Mr Darcy's Mistress

by Francine Howarth

  In leading the bewailing Lydia to a guest bedchamber it was impossible to believe Wickham had abandoned carding and the waging of bets beyond his immediate means. “Have you lost all that you had; clothes and other items?”

  “Oh no, I nonetheless had to leave Newcastle light of baggage in haste. The lieutenant paid for a carter to remove Wicky’s and my trunks to his quarters before the landlord’s rent collector arrived. Our belongings will remain with Neale until Wicky’s return.” Lydia glanced her way, her despair apparent. “I had hoped for a letter from you, Lizzy, and I know I should not have marked the difference in your fortune and the lack thereof in mine, but I knew not who to turn to in seeking help for a second time.”

  Failure in having fulfilled her sister’s request for more funds, was it so terrible to tell a white lie and save face? “Oh Lydia, I do have to manage my allowance, and I fear I could not extend to your needs without recourse to Darcy. He is quite aware fashionable extravagances are not of my calling, for I am indeed frugal with fashionable items. Whilst he has been in wont to impress upon me I have a goodly allowance, and stated I am less given to frivolous purchases than his sister, needless to say sudden expenditure in sending you a small sum raised an eyebrow with little or no evidence to hand of purchases in Buxton. The truth of the matter, as the elder Bennet sisters, Jane, Mary, and I, would often make do and mend to accommodate Kitty and your burgeoning desires for new and pretty fripperies. Though perhaps you were never truly conscious of mother’s endeavours to hide the true fact dress allowances fell short at times, the overall expenditure having to meet with father’s scrutiny.”

  “But Kitty and I suffered all your hand-me-downs, and was it too much to expect new items of clothing when we were quite grown?”

  Whilst opening the door to the guest room; envisaged as likely pleasing to Lydia’s taste, she chose to moderate her response: “You are not age of majority as yet, and back then you were barely age of consent when introduced into adult social circles.”

  “We have no majority due, Kitty or me. So it hardly counts, does it, in matters of age?”

  “Neither did it count for Jane, nor will it for Mary. Oh how I remember the instance of Lady de Bourgh’s shock in beholding our ages overall. She looked on you as far too young at ten and five to be gracing assembly balls, and quite put mother to bad humours in stringent belief you and Kitty should still be in the hands of a governess, of which none of us had ever endured the like. Though at that time almost any person associated with Darcy was looked upon with marked disdain by mother, and not helped in the least by Lady de Bourgh’s rude entry into Longbourn.”

  “Oh yes, how I recall mother railing over Lady Catherine’s audacity for implying mother and father were less than a good parents to us, and her insinuation mother was pimping her children to soldiers garrisoned at Meryton.”

  “Lady de Bourgh said no such thing.”

  Lydia screwed her nose and a noticeable quirk to her lip matched her retort: “Not in so many words, nonetheless it was implied.”

  “Please do not use words of that nature in company with Darcy. It is common speak.”

  “Beg pardon ma’am,” marked Lydia, in casting a deep bow in mocking manner. “I shall write a missive to self; in recommending I make every effort to curb less than genteel tongue as duly influenced from cavorting with dreadfully coarse soldiers. And I shall remind self not to forget, Lydia Wickham, you are married to the unmentionable; that officer of ill-repute.”

  “Who you are married to is of no consequence when you are clearly in need of our help, and do not unjustly accuse Darcy for Wickham’s failings in life. There is much you are unfamiliar with in respect of his tolerance of Wickham’s rash behaviour and disrespect for the name Darcy.”

  “Then tell me all, for God knows I’ve tolerated Wicky’s impassioned belief all will turn out right in the end, but it never does because his army pay is simply not enough. And despite all that has befallen us I am as much in love with him now as when I eloped, and I will not, and cannot un-love him. I tried, and tried to fall in love with Lieutenant Neale who has a goodly private allowance atop his army pay, and each time I set eyes on Whicky I cannot say all that I had bottled up and wished to throw at him.”

