Wickham's Wife

by C. J. Hill

  Here Jardine snorted derisively at such a notion but motioned Wickham to continue with his excuse.

  "It is to my endless regret that I did not return the papers immediately to the drawer where I found them; I forgot to do so, and then, in the heat of the moment in my game with you, produced them as you are already aware. If I had not kept them about my person, I would still be in debt to you, sir, but this additional disgrace would not have occurred."

  Jardine nodded slowly.

  "Well, Wickham, the fact remains that you are still in debt to me; the disgrace continues to be significant on that score alone. How do you intend repaying the debt? What resources have you at your disposal now the lady is presumably unwilling to assist you this time? I need not add that your alternative may very well be Marshalsea."

  Wickham writhed uncomfortably in his chair at the mention of the infamous debtors' prison in Southwark; he had only the income from his legacy of one thousand pounds to offer, which would not come close to satisfying the debt owed. His state was truly wretched, he assured Jardine.

  Jardine looked at him long and hard as if trying to read the truth behind Wickham's words. He tapped his fingers against the arm of his chair and then abruptly stood up and turned his back. Wickham waited in an agony of suspense. Jardine turned back to him and fixed him with a gimlet eye.

  "In this instance I believe your first course of action is to plead your case, most eloquently, to Mr. Darcy. However much he dislikes and disapproves of you, whatever his reason for casting you off, he cannot, as a gentleman, allow a long-standing acquaintance of his to be forced into a debtor's prison when he has the wherewithal to prevent it. To repay this debt would be an easy expense for one such as he, and would show a true nobleness of spirit.

  “You will write to him immediately and beg for his assistance. You will do it now, here, in front of me, and I shall ensure it is delivered posthaste. You will include this address for his response so that I will be the one in receipt of his decision. Take a seat at that table over there: here is pen, ink and paper. Write the letter of your life, Wickham, for it most assuredly depends upon it."

  With a heavy heart, and recalling Darcy’s dire warning against making another such request, Wickham could do nothing other than comply with such an order.

  My Dear Sir,

  You will be surprised to receive this letter, I am sure, after our last meeting which was not on the most amicable terms. However, you have always been a reasonable man and friend in the past, and I am depending upon that reasonableness of character to consider what is contained herein. I regret to inform you that find myself once again at the mercy of your good will in memory of our childhood spent together.

  Upon our last meeting, you were good enough to present me with the equivalent of the living which was promised to me by your late father, for which I was, and am, most obliged. While I indicated to you then that my intention was to study the law once I settled in London, I have found that it is not ideally suited to my abilities, as well as being a most expensive and unprofitable study in the short term, and have been, therefore, forced to diverge into other business interests.

  Unfortunately, those interests have also failed and, without boring you with all the sordid details, I fear I am now in the most desperate circumstances; circumstances which are so exceedingly bad that without some assistance from your good self, I do not know what my situation will be for the immediate future.

  Mr. Jardine, a gentleman whom I met recently in London, rightly insists upon my fulfilment of a debt of honour without delay but, unhappily, I am not in a position to accommodate his request and am, therefore, forced to apply to you, much against my will.

  Upon reflection, I consider my refusal of the living, which your revered father intended for me, to have been hasty and ill-founded. I am now absolutely resolved upon becoming ordained, and if you should present it to me again, as I am sure there is no other person to provide for, I should accept the position with alacrity.

  I would, of course, expect that the bulk of my salary from this position be forfeit until such time as I have repaid in full the debt for which I request your assistance; I could not apply to you in good conscience as a gentleman and a one-time friend without some security being offered.

  Mr. Jardine wishes me to apply to you in the strongest possible terms and I beg you to consider this request most urgently and relieve my current predicament.

  Please respond to Mr. Jardine at the letterhead address at your earliest convenience.

  Your humble servant

  George Wickham, Esq.

  Chapter 7

  Wickham signed the letter with less than his usual flourish and blotted the ink.

  He waited.

  Jardine reached forward and picked up the missive, quickly reading through its contents. His lip curled as he imagined the effect it would have upon the aloof Darcy; Wickham's arrogance was still very evident in between the insincere offers of repayment and actually working for a living. Jardine knew of Darcy a little, but he knew enough that in all likelihood Darcy would not agree to pay off the debt. And, indeed, why should he? Wickham was a scoundrel, clearly. Someone as proud as Darcy would not embroil himself in such undignified matters for the son of his father's estate manager.

  Still, Jardine had made his point to Wickham; he had control over his life now until the debt was paid, and Wickham knew it. Mentioning Marshalsea had been enough to impress him with the severity of his crime and the depth to which he could fall because of it. Jardine looked at Wickham, sitting on the edge of his chair, head bent, awaiting further orders. He looked defeated, but Jardine was not a malicious young man and took no pleasure in Wickham’s humiliation. He knew all too well the excitement of the gaming tables; the highs and lows of winning and losing; the absolute belief that the next hand would be the one to make the night. Why, his own father had had to bankroll Jardine's debts on occasion, threatening to disinherit him if it continued, but paying nonetheless to preserve the honour of the family name. Wickham did not have such support; he did not have any friend or family upon whom to rely, but that was not an excuse for lying and cheating.

