Darcy's Second Chance

by P A Hill

  “It seems that this case is moving so fast now that nothing will stop Wickham’s conviction and his execution.”

  “If it looks like the deck is stacked against us I shall go to the papers and tell the whole story. That might be enough to force a fair trial and hopefully justice in this case.”

  “Mr. Darcy, I have spoken with many who said the investigation has been hurried and many people that know much have not been interviewed.”

  They agreed to meet the morrow and Elizabeth said she wanted to assist Darcy and his friend in their investigation.

  CHAPTER 12

  Darcy wrote a letter and sent it by express post to his lawyer friend in town and asked him to come to Netherfield to help.

  The next morning he and Mr. Stanwick went into Meryton. Darcy planned to signal for his friend to join him if he received Maggie’s concurrence but for now he watched as his friend walked across the street to wait for him.

  He now watched as Maggie came to her father’s store and opened it. He said nothing until she put the open sign in the front window and watched as she took a broom and swept the entrance.

  “Mr. Darcy,” she said as she looked up at him, “we have to talk fast. My father sometimes allows me to open early but he could come along any minute. Mr. Wickham did not kill the man and I can prove it. Lord Elkton came into the store midmorning of the day of the assembly. I noticed that he had been walking with Mr. Wickham as they passed by but my father had already told Mr. Wickham that he could never come into our store.”

  “Why did he want to keep Mr. Wickham away?”

  “A little over a fortnight ago my father caught me sitting on Mr. Wickham’s lap in the back of the store and we were kissing. On the day of the assembly Lord Elkton was not long in the store when my father offered him some tea. He must have drugged my father, for less than thirty minutes after Lord Elkton left the store my father got very sick. I walked home with him and he messed twice before going to bed, but he told me to close the store early that day.”

  “I suppose both men returned after that.”

  “That is true sir. I came to the store and realized it was open and noticed that Mr. Wickham and his friend were inside. Lord Elkton said he wanted to talk with me but I was afraid. We did talk some and soon Mr. Wickham put the closed sign in the window. After that the man started talking of me coming to town and that he could find me good place to live and that he would buy me all kinds of things.”

  “Now what was your reply?”

  “I told him that except for kissing Mr. Wickham that I was a good girl and a virgin and that I would not go to town. He laughed at me and grabbed by arm and put it behind my back and twisted it until I cried and began to kiss me all over as he put his body against me. I tried to fight him off but he kept hurting me so I let him kiss me even though it was vile and I felt unclean with him. Mr. Wickham soon told the man that they both had to leave and the man and him argued. Before Mr. Wickham walked out he whispered for me to meet him in the store near midnight and for me to leave the back door unlocked and I said I would.”

  “Are you certain that Lord Elkton did not overhear you and Mr. Wickham?”

  “No, Mr. Darcy, I am not certain he did not hear us talking. That night I was in the store to meet Wickham and I suspected he had arrived. When I came to the back of the store Lord Elkton grabbed me and held a knife to my throat and demanded that I take off my clothes. I was sobbing as I thought this man may have killed Wickham and I pleaded with the man to leave. He laughed as I saw him begin to get undressed and then pushed me down on the floor. When I screamed he grabbed the knife to warn me what he would do if I resisted him as I prayed that Wickham would come and save me. We both heard a noise and I was still not undressed and hid as someone opened the front door. The man heard the commotion in the back and chased Lord Elkton into the alley where they fought. It was very dark as I watched as Lord Elkton grabbed a piece of wood and swung at the man and then the other man grasped that piece of wood from Lord Elkton and beat him over the head. That night it was very dark but the entire fight was over in mere seconds. The man looked at what he had done and staggered away but he was very sick and kept making a mess in the alley.”

  “What will happen to the killer, Mr. Darcy? Lord Elkton attempted to rape me and do other things. He also must have drugged Mr. Wickham like he did with my father.”

