Battle of the Dragons

by sysa22

In many stories the Bennets had more and better connections than were generally known. What might happen if the connections were on the Gardiner side of the family? Lady Catherine de Bourgh is often referred to as a dragon. What if there was an even bigger dragon willing to take her on. Enter Mrs Bennet's Aunt Isabella, who surprises everyone with her connections.

6. Chapter 6

~O~

Fifth Dragon

The following day Isabella made an appointment with Colonel Forster to discuss his officers.

Forster had enough political acumen to reschedule everything else and call on the Duchess. He was also curious what a duchess, newly arrived in the neighbourhood would know about his officers.

'Colonel, it was really not necessary for you to rush to see me. I would have been quite happy to call on you,' Isabella said immediately after the greetings.

'Not at all, Your Grace. It is my pleasure and my privilege to call on you. And I confess to some curiosity about your reason for wanting to speak to me.'

They deferred that conversation until they were seated and sipping coffee. 'Ah, that is much better than what I can get at camp,' Forster sighed blissfully after the first sip.

'Now I understand your eagerness to visit me,' Isabella said with teasing smile. Taking a sip of her own, she put down her cup and faced the Colonel in a businesslike manner.

'I need you to understand that I have family in this area. Young female family.' She speared Forster with a steely gaze as understanding dawned on him.

'You are concerned about the reputation of my officers and the reputation of your female relations.'

'I am aware that many men are eager to take advantage of the cachet their uniform gives them in the admiration of young ladies. This is compounded by the fact that most of them are poor as church mice, and they are fully aware that within six months they will be gone from the area.'

She took another sip of her coffee. 'Colonel, please forgive me for being blunt, but I am fully aware that under the circumstances, some of your men are likely not to take no for an answer, as they know that society will blame the women or even the young girls for whatever happens. Even if the men force the issue.'

'You think my men would stoop to such tactics?'

'Most will not, but I would like you to impress on the men that if they should act in any way dishonourable, they will probably not live to regret it.'

'Are you suggesting that the locals will take the law into their own hands?'

'No, I am suggesting that you will enforce the law, as rape is a capital crime and punishable by death.'

Forster looked uncomfortable as he said, 'You are asking something virtually impossible of me.'

'I know that most of the time men can get away with it as most women do not have the means to prosecute them. I have the means and I intend to support anyone who needs my help. And do not forget, earlier this year one William Hodgson was found guilty. So, it is possible for women to get justice. Reminding your men of the consequences will hopefully be enough to prevent the necessity for taking action later.'

'Phillip was right,' Forster said with a rueful grin. 'It is pointless arguing with you since you have answers for everything.'

'I gather that you know my oldest son?'

'Preston and I met at Cambridge. He was finishing the year I started. We were never close but your name did come up one evening.'

'I see. Since you know me by reputation, perhaps you will be prepared to believe me when I tell you that George Wickham is no gentleman.'

'I have heard that he was the victim of jealousy…'

'Why would a man who has everything be jealous of a man who has nothing?'

'Since you seem to know more about Wickham, I am prepared to listen.'

Isabella related the information she had from her youngest son, going into considerably more detail than she had shared with Elizabeth. At the end of her tale she said, 'I suggest that you check with the merchants how much debt has been run up by your various officers. While you are speaking to those merchants, you should also investigate how many of their daughters have fallen prey to his glib tongue. They and young servant girls are his favourite prey.'

'You paint an ugly picture,' said Forster, looking worried.

'I trust Patrick. And the reason for my concern is that Mrs Bennet is my niece. Her daughters are my great nieces. I am determined to protect them… by any means necessary.'

'The Bennets are your family? I had not heard this before.'

'We lost contact nearly forty years ago. They did not even know of my existence until the other day.'

'That explains your interest.' Forster nodded with determination. 'I will start my investigation immediately. And I will warn my men to be on their best behaviour. The militia is unwelcome in many places. Since we will be here for several more months, I would like to keep things as pleasant as possible for all.'

'Thank you, Colonel. I appreciate your assistance. I hope your men are going to be sensible.'

'Thank you for your confidence in me, Your Grace.'

Immediately upon leaving, Colonel Forster started visiting the various shops in Meryton. He was most unhappy with what he found.

~O~

Having set the protection of her family in motion, Isabella decided to visit various shops in Meryton to see what was available.

She was strolling along the High Street with her maid, stopping at each of the shops to check out their wares. She was accompanied by two large and well-trained footmen; veterans of the regulars, who had been pleased to enter her service when their endurance diminished after a dozen or more years in the infantry. The fact that they had retired from the army with only minor wounds was a testament to their ability rather than cowardice. Isabella was pleased to have them in her service.

Every few minutes the coachman moved Isabella's carriage to be conveniently located should she wish to deposit any packages in it.

As she exited the haberdashery and sent her maid to place the latest purchase into their conveyance, she encountered two familiar faces, who were enthusiastic in their greeting.

'Aunt Isabella,' Mrs Phillips cried as Elizabeth stood next to her with an indulgent smile. 'Are you doing some shopping? I am afraid that compared to London, you will find the choice more limited.'

'I still managed to find some rather pretty ribbons,' Isabella assured Mrs Phillips with a pleasant smile.

They were still on the subject of shopping when they were approached by two officers.

Mrs Phillips was just as enthusiastic in greeting the men and exclaimed, 'Aunt Isabella, you must allow me to present to you Lieutenant Denny and Lieutenant Wickham of the militia, who are stationed here for the winter. Gentlemen, this lady is my aunt, Her Grace, Lady Deveril, the Duchess of Markham,' she declared proudly.

