by C. J. Hill
Wickham smiled slightly, and inclined his head as he surveyed the room before speaking.
"I hope that you will enjoy your time in Brighton, Miss Lydia, but I think you may well be disappointed in how little opportunity there will be for us to see each other there. It will not be as it has been here in Meryton over the Winter with abundant leisure time. Once we are established, we men shall have more serious things with which to occupy our time; none of us shall be quite as available for your amusement as we have been."
"Oh!" sighed Lydia in disappointment, her visions of many sunny afternoon strolls along the sea-front on Wickham's arm dimming as he spoke.
"But surely you cannot be always in the barracks or the camp? Surely you will have some time to yourselves in the evening? You cannot spend all of your time marching and shining your boots."
Wickham bowed irritably to Lydia, and said curtly, "I would not defer the pleasure of any young lady's company if it can be helped; I am sure we shall see something of each other in passing while you are in Brighton but I cannot promise it, and you should not expect it. Good evening, Miss Lydia." And with that he made his thanks and adieus to the Philips and removed himself from the house.
Lydia watched his retreat with some slight trepidation forming in her heart. Wickham certainly had not improved in friendliness since his engagement had been broken off; in fact he was now quite boorish and taciturn where he had always been so charming and amusing – he had barely strung one sentence together, and now he had left entirely. Surely he could not really be suffering from the loss of Miss King's affections? Surely not! For what had he lost other than her fortune which, although considerable, certainly did not compensate for the owner's utter lack of looks or good humour. Well, Lydia decided, she would certainly make the most of her time in Brighton and ensure that Wickham did too, and change his mind about her very quickly; she would do whatever was required to improve his opinion of her.
The final night before the Regiment left for Brighton was one of great celebration and hosted by the Bennets at Longbourn; Wickham was relieved from any further importuning as Lydia and Kitty were so entertained by his fellow officers that he was hardly noticed, much to his satisfaction. Lydia was holding forth to all who would listen, about her excitement at leaving early the next morning straight from Harriet and the Colonel's house, and all that she hoped the travelling would entail; the expected sights, people, and new country they would cover; her visit to Brighton comprising every possibility of earthly happiness.
Wickham was not so pleased that her elder sisters, who had removed themselves from the general noise surrounding Lydia, while polite in their attentions to him during the evening, both exuded a certain air that could not be entirely due to Elizabeth's thwarted partiality, or chagrin at his removal of affections to Miss King; Wickham could not detect absolutely the reason for the distant manner Elizabeth, in particular, had displayed at previous evenings, but determined it could only be put down to hurt pride and wished to make amends, such as he could.
"My dear Miss Bennet! How delightful you look this evening. Your travels into Kent must have agreed with you. How was it to visit Mrs. Collins in her new home? I remember before you left that you hoped to find her happy and content; I sincerely trust that is what you found."
Elizabeth smiled coolly. "I was very happy to see Charlotte again, Mr. Wickham, and I thank you for your enquiry; she is very content indeed and I was delighted for her in her new situation."
"She is fortunate indeed to have such a friend to care about her, so much so that you considered nothing of spending a great deal of time and trouble ascertaining her happiness with your own eyes. There are not many who would be so thoughtful, Miss Bennet; it is a trait I have always regarded in you. Your sympathetic attentions to me when I first arrived were most agreeable; I hope we shall always be of the same mind and feelings?"
Elizabeth regarded him as if from a distance. "Oh, I am now quite certain that we will never regain such a similarity of mind, Mr. Wickham; we are too different for that."
Wickham recoiled from her coolness. Both remained silent for a minute, unsure what to say next. Elizabeth broke the silence.
"I was happy to meet a Colonel Fitzwilliam during my stay at Hunsford; he accompanied Mr. Darcy to Rosings to spend three weeks with Lady Catherine and her daughter. Is he someone with whom you are acquainted, Mr. Wickham?"
Wickham looked surprised, displeased, alarmed; but with a moment's recollection and returning smile, replied, that he had formerly seen him often and, after observing that he was a very gentlemanlike man, asked her how she had liked him. Her answer was warmly in his favour. With an air of indifference he soon afterwards added:
"How long did you say he was at Rosings?"
"Nearly three weeks."
"And you saw him frequently?"
"Yes, almost every day."
"His manners are very different from his cousin's."
"Yes, very different. But I think Mr. Darcy improves upon acquaintance."
"Indeed!" cried Wickham with a look which did not escape her. "And pray, may I ask?—" But checking himself, he added, in a gayer tone, "Is it in address that he improves? Has he deigned to add aught of civility to his ordinary style?—for I dare not hope," he continued in a lower and more serious tone, "that he is improved in essentials."
"Oh, no!" said Elizabeth firmly. "In essentials, I believe, he is very much what he ever was."
While she spoke, Wickham looked as if scarcely knowing whether to rejoice over her words, or to distrust their meaning. There was a something in her countenance which made him listen with an apprehensive and anxious attention, while she added:
"When I said that he improved on acquaintance, I did not mean that his mind or his manners were in a state of improvement, but that, from knowing him better, his disposition was better understood."
