The Meryton War

by Deborah E Pearson

  When School became too problematic for Georgiana and when she discussed the problems with Darcy, he and Colonel FItzwilliam decided to hire a family friend to be a companion to Georgiana, thus removing her from school.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Teenage Angst

  Georgiana and Mrs Younge had arrived in Ramsgate in early April. Their daily routine had been to walk along the seafront in the early morning, pause somewhere for Georgiana to make a sketch of the scenery and then return for breakfast. After breakfast they would then continue with lessons until the early evening. Some mornings it would seem as if Mrs Younge was looking for someone, but Georgiana thought no more about it when one morning she was introduced to Mr Smith, Mrs Younge’s brother. Mr Smith was a gentlemanly man around forty years of age, who seemed to be a pleasant man. They didn’t talk for long and after that whenever Mrs Younge seemed to be looking for someone Georgiana thought that Mrs Younge was looking for her brother.

  This little scene of domesticity changed in Early May. It started one morning as they were taking their morning stroll. They had stopped at the circulating library; usually they borrowed books that were relevant to her studies, now Mrs Young insisted upon adding two romantic novels to the books they borrowed which bemused Georgiana.

  “Mrs Younge, please could you explain why you changed our reading material?” Georgiana asked as she walked into the parlour that evening.

  “You are growing up, Georgiana. When you have your come out, you will be entering into the marriage market. I got those books out the library for you to evaluate the way it is portrayed and as a way for us to have a frank discussion about Love.”

  “Oh!” Georgiana squirmed in her seat uncomfortably, “I wouldn’t even know how to talk to a man.”

  “Don’t worry about that, there are a few topics that are safe and easy to converse on.”

  “I don’t know. I am not ready for my come out, yet. Society scares me. Fitzwilliam seems uncomfortable in society, he never talks about it, but I see him shudder when I ask him how any event was.” Georgiana worried.

  “Georgiana, you are not your brother! There is a way for you to not have to worry about the whole marriage thing though.”

  “How?”

  “By finding you a man for you to marry before your come out.”

  “I don’t know anyone. Besides Fitzwilliam would not allow it.” Georgiana said. This worried Georgiana, and for a brief minute she wondered if Mrs Younge was to be trusted. She shrugged off her unease as her brother obviously trusted Mrs Younge.

  Mrs Younge let the subject drop, however later that night she slipped out of the house to meet George Wickham.

  Mrs Younge made her way along the seafront and slipped into the inn, where George Wickham was enjoying a pint of beer in the taproom. “I can’t stay long, George.” Mrs Younge started slipping into a seat.

  “How’s the plan going? We need to put this plan into motion or she’ll slip through our fingers Amelia” Wickham began, omitting the pleasantries.

  “Slower than I would like. She’s too young, George and we’ll only get one shot at this. You know how close she is to her brother. You know better than I do how difficult he is! However it must be done now.

  “I really must insist that we make some definite agreements on, shall we say the reward you will make for my aid in this? Remember I won’t be able to get another respectable job when this gets out.”

  “All in good time, Amelia, all in good time” Wickham’s reply didn’t give Mrs Younge any comfort at all. She was aware that he left debts everywhere he went, and he owed some money to some very influential people. Mrs Younge wondered if those debts would wipe out the whole of Georgiana’s Dowry. “I need to know, when you’re going to bring Georgiana back into my life.”

  “Tomorrow, I think. We go walking along the promenade before breakfast.”

  Wickham smirked. “I know. I’ve watched you both every day since you arrived.”

  Mrs Younge gave Wickham a disgusted look. “All right then be at the bandstand tomorrow. She’s a shy, trusting thing so our plan should not be difficult, however she’s not yet ready for what we plan.”

  Wickham growled, “Ready or not she’s the perfect target! Fat dowry, get back at Darcy and should anything happen to Darcy she’ll get Pemberley, and by default her husband gets Pemberley”.