  Tears flooded forth, her sister’s plight immense, and throwing her arms around Lydia’s sobbing frame she could but sympathise in her little sister’s plight. For it was true, another’s imperfections could and were overlooked when love was the foundation of wont in being together.

  “Lizzy, Lizzy, that is only part of my troubles. You see, I fear Wicky loves me, but not near as much as I love him. He was given leave of seven days from duty and he chose to stay in Bath instead of travelling north, and both Neale and Rogers, Major Rogers who is another friend, fell very quiet when asked why Whicky was staying down south. Oh they dragged up excuses aplenty, the distance, the booking of tickets at the last hour on a mail as not always possible, and the cost of paying an orderly to look after his horse. Do you not agree, it is a strange thing for a husband to forego the advantages of the marital bed unless another bed is accommodating his needs?”

  What could she say when similar thoughts had plagued her own mind? Unwilling to believe Wickham was of honourable intents, but aware of the distance involved and a short furlough did raise sense of practicalities. “Travelling by mail is expedient, but Wickham on horseback would entail two days or more from Bath to Newcastle. The journey would be somewhat tiring, and rightly afford little time in Newcastle before he would again ride south.”

  Lydia clung tighter, her head buried to shoulder, her sobs heart-rending. “That is all true, but am I not worth that much effort?”

  “Did Lieutenant Neale and the other officer say they would have returned in similar circumstance?”

  “Indeed.”

  “But were they seeking illicit favours, the very kind you now suspect Wickham may be guilty of?”

  Lydia upped her head, a smile creasing her pretty face: “Oh, do you think they did? How very wicked of them, and now I think on it, Major Roger’s had a decided eye for my person.”

  “Has it not occurred to you the lieutenant’s motives may not be as gallant as surmised?”

  “I have pondered Lieutenant Valary Neale’s constant attentions, but he is such good company and Wicky trusts him, implicitly. I don’t recall precisely what my darling husband said when taking leave, but it was to the effect Neale will never cross the divide, unlike Rogers, thus I was told to keep Neale in company with me and to never entertain Rogers alone. To my observance, Rogers is a little on the flirty side of bad with all the married ladies, and whilst I appreciate a great deal of flattery, I have abided to Wicky’s advice in that particular officer’s quarter.”

  “How very sensible of you, and now, what do you think of this room?”

  Lydia slipped from sisterly embrace and whirled about; observing the soft turquoise ambiance all around her. Just on the point of responding, a fair of face Georgiana poked her head around the door, her riding habit in emerald green exquisite.

  “Welcome to Pemberley. You must be Lydia, and I am Darcy’s sister. It’s so very nice to hear female voices in the house, and I look forward to closer acquaintance in a short while.”

  Lydia curtseyed with a friendly smile if inquisitive expression; perhaps fearful Georgiana had overheard the latter part of discourse within the room. “How nice it is to meet Darcy’s sister at last, I trust we shall all become sisters in due course.”

  Georgiana extended a warm smile whilst performing a nodding reciprocal curtsey. There was no evidence of shyness in her mien as witnessed beforehand, when Darcy and his sister had called at the inn whilst she and the Gardiner’s were lodging there during their visit to Derbyshire.

  “I’ll not impose,” said Georgiana, “for truly, I am most desperate to shed riding attire and freshen up. We cantered a good deal of the way, though Lady Sanders is by far more proficient than I am, and she is to ride back to Farthingly ag
ain in a short while. By road it is around thirty or so miles distant, but we came across country via the fell. That way it is but twelve miles.”

  It was Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy’s worst moment; her stomach lurched, that dreadful nausea so prevalent around mid morn setting her ill at ease. “Lady Sanders is here?”

  “Worry not for Darcy will see she has her favourite tipple. He said you were otherwise engaged.” Georgina reached up and removed her brimmed riding hat, her hair beautifully encased in a hunting net resting to the nape of her neck. “I shall see you at table later.”

  With that said, Georgiana fled to her rooms. Lydia in turn rushed to close the door and leaned against it. “Upon my word she is not as Whicky described. There is no courtly hauteur, nor inclination she is of the same bloodline as Darcy. She is sweetness itself.”

