by P A Hill
“No bother Mr. Bingley. Please come in and have a seat. My family had been telling me earlier about the assembly and I had Mr. Darcy on my mind. What can I help you with today, Mr. Bingley?”
“I have come to ask your permission to court Miss Bennet. Last evening at the assembly I asked her for her approval and she granted it. This is something I have been months late in doing and I hope you will grant this request.”
“I do approve of your courtship, sir. Mind you, this does not allow you any special favors with my daughter and I shall be watching you to ensure you remain a gentleman around my Jane. Now go Mr. Bingley and watch Mrs. Bennet as she celebrates your and Jane’s happiness.”
Elizabeth started out on her solitary walk near Longbourn before Mr. Bingley arrived and soon saw a rider in the distance. As he drew closer she recognized that the man was Darcy.
“Mr. Darcy,” she said, as he dismounted and walked closer and greeted her. “Miss Bennet,” he responded, “I hope this day finds you well and all your family.”
“Thank you sir, we are all well but you look troubled.”
“You are very astute Miss Bennet, for I have bad news. Lord Elkton has been murdered. Just early this morning he was found bludgeoned to death in an alley near the assembly. He told Sir William the previous morning that he had booked a room at the Meryton Inn for the night of the assembly. An investigator will soon be assigned.”
“This is awful, Mr. Darcy. Mr. Wickham and Lord Elkton were arguing before they left the assembly. Do you suppose that Wickham is the killer?”
Darcy thought on her question but already knew the answer. As much as he considered Wickham as a vile reprobate, he had never known him to be violent. He knew the two men had words at the assembly but did not believe Wickham was the killer. Still Darcy knew that Wickham would probably be charged with the murder.
“I am sorry Miss Bennet and I have been thinking. Mr. Wickham is many things but he is not a killer. He looked to be intoxicated that night, though he had not drank anything before he and Lord Elkton greeted us. To tell the truth, I did not see him drinking so very much that night. Anyway, based on his state when he left the assembly, he would have been in no position to bludgeon anyone.”
“I agree Mr. Darcy. His performance right before he was ushered from the assembly speaks for itself.”
“This is likely to be a trying time Miss Bennet. I am certain that your family and mine will be asked many questions and some of them may be difficult to answer. You should expect that I will be a suspect because of my known dislike for both men, but my alibi is iron clad as I departed the assembly with Mr. Bingley and Georgiana and went directly to Netherfield.”
“Who told you of the murder, Mr. Darcy?”
“The housekeeper at Netherfield heard the news early this morning when some food was delivered and so I rode into Meryton and learned more.”
“This is all very upsetting as I had hoped to take a long walk but with this information I will not risk a walk alone until the killer is found.”
“Miss Bennet, I am happy to walk with you and that is the reason that I have come. I needed to tell you about this news.”
“Thank you, but I shall not walk long.” Elizabeth now locked her arm inside his own and they began a slow walk back toward Longbourn.
Ever since seeing him at Rosings, she had dreamed of walking with Mr. Darcy on such a morning. This day was clear and bright and it was very comfortable except for this dreadful news. It was almost summer and most of the flowers were in bloom and the sounds and fragrances of the season heightened their feelings. Her sweet scent of lavender affected Darcy as much as his man’s spice did the same to her. She wondered if he would kiss her today and hoped he would.
“Mr. Darcy,” she said, attempting to continue the conversation, “when you were last in town I took many long walks thinking of you and me. After Rosings I have been an emotional mess and wanted to apologize for being so cruel. Last night I kissed you because I feared that I may never have another chance. Please do not consider me less of a lady because of my forwardness and I also ask you to forgive my behavior last evening as I was not myself.”
“I shall not mention our secret, Miss Bennet, but I hope you will approve of me dreaming of that kiss.”
“Mr. Darcy, it is my wish that you dream of our kiss each evening. I do not know what got into me last night. I was hot and was so glad to be with you and to see you look happy and I wanted you to know how sorry I was about everything.”