  Mrs Younge shifted in her seat. “I have started her on some romantic novels, but the best way in is to work on her fear of her coming out. You’re not a part of London’s society, so offer her a way out of her societal responsibilities. At the very least suggest that she can practice flirting with you. Tell her that the only way to be secure away from society is to create a scandal and elopement will answer all of her requirements.”

  “You have given this a lot of thought! Why are you so willing to risk all to make this work?” Wickham was suspicious. This seemed to be very incongruent to the woman he remembered as Mrs Younge.

  “I have my reasons, George, but I am not willing to divulge them to you.” Mrs Younge smiled in such a way that George Wickham found himself very uncomfortable “I must be going now. Remember tomorrow we are just common and indifferent acquaintances.” With that Mrs Younge was gone, leaving George Wickham with many a confused thought whirling through his brain, and a solid plan forming.

  George Wickham’s biggest challenge was not whether or not Georgiana was ready for their plan, but how to be sure that her brother Fitzwilliam Darcy would not appear unexpectedly. He knew from Mrs Younge that Darcy was not due to arrive in Ramsgate until the end of June, but Darcy could arrive at any time; Darcy was too close to Georgiana. Another thing he had to work out was a way in which to ensure that Georgiana would not write to her brother alerting him to Wickham’s presence or any elopement plans. As far as the elopement went, Wickham was fairly confident that he could persuade Georgiana to elope, he’d managed it before with others.

  The next morning Wickham walked along Cavendish Street, towards the harbour, deep in thought. He had to have Georgiana’s dowry. There was nothing else to be done. He had walked this route very often before catching sight of the Mrs Younge and Georgiana, and following them back to their lodgings. Wickham growled! Their lodgings indeed; the house in which they were staying was not just any residence, but the house of someone influential. Wickham wondered how it was that Darcy had managed to get the house as it was not one that had been listed for rent.

  When he had arrived, during his preparation Wickham had viewed all houses that had been for rent. It didn’t really matter Wickham knew that he would soon be a regular visitor. Nothing really mattered anymore except the pressing need for money. He was tired of moving from place to place, but until he had Georgiana’s dowry he could not settle anywhere as usually when he had been in an area for three months he would have to move on or be thrown into debtors' prison. Ugh! He’d made that mistake back in Cambridge. Darcy had been away from university for some reason and the debt collectors had come calling for Wickham. With nobody to ask for help Wickham had passed a month in the debtors' prison before Darcy had returned and paid the debt. That month had been horrible! Wickham shook his head. No, he would not remember that flea infested, rat hole right now.

  He arrived at the bandstand just in time. The Ladies were merrily making their way along the promenade. Wickham needed to present his best face now that the game was about to begin, and he decided to lounge on the pillars and look out to sea and pretend to be surprised by the ladies. It was the ladies who surprised him. The tide had yet to go out and the wind whipped over the choppy sea. The waves crashed into the lower sea wall with a ferocity that made Wickham wonder if maybe the sea level would rise higher and possibly break over the lower sea defences. Something in the sea felt menacing and hypnotising so that he found himself reciting his wicked plan in his head to the rhythm of the crash and rolling of the waves.

  Mrs Younge on the excuse of pointing out something that could just be seen on the west cliff, nudged Wickha
m, bringing him out of his slight daydream. Wickham turned slowly and found that his memories of Georgiana didn’t do her justice, she had grown into a beautiful young lady although one could not yet call her a woman. He decided to play it cool. “Mrs Younge, what a surprise to see you this morning”.

  Georgiana recognised Wickham almost instantly. She had not seen him since her father’s death four years previous. She remembered that her father, George Darcy, had been uncommonly kind to George Wickham to the extent that Mr Wickham had been treated almost as well as Mr Darcy's children. Her memories of Wickham were merely of his having being good to her as a small child. Surely it would not be wrong to talk to someone who was an old friend?! Mrs Younge had yet to return Wickham’s greeting and turned to Georgiana and asked if she might introduce them. “Oh, no introduction is necessary Mrs Younge!” Georgiana replied, and then turning to Wickham she shyly stated “I don’t know if you remember me, Mr Wickham.”

