The evening after their walk to Meryton, the Miss Bennets, along with Mr. Collins were invited to their aunt and uncle Phillips along with some of the officers, including Mr. Wickham whose acquaintance they had made during the course of their walk. Mr. Wickham's appearance was greatly in his favor. He had all the best part of beauty, a fine countenance, a good figure, very pleasing address, and had entered into conversation with a happy readiness - a readiness at the same time perfectly correct and unassuming. He had drawn the interest of all the ladies, but in Elizabeth, it was heightened by an active curiosity, for she had witnessed a cold manner of greeting between Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy and was as enraptured by the mystery as she was Mr. Wickham's other charms.
To Elizabeth's surprise, and gratification, Mr. Wickham began the subject himself and, as the evening wore on, gradually revealed the story of how his father had been the late Mr. Darcy's steward, and how Mr. Darcy had been excessively fond of Mr. Wickham and educated him for the church, and how the current Mr. Darcy had cheated him of the living that the former had intended for him.
"I had not thought Mr. Darcy so bad as this" Exclaimed Elizabeth, though I have never liked him, I had not thought so very ill of him. - I had supposed him to be despising his fellow creatures in general, but did not suspect him of descending to such malicious revenge, such injustice, such inhumanity as this!" Mr. Wickham protested that his own opinion could hardly be just but went to speak of how Mr. Darcy's pride had often been his best friend, leading him to be liberal and generous - to give his money freely, to display hospitality, to assist his tenants, and relieve the poor.
"I am astonished at his bond with Georgiana! How can such a sweet-tempered, affectionate, creature have chosen him?"
"Perhaps she would not have, had another been available." Such a look of grief passed across his face that, though it was only a moment before he adjusted his features, Elizabeth feared that asking more would cause him pain. They spoke no more of the subject until the Wisk table, where Mr. Collins had been playing broke-up and Mr. Collins joined Elizabeth to brag of his losses, providing, as they did, the opportunity for him to rise above such mundane concerns thanks to the noble patronage of Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
Mr. Wickham's attention was caught; and after observing Mr. Collins for a few moments, he asked Elizabeth in a low voice whether her relation were very intimately acquainted with the family of de Bourgh.
"Lady Catherine de Bourgh," she replied, "has very lately given him a living. I hardly know how Mr. Collins was first introduced to her notice, but he certainly has not known her long."
"You know of course that Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Lady Anne Darcy were sisters; consequently that she is aunt to the present Mr. Darcy."
"No, indeed, I did not. I knew nothing at all of Lady Catherine's connections. I never heard of her existence till the day before yesterday."
"Her daughter, Miss de Bourgh, will have a very large fortune, and it is believed that she and her cousin will unite the two estates."
"Mr. Collins has mentioned that Lady Catherine is certain her daughter will bond. Perhaps this explains why she is so confident. Mr. Darcy must be willing to ensure that when Georgiana gives birth, his intended will be the only option. It seems ungenerous, even for Mr. Darcy, to wish for his a wife who is bonded when he is already bonded himself, but I have heard him brag that his estate can support a second griffin."
"Pemberley could support five, at least, and Darcy can easily afford to pay a sire fee[i]."
"And yet to risk the fledgling in this way, I would not have expected it, even of Mr. Darcy, he takes prodigious care of Georgiana and is extremely protective of her. But perhaps his family pride does not allow him to accept the possibility that his cousin will fail to bond."
"That is likely the case. It shows he has grown more like his mother, even than when I knew him. Lady Anne did the same to ensure a bond for Darcy. But his father," he sighed, "I would not have you for a moment imagine his father would approve such a limitation. It was his wish that I be present at Georgiana's birth."
"Was it!" and then realizing she had interrupted him Elizabeth added. "I am sorry. Pray continue."
"It is natural you would be surprised[ii]as extraordinary as it is, but he was the most generous of men and he believed in the old song[iii]. The village of Kempton, the living that was designed for me, is not far from Pemberley. But, as in that case, his wishes were not honored. Even though Lady Anne agreed to it initially, when the time came for the birth I was kept away. I do not know what excuse he was given for my absence. I was too disappointed to ask and it was too late to make a difference. I see now how unlikely a thing it was that I would be allowed. As a child one believes all things to be possible. And yet, I do not think it impossible she would have chosen me if I had been there. She was always fond of me."
"Did you spend much time with her?"
"As a child, I did yes. As you say she is a sweat, affectionate creature, I am glad Darcy has not managed to change her. She gave me a rabbit once. I still treasure the pelt. Even though we were not bonded there was a closeness between us. We had a way of communicating… oh, but what will you think of me to be rambling on as I am? You must think me deluded by a childish fancy."
"Indeed I do not think you deluded. I have noticed myself the different noises griffins make when they are in pain for example, or hungry. And if one is very patient, one can ask questions and the griffin can make a positive or negative response. Is this how you communicated with Georgiana?"
The look Mr. Wickham gave Elizabeth made her face grow warm and she almost dropped her cards as he replied, "Yes. That is it exactly. You are the first person to believe me let alone have communicated in this way yourself."
"I suppose it is because as a child I spent so much time with my father's bonded. As you say children believe all things possible. We were both, I suppose too young to have learned we could not communicate with Griffins, and by the time we learned better it was too late."