  “It is impossible for me to tell you what will happen Miss Fletcher, but you do have a compelling story. You do not have to tell me who the killer is but I have sent for a lawyer friend from town and he will be here within two days. Once he arrives I would like you to meet with us and my chief investigator so we can see our way to free Mr. Wickham and protect the identity of the killer.”

  “I understand what you are saying sir and I will help anyway I can to save Mr. Wickham.”

  An hour after Darcy left Mr. Fletcher’s store, Darcy and Mr. Stanwick saw Mr. Fletcher return. The man still had a large bump on his head but looked well and was kind to his daughter. Both Darcy and his friend wondered if the man was fully in control of his actions that evening after being drugged. The doctor who examined him said he was likely drugged much like Mr. Wickham.

  ***

  Later Darcy met with Elizabeth and Georgiana at Netherfield and soon he and Elizabeth were together.

  “Mr. Darcy, I hope you have learned the identity of the killer.”

  “Miss Fletcher was most helpful but I did not ask her to tell me. It is more important that I allow myself to be a man she can trust; however, I am near certain that I know the killer’s identity.”

  “If I am to help you with this investigation Mr. Darcy than you need to be more forthwith. Now tell me about what happened. I will speak of this to no person.”

  “Yes, Miss Bennet,” he said as he looked into her eyes. I do trust your judgement and your mind and need your help. Let me tell you what I have discovered.”

  Darcy told her every detail he could remember. After he finished, Elizabeth came over and put her arms around him and began to cry. “I am sorry, Mr. Darcy, but I believed the girl to be loose and wild and she appears nothing like that. Even Wickham does not come across as poorly as Lord Elkton. From the way you describe what happened, her father awoke from his stupor and seeing his daughter gone, he went to the store. There he killed the man. Maybe he thought he had killed Wickham or maybe he knew that it was Lord Elkton, but he did protect his daughter who was about to be raped.”

  “Miss Bennet,” Darcy said as he continued to hold her, “I expect my attorney friend to arrive at Netherfield in a day or two. I need you there with me as much as the others. There may come moments when Miss Fletcher will be in need of female comfort.”

  Darcy kissed the top of her head as she pulled away but her eyes were full of hope as they continued their walk.

  On the very day of the arrival of Darcy’s attorney friend from town, the inquest was held in Meryton. It lasted not an hour before the jury found Wickham guilty of the bludgeoning to death of Lord Elkton. The coroner had earlier pronounced that Lord Elkton had been bludgeoned in the back of an alley probably late the evening of the assembly. There was no indication of a motive and only one man was suspected, that being Wickham, and he would be returned to town the next morning to await trial.

  Darcy and Elizabeth and Mr. Stanwick attended the inquest and later they returned to Netherfield where they met with Darcy’s attorney friend, a Mr. Steven Trowbridge who had just arrived from town. The man was a friend who Darcy knew from Cambridge and was Darcy’s age. Though handsome, he was near six inches shorter than Darcy and of a slighter build. He was very intelligent and Darcy was confident he could help Wickham.

  After discussing the murder, Mr. Stanwick and Mr. Trowbridge came into town to talk with Wickham. They were fortunate that the guard at the jail liked Wickham, for he was not allowed any visitors, yet they visited with him for over an hour. Wickham told of everything he knew and was pleased that Darcy was working to free him. A
ll that Wickham said agreed with what Darcy had said earlier and with Miss Fletcher’s account and that of Elizabeth’s Aunt Phillips. Wickham swore he had been drugged and said he suspected that Mr. Fletcher had caught Lord Elkton attempting to rape his daughter.

  After leaving the jail the men met with the doctor who examined Wickham and Mr. Fletcher and he confirmed the men were drugged but he questioned why the first investigator did not talk with him.

  The group next returned to Netherfield and further discussed what could be done to save Wickham and still later all met with Miss Fletcher about how they planned to defend Wickham.