Wickham's alarm now appeared in a heightened complexion and agitated look; for a few minutes he was silent, till, shaking off his embarrassment, he turned to her again, and said in the gentlest of accents:
"You, who so well know my feeling towards Mr. Darcy, will readily comprehend how sincerely I must rejoice that he is wise enough to assume even the appearance of what is right. I only fear that the sort of cautiousness to which you, I imagine, have been alluding, is merely adopted on his visits to his aunt, of whose good opinion and judgment he stands much in awe. His fear of her has always operated, I know, when they were together; and a good deal is to be imputed to his wish of forwarding the match with Miss de Bourgh, which I am certain he has very much at heart."
Elizabeth could not repress a smile at this, but she answered only by a slight inclination of the head; her disinterest in listening to his old grievances was clear and he could not penetrate her distant mood. The rest of the evening passed with the appearance, on his side, of usual cheerfulness and politeness, but he made no further attempt to distinguish Elizabeth; they parted at last with mutual civility, with everybody in the party acting as spectators as Lydia took a noisy leave of her family, disregarding their gentle adieus in her own extravagant show of delight.
Wickham's shock at discovering that Elizabeth had renewed her acquaintance with, and revised her opinion of Darcy caused him more than a little consternation as he rode towards Brighton with the Regiment the next morning. His thoughts were fully occupied with what might have been discussed; what might have been divulged; what might have been discovered!
Elizabeth's cool reception of him, so different from her attitude before leaving for Kent, which had been unaltered even though she had known about his attentions to Miss King at that time, could only mean that certain, unsavoury things about his past had been revealed, and that she was now in complete knowledge of some, if not all, of his past behaviour!
But, however he imagined it, however he grappled with the various possibilities, he could not understand just how such a conversation could have come about between her and Darcy; two persons formerly in the grasp
of the most mutually inclusive disgust of the other. He could not see how they could have entered into a polite conversation that had included the details of something so personally affronting to Darcy. For all of Darcy's faults, Wickham would never accuse him of being vindictive or a gossip; indeed, his fault was to say too little rather than to say too much. It was really most perplexing indeed and occupied a great deal of Wickham’s thoughts during the journey.
But it was a great relief to be away from Meryton; he had managed to execute his plan of deferring payment on debts, and was delighted that he still had the bulk of his winnings to rely on whilst in Brighton. He had been so occupied and out of sight during the final weeks, other than the last few parties, that none of his creditors had managed to accost him and demand payment, for which Wickham was most grateful.
He shook himself out of his pensive mood: onwards and upwards! One cannot waste time on dread or regret or guilt when the sun is shining and a new adventure is ahead, and Wickham, by the time he entered Brighton was entirely himself again: composed, debonair, and, along with the other officers, felt all the importance of their arrival and the regard of the residents who watched as the Regiment rode down the main street to the other side of town where they were to be encamped.
Chapter 28
Brighton was everything a person could wish for in a seaside town blessed with the patronage of the most amusing person of royal descent since Henry VIII. Because the Prince Regent had declared his intention of summering there every year, and had taken great pains to ensure his own comfort and entertainment whilst doing so, his society followers also declared it to be the place where they, too, intended spending their Summers. In no way could Brighton be said to be any less than London for those who wished to shop, gossip, see and be seen, and attend parties and assemblies every night in the grandest company; in fact, many considered Brighton to be the equal of London in several of these areas. Its bracing sea breezes and healthful sea-bathing were mere incidentals to the more important entertainments on offer.
The houses were splendid with furnishings in the most elegant taste; the two main Assembly Rooms were spacious, decorated with style, and certainly provided plentiful quiet corners and window alcoves for many liaisons to be arranged and executed. All along the sea-front there were boardwalks and covered walks, where strategically-placed seats advanced the gossip of the day; one could hardly help but overhear if one listened carefully while politely gazing out to sea.
Hair arrangements were considered elegant, or not; new fashions deemed flattering for that particular wearer, or not; entertainments from the previous evening praised or panned; scandals whispered about, or discussed loudly depending upon the proximity of either party involved; relationships dissected minutely as to the suitability or fortune involved - there was no subject considered too inferior to be beneath the scrutiny of the observers along the length of the sea-front.
Into this bustling town with its many unfortunate similarities to London, Wickham was thrust. Unhappily for him, and his new-found determination, the inns and houses all offered entertainments of the sort and expense from which he had never quite managed to break himself. The officers were much in demand. Their company, as in Meryton, was expected and enjoyed by every host; an impressive cohort of young gentlemen in regimentals added a certain cachet to every evening. Wickham's warning to Lydia proved false: there was almost as much time in Brighton as there had been in Meryton for him to be out in company, especially after the day's work was ended, and it was not long before Wickham had succumbed to the lure of it and all it entailed, bolstered by the reassuring feeling of money in his pocket which, without a doubt, this time he meant to increase.
