Lord Sebastian was pacing angrily from one side of his study to the other with the letter his father had sent him the day before. Frustratingly, he had been out of his house solving Lydia Bennet's problems and did not read it. It was a terrible mistake, and he would not find it easy to forgive himself for a long time, if ever! Georgiana had suffered, and it was his fault!
28th October 1811
London
Dear Son,
As you know, I have been investigating Wickham for several months since it is my fervent wish that he never bothers Georgiana again. So far, except for two illegitimate children, I have found nothing to justify taking drastic measures. Although the older brother of one of the young women he seduced—the young woman died in childbirth—would gladly give him a severe beating,
Returning to the subject of this letter, Wickham has become engaged to a young woman, Miss Mary King, who happens to have a family in Meryton. My informants let me know the couple left for Meryton early this morning.
It would help if you prevented Georgiana from meeting the scoundrel and his fiancée at all costs. I have not sent a letter to Darcy for fear it might be intercepted and end up in the wrong hands.
It is prudent for you and the Darcys to return to London soon. There are other rumours about Lord Jim; his fiancée and other witnesses discovered him in a very compromising position with another lady.
I look forward to hearing from you and Georgiana.
Your father
He had overheard his servants talking about the incident between the Darcys and that scoundrel, and his valet inquired as to the details, including what had specifically been said. He could not believe Wickham had the nerve to approach Georgiana!
He perfectly understood Darcy's reaction. He was not violent by nature, but he wanted to hurt Wickham. A man with his power could hire someone just to kill him. But even though Wickham was a scoundrel, he would not do it. The scoundrel had not committed any crime punishable by death or even jail.
He had to do something else to punish Wickham, but he did not yet know what. But he was sure that, together with his father, they would find a way for Wickham to regret even being born.
PPP
Several hours later, Darcy and Georgiana arrived at Netherfield, where the Bingleys had been waiting for them for several hours. Darcy considered the possibility of Georgiana staying in the parsonage or moving to 'The Firs, but such a sudden action could cause even more rumours.
"Mr. Darcy, Georgiana, we have been waiting for you for hours. You are always so punctual that we assume something bad must have happened to you." Caroline commented, feigning concern.
"Excuse me, Miss Bingley; we lost track of time at the parsonage."
Bingley nodded and answered with a smile, "You are here now, and that is all that matters. Would you like to freshen up, or shall you stay to take tea with us?"
"We apologize for all the inconvenience we have caused you. Some tea will be good."
Miss Bingley monopolized the conversation with her insistent questions and double-meaning comments. Although the truth was that neither Georgiana nor Darcy felt like talking, when Caroline made inappropriate advances, Darcy simply did not reply or steer the conversation to neutral topics. If, in the past, Darcy had considered and ruled out Caroline Bingley as a possible future Mrs. Darcy, now he utterly could not tolerate her.
After tea, Georgiana retired to her room to rest. She wanted to be alone and needed to reflect on everything that had happened that day, especially her feelings for George Wickham.
In her young and innocent heart, she still had illusions that she did not even dare confess to herself—that one day she would know they were not siblings, and perhaps they would have a future as husband and wife.
Her brother had already told her that George had illegitimate children and was a scoundrel, but she still had a sliver of hope that her brother was wrong since she felt she knew George better.
However, what Elizabeth told her that day coincided with what her brother told her. That, in combination with George's new fiancée, only a few months after swearing eternal love to her, gave her no choice but to accept it as truth.
She was not going to shed any more tears over him. Clearly, her brother was correct, and she had simply been a fool to believe Wickham's words of love. He never loved her; he only wanted her money.