(A/N:)

Don't be shy to Review

Jane Austen Works RP:

www.f anfiction forum/Regency-Roleplay/176463/

Is it really safe:

It was not long before word had reached Netherfield Park of George Wickham's arrest. Denny had sent word out to the officer's of what Wickham had done. They were shocked by such accusations, but as Wickham was accused of trying to kill Lydia, they had needed to at least arrest George Wickham.

Now Denny was readying to go to Wickham's trial, he had been asked to be called as a witness, as well as a number of others, Lydia Wickham was included.

"You take good care of Cecilia while I'm away Jane, we'll be back as soon as Wickham is locked away for good what the awful he's done to me!" Lydia told Jane as she hugged her sister, who had helped her with so much. Lydia was unsure if she could ever repay Jane for everything Jane and Bingly had done for her.

Denny then helped Lydia into the Bingly's carriage, which they had been kind enough to lend to Lydia and Denny for the journey. Captain Denny bowed to Jane and Charles before entering the carriage himself, which began to move right away.

"You know Denny, once Wickham is hanged... I'll be widowed..." She hinted at Denny after a moment of the two sitting across from each other in silence.

Denny couldn't help but laugh at her words. Only Lydia would hint at marriage before her last husband was even dead.

"Yes, Lydia, I know, I've thought on it" Denny replied, reaching across the carriage and taking Lydia's hand.

...

"Calling Captain Charles Denny to the stand!" The prosecutor called through the court. Denny looked at Lydia for a brief moment before he stood and entered the stand.

Wickham's hands were bound together as he sat in a chair during the trial. He had kept his silence throughout the entire trial so far, unable to look at Denny, and certainly not Lydia.

"Mr. Denny, you were, good friends with the accused, is that correct?" The prosecutor asked.

Denny nodded."Yes, he was my best friend." Denny stated, looking coldly at Wickham.

"Best friend! So you would have no reason to accuse someone so dear to you, of such an act of brutality?" The Prosecutor now asked.

"Of course not, I had not even known he was capable of such a thing until I found miss Lydia" Denny replied.

"ah yes, and where did you find her? How did she look?" The man asked, glancing over at Lydia.

"Well, I had found her in a pub, with some other men, they were the ones who found her out by the woods. When I saw her, she was absolute mess, sure her face and hands has been washed up a bit, but she still had her wounds, and destroyed dress, along with her hair still dirtied" Denny answered honestly.

"Right right, and, what did you do when you learned of what happened?"

"I took her to her elder sister, Jane, the next morning" Denny looked around the courtroom, all was silent.

"Why did you not take her directly to the jail and file a report?" The Prosecutor demanded.

Denny rested a hand on his knee before answering. "As an officer myself, I knew that without the proper evidence, the case would fall apart. All we had to go on at that point was Mrs. Wickham's word"

"So you wanted to gain evidence first! And tell me now, why did you not let the men of law settle the evidence?!"

"For the honor of Mrs. Wickham, I wanted to be the one who questioned her attacker, and I knew if anyone could get Mr. Wickham to speak, it'd be me" Denny stated looking over at Mr. Wickham for perhaps the hundredth time since the trial began.

"Why is it, that you wanted to be the one to question Mrs. Wickham's attacker? Rather odd, is it not?" The Prosecutor asked.

Denny's face flushed a little as he looked down. "I-I" He took a breath. "I have ...some amount of feeling for Mrs. Wickham...I suppose I wanted to be the hero" He finally managed to get out.

The Prosecutor raised his eyebrows and looked back at Mrs. Wickham for a moment, Mr. Wickham finally looked up in absolute shock. He had thought Captain Denny was unable to stand the very presence of his wife.

Mr. Wickham stood up. "THIS IS ABSURD! DO YOU NOT SEE! Denny fell in love with my wife! But as he could not have her for himself, he tried to get rid of her and frame me! I Demand that you arrest that fraud, and I demand a divorce on grounds of adultery between my best friend and wife!" He yelled, looking around at everyone in the court room.

Lydia was now standing. "Don't be ridiculous! Denny Had never acted upon any feeling! He would never harm me!" Lydia yelled also, the judge banged his gavel several times.

"Order! Order! Keep all clients under control!" The judge shouted, both Wickham and Lydia were shoved back into their seats.

"Continue with questioning" The Judge ordered the prosecutor who nodded and turned back to Denny.

"So you then found the man who attacked poor Mrs. Wickham, and said what to him?" The Prosecutor asked.

"Well, I had asked him his name to start with, and then I inquired as to why he harmed Lydia. He said Wickham paid him a large sum of money, but did not know why Wickham wanted to hurt his wife" Denny replied calmly.

"I see, I see, you then went to Wickham's estate, what happened there?"

"I acted as though I did not know what happened to Lydia, but, once he was comfortable, as Mr. Wickham always does, he began to drink, a lot. I had some drinks myself, but not enough to blur my perception of the events that took place. Once Wickham was drunk enough, I had asked him why he wanted Mrs. Wickham dead. He stated that it was for the insurance pay he had gotten on her, also that he did not want to be a married man any longer" Denny explained shaking his head.

"I see, no further questions" The Prosecutor smiled. Denny left the box, and retook his seat beside Lydia.

It seemed to take forever before Lydia was finally called to the stand, though Lydia hardly thought it necessary at this point. servants from Wickham's estate had been called to witness, as well as the man who had attacked Lydia, and even one of the men who had found Lydia on the side of the road.

"Mrs. Wickham, Tell us, what happened on the night that you were attacked?"

Lydia gulped. "well, George had sent me out to purchase new bonnets for my daughter and I, but on the way back, the driver, he missed the turn to Oakridge. I called for him to turn around, but he did not. He only went faster, for hours I was flailing and screaming in the carriage, and when it did finally stop, I tried to run. But the man, he jumped on me, I fought back, and tried to get away, but he hit me on the side of the head with something, I believe it to have been a rock. Everything went black, and then, when I woke up, I was in the woods, lost, and injured...I had to crawl nearly the whole way to the road, only I didn't know where I was going in the dark. God must have been on my side, because I did manage to make it to the road" Lydia told her story and looked down sadly. She let herself cry.

"I still can't believe he would do such a thing..." Lydia said "But he did" She then stated as she took small breaths between her cries.

"Thank you, Mrs. Wickham, no further questions" The Prosecutor stated.

The Judge nodded. "all witnesses have been questioned?" The Judge asked, but didn't really care for a response. "Then I shall now ask the jury to please rise, and leave to discuss the verdict" The judge stated. He banged his gravel, and everyone began to leave the court.