A Sister's Curse

by Jayne Bamber

  “Oh, yes,” she laughed, eyeing him flirtatiously. “I could hardly keep my countenance. There was one passage in particular, about the very promising possibilities of the Pemberley library….”

  Darcy pulled her closer for one more kiss, before standing up. “We had better go and speak to Sir Edward at once.”

  Elizabeth leapt to her feet as if entirely unaffected by the tone the conversation had taken. “Would Jane and Richard be very angry if we make the announcement tonight?”

  “At the moment, Elizabeth, I cannot say I much care,” he growled, giving her a little squeeze before they returned to the ballroom.

  ***

  The announcement was made at dinner, and the reactions of all their family were duly predictable – in short, everyone was elated except for Aunt Catherine. Even Cousin Anne was well enough distracted by Elliot de Bourgh to show no distress at all.

  After the meal the dancing resumed, and Darcy was on the point of asking Elizabeth to join him alongside their mother and Sir Edward, when Mr. Collins approached him.

  “Mr. Darcy, Cousin Elizabeth, my congratulations. But I am interfering with your elegant dancing – my apologies, of course, only I had rather hoped to have a word with you, Mr. Darcy.”

  Elizabeth smiled warmly at her cousin before looking up at Darcy. “Go on, then. I see poor Mr. de Bourgh over there looking rather in need of rescue.”

  Darcy looked around, and saw that Elliot was indeed looking beleaguered by the conversation of all three of the Bingleys at once. He looked back at Elizabeth appreciatively. “He shall be eternally grateful, I am sure.”

  As Elizabeth moved away, Mr. Collins said, “I wonder if there is somewhere private we might speak? Would your uncle the earl allow us the use of his study for just a few minutes?”

  Darcy began to grow concerned, but acquiesced, and led Mr. Collins out of the ballroom and down the corridor, toward his uncle’s study. Inside, he offered Mr. Collins a seat and a drink, but he declined both. “I will be brief, Mr. Darcy. As you are now engaged to my cousin, I think it right to bring this to you. Sir Edward is a dear friend, and while I hold him in high esteem, I have received the impression that he may not share my concerns in this matter. In short, I wonder if you have heard anything of Mr. Smythe?”

  “I have,” Darcy admitted with some trepidation; he helped himself to a glass of his uncle’s brandy.

  “Very good – I am sure my cousin Elizabeth would not conceal it from you – not to imply that there is anything untoward, at least not on her part….”

  “I have heard that he has paid her some unwanted attention.”

  “He has, and yet I think there is more in it than she might realize. After meeting Mr. Smythe about a fortnight ago, and forming a most unfavorable impression, I was relieved when Cousin Elizabeth seemed impervious to his charms, and I am sure that is why her excellent uncle pressed the matter no further. However, Mr. Smythe paid her another visit a couple days ago, and it was not a pleasant one. Sir Edward asked him not to call again, but I fear they have not seen the last of him, for there was such a look about him. An evil look.”

  Darcy felt his blood began to boil, but attempted to remain calm. “I see.”

  “There is more. His aunt, this Mrs. Younge…. I thought it strange that she should put herself forward with my three cousins, and then single Cousin Elizabeth out, and after Elizabeth had left the protection of Darcy House, there was this chance meeting with Mrs. Younge pushing her nephew at Elizabeth. Far too convenient!”

  “Indeed,” Darcy said, sensing there was more still.

  “As you know, I have lived at Longbourn since shortly after Elizabeth and her family ceased to reside there. It occurred to me to send some inquiries to my friends and neighbors, asking after a Mrs. Younge, or perhaps a Miss Smythe, who might have been friends with Fanny Bennet. Nobody in the neighborhood had ever heard of such a person.”

  “So she is an impostor, and he a fortune hunter.”

  “I thought so, and yet it is undeniable that the pair of them do seem to possess certain information about Elizabeth’s family history, at least enough to pass themselves off credibly.”

  “What does this man look like?”

  “About your height, very tanned – he claims he is from Cornwall, and yet even Elizabeth has observed his northern accent. He wears his hair long, with very pronounced sideburns, and dresses rather like a dandy.”