The officers were rather taken aback to meet a member of the nobility on the street in Meryton.

Wickham was the first to recover from the shock and he poured on the charm. If she was the aunt of Mrs Phillips, that meant that Miss Elizabeth had a duchess for a great-aunt. He could see significant advantage to charming either of the ladies, especially as even the Duchess was still a beautiful woman. 'Your Grace it is indeed a great pleasure to make your acquaintance. Please allow me to say that I have had the privilege to meet all your nieces, and I must say that beauty certainly runs in the family.'

Isabella listened with an amused smile. Wickham, misinterpreting the smile, alternated in his fulsome praise between her and Elizabeth. She mused that perhaps Wickham thought that she would be just as susceptible to flattery as her younger nieces. She was also well aware that some men would do anything for money and despite her age, she had kept her looks.

When at last Wickham stopped to take a breath, she could not resist but comment, 'I am surprised by your compliments, Mr Wickham. While I agree with you that my great-niece Elizabeth is everything lovely, I would not have expected you to notice. After all she is several years older than your usual victims.'

Wickham blanched as he said, 'I beg your pardon?'

With a perfectly guileless expression, Isabella said, 'According to reports I have had of you, do you not usually prefer to seduce children because you cannot function with adult women like my niece?'

While Wickham spluttered and alternated between fury and fear that his proclivities were so casually announced to all and sundry, Denny burst out laughing and cried, 'I say, Wickham. Is that the reason why you always target the youngest girls? You cannot deal with an adult woman?'

One of Isabella's footmen grinned and looked Wickham up and down with a derisive grin. 'Nah, I reckon it is because they still look more like boys,' which caused Wickham to turn beet-red.

Noticing that several shopkeepers had stepped out to watch the excitement, Isabella asked Wickham, 'By the bye. I do hope that you have changed your habit of running up debt and then doing a midnight flit.'

'How dare you slander me like this,' Wickham blustered as he found his voice again.

'I have no intention of slandering you. I am simply asking a question based on your reported behaviour in Cambridge.'

'I should have known Darcy would try to sink my character like he always does. Your Grace, I assure you that anything you have heard from him is because he is jealous of me,' Wickham fought a valiant rear-guard action.

Isabella responded in mock consternation with the same question she had asked of Colonel Forster only a short while earlier. 'Good heavens why would a man who has everything be jealous of a man who has nothing? No, I assure you my question about your habits of expense was occasioned by the reports I had of your behaviour from the Duke of Markham.'

Isabella was pleased when she heard several whispers, in the vein of the Duke of Markham thinks he's got a bad character.

Wickham was thinking furiously trying to come up with a way to extricate himself from this awkward situation when another, even more unwelcome voice cut in.

'Yes, Lieutenant, tell us about your habits of expense,' Colonel Forster said as he stepped up to the group. 'I just had several interesting chats with the shopkeepers hereabouts, and it seems that in only two weeks you have already run up nearly thirty pounds worth of debts. Considering that your salary is only about seven pounds per month, I would be curious to hear how you plan to pay what you owe.'

George Wickham looked around wildly and saw that he was surrounded by angry looking shopkeepers. 'Colonel, I always pay my bills. It was just that I was short of money when I arrived because Darcy withheld what his father had planned for me. I just need a bit of time to get caught up.'

'You mean the three thousand pounds he paid you in lieu of the living five years ago was not enough to pay all your bills for years to come? I suppose the one thousand pounds bequest from Mr Darcy was also not enough. With what you received from the Darcys, if you had put the whole amount into the four percents, you would be receiving twice as much as a Lieutenant in the militia,' Isabella pointed out with impeccable logic.

Denny turned on Wickham. 'You said that Darcy denied you the living. It seems you forgot to mention that he paid you handsomely for it.' He turned to his commanding officer. 'Colonel, could you add five pounds to the total Wickham owes, which is what he borrowed from me.'

'You turncoat,' snarled Wickham and attempted to throw himself at Denny, only to find himself restrained by Isabella's guards.

'You seem to be very economical with the truth, Mister Wickham,' growled the Colonel. 'You are returning to camp where you will stay until all your debts are paid off.

Forster called a couple of his own men to lead Wickham back to camp. Once they were gone, he addressed the shopkeepers, 'I would like to assure you that my men will not leave any debts when we move to summer quarters. To ensure they are able to do that, I suggest you limit any credit you extend to any of them.

~O~

Having been the centre of attention in the little drama which had played out on the street, Isabella had no choice but to accept introductions to all and sundry by Mrs Phillips.

The lady was almost bashful when she introduced my aunt, the Duchess to all her acquaintances.

Mr Blakesley, the cobbler was the most verbose in his thanks. ''You could have knocked me over with a feather when that Colonel came into my shop, enquiring about debts by his men and then he mentioned he had been put up to this by no less a personage than a duchess. I tried to tell him we didn't have duchess hereabouts and then he said it was the lady from Hayes House. Naturally, I had heard that a lady had taken on Hayes House, but I never thought it would be no duchess. And to think you are the aunt of Mrs Phillips. Well, all I can say is that I was speechless.'

'All evidence to the contrary,' muttered Isabella when he took a breath. Before he could start again, she assured him. 'I am only too pleased that I could be of assistance.'

~O~

A/N: Based on some of the comments (mainly from guests), some of you seem to want all the characters to be according to canon and the situations according to canon. If that is you, may I suggest you read canon, not FF. 😊

~O~

Battle of the Dragons (working title) by Sydney Salier, Copyright © 2024