He tried - he really did - to restrict himself, remembering Julia's face the last time he told her about his grievous situation; he did not want ever to have to cause her anguish and disappointment in him again. He tried to resist, even harder, when he remembered that American with whom she had been so comfortable, fearing that if he should ever return to her in dire straits, that Clemens fellow would prove himself a more dependable and prosperous option. However, all of these fears bothered him for only a short time before the lure of amusement won the day over restraint; amusement there was in plenty and it would have been more than churlish to refuse when he had it within his power to relieve the boredom of more than one friend or lady.
Another person utterly delighted with the situation was, of course, Lydia Bennet. Her belief that there could be nothing so grand as visiting Brighton had been proven correct in every possible way. Here there were several regiments, all containing only the most delightful and handsome gentlemen, and who were at least one thousand times more amusing than any who had been in Meryton, as she had declared more than once to her friend as they walked up and down the sea-front watching the activity of the bathers.
"I am sure I do not know to which of them to pay attention every evening, Harriet, they are all so attentive and entertaining! If I spend too much time with one, the others all complain that I am neglecting them. What a fine time I am having, are not you?"
Harriet smiled. "Not as fine a time as are you, Lydia, but of course, being a married woman that is as it should be and I do not complain on that account; my entertainments must be moderated to my situation. I take my pleasure in watching you flit about amongst your admirers and the havoc you manage to create every evening doing so.
“But, Lydia, I thought your heart was for Wickham? It certainly was before we left Meryton. Has the vast choice available here forced such a change, might I ask? At one time he was all you cared or talked about."
Lydia looked at her friend and sighed.
"Oh, yes, Harriet, Wickham certainly is still the man for me; that has not changed at all. But he is not the same ever since his disappointment with Miss King, you know. His manner is so cold and he snaps at me whenever I speak to him; although even that has rarely happened since he is hardly ever at the same parties as we are - it is as though he is avoiding me, but I do not know why. It is most disappointing and is the only thing that spoils Brighton for me. I had thought to be taking strolls along this very front with him, arm in arm, by now - that was my plan - but nothing has come of it and I do not know what I can do to improve his humour or interest in me."
"Oh, do not be so downcast, Lydia! We have been here only two weeks - there is plenty of time to work your charms on him. I hear from the Colonel that Wickham spends a good deal of time at a Mrs. Bracecourt's house; apparently, she runs rather interesting card evenings to which it is difficult to gain an invitation if one is not known to the lady herself - she appears to be quite exclusive in her guests."
"That sounds very interesting - and secretive indeed! Why is she so particular I wonder? Is there something that goes on that is slightly underhand, do you think, Harriet? Something that flies in the face of the law? Ohh! I wonder if it is a den of some sort, you know the kind one hears about, where much more than polite card games are played?"
Harriet stopped walking and looked at her friend in amazement. "Well! If it is that kind of place, and I do not believe for one minute it could be, otherwise my husband would have refused his men to continue with their patronage there, we certainly will never attempt to gain admittance. How horrid!"
"Horrid? Exciting, rather, I think! You are fast becoming too staid for one so young, Harriet. What could possibly happen other than we watch a game or two, listen to the gossip and see who is there, just as we do anywhere else? Oh, do ask Colonel Forster if he will take us, or ask him to tell Wickham that he must escort us as a special favour. That would be best of all - Wickham as my protector. How wonderful that would be. You must arrange it Harriet."
"I most certainly will not, Lydia. I am sorry that I even mentioned Mrs. Bracecourt's, for now I know you will pester me until you get your way, and I do not wish that at all. I am quite content with the friendships we have made during our stay here and I have no desire to become involved in any that might be particularly u
npleasant.
“But you surprise me, Lydia. I should have thought that you would be perfectly content with your hundreds of admirers without adding another, more dangerous element to your visit. I regret even more bringing up the subject of a certain gentleman; you can be sure that I will refrain from doing so again."
"Yes, yes, I know, Harriet. It is all very disappointing for you, and I am very happy with Brighton thus far, I assure you. But if I can only arrange to see Wickham! Do not you see that I must affect him soon – before the Summer is half over? If I should have to return to Meryton without having made the best of my opportunity, I shall die of shame and disappointment. Charlotte Lucas managed to affect Mr. Collins in only three days - not that he was worth even that amount of trouble - but I have known Wickham much longer and still he remains a stranger even though he is within my reach. It will not do, Harriet!”
“Well, I see that you are still determined for Wickham, Lydia. But if this Mrs. Bracecourt’s is of questionable reputation you certainly shall not be attending any gathering there; remember that my husband is acting as your guardian while you remain with us and you must get his permission for anything that you wish to do. What would your father say if he knew about it? How he would chastise poor Colonel Forster for his inattention to your safety. No! I absolutely refuse to pursue it further. Do not persist with this ridiculous notion, Lydia: be happy with what you already have.”