“Miss Bennet, I had hoped, even prayed, that we could become friends. We have had our share of disagreements, but most were from silly misunderstandings. For my part, I believe that I created most of them, and I am sorry.”
“Let us agree on one thing, Mr. Darcy. Both of us have been at fault.”
Elizabeth saw the smile spread over his face as he spoke. “Mr. Bingley was planning to come to Longbourn to speak to your father. Have you heard about this?”
“No, but I would not be surprised if he wanted to ask for papa’s blessing for Mr. Bingley and Jane to court.”
“I was thinking of asking you how our renewed friendship is going, but you gave me your answer last night. This mess with the murder cannot be ignored, but when it gets settled I intend to ask you if I may court you.”
“The answer is yes now and will be yes after the murder is solved. If you like, we can start our silent courtship right now, but we must not tell anyone.”
“Then I agree Miss Bennet. You told me last evening that you had never been kissed on the lips by a man. Because you kissed me, my response to your kiss does not count as a kiss entirely initiated by a man. Miss Bennet, you know how I feel about you. It is my desire to enter into this silent courtship with you and I hope you feel the same. I am happy for the way you have affected me and I feel I am a better man for having known you and for being able to call you my friend.”
“Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth replied as her face colored and her eyes sparkled, “I also desire to have this courtship with you.”
“Yes, Miss Bennet. We must celebrate this pact of ours, so come closer to me.” He now was next to her and cradled her head in his arms as he whispered his affections and soon covered her lips. It was a long kiss and he deepened it such as to leave both of them breathing hard and longing for more.
“Mr. Darcy, my love, I have never felt this way before. We must leave now and I must return to Longbourn right away or I will be in trouble with you.”
“We will return, dear heart, but first I must sit here for a minute on this bench to calm myself.”
CHAPTER 10
Elizabeth was accompanied back to Longbourn by Mr. Darcy who suggested that she have protection because a killer was loose. Mr. Bennet was in his library but saw them approaching the house and came outside to greet her and soon the others joined them.
“Lizzy, I suppose you have heard the news about Lord Elkton.”
“I have papa. Mr. Darcy rode out to meet me as I was walking and told me of the murder.”
“Your Aunt Phillips came by after you left and told us everything. Mr. Darcy, I am glad you returned with her. Until the killer is found Lizzy and the others shall stay close to Longbourn.”
As Mrs. Bennet and her daughters continued to talk, Mr. Bennet met with Mr. Darcy in his library.
“Mr. Darcy, thank you for checking on my daughter. You must tell me what is going on. Lizzy has told of your speculation of the reasons for Lord Elkton coming into Meryton, but I need some answers.”
“Yes, you do. Lord Elkton and I know each other. Both of us are followed in the gossip sections of the papers as rich and eligible bachelors but we are very different. His objective since he came of age has been to deflower any young woman who caught his fancy. He is known for being a womanizer and a misogynist and for some reason he feels as if he is in competition with me. I do not have his reputation and do not approve of his lifestyle and I certainly do not condone his behavior. Mr. Wickham is cut from the same clo
th as Lord Elkton except he is not rich. Both have an attraction for young women and my cousin has told you that Mr. Wickham attempted to elope with my sister when she was but fifteen. Of course he was after her inheritance.”
“You must now tell me more of the man who was murdered,” replied Mr. Bennet.
“Mr. Bennet, Lord Elkton was a man of great wealth and power who spent lavishly on young women. They were likely seduced by his money and his status as much as by his way with women. When he was in town he would routinely gossip around the men’s clubs of his conquests. As much as I do not believe that Wickham murdered the man, it is likely he will be the leading suspect. Because it was an English lord who was murdered, there will be such a call to find the killer and execute him that the rest of the process, the trial and investigation, will likely be a farce. Wickham will soon be arrested and tried and executed, even if he is innocent.”
