Three days later, with a frown on his face, Lord Sebastian read his father's letter for the second time. The news was unexpected, and he supposed his father was also surprised...

10th November 1811

London

Dear Son,

A few hours ago, Wickham's body was found floating in the Thames. I recognized the corpse, and I can affirm that without a doubt it is him. In addition, one of my trusted men was watching him and confirmed it is him.

When you return to London, I will tell you more about Wickham's death and my well-founded suspicions of who killed him; although I have no proof.

Please notify Darcy and Georgiana, and return to London as soon as possible.

Your father

He wasn't sure if he should tell Georgiana that Wickham was killed. She was still vulnerable, and perhaps the news might cause her to relapse unnecessarily. But he had to tell Darcy as soon as possible.

There was only one task left for him to do in Hertfordshire which unfortunately involved another despicable man...

PPP

"My Lord, I did not expect your visit. Would you like some refreshment?" A very surprised Charlotte Collins greeted Lord Sebastian.

"No thank you very much, Mrs. Collins. It is not a courtesy call and I don't want to waste too much of your time, is Mr. Collins here?"

"Yes, he is in his office. Do you want to talk with him?"

He nodded, "Yes please, tell him I need to talk with him urgently. Or better yet, why don't we go to his office now so I can talk to him once and for all."

Carlota nodded, and accompanied him to her husband's office, and entered without knocking...

Mr. Collins was even more surprised than his wife to see Lord Sebastian in his home and before he could properly greet him, Lord Sebastian closed the door and addressed Mr. Collins directly,

"I'm going to speak bluntly; I just came to warn you that I know you have been telling various lies about Mrs. Barton and her family. Perhaps I should remind you Mrs. Barton is my cousin, and as you can imagine everyone who messes with my family is messing with me and the marquis XXXX. Do you understand me?"

Mr. Collins shook his head and opened his mouth to protest, but Lord Sebastian gestured for him to shut up, "I want us to understand each other even better," he looked him straight in the eye, "if you ever mention my cousin's name or even think of her again, believe me, you will regret it for life."

"But, Lord Sebastian…"

He him up and down with disdain, "Shut up. I know very well Longbourn is in serious financial trouble due to your and your father's ineptitude, and it would be very easy for me to ruin you for life... I know you have a debt of £500, I just bought it." he paused and sneered at him, "I don't know if you know interest rates are sooooo high. It would be a shame if you spent the rest of your days in debtors' prison."

Mr. Collins blanched and Lord Sebastian added, "So if you want to avoid trouble, I advise you to completely forget about Mrs. Barton and never say her name or think about her again."

Looking somewhat pityingly at Charlotte, he said, "I am so sorry, Mrs. Collins, that you married this 'creature,' but I suppose you knew very well what you were doing."

Saying this, he briefly greeted Charlotte and left Longbourn. He had completed his mission in Hertfordshire; he was going to the parsonage for tea with the Bartons and hopefully chat with the lovely Miss Bennet.

PPP

Mary King was worried pacing her aunt's foyer. She hadn't heard from George in three days. The innkeeper told her that two days ago Wickham had paid the bill and left. On the other hand, he sarcastically suggested she talk to the 'wench' of the establishment since Wickham 'enjoyed' her company very much.

The barmaid described in detail the activities she had done with 'George' three times in two days and told her that 'George' had a heart-shaped spot in the middle of his abdomen… Very humiliated, she returned to her aunt's house waiting to receive news from Wickham.

It was rumored throughout Meryton that Wickham preferred the company of disreputable women to his 'fiancée' and he had several illegitimate children throughout England. To add insult to injury, she was a week late on her period and was starting to get nervous that some of the rumors were true...