have another serious matter to discuss. We have a new acquaintance in the neighbourhood who causes me concern. I worry because it is not likely this person will take his leave any time soon since he is in Colonel Forster’s group of militia officers. Do you know Mr. George Wickham?” Bennet turned to point the man out. “He is right now standing up with Miss Maria Lucas. I have not yet met him but have learned much of him. He claims to be known to you.”
Darcy’s defences immediately came to full alert. He roused himself from the amusing thoughts of a moment before, straightened to his full height, and clenched his fists at his sides. “I do know him, sir, and he is a scoundrel. He was the son of my father’s steward, a very good man, and I have known him most of my life. We played together as children, and I was aware of Wickham’s nature, but his pleasant manner allowed him to gain my late father’s good opinion. My father funded Mr. Wickham’s education through school and at Cambridge. Away from my father’s eyes, he used his charms to gain friends who shared his wicked ways. He quickly developed habits of gambling, deceit, and debauchery, which caused me to abandon any presumed friendship from our youth.” Darcy was unable to hide his disgust towards Wickham.
“He tells a tall tale of misuse at your hands, and as much as my family has tried to question the verity of his claims, much of Meryton is charmed by him. Tell me, is there any part of truth in his allegation that you denied him the living your father had promised?”
“I had every intention of honouring my dear father’s wishes,” said Darcy, “without regard to my own reservations. Mr. Wickham received a legacy of £1,000 on my father’s death and was to gain a most valuable living when one became vacant. However, Mr. Wickham expressed his disinclination for the clergy, saying that he would not be agreeable to a life of making sermons. He requested and accepted an additional sum of £3,000 for the study of law in lieu of the living promised by my good father.
“Not three years later, the living at Kympton became available, and Wickham returned to claim it, citing my father’s preferment and intention that his godson be well situated. Of course, I was incredulous and denied his claim, not only because Wickham had already been adequately recompensed, but also because I had strong reservations about his suitability for the church due to my observations of his dissolute behaviour. Since then, he has continued to speak ill of me and my family.”
“Well, that is very interesting. No doubt it was gaming that took most of that £4,000 in so short a time,” Bennet said crossly. He observed the subject of their discussion leaving the ballroom.
“Yes, and he has been known to leave debts of honour.”
“I will now tell you how I happened to know of Mr. Wickham. My daughters reported being introduced to him in Meryton by Lt. Denny, an officer of the ——shire Militia. They resumed the acquaintance again at the home of their Aunt Philips in Meryton, where they were enjoying a social evening with the officers and other young people of the neighbourhood. My daughters thought he had a more than agreeable countenance; his manners were attentive and his words flattering, but the two who spoke with him the longest felt an unsettling air about him. From the very start of the acquaintance, both Lizzy and Lydia suspected Mr. Wickham of a tendency towards ungentlemanlike behaviour. I do not believe other girls would be so astute as to identify his sly attempts to impose himself upon them nor confident enough to call attention to impropriety before it reached a scandalous nature; therefore, I am quite proud of the sensibility of my daughters.
“Lydia, my youngest, is sometimes naïve and impetuous, and at first she was charmed by his manners. However, the more he spoke, the less inclined she was to like him because she realised that the familiar manner
Darcy’s defences immediately came to full alert. He roused himself from the amusing thoughts of a moment before, straightened to his full height, and clenched his fists at his sides. “I do know him, sir, and he is a scoundrel. He was the son of my father’s steward, a very good man, and I have known him most of my life. We played together as children, and I was aware of Wickham’s nature, but his pleasant manner allowed him to gain my late father’s good opinion. My father funded Mr. Wickham’s education through school and at Cambridge. Away from my father’s eyes, he used his charms to gain friends who shared his wicked ways. He quickly developed habits of gambling, deceit, and debauchery, which caused me to abandon any presumed friendship from our youth.” Darcy was unable to hide his disgust towards Wickham.
“He tells a tall tale of misuse at your hands, and as much as my family has tried to question the verity of his claims, much of Meryton is charmed by him. Tell me, is there any part of truth in his allegation that you denied him the living your father had promised?”
“I had every intention of honouring my dear father’s wishes,” said Darcy, “without regard to my own reservations. Mr. Wickham received a legacy of £1,000 on my father’s death and was to gain a most valuable living when one became vacant. However, Mr. Wickham expressed his disinclination for the clergy, saying that he would not be agreeable to a life of making sermons. He requested and accepted an additional sum of £3,000 for the study of law in lieu of the living promised by my good father.
“Not three years later, the living at Kympton became available, and Wickham returned to claim it, citing my father’s preferment and intention that his godson be well situated. Of course, I was incredulous and denied his claim, not only because Wickham had already been adequately recompensed, but also because I had strong reservations about his suitability for the church due to my observations of his dissolute behaviour. Since then, he has continued to speak ill of me and my family.”
“Well, that is very interesting. No doubt it was gaming that took most of that £4,000 in so short a time,” Bennet said crossly. He observed the subject of their discussion leaving the ballroom.
“Yes, and he has been known to leave debts of honour.”
“I will now tell you how I happened to know of Mr. Wickham. My daughters reported being introduced to him in Meryton by Lt. Denny, an officer of the ——shire Militia. They resumed the acquaintance again at the home of their Aunt Philips in Meryton, where they were enjoying a social evening with the officers and other young people of the neighbourhood. My daughters thought he had a more than agreeable countenance; his manners were attentive and his words flattering, but the two who spoke with him the longest felt an unsettling air about him. From the very start of the acquaintance, both Lizzy and Lydia suspected Mr. Wickham of a tendency towards ungentlemanlike behaviour. I do not believe other girls would be so astute as to identify his sly attempts to impose himself upon them nor confident enough to call attention to impropriety before it reached a scandalous nature; therefore, I am quite proud of the sensibility of my daughters.
“Lydia, my youngest, is sometimes naïve and impetuous, and at first she was charmed by his manners. However, the more he spoke, the less inclined she was to like him because she realised that the familiar manner
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