  “Miss Darcy is much changed since last I set eyes on her; that is true, for she was painfully retiring in countenance. There is a marked confidence in her approach to a stranger now, and you are assuredly that.”

  “How very peculiar, for Wicky was quite adamant Darcy’s sister would be a delectable creature if she were not of her brother’s inclination to look down on others as inferior. I felt not the least inferior, did you?”

  Feeling remarkably queasy and dizzy she sought the safety of the bed and settled her rump to it as prompt as able. “One can but assume Lady Sanders’ influence is all to the good, and in part why Darcy chose to remove Georgiana to Farthingly for a while.”

  “Lizzy, you look awfully pale,” declared Lydia, notable concern in voice. “Is something the matter?”

  “Nothing of consequence; at least, I think not.”

  “There is or there isn’t. Do you feel unwell? What sort of unwell?”

  “If I knew that I would tell you.”

  “Is it a pained head as though you are sickening for some ailment?”

  “I think not. It comes and goes at around mid morn and I simply have very little stomach for midday repast.”

  “Oh, oh, you could be as I am. Oh how delightful.”

  “If it happened first thing of a morn, then I would be tempted to agree with you.”

  Lydia snorted: “No, no, silly. I’ve heard tell sickness when with child can occur in the early hours and as late as midday. Oh I truly felt dreadful at around eight of morn and Wicky took pity on me by taking himself off to the nearby coaching inn when not on duty. I tell you, the smell of bacon and kidneys cooking in a pan fair turned me inside out. So you see; you may have to reconsider your present situation.”

  “I am; indeed I am.”

  Giggles aplenty exploded forth as Lydia hastened to remove her bonnet, which was far too elaborate with enormous blue bows and ribbons and implying great wealth when she had not a penny to hand and had travelled on the mail.

  “Oh how funny it all is. And to think we thought Mr. Darcy was so pompous and righteous and stiff in all the wrong ways.”

  “Lydia.”

  “What?”

  Duly grateful her sister had closed the door, she voiced her disapproval. “You must not speak so coarse of manner.”

  “We are both married, Lizzy, and I am far more experienced than you in matters of marital duty to a husband’s desires and manly arousals.”

  “Of that I am aware, though it is not a matter of accomplishment to boast of lying abed with a man before marriage. It is quite the—”

  “I don’t care what you think of me, but at least I married for love, whereas you married Darcy for his ten thousand a year and this house. Now you have to do your duty as his wife whether you want to or not. You cannot deny it as otherwise, and don’t presume for one moment friends have forgotten your former dislike and contempt for Darcy. Each and every one must now look upon your marriage with great sense of curiosity and disbelief; as do we, the Wickhams.”

  “Love is not always fanciful and wildly exciting when it is realised for what it is. And you know yourself I was never given to demonstrative expressions of wild abandonment in company with gentlemen.”

  “Lord no. You did your best to make them feel intellectually inadequate and thus scared them away. You were most cruel to Collins, though admittedly the obsequious and detestable man deserved a put down. But then, when he turned his attentions to Charlotte Lucas, you had the audacity to say she would regret being wedded to him. All the while her prospects of securing a marriage was much as your plight, and far from rosy. You said yourself it was a most dreadful match, and I dare say if you could have, you would have persuaded Charlotte against it. But so adamant was she it was the only offer ever to arise in her lifetime she accepted it, unlike you. And there is no denying you deterred Wicky from asking for your hand for he said he liked you a great deal, initially, but your proclivity to disarm a gentleman with intellectual wit finally fell tiresome.”

  “Did he, indeed? And did he tell you Darcy paid him a great deal of money to wed you?”

  Shock horror befell Lydia. “That cannot be true. Tell me it isn’t true.”

  “I cannot deny the truth,” said she, wishing she had held her tongue, but she would not have Darcy thought of so badly and he not even present to defend his honour, or hers for that matter.

  “No—no—no— Whicky loves me; loves me dearly.”