  Jardine rang the bell for the servant who came immediately and was instructed to deliver the letter to the mails. He then turned to the silent and miserable Wickham who had been reflecting without hope upon the probable response the letter would evoke; it was a delaying tactic at best, he knew.

  "Well, let us both hope that the letter reaches its recipient quickly, and finds him in a benevolent and forgiving humour, Wickham, for your future certainly depends upon it, does it not now?"

  Wickham nodded miserably and rose to leave, trying to gather his last shreds of dignity about him.

  "I thank you for your patience, sir, in this matter, and for giving me the opportunity to make amends for my terrible error of judgment. I am sure that Mr. Darcy will not fail me in this instance and that the debt will be repaid to you in full. He is an honourable man and does not take pleasure in the suffering of others. I will wish you good day, sir. You know where I am to be found when you receive his reply."

  Jardine laughed incredulously. "Do you imagine that I will allow you to walk away before I receive Darcy's response? Do you imagine that I do not anticipate that as soon as you leave this house you will leave London, disappear, never to be found again? That you will never pay off the debt, either to me or Darcy, should he deign to pay it? No my slippery friend, you will remain here with me under my protection. You may not yet be in Marshalsea but you certainly do not deserve to have your freedom.

  “From everything I know about your situation, you are in dire straits and the first thing we shall do is come to a right understanding. You have offered in your letter to expunge the debt to Darcy by working for him, should he agree to your preposterous notion of becoming a clergyman, but until such time as that unlikely event happens, I have decided that you shall work the debt off for me.

  "As you may have noticed at the beginning of our i
nterview, I am a very busy man. My business affairs take up much of each day, but that I do not mind. What I do mind is that since last week, I have been without my personal secretary who recently decided to take a position abroad, which means that too much of the mundane paperwork that he used to deal with has required my attention. I propose that you shall take his place until the matter of the debt has been settled, effective immediately. You will be provided with a room and board only, and any other necessities of life required as my secretary, but your wages will be offset against your debt to me until such time as I deem to it be satisfied. You must impress me with your willingness to work hard and honestly, Wickham, without fault, and we shall see where you stand in a year’s time.

  “I shall send my servant with you to your rooms so you can gather those possessions which you actually still own, inform your landlord that the bill for the outstanding rent should be forwarded to my attention, and return here within the hour.

  “If this does not happen, Wickham, rest assured I will find you and have you thrown into prison immediately!"

  Wickham listened, bemused. Suddenly, from the depths of certain despair and ruin; from the certainty that his life was in tatters and without hope, he was to become a private secretary, to Jardine? And live in this beautiful house? All he could fully appreciate at that moment was that his immediate problems of rent and bailiffs and debts had vapourised in the face of such an offer. He might be the equivalent of an indentured servant but he could hardly find the words to express his gratitude and relief.

  "Of course! Your terms are most generous, sir. It is the most reasonable and sensible plan of action in the circumstances, and I assure you that everything you require of me will be done. My experience of business has been quite limited thus far, but I will endeavour to learn your requirements quickly and properly. I shall visit my rooms immediately and return with everything settled. I am much obliged to you, indeed I am." Wickham started to hurry out, his sudden good fortune becoming more evident to him with every step.

  "Ha! You will not be thanking me before long, Wickham, when you are elbow-deep in paperwork and I am off to the clubs. You, of course will not be permitted to visit any such establishments while under my protection - you will not have the capital, of course - but perhaps, if I have some party or other here at home, you may attend. You were always pleasant and amusing company, I will give you credit for that. Now go, and be back here within the hour."

  And so it was. Wickham removed into modest but quite suitable rooms for his current situation on the upper floors of the house and existed quite comfortably for more than a year as the private secretary to Mr. Jardine. The response to his plea to Darcy had been received without delay and its substance was as expected:

  Pemberley Estate,

  Derbyshire

  Sir,

  It is with regret, but no great surprise, that I read of your latest predicament.

  Your newly-resurrected desire to take orders, as stated in the letter, I can only consider to be insincere in the extreme. Based upon my knowledge of your dissipated and imprudent manner of living thus far, I reject such a request absolutely for its devious and hypocritical intent of merely providing you with an income; it would be an abomination for you to have moral authority over any honest, God-fearing people. As you very well recall, the value of that living was paid out to you, in full, three years ago, and I indicated at that time that all connection between us was then severed. You have the interest on the legacy left to you by my father, and that is all you may ever expect to receive from the Pemberley Estate in the future.