  “Indeed I do, Miss Darcy” George Wickham replied, gallantly bowing over her outstretched hand. “You’ve grown into a beautiful young woman, since I last saw you”.

  Georgiana blushed, and didn’t know what to say in reply. Mrs Younge stepped in. “I was not aware that you knew each other”.

  “Oh yes! Mr Wickham was a boyhood companion of Fitzwilliam’s being the steward’s son. Mr Wickham was very good to me until my Father died” Georgiana stated.

  Wickham smirked. With that kind of innocent enthusiasm Miss Darcy was an easy target. Plus it made things much easier for he and Mrs Younge to work their plan. “I can see I’m intruding on your walk, so please do not let me detain you” Wickham was pretending to be gallant.

  “Oh no, Please join us Mr Wickham. We were going to the circulating library this morning, and then we might take the circular route home”. Georgiana quickly replied.

  “Well…” Wickham knew that as Georgiana was not out if she was doing her job Mrs Younge should be ushering him away from Georgiana, so he made a show of asking Mrs Younge for permission despite the meeting being prearranged. Mrs Younge merely nodded her head and the now threesome made their way to the circulating library located on the high street. Georgiana’s shyness prevented her from being overly talkative, but Wickham took it upon himself to ask about her school, and then about Darcy. Georgiana answered his questions and then asked what he had been doing. Wickham could not tell her any truth about what he had done, but rather told her a combination of stories that his friends had told him and complete fabrications.

  After that first day, Wickham daily met the ladies at the bandstand sometimes making it look like an accidental meeting, but more frequently he would make out that he had missed Georgiana too much to not meet her the next morning. Towards the end of May Wickham became an almost daily visitor to the house where Georgiana was staying. If either Mrs Younge, Mr Wickham or Georgiana had been challenged they would have defended his presence by how close to the Darcy family Wickham had been since childhood.

  Wickham had never forgotten Mrs Younge’s words that Georgiana was not ready, for marriage or love and her fear of her coming out. The last month he had spent just making her comfortable in his presence, but time was running out. He had to get her to agree to elope with him. Plans had to be laid very carefully. There was nothing for it, after all, Darcy was expected to arrive at the end of the month and Georgiana was beginning to get excited for his arrival.

  “Georgie, my dear,” Wickham started smoothly, “I’ve arranged to visit a friend of mine aboard one of the merchant ships. Would you like to join me?”

  Georgiana could not contain her glee at the opportunity to see a naval frigate and enthusiastically agreed to the excursion. They walked arm in arm to the docks, with Mrs Younge trailing behind. So far things were working out just as planned. Their first sight of the frigate took Georgiana’s breath away, the ship seemed to be very large. Wickham’s friend, was waiting for him on the gang plank and turned out to be Captain Vickers whose ship was called Honourable. He gave them all a brief tour of the ship, but while they were on the bridge Wickham and Mrs Younge kept Captain Vickers talking while Wickham slipped the sextant into Mrs Younge’s rather large reticule. How they managed it or indeed how it was that it even fitted into her reticule with ease, nobody could answer. However it transpired the sextant was not missed immediately. Georgiana knew nothing of this and just admired the beauty of the vessel. She was unaware of the conditions that existed in the bowels of the ship as the Captain deemed it too awful for the eyes of Ladies. They had a picnic on the deck of the ship. During the course of the picnic the conversation turned to love and marriage.

  “We’re in harbour for a month longer than we should have been y’know Wickham” Captain Vickers stated, winking at Wickham.

  “Oh, how so?”

  “Well, I took a month’s extra leave, being as me wife and I eloped last week.”

  Wickham chuckled here was his perfect way to bring it up to Georgiana. However before he could even think of something appropriate to say Mrs Younge spoke up “Oh how romantic! Did you know her long?”

  “We have been engaged for the better part of seven years” at this Georgiana looked crestfallen, obviously hoping that it had been a really quick affair. “You must really love her” Mrs Younge gushed.

