Despite Colonel Fitzwilliam being one of the best horsemen in his regiment, he knew that it was unlikely that he would be able to catch up with the carriage carrying Wickham and Lydia Bennet. To make matters worse, a heavy, prolonged rain began to fall making the roads difficult.
The Colonel had been on the road for a few hours when he spotted a carriage on the opposite side of the road, it was stationary – it must have become damaged in the weather Fitzwilliam thought to himself as he neared. As the carriage came into clear view, he could see that his initial thoughts were correct, the carriage had dislodged a wheel. Fitzwilliam could see two men through the bottom of the carriage, trying to fix the wheel he presumed.
His military training would not let him pass by without offering help, despite the urgency of his own quest. He would quickly check that they had everything in hand before setting off again. As he dismounted his own horse, the two men stopped and looked around the back of the carriage to see the Colonel approaching. The driver nodded in appreciation, whereas the other gentleman stared in disbelief.
"Wickham," the Colonel stated coldly.
"Fitzwilliam," Wickham replied, his eyes wide in surprise.
Lydia, who had remained in the carriage, suddenly came to see who the source of this new voice was. Her eyes darted between the two men who were a few feet from her, who was this gentleman? Before she could answer her unspoken question, Fitzwilliam led Wickham away, out of earshot. They immediately started a very tense and angry conversation; Lydia strained her ears to try and hear what they were saying but the relentless drumming of the rain meant that she could not make out a single word. As the two men continued to converse, she began to fiddle anxiously with her hands in her lap. She had been so sure of their plan to elope this morning but in the dismal light of day, she was starting to take stock of the ramifications of her thoughtless actions. She had been flattered that a handsome man (who her own sister Elizabeth had shown a like to) had paid her attention during her time at Brighton, she had always hoped to claim a red coat as her husband, but was this truly what she wanted? She released a heavy sigh, it was no good now, she had set off with Wickham so must go through with their plan, despite him saying they should go to London instead of Scotland.
Lydia's attention was drawn back to the two men who seemed to have settle down, they turned to walk back to the carriage. Wickham's face was white, and his eyes remained towards the ground, what had passed between the men would remain a secret she thought. Colonel Fitzwilliam was the first to speak to Lydia.
"Miss Bennet, my name is Colonel Fitzwilliam, I am sorry to say that Wickham needs to return to Brighton immediately, he is needed by Colonel Forster. I will accompany you both back immediately," he said calmly, "I will travel in the carriage and allow my horse to be harnessed with the others."
He did not wait for her response, she looked at Wickham who was still avoiding her eye.
The men went back to fix the wheel and attach Fitzwilliam's horse. Before long, all three of them were in the carriage, travelling back towards Brighton, not a word was said. Lydia, although often naïve, concluded what had been discussed amongst the two men, she felt a flush of shame travel over her body – what had she done?
It was after nightfall when they arrived back at the militia base. Colonel Fitzwilliam was glad that it seemed to be exceptionally quiet, and they were able to arrive back at the Forster's residence without drawing attention to themselves. He accompanied Lydia back into the guardianship of Colonel Forster and his wife, she was immediately ushered up to her room by her friend and the three men went into Colonel Forster's study where they remained for the next few hours.
When Colonel Fitzwilliam eventually retired for the evening to one of the Forster's guest rooms, his eyes burned with exhaustion. His experience of battle meant that he was used to this level of fatigue, and he would not rest until he had sent news to his cousin about Lydia's safety. However, he did not know where his cousin would be. He decided to cover all bases; he sent one letter to Pemberley in case he had not yet started the journey south and the other to Darcy house in London; his cousin may bypass Brighton altogether, but would go there when he arrived in London.
The weary Colonel eventually climbed into bed, despite the trauma of the day, things could have turned out so much worse. Luckily, the news of Lydia and Wickham had got no further than the Forsters; they had given Fitzwilliam their word that the horrid truth would go no further, they were after all partly responsible. Wickham had been moved to an empty house on the edge of the barracks where he would remain until Darcy arrived, Fitzwilliam knew that his cousin would want to deal with him himself.
Colonel Fitzwilliam remained in Brighton, with the Forsters for the next few days. That way he could make sure that Wickham stayed where he was and that Lydia was not given the chance to see or speak to him again, not that she showed any interest in doing so. The Colonel did not know the youngest Bennet sister before this meeting and was shocked at how different she was to Elizabeth; she was certainly younger and sillier than her older sister, but she also had a kindness to her that Fitzwilliam recognises as a family trait.
Over dinner one evening, he found himself sat next to Lydia, whilst the Forsters sat at the opposite side of the table. He had made sure to keep their conversation to topics such as the weather and music when Lydia changed the focus of their dialogue without warning.
"Colonel Fitzwilliam, I am very sorry that I have caused so much trouble," she started almost in a whisper, "I know that my behaviour was inexcusable, I now know the ramifications of my actions."
The Colonel swallowed as he thought of the most gentlemanly reply, "Miss Bennet please do not trouble yourself, like I said Mr. Wickham was needed here for work, I simply brought the message."
Lydia remained silent for a moment but could not keep up the façade, "Colonel, you do not need to hide the truth from me, I know that my actions will have ruined the reputation of my sisters and I, I have been raised to behave like a lady, not like a fool. I am eternally grateful for your arrival at the roadside, I believe you prevented me from the biggest mistake imaginable," Lydia replied as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
Fitzwilliam began to feel a strange need to protect this young woman in front of him, although she had put her reputation in jeopardy, he was sure that the truth would not become public, and she would come out of it all relatively unscathed.
"Please do not trouble yourself, it is by no means a situation that cannot be resolved, thankfully only myself, the Forsters and Mr. Darcy know the truth – it will go no further."
Lydia looked at him puzzled, "Mr. Darcy – why does he know?"
Colonel Fitzwilliam realised that Lydia did not know about Elizabeth staying with his cousin, he explained everything he knew to a shocked Lydia. Once they had cleared the air, they fell into easy conversation about a range of topics. Like her sister, the Colonel discovered, Lydia Bennet was easy to talk to, something which he admired in a woman…a beautiful woman.