Chapter Ten

We arrived in a small town and I soon realised that he had given me the address of a pub or tavern. I was sure at this point that it would be a trick and that we had come all the way out here for nothing. However, there were militia men around and so we proceeded to go into the pub. Although, Amanda's modern dress sense was getting very strange looks from the locals.

We asked at the bar if George Wickham was known here and we were, to my surprise, directed to his room. He sat in a comfortable chair and looked shocked as soon as Amanda entered yet he fixed that smug smirk on his face. Yet when he noticed that I entered behind Manda, his expression somehow softened and I averted my gaze from him.

'Spunk. Do you know the word? It's soldiers slang; the men use it to applaude a particular species of reckless courage. To my eye, the both of you have spunk.' He said walking towards us. He then addressed Amanda directly 'Hmm, how you hate me and yet here you are.'

'Well what choice do I have?' she retorted, exasperated.

'Well, precisely. Now you wish to crawl back into society and for this you need me. So, prepare the meagerest of ingredients with confidence and style and you shall serve a banquet. How much money do you have?'

'A pound' Manda sighed and looked at me. I shook my head to indicate my total lack of money.

'Well I have two. I shall give you one of them and together we shall buy you a dress. Elicia's dress is perfectly suitable for society, however you cannot continue to walk around in men's breeches' Wickham stated and led us out of the room and swiftly down the road to the nearest tailor.

The woman got down to business straight away as soon as she was sure that we were able to pay. Amanda changed into a ready made dress that George picked out and the woman continued to make alterations whilst George gave Amanda tips on how to fit into society, at the moment he was educating her in the art of using a fan and seemingly lying about having contacts in France. I remained quiet and in the corner of the room. I managed to fit well enough into society already… as long as I wasn't around George Wickham. At one point Manda asked George why he was doing this and George cleverly diverted the question. However, neither Manda nor I missed the quick glance he gave to me.

After the dress and lessons were finished we paid and left the shop to go out into the street. George and Manda were now talking about marriage.

'I am the one person around here who is absolutely not going to marry anybody. Rich or otherwise. I've buggered up this story and now I have to un-bugger it by rebuilding my friendship with Jane Collins. I'm going to write her a letter.' Manda rambled; well at least she had a plan. I had no idea what we were going to do. We had no money to buy us a room anywhere.

'Clever' commented George.

'And if you don't like it, you can take your dress… what?' Manda stuttered as she realised what he had actually said. I gave a small laugh and this and George looked at me with a stunning smile.

'You should be reconciled with Jane. She shall invite you to her house which is in the grounds of Rosings, which is owned by Darcy's dismal Aunt Catherine, who is the cloaca through which all society must pass.' George continued.

'Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. The person I am most utterly not going to marry is Darcy.' Contradicted Manda, even though George had not suggested it.

'I did not suggest it. And yet you thought of it. It's interesting' smirked George 'Go to Jane at once, forget the letter' with this he hired a cab for Amanda. She climbed into the cab and waited for me to enter but I hesitated.

'I hardly know Jane or Mr Collins. I would hardly be welcome in their house. I would only obstruct your chances of reconciling yourself with Jane' I reasoned, I had no idea what I was to do.

'Where will you go though? You have no money?' Manda voiced, clearly concerned for her younger sister.

'I would hardly let your sister become destitute' George interjected. 'She can stay with me, I will ensure that she is fed and kept safe'

'You better had do, Wickham. I'm trusting you with this.' Manda told him sternly as she closed the cab door. As it started moving she hung out of the window and yelled back at him 'And keep your hands to yourself!'