Chapter 19

B y the time Darcy arrived back at his house, his head was spinning. As much as he did not want to believe Bingley had played him for a fool, his logical brain demanded he not ignore the obvious.

He found his friend in the drawing room. "Will it just be us two bachelors or will your sister join us?" Bingley asked.

"No, my sister is to remain at Matlock House with her friend," Darcy averred. Had he not been looking at Bingley he would have missed the annoyance which flitted over his friend's face before he schooled his features.

"That is understandable," Bingley responded.

"Bingley I have a question. All the times I asked you to convey the message to your youngest sister that she would never have me for a husband, even in the case of a compromise, did you tell her?"

"Of course! Unfortunately, Caroline would not recede."

When they played cards and Bingley was bluffing he would look past and to the left of the person he was trying to convince. Darcy had seen him do that when he answered. He did not push Bingley at the time, but it was obviously a lie. As his aunt and uncle had pointed out, no sooner had Richard warned her off, Miss Bingley had ceased her attentions to him.

Darcy also remembered Bingley had always told him not to confront Miss Bingley. For the first time since the attack from which Bingley had saved him, Darcy began to question everything.

As such, he did not feel like he wanted to be in Bingley's company, but rather told his guest he had some urgent matters he needed to see to in his study, and did not want to be disturbed. He urged Bingley to turn in for the night as Darcy was not sure when he would complete his tasks. The first order of business was to decide the way forward between him and Bingley, if there was to be one. It was better to concentrate on his relationship with his friend rather than the mammoth set down which had been delivered by his aunt and uncle. He knew, that at some point, he would have to address all the reproofs which had been laid at his door, but he was not prepared to do so yet.

Darcy turned to the one thing which would take his mind off all the questions swirling around in his head. Work! Since arriving back at Darcy House he had not looked at the pile of correspondence sitting on his desk. Doing so now would allow him to concentrate on something other than his problems as related to Bingley and those he would have to look at regarding himself.

He picked up letter after letter. Based on who they were from, he knew they were rather mundane and Darcy was seeking something to distract him. He came to a letter which had been addressed with rather poor penmanship. He was about to consign it to the fire when he changed his mind. Mayhap this would be the thing which would demand his attention so he could defer the more personal issues.

The paper on the outside was not a good quality and had some smudged dirt on it. Darcy held up the missive as he debated what to do with it. There was no return direction or the name of the writer on the outside. He was vacillating between opening it and doing what he had initially wanted to do. In the end, his curiosity won out. He broke the inadequate seal and smoothed the wrinkled pages out as much as possible. He did not notice the sheet which had been included, which fell onto his desk. Darcy began to read.

29 October 181 0

To the toff named Darcy,

The disrespectful opening almost caused Darcy to throw the letter into the fire after all. He kept to his resolve to read it to see who would dare address him in such a manner. His eyes returned to the page.

Yir friend, Bingly, is no friend of yirs. Me an me mate wir the two who attacked you outside of the Ball and Chain Inn in Cambridge in November o ‘01. It wir not random.

We wir paid to do so by Mister Bingly. I am sure you not beliv me, so I ave sent you the letter the gent sent us wif instructions. The man refused to pay fir our silnce so we tol you all.

There was no name signed to the letter which increased Darcy's suspicion the words thereon could not be believed. Darcy read and reread the short note in a hand almost as bad as Bingley's, but with no blots. "This must be a lie," Darcy said aloud to his study. However, the fact the author knew where, and when he was attacked, gave him pause. "There is no letter enclosed like the writer claimed…" Darcy stopped speaking as he noticed the scrunched up sheet on his desk just below his hands.

Slowly he made to pick up the paper. He did not want to believe Bingley would be so duplicitous so he took his time opening and smoothing the letter. There was no mistaking the writing; he had had to decipher the writer's words more times than he cared to remember.

10 [blot] November 1801

Harris and Peters,

[blot blot] Mr. Darcy, who is tall with black hair, will be [blot] the Ball [blot] Chain [smear]nn on Friday the 13th of November at around nine o'clock and [blot] will be alone.