  “Green eyes?”

  “Yes, I think so.”

  Darcy closed his eyes and ran his hands through his hair. “Cleft chin?”

  “A little, yes.”

  Darcy paced the room for a few minutes, downed his brandy, poured himself another, and then downed that one.

  “Mr. Darcy, I must –”

  “No. Speak of this to no one, Mr. Collins. And… thank you.” Darcy strode out of the room; he needed to speak with Richard at once.

  19

  1 April 1812, London

  Darcy had obtained Mrs. Younge’s address from Elizabeth at the ball, and he set out for Portman Square first thing the next morning. As he approached the house Elizabeth had specified, he encountered George Wickham descending the stairs; the bastard actually had the cheek to smile at him.

  “Good morning, Darcy. You look like hell.”

  Darcy grimaced. He had been up half the night, preparing for this moment, and yet it was all he could do not to simply pull out his pistol and end the wastrel once and for all. “Perhaps I only need a drink. Shall you invite me in?”

  Wickham grinned viciously at him. “I suppose my errands can wait,” he drawled. “Do come in, Darcy. I am rather proud of my new home. Let us step into my study.”

  Darcy followed Wickham into the house, wondering how the profligate could afford such a residence. The study was just off of the foyer, and Wickham strode around a large oak desk, making a great show of stopping to admire himself in the mirror before sitting down at the desk, leaning back in his chair, and propping his feet up. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Darcy?”

  “What do you want?”

  “I say, Darcy, you came to visit me.”

  “And I did not come to play games. You ought not even be in England! But here you are, hardly surprised to see me, so I will ask again – what do you want?”

  Wickham stroked his chin, pretending to consider. “What do I want? I suppose I am in a position to be choosy. Do I want to Jane back? What an uproar that would cause the good Colonel and his family, if I were to come forward and stake my prior claim. Ah, but then you would be in quite a bit of hot water yourself, when you are made to explain to your dear sister that I am not really dead. Yet I wonder… is she the sister I want? It is a difficult decision, Darcy. I might have Eliza, who is just as fetching, in her own way. She is keen on me, Darcy, and I have spoken to her of you often enough to know I could easily make two of your three sisters into your enemies very easily. It would certainly be amusing.”

  “Enough! I have already paid you to stay away, and now you would ask for more?”

  “Yes, that was your mistake, Darcy – you underestimated me. Did you really think I could be bought so cheaply?”

  “Cheaply? Considering your origins, I gave you a fortune! I put you on a boat bound for America with ten thousand pounds in your pocket, more money than the son of a steward could ever expect! That was the arrangement, Wickham.”

  “Yes, and now it is not. You put me on the boat in Portsmouth, but by the time we docked in Plymouth, I had rather changed my mind.”

  “And what has kept you silent all this time? It has been nearly three years.”

  “Well, spending your ten thousand pounds has taken time. I suppose you would not know – you have an endless supply of money.”

  “And you thought you should like a little more yourself?”

  “No indeed – I should like a lot more, and your sister Eliza has thirty thousand pounds and an absolutely delectable figure.”

  Darcy tried to keep his composur
e, but the thought of Wickham going anywhere near Elizabeth made him sick. “How dare you!”

  Wickham only laughed. “You hadn’t noticed? More’s the pity. Well, I have lost interest in one of your sisters – though I do not know if she has lost interest in me. I could be made to give them both up, though I had other plans in store for one of them.”

  “How much do you want?”

  “I believe I am in a position to say that thirty thousand pounds is rather my minimum, as I might have as much anyhow, if things go a different way.”

  “Ten thousand of her dowry would come from me, and I can guarantee that you would never see a shilling of it. As to the other twenty, I am sure her uncle could be made to feel the same.”

  “Proud Mr. Darcy would let his sister live in penury? No, I think your dignity could not allow it, nor all the tender-hearted ladies in your family. How broken-hearted poor Jane would be over the matter!”

  “Ten thousand, and this time you sail directly for Australia.”

  “Fifteen, and I shall write you when I arrive in Boston.”