  “I do, I really do” Captain Vickers face fell slightly “I wouldn’t be leaving at all right now, but we have been ordered to sea by the end of the month, so I will be away from her for a long time.”

  “Could you not take her with you?” Mrs Younge asked.

  “I could but conditions aboard ships are not really conducive to having a young lady aboard. It is better for her to stay home.”

  At this point Wickham leaned over and whispered in Georgiana’s ear something slightly unintelligible. Georgiana obviously had misheard him, though, as she immediately brightened up and whispered back “I think that getting married would be a really good idea.” WIckham was dumbfounded. That was not what he’d said at all, however, this was perfect. The silly little thing had just done his work for him. Elopement by the end of the month was now an almost certainty. “Shall I tell the Captain and Mrs Younge now?”

  “No Georgie! We need to work the details out and decide on a few things before you can tell anyone!” Wickham whispered back. Yes, this would be easier than he thought, but the silly little fool would ruin everything if he didn’t keep her in line. Mrs Younge would have to keep her in line. “You can tell Mrs Younge when we get back, but tell no one else until we have set our plans”

  The conversation continued on about love, elopements and weddings until eventually the ladies made their excuses to leave. Wickham escorted the ladies back to their residence, and then left them for the day.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Engaged

  Walking home, Georgiana felt like she was floating. She knew that she had to wait for Darcy’s approval on her engagement, but still she felt as if everything was going right. She was sure that George Wickham loved her. If she had been thinking clearly she would have seen the signs that something was not right. He had never in so many words said that he loved her and when she had asked if she should tell Mrs Younge and the Captain Wickham had seemed almost angry, however, she didn’t think about any of that. She and Wickham were going to get married, she was sure of it. She excused herself from Mrs Younge to go and write in her diary and to dream of her Wickham, little did she know that countless other young girls had done the same thing, with none of them securing their prize.

  The next morning Wickham arrived at the house before the Ladies left for their morning walk. Playing the adoring suitor is something Wickham had plenty of practice doing. He found the company of Georgiana insufferable and only put on a show in order to gain her dowry. In her presence he was all smiles and meaningless words, yet he always felt like he could not get out of her presence quick enough. The insipid little mouse held no interest for him and sometimes he felt almost as if she was completely repelling him. He thrived
on chaos and somehow around her he felt almost incapable of creating that chaos. It annoyed him because he was unaware as to why he felt that way around her. Georgiana on the other hand had from the very first meeting in Ramsgate felt like she was in the middle of a fire whenever Wickham was around. When she has asked Mrs Younge why that was, Mrs Younge had cleverly answered that it was due to her being powerfully drawn to Wickham and falling in Love. Mrs Younge knew this to be incorrect. As a member of the Empty lineage, Mrs Younge had the opposite effect when around Wickham feeling like the area was Ice cold, this she knew was the sign of being around a half blood, it was imperative that Georgiana remain totally ignorant of this fact. From this moment on until Georgiana was his wife, Wickham had to have the appearance of being thoroughly devoted. Upon being shown into the parlour where the two ladies were sitting, Wickham presented Georgiana with a beautiful bouquet of white tulips. The young couple along with Mrs Younge then discussed the engagement together and by the end of the morning, the plans were set and the elopement was planned for the day before Darcy was due to arrive in Ramsgate.

  As the month of June progressed Georgiana’s nerves began to get the better of her. Repeatedly she had asked both Mrs Younge and Wickham whether or not they had written to Darcy for his permission and both spun her a pretty line that he had sent his congratulations to both Wickham and Georgiana. They said that he had approved the plan to leave for Pemberley the day prior to his planned arrival, and that Georgiana would have a lovely wedding at Pemberley. They spun a pretty lie that the banns were being read at Pemberley in preparation. Too excited in her plans to get married and too trusting to question the story that she was being given, Georgiana carried on preparing heedless to all the warning signs. She did not stop to question why she had not received a note of congratulations from her brother.