You are to attack him [blot] make him think [smear] is in danger of you endi[blot] him. I will come [blot] rescue him. You may hurt [blot] but try not to kill the man .

Do not quest[blot] me why. I am paying you well. Destroy this letter once you under[smear]d the instructions.

This note was also unsigned, but Bingley did not have to sign it for Darcy to be completely sure his so called friend had been the writer.

Darcy's first inclination was to charge upstairs and pull Bingley from his bed and toss him as he was from Darcy House, or at least to allow the Thompson brothers to have that pleasure. His ire cooled slightly as he tried to divine Bingley's motivation for doing what he had done.

His mind drifted back to when he and Richard were at Cambridge in their second year and Bingley his first. The latter had been mercilessly ribbed about his ties to trade, however, not by either himself or Richard.

The words his aunt and uncle had spoken about Bingley's social aspirations came back to Darcy. After the rescue, not only had Darcy felt indebted to Bingley, but he had brought him into the circle of his and Richard's friendship which had eased his way at the school and thereafter in society. Before he and Richard graduated from Cambridge, the latter had warned Darcy that he did not trust Bingley, but because of his feelings of gratitude for being saved, Darcy had ignored his perceptive cousin's words.

It hit Darcy that he had been used to gain Bingley entry into society at Cambridge and then in London which would otherwise have been denied him. That had been his motive. He was more subtle in his methods than George Wickham, but no less duplicitous.

As Darcy sat and went over the relationship between himself and Bingley, he was able to identify many occasions, including the invitation to be currently hosted at Darcy House, in which Bingley had manipulated him and played on his gratitude for what had occurred nine years past.

Suddenly it struck Darcy that Bingley had both directly asked and hinted about when Anna would join them at Darcy House. Was Bingley planning to compromise his sister?

He rang the bell and when Carstens appeared, Darcy instructed him to have the Thompsons report to him.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

When Karen Younge discovered Wickham trying to liberate the funds in the box hidden below the floorboards in her bed chamber, he exclaimed, "But Karen, I just wanted to make sure your blunt was safe!"

He had been holed up with her since his flight from Meryton. At least so far he had been able to evade the Spaniard's men. What rotten luck for Karen to enter her bedchamber at this moment. The maid he had been bedding swore her mistress would be out of the house this evening.

"Do you think me one of those fresh faced maidens who buy the lies you sell? Alice told me how interested you were in my not being at home," Mrs. Younge retorted. "After everything I have done to help you, you turn around and try and steal from me. Why do you think the box is empty? Did you think me unaware you stole coins of mine last time you were here? Douglas," Mrs. Younge called. Her large manservant was at her side in seconds. "Grab that reprobate and deliver him to Se?or Juan Antonio álvarez. I will claim the reward and get rid of this man at the same time."

Wickham ran to the window, pushed it open, and dove out of it. Thankfully Karen's room was on the first floor, so the window was not too high off the ground, although hitting the hard ground outside the window was none too pleasant. All he had were the clothes on his back and the remaining money from the five pounds he had received from the sale of the horse. If only he still had the horse, he could make a quick getaway.

There were nothing but nags in this part of London, and even if he was able to steal one, he would not get very far or move speedily. Knowing Karen would send her man to inform álvarez of his being in the area, he knew he needed to get out of London with all speed.

He used some of his precious coin to have a hackney take him to Hyde Park. That way if the man was asked, he would not know more than that. From there Wickham walked towards Cheapside, and on the way to that neighbourhood, took another hackney to an inn outside of London on the Great North Road.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Bingley was sitting in the sitting room attached to his bedchamber when the door flew open and slammed against the wall with a crash. "Darce, are you well?" Bingley asked nervously.

"You will address me as Mr. Darcy!" Darcy barked. "Who are Harris and Peters?"

The names which Bingley hoped never to hear again caused all of the colour to drain from his face. How on earth did Darcy hear those names? "I-I-I k-know n-n-no one b-by that n-n-name," Bingley spluttered as he tried to dissemble.

"They sent me a letter telling me that you paid them to attack me in November ‘01 when I was on my way to my apartments from the Ball and Chain Inn in Cambridge," Darcy bit back.

