Chapter 21: A shock for Wickham

Just as Miss Bingley ran upstairs to her room, Wickham was on his way to the cottage.

Wickham's mind was excited. It had been very long since he had planned something as meticulous as this.

Only if things had gone as I had planned in Ramsgate, I would have been in a different position in life. It is time I got back at you, Darcy. This time your little darling sister will never escape from me. He thought.

The moment he had seen the Darcy carriage at Meryton, he was in a euphoric state.

He had hidden behind the window at the bookstore and watched Darcy, Georgiana, and the others. His mind had quickly formulated a plan when he learned about the picnic. But he wanted to be sure that the men were not accompanying the ladies. He used the help of his friend, Officer Denny, to carry out his plans. Officer Denny and Wickham had quickly become friends once they had met. They had twisted minds and were not happy with their situation in the regiment and wanted something more.

With the help of Denny, Wickham gathered information from the stables of Netherfield about the time of departure. He had also made Denny attend the gathering at Lucas Lodge to confirm about the plans of the men.

Denny had confirmed to Wickham that all the men were to shoot with Sir Lucas, and only the women would be going to the lake.

Everything is going my way now. He had thought.

The next plan was to bring in some men from London to kidnap Georgiana. All the years of being in trouble had taught Wickham many things. He had sources. He called in favours with him. He had scaled the countryside for abandoned cottages. After seeing many ruins, he found the exact one, secluded in the woods. The cottage was mostly destroyed by the fire and one side of it was still functional. It had a couple of rooms that could be locked. That was all he wanted.

His plan was simple. The men would take Georgiana while he was still at Meryton. He did not want to raise any suspicion. He had asked Denny to deliver the note to Netherfield asking for a ransom. He wanted Darcy to settle an enormous amount of money on him, so that he could get away and start a new life elsewhere.

He reached the cottage.

He opened the door to find all the men drinking and having fun. Useless pigs.

"Hey Peter, quit drinking, didn't I tell you not to drink when you are on the job. Did you get the girl?"

"Ah! There you are. We thought you were never coming. We did the job. The girl is locked upstairs, stop advising me and tell me when we are to get the money so that we can head out of the awful place."

"Patience my man. Tell me what happened. Was everything smooth?"

"Yeh! You told us there would be many women. There were only two. The one we want and another pregnant one."

"What are you saying? There were supposed to be five-woman including Georgiana. Maybe they were on another carriage."

"No! This was the carriage. It had the Darcy crest on it. You said the girl was dumb. She tried to run away from us. But we caught her."

"Oh! That little minx must have changed since the time I saw her. Let me pay her a visit."

"Wickham, the money, when will we get it?"

"You will get your share tomorrow. Now stop drinking, this is not over yet."

Wickham headed upstairs. Dear Georgi. How wonderful it will be to see your face now. The agony your lovable brother must feel is worth every risk I plan to take.

He opened the door in anticipation of seeing Georgiana scared and tied up. But Wickham got the shock of his life. Never did he expect such a sight. There was a girl tied up and she was not Georgiana.

Oh no! This is not Georgiana. This is that girl Darcy was flirting with. Damn it!

He ran over to Elizabeth and pulled her to her feet. He took off the cloth tied around her mouth. Elizabeth started coughing.

Who are you? How did you get here?

Elizabeth was not sure whom she was dealing with. I need to keep lying. I am not sure who he is.

"I am, I am Miss Darcy."

Wickham was furious.

"Oh! Are you now?"

"Yes!"

He slapped Elizabeth so hard that she fell to the floor.

"You are not Georgiana. You are the one Darcy had his eyes on at the bookstore. Where is Georgiana? Tell me? Did she not come in your carriage?"

Elizabeth sobbed. This must be Wickham. My time is over now.

Wickham rushed downstairs.

"You fools. You have the wrong girl." He yelled.

The men were confused.

"What do you mean? She is the Darcy girl. She owned it herself." Wickham lunged forward and grabbed Peter by his collar.

"What did I tell you yesterday? What did I tell you? I told you that the girl had blond hair. Could you not even remember that much? All of you, you useless pigs. You spoiled my plans."

"Wickham, I don't remember anything about her being blond. Now you get your hands off me."

"Yes, how would you remember? You were all drunk yesterday and I was stupid to think you could carry this out correctly."

"She was in the Darcy carriage. She was young and owned up to her name. What are we supposed to do? There was no other girl there, expect a woman carrying a child. You must have got your information wrong. Do not blame us."

Wickham was confused. He could not comprehend what went wrong. No! This cannot happen. Why didn't Georgiana accompany them? This is such a mess.

Wickham knew that his ransom note would be delivered to Netherfield. He had no leverage now. He could not get Darcy to pay the money when he did not have Georgiana. He was agitated. He was extremely angry. But he knew he had to make something out of the situation.

He remembered the way Darcy had looked at Elizabeth. Wickham knew that Darcy was not the type of man who would just flirt with a woman without any serious intentions.

He must admire her or even have feelings for her. I have never seen him smile at any woman that way. He may even be in love with her. She is an unusual beauty. Well! I can make him pay after all.

He thought.

He ran upstairs again. Elizabeth was sitting down. He kneeled to her.

"Tell me, what is your name? Are you a friend of Georgiana? I will not ask again. If you do not give me the answers, I will have to deal with you differently."

Elizabeth knew she could not lie anymore.

She told her name and acknowledged that she was a friend of Georgiana.

"So, you put yourself in danger to save your friend. Or maybe save Darcy of misery. He likes you, doesn't he? "

"I do not understand you."

"I saw the way he looked at you at the bookstore. I have never seen him look at any woman that way. He will never forsake you. He will pay what I ask him to see you back safely."

"He will save me. You will not win."

Wickham scoffed. "You are one tough chit, are not you? He may be smitten by your charms and pay the money I ask. But he will never favor you. You are ruined now. You don't know Darcy. His family name is more important to him than his own life. So do not keep your hopes high."

He slammed the door and ran downstairs. Wickham knew that Denny would have found a way to send the ransom note to Netherfield.

My plan is going to work. He will pay the money. Darcy, you are in a fix now. You cannot handle the guilt of putting another woman in danger. I am sure you will pay to get her back.

You came to Netherfield to be happy right Darcy. You would not have imagined that you will be caught in such a situation as this. Till I live, I will never allow you to be happy.

What Wickham never realised was that it was not Darcy, but his friend Denny who was caught in a fix. And he was going to spoil all his plans. Yes! Never!