“You may likely be a suspect as well. Mr. Darcy.”
“I have told Miss Elizabeth that I will be a suspect. My dislike for both men is widely known.”
“But why do you assume that Lord Elkton believed he could have his way with my Lizzy and your sister?”
“Both men are depraved. Wickham likely considered his near elopement with my sister as proof that she was an easy mark. I am certain that Lord Elkton would brag all over White’s if he could hang her wings on his horns. Wickham also held out the opportunity for Lord Elkton to pursue Miss Elizabeth. I believe he thought that she and I were not close and that such a man as Lord Elkton would easily earn her good opinion.”
“So who would kill such a man?”
“Both men have seduced many young women and there are many fathers and brothers and male friends who would like to see harm come to these men. It may be that someone near Meryton killed him or perhaps thought he was Wickham and killed him by mistake. It was a dark moonless night and the killer may have been drinking. Wickham probably went back to his room and went to sleep. I heard that when the innkeeper awakened him the next day he was still very groggy and incoherent from too much drink and could hardly walk and had been sick in his bed. He was also that way when he was removed from the assembly.”
“Mr. Darcy, if Mr. Wickham was that sick, then I believe he did not murder the man.”
“I have known Wickham all my life and he is not a violent man. We will have to wait until the inspector completes his investigation but it does not look good for Wickham.”
“Mr. Darcy, you have convinced me of what will happen. It seems the cards are stacked against Mr. Wickham.”
“That is the way it will play out, unless the inspector can find the real killer.”
“Now Mr. Darcy, I need to ask you another question. Both of these men are responsible in many ways for this murder. Your sharing their history of how they both preyed on young women and were planning to do the same with my daughter and your sister, convince me that both men are unworthy to live. It is likely that some father or brother of an earlier victim sought the man out and murdered him out of revenge. Mine you, I am not condoning any murder, but if the inspector found the killer and he was a father or a brother of a previous victim, would you wish to see that man hang and Wickham go free and continue his debaucheries?”
“You raise a good question. If my sister was abused this way I would consider doing the man in myself, but I probably would not go that far.”
“Still, you do not know that you would not kill for revenge. Would you rather see Wickham set free to continue his debaucheries or the person killing out of revenge?”
“That is the question that I cannot answer though I lean towards finding Wickham not guilty and not revealing the identity of the killer. If you had asked me if I had the father who killed Lord Elkton and Wickham standing together and only one could live, I would say let Wickham hang.”
“That response is one that I can agree with, Mr. Darcy.”
Later that day the local magistrate, Mr. Henry Bottoms, arrived in Meryton and he was accompanied by another man, Mr. Thomas Worthington, who was the inspector. They set up shop in Meryton and began the interviewing process.
On the second day of their stay both men visited Netherfield to interview Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley about that evening at the assembly. Inspector Worthington was a tall men of nearly forty and was very thin with more hair on his cheeks than on his head. He was not a man to laugh and smile but was serious and deliberate.
“Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bottoms and I have come to speak with you and your sister and Mr. Bingley. The other interviews have been in Meryton but we wanted a change of scenery. You can interrupt me when you want but I will direct the conversation.”
The inspector asked Darcy some difficult questions and he responded honestly about both Wickham and Lord Elkton. He acknowledged Lord Elkton was a man with many enemies and few real friends and Darcy agreed. Next he quizzed Darcy of his history with Wickham and asked why those two men were together at the assembly and asked if he had witnessed the argument that the two men had. Darcy told him the two men were very similar in their pursuit of young women but that was the only thing that he felt they had in common but said he had not seen their argument. When asked if Wickham was the type of man who would commit a murder, Darcy replied that he did not believe he killed the man and that he was very sick and physically unable to do much of anything after leaving the assembly. Next the inspector asked about Georgiana and Wickham and about the Bennet sisters including Lydia and Elizabeth. Darcy told him about the attempted elopement but spoke little about Elizabeth.
