, she has Charles Bingley waiting in the wings.”

“Charles Bingley?”

“Of course, do you claim not to see how much he adores her?”

“Anne, as much as I respect you, I would have to say that you know not of what you speak.”

“As regards Bingley’s sentiments, cousin, or yours?”

“Why, mine, of course. I dare not speak for another. That being said, what you are positing is not exactly the sort of thing a single woman ought to be discussing with a gentleman.”

“What you are saying is fair enough, cousin. Pardon me for speaking out of turn. I will, however, leave you with this.” Anne leaned closer. “What you have no doubt been contemplating since your arrival in Hertfordshire is not the manner of behaviour befitting a true gentleman.”

Certain that Charles Bingley was in hearing distance, Lydia set her scheme into motion. “Lizzy, I fear there may have been something in tonight’s meal that disagrees with me. I feel very ill.”

Elizabeth reached her hand out and placed it on her sister’s arm. “This is dreadful news. Shall I summon a carriage to return you to Longbourn? That way the rest of the party may continue to enjoy the evening.”