  CHAPTER 13

  The next few days were spent taking depositions from the numerous witnesses and fitting together a timeline of what happened and who was responsible.

  The Bennets were having breakfast when Kitty came to the table late. She was reading an article in the gossip section that spoke of the sad events in Meryton. As she started to read it her mother grabbed it out of her hands and began to acknowledge the contents.

  Friends,

  By now you may have heard of the passing of Lord Elkton. Indeed, he left this world on Saturday last not long after departing a local assembly in the village of Meryton in Hertfordshire. The officials have arrested a Mr. George Wickham, a former officer in the militia, with the murder. This reporter was in attendance and both Mr. Wickham and Lord Elkton arrived late and both appeared sober. Neither man danced as all the ladies that were present declined the two gentlemen the entire evening. Later Mr. Wickham acted very wild and appeared to be drunk, but this reporter noticed he only had five drinks the entire night and they were small glasses of port. Lord Elkton had much more wine than did his friend. Mr. Wickham had to be escorted out of the assembly after he and Lord Elkton had words and after Mr. Wickham grabbed a young woman demanding a dance.

  Lord Elkton’s body was discovered early the next morning and he was found to have been bludgeoned to death in an alley not far from the assembly.

  Authorities have arrested Mr. Wickham for this murder but this reporter is telling you that Mr. Wickham is innocent. This reporter followed Mr. Wickham as he staggered to his room at the Meryton Inn, and left evidence of his sickness along the trail back to his room.

  This reporter has heard that the authorities are trying to make Mr. Wickham pay for this crime but it is more likely that they are trying to protect Lord Elkton’s reputation by sweeping this story away as fast as they can. Discussions with others in Meryton reveal that the investigation of the murder was a laugh as people in the know were excluded from interviews even though they could have proven Mr. Wickham was not the murderer.

  The inquest will have taken place before you have read this story and Mr. Wickham will go to trial in town later. In my next piece I will update you on my suspicions.

  Yours,

  Geoffrey P. Hancock

  There was no sound as Mrs. Bennet completed reading the article. Finally Mr. Bennet commented.

  “It appears we will still have to be careful. There is a killer about and this man believes it is not Mr. Wickham. Mr. Hancock took a real chance in writing this story but he probably has his editor behind him. The Times is certainly the most liberal paper in town and are not shy in covering the Lords and Ladies at their worst. If he is correct that this investigation was rushed through just to appease the elite in town, this article is a strike in the name of justice. You can count on one thing, the paper will be selling very well until the trial is done and the real killer is hung.”

  ***

  At Netherfield that morning Darcy and the others read the same story. “This is incredible,” said Mr. Trowbridge. “With what we already know, we now have more proof that the investigation was done poorly. All I need to do now is to go over last minute questions and later contact the authorities in town.” In just a few days Mr. Trowbridge and the others had everything they needed to make a mockery of the investigation and the subsequent arrest of Wickham and the inquest.

  Now he returned to town to discuss what evidence he had with the reporter from The Times and later with the authorities. By now the authorities were getting nervous because of the public uproar over the lax handling of the investigation of this murder and people were on the streets demanding Wickham’s release. Whereas the authorities initial thought was to save an English lord from scandal, now they agreed to look at the case again.

  The authorities again dragged their feet and The Times reported in another story that they had witnesses that Lord Elkton had drugged two men and had attempted to rape an innocent young woman of fourteen that night and was killed in a fight by another man who heard her screams and came to the young woman’s rescue. The paper demanded that the authorities release Mr. Wickham and not bring charges against the man who came to her rescue.

  After meeting with Mr. Trowbridge and Mr. Hancock the authorities released a statement that based on new and compelling evidence, Mr. Wickham has been determined to be innocent of the murder of Lord Elkton and has been freed. The man who saved the young woman had killed Lord Elkton in self defense as Lord Elkton was about to rape the young woman. The statement further promised that the man who had stopped the attack would not be prosecuted nor named. The next day The Times published a story on the front page saying these things.