Darcy did ask the inspector about who discovered the body and was told it was a boy who worked at a hardware store in Meryton who saw the body when he arrived at work early the morning after the assembly. The inspector said the boy said little more except there was much blood about the man and several pools of vomit that led out of the alley and around the corner. Darcy saw this as a confirmation that Wickham was not the killer and that another man was involved.
The inspector then spoke with Mr. Bingley and later with Miss Darcy. During that time Darcy met with the local magistrate. He had heard of him but the two men had never met. Mr. Henry Bottoms was forty-four and was a portly man of average height and had an annoying habit of staying too close when he spoke with others. His hearing was fine but his breath was foul and Darcy tried to separate himself from the man as they spoke. Other than his foul breath and his getting into Darcy’s private space, the man appeared knowledgable. Still, Darcy wondered how others would fare when it was their turn to speak with the man. With the man’s annoying habit of physically talking too close to people and with his bad breath, Darcy was certain that Mr. Bottoms spent little time with those with whom he spoke. He did tell Darcy that because Lord Elkton was the man who was murdered that a magistrate from town would take over the case and would arrive the next day.
After those meetings the men went to Longbourn and continued their discussions. All the Bennets were interviewed and Inspector Worthington asked Lydia and Elizabeth detailed questions of Wickham.
Wickham had been the first person to be interviewed and was restricted to his room at the Meryton Inn and the morning after the new magistrate arrived Wickham was arrested for the murder.
The news spread fast as most of the locals now thought it safe to venture out since a suspect and the likely killer was in custody. That decision was made by the new magistrate from town, a Mr. Wilson Greensleeves. Darcy knew him to be a man who moved quickly to wrap up an investigation, but he saw a flaw in this as he understood a man’s life required a thorough investigation and this one had been completed in record time. Wickham did not confess but an inquest would be conducted and later a trial.
Darcy next sent a letter to a friend of his in town who was an investigator and who might determine if Wickham was innocent. Darcy sent it by express post and asked his man, Mr. Robert Stanwick, to come to Netherfield posthaste. Two days later the man arrived and spoke with Darcy and later with Inspector Worthington and the new magi
strate, Mr. Greensleeves. After that he spoke with some others and later returned to Netherfield.
“Darcy,” Mr. Stanwick said, “I am convinced that Wickham is not the killer. Let me state my reasons. Wickham was very sick when he left the assembly and one of the men who forcefully removed him from the assembly watched as he walked toward the inn where he had a room. That man told me he saw Wickham stop and vomit at least twice more as he approached the inn and then on the stairs outside his room. The innkeeper said he also vomited in his bed and saw him laying in it when he was awakened the next morning. Darcy, he was too sick to have killed the man. There is more Darcy. The boy who found Lord Elkton said that he must have been in the process of getting dressed as his britches were down when he was attacked. He said there was much vomit leading from near the body and going around the corner, but the vomit trail went in a direction away from the Meryton Inn where Wickham was staying. There is still more, the boy said that one of the back doors to a store next to where the body was discovered unlocked.”
“This is beginning to look as if Lord Elkton was killed because he was caught with another woman? You said a door was open. Was it a home near where the body was found are a shop?”
“Darcy, the store next to the body is Fletcher’s Boutiques. It appears that Lord Elkton was inside the door and tried to make a hasty retreat but was caught and beat to death as he tried to dress.”
“So he was literally caught with his pants down.”
“That is true, Darcy. He was probably caught in the act or very near the start of it.”
Darcy and his friend next went to Longbourn and spoke with Mr. Bennet. After a few minutes Mr. Bennet allowed for Lydia to meet with Mr. Stanwick to tell about the young woman that Wickham had been friendly with.
“Miss Lydia, I need to know all you can tell me about this girl. Mr. Wickham’s fate may rest in your hands, so you must be truthful with me and you have my promise that I will not repeat what you tell me. I will not tell your father or your sister or Mr. Darcy or anyone.”