  “You had your chance at America!”

  “And you have had your chance at an amicable solution. I should really hate to see any discord in your family.”

  Darcy gave a heavy sigh. “One thousand up front, and another thousand every month forwarded to you in Boston for a year, and if you ever set foot on British soil again –”

  “Make it two thousand up front and I shall board a ship today.”

  Darcy stood and nodded. “I will not offer to shake hands on the bargain, as I know such a gesture means nothing to a man with no honor.”

  Wickham feigned indignation. “You wound me, Darcy.”

  “I would like to.”

  Wickham laughed. “Always a pleasure doing business with you.”

  “This will be the last transaction between us. I shall return in two hours. Be ready to leave for the shipyard.”

  Wickham nodded, his lips curling into a sinister smile. “I am ready to travel even now.”

  ***

  Darcy walked slowly down the street, away from Portman Square, knowing it very likely that he was being watched from the window of Wickham’s study. He hoped he had given a convincing performance, and that Wickham believed he was hastening home to collect his funds. He was, in fact, returning to Darcy House to assemble what he needed to ensure that Wickham was finally removed from his family’s lives forever.

  He checked his pocket watch; it was half past nine. By now, Richard should have arrived at the Gardiner residence, ostensibly bringing Charlotte to visit Elizabeth, and with three of his most trusted men posted outside. Darcy would be there within half an hour, and they could proceed.

  Jane was in the corridor as he entered the house, and though she smiled up at him, he instantly sensed that aught was amiss with his sister. “Good morning, Jane. Are you well?”

  “I am, Brother, though a little tired. You look as if you have hardly slept yourself. There were noises last night, as if people were coming and going from the house after we came back from the ball.”

  “I had some business with my agent, and a few others. I am sorry if it woke you.”

  “Were you up so late? I hope there is nothing wrong, Brother.”

  Jane was looking up so earnestly at him, such tender, trusting compassion in her eyes; it broke his heart. The letters he had dispatched last evening, following his one-sided conversation with Richard at the ball, had ensured that his secret would remain just that. This would all soon be resolved; Wickham would once again disappear without Jane being any the wiser. And yet, as he peered down at his sister, her eyes almost resembling Elizabeth’s, he was filled with a sudden and terrible remorse.

  Elizabeth and Jane trusted him implicitly. They thought him a finer man than he was, and he could not stay silent. He could not deserve their love if he would withhold the truth. “Jane, my dear,” he sighed, “I have an appointment I must get to, but first we had better speak privately. Would you come into my study?”

  ***

  Matlock House was already in uproar when a trembling footman braved the earl’s displeasure, interrupting the heated argument to announce that three officers were waiting for Richard in the drawing room.

  The earl pounded his fist on his desk, his face pink with rage; the footman gave Richard a quick, imploring look and then scurried away. “You do not think you can just leave at a time like this?”

  “I have an appointment, Father, as I have told you. It is a matter of some urgency.”

  “More urgent than your sister’s disappearance?”

  In truth, Richard did not know. Darcy had been strangely cryptic the night before. He had asked Richard to bring Charlotte to visit Elizabeth – which was now quite impossible – and to have three of his most trusted men posted guard outside. Darcy was to meet him at ten o’clock to explain the rest. Whatever it was, he had known at the time it did not bode well, and the nagging sense of suspicion in him now told him there was one possibility, an absolutely catastrophic one, that might indeed outweigh his sister’s elopement.

  “Well?” The earl snarled at Richard. “Have you nothing to say for yourself, when you have brought this fellow into our midst, knowing very well it would not only go against my wishes, but sow discord with your aunt and cousin? And for what?”

  Richard met his father’s ire with fury of his own. “You might have put your foot down years ago, regarding Aunt Catherine’s ambitions to have Darcy for her daughter! You might have pressed for the de Bourgh alliance in the first place – her reasons for opposing it have ever been foolhardy and selfish! Darcy was never going to have Anne, but Elliot might have.”

  “And so you would take matters into your own hands without consulting me? I am your father!”