  CHAPTER 14

  Mr. Trowbridge returned to Netherfield before the story ran in the paper, so there was no surprise from Darcy and his friends when the paper later carried the full story. Darcy rode over to Longbourn to tell Elizabeth the news after learning of it from Mr. Trowbridge. As Longbourn came into view Darcy turned Sampson in the direction of Oakham Mount as he spotted a lone figure on her walk.

  Like so many times before, Darcy felt that sense of excitement as he drew near to her and felt a burst of admiration and pride that she was his friend. Just the sight of her brought out a smile and sent his heart racing. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and the only one who had claimed his heart and he loved her goodness and how she made him feel. Now he felt his eyes water as he thought of their past. Not that many weeks ago he had been crushed by her refusal of his offer of marriage and remembered how he felt and how surreal it was. For nearly three weeks at Rosings he had been in Elizabeth’s company every day.

  His departure from Rosings on such a sour note made him most unhappy and her rejection meant her absence in his life. Darcy was as low as he had ever been and then he remembered his friend Bingley and soon he had hope.

  “Mr. Darcy,” she said as he jumped from Sampson and walked over to her. “You look excited sir, have you received good news?”

  “I have Miss Bennet. It is the best of news and almost makes me as happy as when I greet you on such a day as this.”

  Elizabeth saw his look of happiness and pride but colored beautifully then bestowed a tender smile as she murmured the words, “Thank you.”

  Darcy next told Elizabeth all he had heard and watched as the flood of emotion spilled over her face and she broke down. He had never seen Elizabeth this way but she could not control her feelings for him as he welcomed her into his arms.

  “I am so very proud of you, sir. Ever since Rosings I have thought of how wrong I was to misjudge you and began to chastise myself that I would never allow myself to see your honesty, for you did tell me that you despised deception of any kind. It was all there for me to see but I was blind and would always dismiss your kindness and other solicitous concerns that you had.”

  “Miss Bennet, you are being very kind to me today and have made me very happy. I assume out secret courtship is going well, would you not agree?”

  “Mr. Darcy, you are the best man I have ever met and what you have done to free Mr. Wickham and help these people is nothing less than extraordinary.” Elizabeth was serious and he stepped back to look fully into her face.

  “Miss Bennet, please do not trifle with me. My sentiments and feelings for you remain unchanged since Rosings, but one word from you will silence me forever.”<
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  Elizabeth felt a sudden need to catch her breath, but she could not remove her eyes from the handsome man in front of her. Now she felt her voice waiver as he held her hands. “We are talking feelings now, Mr. Darcy, and I believe that you can see that my own have changed since then. In fact, I would say my feelings are quite the opposite.”

  Darcy’s heart was about to jump out of his chest as Elizabeth bestowed the most beautiful smile he had ever seen and he saw her eyes water. I love you Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and ask you to always stay near me.”

  Now Darcy kneeled on one knee. “Miss Bennet, I shall try again.” He watched as she softly giggled as tears began streaming down her face.

  “Miss Bennet, I honor you and ardently love you and ask that you consent to be my wife. You are already my best friend so I ask for your hand and your heart.”

  Elizabeth jumped into his arms as she exclaimed he already owned her heart and that she accepted his offer. They sealed their engagement with a passionate kiss followed by others as they spoke of love. Finally they agreed to say nothing of this until Darcy had spoken to Mr. Bennet and they agreed to wait until after the story in The Times appeared in the paper to ask for her father’s consent.

  That evening Jane and Elizabeth joined Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley and the others as they celebrated their success with the investigation. There was much to be happy about as an innocent man was free and Mr. Fletcher was saved from the prospect of being arrested for murder.

  During the dinner Mr. Bingley announced that he had proposed to Jane and that she had accepted. There was much happiness at Netherfield and Mr. Bingley planned to speak with Mr. Bennet the morrow.