His smile could have made her forget what they were speaking of. "Your father does not mind your communicating with his griffin?"
"No. Not at all. I often care for him."
"Darcy did not like it at all. I believe it was at this time his jealousy turned into such an unreasonable hatred of me. His father's fondness for me he had never born well, but that was nothing in comparison to his envy of any friendliness between myself and his bonded. As we grew older, whenever he found me near her he would take her away. I remember one particular occasion when he heard me call her Athena[iv], he became dreadfully angry and ordered that I never be allowed near her again."
"An extreme reaction to be sure but why did you call her Athena?"
"I can not explain it. It just somehow felt right to me. Georgiana never seemed to suit her."
At this point, the card game ended. Lydia claimed her share of Mr. Wickham's notice and Mr. Collins was quick to monopolize his fair cousin, Miss Elizabeth's, attention. Elizabeth had no more conversation with Mr. Wickham. She did notice, when he took off his gloves for supper, that he had large scars on the back of his hands. Lydia noticed them as well and asked about them, but Mr. Collins made it impossible for her to hear his reply.
{o}
After returning home with her head full of Mr. Wickham, and failing to convince Jane that there could be no explanation that would exonerate Mr. Darcy while still leaving Mr. Wickham in the right, Elizabeth went to bed. It was some time before she drifted off to sleep. As she did she heard a griffin's cry in the distance and dreamed of flight.
{0}
Darcy's sleep was restless. In his dreams, he stood as a child, in front of his father, next to George Wickham.
"Sometimes," his father was saying, "When we want something very much we can convince ourselves it is true."
"Athena" George Wickham said softly, "Her name is Athena."
And then a sharp pain as if a tether within himself were stretched to breaking…
Darcy's eyes flew open. He sat up in an instant, untangling himself from the bedding. There was a tap at the widow.
"Georgiana?"
The tap sounded again. Darcy opened the window and Georgiana stuck her head in to give him a nuzzle.
"I am sorry. Did my dream upset you?"
He felt comfort and an invitation to fly. There was little point in trying to sleep now anyway.
"I ought to be the one comforting you. Very well, I will meet you outside."
Another sense of invitation and impatience.
"Are you sure? I was smaller last time we did that."
A feeling of assurance.
"Very well. Darcy pulled on a pair of pantaloons. Georgiana flew off and he climbed out the window and balanced on the perch she had vacated. She circled back and flew beneath the perch. He jumped on her back, she cried in delight, and the two of them took off into the night."
i The bonded of a griffin's sire had the legal right to have a family member (normally an heir), or another designated person present at the birth but would sometimes accept a fee instead, especially if the family needed money or did not have a large enough estate to support two griffins. Unlike the bonded of the mother, they would only have the right to have one person present. There were no limits on the bonded of the mother.
ii The reason Elizabeth is surprised is because, even if he'd been given a clerical living, Wickham would not be able to provide for a Griffin. As previously stated the bonded of the mother would be legally responsible for making sure that anyone present at the birth could provide adequate hunting grounds for the griffin should they bond. Technically that would make Lady Anne Darcy responsible but since it was Mr. Darcy who wanted Wickham present the implication is that he will allow Wickham's bonded to hunt on his estate. While the size of the Pemberley estates would make this less of a burden for him than it would normally be it is still generous on his part. At this time the crown was encouraging bonded wealthy landowners to have someone from the lower classes present at a birth, with the idea that giving people the hope they could bond, would help to avoid a revolution like in France. The idea did not have the support of parliament but it may have been what motivated Mr. Darcy's father to have Wickham present or it may have simply been his gratitude to his Steward and fondness for the boy.
iii Wickham is referring to a song that is sung, to the tune of Baa-baa Black Sheep as a part of a children's game. The game is played by a group of children joining hands and forming a circle. One child takes the part of the griffin and stands in the middle with eyes closed while the others circle around and sing, "Griffin, griffin how will the choice go? Surely you realize no one can know. A chance for the Sire, a chance for the Dame, a chance for whoever might come down the lane." At the end of the song the "griffin" spins around and points, whichever child is chosen then takes the part of the griffin and the song begins again, continuing until the children are tired of it or are called home. The song refers to the fact that a griffin is as likely to choose someone who just happens to be there as they are a family member of either parent's bonded. (It is unclear how Wickham thinks this applies since he would neither have been a family member nor just happened to be here.) Some scholars believe the song started as a veiled protest to the practice among members of the upper classes of limiting who was present at a Griffin birth. Other scholars believe it was started by the crown to encourage the lower classes to believe they had an equal chance of bonding with a griffin. However, the counterargument against both theories ("Pull the other one it's got bells.") is hard to debate.
iv Athena: The Greek Goddess associated with wisdom, craft, and warfare. In wars—where she was most commonly depicted—Athena embodied cold rationality, tactics, and strategy. Griffins' names are usually related in some way to their personality. Athena would be an unusual name for a shy, affectionate griffin like Georgiana, though not as unusual as her not having a Greek name at all.
AN: I guess I should have expected Wickham to dominate this chapter as he did but at least now I can finally get ODC to the ball.
Thank you again and again for those who have given me encouraging reviews and those who have stuck with me with all the delays. I hope I can write the next chapter soon. I really want to get them to the ball.