  “Yes, and I am very much your son, am I not? I, too, can scheme and sneak and try to arrange people’s lives for them, just as you have taught me.”

  The earl cuffed his son. “My schemes work, damn you!”

  “Father,” John said, stepping in between them. “This serves nothing. De Bourgh is not a villain, and Richard’s intentions were good, if misguided. Charlotte is gone of her own free will, and if you wish, I will go after them – I am sure I can catch them up before they reach Gretna. But what would it serve?”

  The earl sputtered with rage. “What would it serve? Your sister’s honor, this family’s reputation, our fortunes....” He grabbed Richard by the collar and sneered at him. “I have done so much for you, and this is how I am repaid?”

  “Henry, enough,” the dowager countess bellowed from the corner. “We have been silent out of respect, and so you would forget that there are women in the room?” Lady Phyllis laid a hand on her mother-in-law’s arm, but Lady Eleanor shook it off and stood, stomping her cane in indignation.

  The earl released his son gruffly, sparing a hard look for John as well, and Richard gave his lady grandmother an appreciative nod. Lady Eleanor grimaced at all of them. “This is unseemly, Henry – this may be your house now, but I shall not sit by and abide such violence! John was quite right to ask, to what end? Charlotte is of age, and have you not always feared she would end an old maid?”

  “Better a spinster than a whore!”

  “Henry, that is enough,” Lady Phyllis said again, rising to stand beside Lady Eleanor. “John, ride out at once. Tell Mr. de Bourgh that if he returns with Charlotte, we would be happy to begin planning proper wedding proceedings for them immediately. There is no need for all this.”

  “I should say not,” Lady Catherine clipped, striding into the room, dragging her weeping daughter by the arm. “See here, Anne? Do you see now what sort of man Elliot de Bourgh is? You would lament over him running off with your artful, grasping cousin Charlotte – see what ignominy you have been spared!”

  “Go back to your room, Catherine,” the earl growled.

  “I have just as much right to a say in this conversation as anyone else,” she snapped. “Your son has
brought this matter upon me, much as he has done the rest of you. I am only sorry for you, that my daughter was spared, while yours was less fortunate.”

  Anne de Bourgh stamped her foot and screeched, “Less fortunate? She stole him from me, Mamma! First Eliza stole Darcy, and now Charlotte has taken Cousin Elliot away from me!”

  “Hush, child! You ought to be grateful it was not you that barbarian carried off! I only hope your prospects are not so materially damaged by having a fallen cousin!”

  “Catherine, shut up,” the dowager countess sighed. “You give me such headaches. As of this morning, your life and Anne’s are no different than when you woke yesterday morning, with not a thought in your head for Elliot de Bourgh.”

  “But I wanted him,” Anne shrieked. “He is twice the man Darcy is, and Mamma will not listen!”

  “This is madness,” John said, pounding his fist against the wall. “I am going to ride for Gretna and bring them back. The countess is quite right. With all your marriage mania, Father, you might have given her some little encouragement when you saw, as we all did, how well they were getting on last night. You are glib enough with a joke at her expense, and when she finally captures a man’s notice she is made to feel she must run off in secret. I cannot wonder why.”

  As John opened the door to go, Richard could see Sergeant Drew, Major Pruett, and Lieutenant Buchanan waiting in the hallway. His family were all still shouting at one another, and so he made his escape. This had better be worth it, Darcy.

  ***

  Jane had fled the room in tears, and Darcy knew he could not have pressed her to hear his apology, even if he had the time to offer one. He checked his pocket watch – it was nearly ten; he needed to leave immediately to meet Richard at Upper Brook Street. He had prepared everything he would need the night before – every document he had on Wickham, every debt accrued before he went to sea, and in the six months between his returning from service, and his slithering back to Pemberley to ask for more money before he would honor his engagement to Jane. Despite having written Jane that his fortune had been made in his years at sea, Wickham had returned to England just after the death of Darcy’s father, gambling away what little he had earned, and Darcy held a great deal of proof of Wickham’s other misdeeds from that time period. He had hoped never to use them, but he had kept everything, knowing there would always be a chance....