  With reference to the other matter, I refuse absolutely to pay off the outstanding debt on your behalf. In doing so, a precedent would be set: if one such debt is paid, I would become accountable for any further debts which you would incur. I have no intention of permitting you to squander the fortunes of my family estate due to your profligate behaviour as so many other gamblers do, and you should not expect me to do so.

  The debt is yours. It has been incurred by you, and must be resolved by you alone. You are now at the mercy of your creditor and you both deserve to discover the kind of person with whom you have each associated. You should hope he is not a vengeful man, although he has every right to be so.

  Kindly inform Mr. Jardine of my decision, although I doubt you will give him the true reasons for it, but he should, by now, be under no illusion about your character and could hardly have expected any other outcome to your request.

  Do not contact me again about any such matters, as doing so will lead to legal action being taken against you, Mr. Wickham, immediately. Any other person who feels encouraged to exploit my good name by attempting to recover debts entered into by you will also feel the consequence of his impertinence.

  I sincerely hope that this unfortunate incident acts as a lesson to you, and one from which you will learn to improve your behaviour.

  Fitzwilliam Darcy Esq~

  Unfortunately, Wickham had had no other option but to proffer the offensive response to Mr. Jardine without first reading its contents, as it had arrived within days of its cause being sent, and he was not, as yet, permitted to open any mail that arrived - to whomever it was addressed. Mr. Jardine wished to test the trustworthiness of Wickham before he allowed him free reign with any, more personal, papers, and the fact that the letter, addressed to Wickham, was included, unopened, on his letter tray, impressed Jardine a little on that score. So, it was he who passed the letter to Wickham, remarking as he did so:

  "It would seem that you will be employed here for a good while longer, Wickham. Darcy will have none of you, or your debt. I cannot say as I blame him; what he says is true enough. For who would encumber himself with the possibility of a never-ending parade of debt when there is no reason to do so? He is a shrewd fellow, Wickham, not given to undue emotion or sympathy; it is a pity you did not learn some of his sagacity. Still, you are making good progress in your new position, saving me a great deal of dull paperwork, so I cannot complain. Here, read it, if you wish."

  Wickham's face suffused as he read the harsh litany of truths written about him; how he wished he had managed to conceal it from Jardine. But it was done; perhaps it was better to have Darcy's opinion known of him, so Jardine could compare him with it. His character could not but improve from such a low position!

  Jardine, on the other hand, slowly found much to approve in Wickham, once fully under his control and auspices. Despite the warning contained within Darcy's damning rejection letter, Jardine began to allow Wickham more and more authority in his role as private secretary.

  Wickham was unfailingly charming, highly amusing and very quick-witted - all the attributes that had made him such admirable company in the gaming clubs - and which transferred easily into executing the work he was assigned each day. While quite sure he would never completely trust Wickham with his most sensitive information, Jardine began to feel at relative ease with his new employee within a few weeks of his arrival. Many mundane matters could be left to his discretion, and some more unpleasant discussions with staff or tradesmen were carried out most admirably and satisfactorily by Wickham utilising his charm and skill at managing people.

  It had very quickly become general knowledge amongst his old gambling acquaintance, after Wickham's removal to Jardine's residence, just how his circumstances had been reduced, and many who considered his offences to be nothing out of the general way of such things applauded the solution agreed upon between the parties involved, and wished that they had someone of Wickham's charisma working for them. When invited around to a party at Jardine's house, they were invariably delighted to meet and be amused by Wickham as they had been in the past.

  Others were not so forgiving. They considered Wickham's behaviour to have been utterly disgraceful - to lie about one's connections and wealth was insupportable; it could not be overlooked as being a serious flaw in his character and they avoided him at all costs when they visited. However, their attitude no longer di
smayed Wickham as it had on that first day when he ventured out into his old haunts and understood the level of feeling against him; he thought himself well punished by his lowered position, his inability to enjoy himself as he had previously, and his utter lack of funds. What some others thought of him mattered very little to him now.

  His most painful punishment was his continued separation from Julia. She had not contacted him at all since he sent her news of his change of address and situation; he had no knowledge of her wellbeing or state of mind; he had no idea if she was still in London; and her parting words still rang in his ears months afterwards: I am severely wounded by your actions, George. I thought you a better man than this, especially in reference to our relationship. Do not trouble me with your company until such time as I request it – if I ever do again. How they haunted him!

  He had considered, several times while running errands for Jardine, visiting her at home; but it was a distance from his new situation and one that could not be easily accounted for if he were to be found so far afield. And she would still not wish to see him, he felt certain; she would have requested it if she had changed her mind. Still, as the weeks and months of his enforced servitude passed, he began to miss her increasingly, and wonder and worry about her more than he ever had when he was free to see her when he wished. But it was his fault, and who should suffer but himself? The situation was beyond his control and he could merely wish her well and happy and hope she remembered him with fondness for their years together rather than with hate for his one transgression.