  Regretting her embittered response to Lydia’s accusatory outburst, nonetheless the truth would be laid bare with as little hurt as possible. “I truly believe Wickham was uncertain of his heart at that time and his financial straits were dire indeed. Though one cannot deny he was a bit of a scoundrel when he sought Mary King’s favour, in like to that of Georgiana’s. He knew Mary would become a very wealthy young lady on coming of age, his interest in her inheritance therefore uppermost in mind. Although we shall never know why the attachment between Mary and Wickham came to nothing, there is no doubt he was in debt to trades people, in debt to fellow officers, and many more expenses besides. Aside from which, you were seemingly besotted with Denny and no one with an inkling you had set your bonnet at Wickham.”

  “Oh I was in love with all of the officers until Wickham paid more attention to me with you out of the way, and my staying with the Forsters in Brighton threw us together.”

  If only you had known then how Wickham’s affections changed with the winds of fate, you may have been saved from your present fate. He fibbed incessantly about many aspects of his past, not least his false affections for Georgiana, which in truth, almost led to an elopement.”

  “Is that so terrible and improbable? She is very pretty and it was in the past.”

  “Yes it was a past incident, but she was barely ten and five. What is more he bore no meaningful love in her direction. Element of familial fondness, perchance existed, but his sole aim was to gain access to her generous allowance and her inheritance. Malice too entered play, for he wished to blight Darcy’s life for having failed to protect his sister, so envious was he of Darcy’s good fortune as that of a Darcy heir.”

  “I had no dowry, nor is there any inheritance of worth for us Bennet girls at coming of age, and pray heaven father has a long road to his grave.” Lydia threw her bonnet at the bed and began unbuttoning her pelisse. “I shall look on Wickham’s past misdemeanours as youthful idiocy. Besides, it was me he married, and if Darcy provided financial support before our wedding day, then it was indeed overdue inheritance withheld from Whicky, just as he said it was. He was bequeathed monies from Old Mr. Darcy’s estate and Darcy cheated him out of it.”

  Oh what a foolish, foolish sister, for there was no way she would grasp the truth of her husband’s deceitfulness. “Believe as you will, Lydia, but you would not be pleading poverty if Wickham were the least bit reformed in character nor would you have taken flight from one lodging house to the next as often as you have, not if he cared for you as a good husband should.”

  Casting her pelisse across her arm, Lydia pouted. “He has, I swear he has improved a great deal. After all, his pay is but ten shillings and sixpence a day, and it is he wh
o despairs at my impatience to have whatever I desire without a thought to housekeeping monies. Even though I duly promise I will be good and not steal from the rent pot, I do and then we have to pack up and disappear overnight, and although he scolds me, he always forgives me.”

  “Oh Lydia, what are we to do with you?”

  “I wish I knew, for I try to be good and fail miserably.”

  “Then you must accept you require lessons in all things moderation and restraint.”

  “And I suppose you see yourself as my tutor?”

  “Indeed, and we shall go window shopping as your first lesson in how to appreciate the wonderful skills of good craftsmanship without owning every item you set eyes upon.”

  Lydia grimaced. “That will be cruel torture.”

  “Not near as cruel as finding yourself thrown out of lodgings in future, and your belongings sold to pay a portion of the rent.” In gaining her feet, the nausea having subsided, she placed a kiss to Lydia’s brow. “You will thank me in the long term, and now I will leave you to freshen up. Perhaps after a little rest you will prefer repast brought to you here rather than dine in Darcy’s company with Lady Sanders. I have yet to make the lady’s acquaintance, and know little about her.”

  “Oh, then I shall stay here, for I have no great desire to thank Darcy for letting me stay, not when he’s in the company of someone neither of us has met before.”

  “I may join you, if I can be excused.”

  “You have to ask permission?”

  “It is only polite when an esteemed lady of title is present.”

  “Go then,” said Lydia, a mischievous quirk to her lip. “You are the madam of sharp wit and God help the lady should she offend your sensibilities as did Lady de Bourgh.”

  Seven

  ~

  Well, the rudeness of the woman, or was it guilt drove Lady Sanders to partake of a glass of wine and leave in haste before making acquaintance of the mistress of Pemberley.