Bingley was sure there was no proof. He was confident he would be able to talk his way out of this. He began to recover his equanimity. "It sounds like the men who attempted to extort money from me," he claimed. "I never thought they would stoop so low as to contact you."

"You just told me you knew them not!" Darcy exclaimed. "Which is it, you know the names or you do not?"

"Ehrm, well yes, I had tried to put their names from my head, so it took me some thinking to recognise the names again," Bingley prevaricated.

The next thing Bingley knew he was flat on his back with blood coming from his mouth. Darcy had planted his fist into Bingley's mouth. He was sure he could feel some loose teeth.

"I know it all you bastard! They did not destroy your letter as you instructed, they sent it to me," Darcy held up the missive. "From now on, I will not know you! Lie to me again and I will allow the Thompsons to have you and do with you what they will. They will return fivefold every blow those men landed on my person." To emphasise his point, the Thompson brothers stood behind their master. "Now for once in your life tell the truth!"

Bingley had no doubt the brothers would happily thrash him. He nodded tightly.

"Why did you do it?" Darcy demanded.

"I needed a highborn friend and you and Fitzwilliam were the most popular. Before the resc…" Bingley did not miss how Darcy…Mr. Darcy was about to signal his footmen to take him away. "I mean, before I paid the men to attack you and then, in your mind, I rescued you, not a single son of the Ton would speak to me except to ridicule me. Afterward, I was included in everything."

"So, rather than earn your way into the circle of our friends, you paid the men to harm me. You are despicable. Leave my house now, and never return. If you have the gall to approach me in public, I will give you the direct cut. Also I will inform Lord and Lady Matlock, among other peers, of your dishonourable, criminal actions so do not think you will be welcomed in polite society for a long time, if ever. Expect to be cut by any of them if you are foolish enough to remain in Town and approach them." There was no missing the fury on Darcy's countenance. "Leave now!"

"M-My trunks…" Bingley closed his mouth when his former friend interjected.

"Are being packed by your valet as we speak. They will follow you to Curzon Street within the hour, that is, if you will be welcomed there." Darcy nodded and each Thomson brother placed a hand on Bingley's shoulder and guided the shaking man out of the chamber, down the stairs, and out of the house where a hackney cab stood ready to transport him to the address of his choice.

Not only had he lost his entrée into the Ton , but the chance to compromise Miss Darcy. Bingley knew not what he would do. One thing he did realise was he could not remain in London. It would not be long before rumours circulated and scandal attached to his name, and worse, what if Darcy reported his actions to the runners? His only choice was to retreat to Scarborough and think of ways to rehabilitate his reputation.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

"Bingley what are you doing here?" Hurst demanded when his butler informed him who was at the door. "It is late and you made it perfectly clear you did not require our company as you were being hosted at Darcy House; and why are you here after nine at night?"

"Urgent business calls me to Scarborough," Bingley dissembled. "I leave at first light. My coach is still here so…"

"If you had asked, we would have sent your conveyance to Darcy House, but you did not?" Hurst reminded his brother-in-law. "Your leaving early would not be an issue for Darcy. We are aware he always rises before the dawn, country or town. What is the true reason you are here?"

"We had a difference of opinion ," Bingley claimed.

Hurst was sure Bingley was not telling him the truth, especially when he saw his brother-in-law's face, and his looking off to the left. Someone had hit him, and hard. He would wager it had been Darcy. "Where are your valet and your trunks?"

"They will be here soon," Bingley averred .

"In that case, your coach will be made ready and you will wait for your baggage and valet to arrive, and then depart. I am sure you can find rooms at one of the inns for the night," Hurst stated firmly.

"But, we are family…" Bingley began to claim but the look on Hurst's face caused him to close his mouth.

"After the way you lied to, and manipulated Caroline, neither Louisa nor I will force her to spend the night in the same house as you," Hurst exclaimed curtly. "Save your breath to cool your porridge. Your platitudes, manipulations, and lies are wasted on me. Leave now!" Hurst paused. "There are a number of letters for you, they will be placed in your conveyance."

For the second time that night Bingley had been told to leave someone's house. It was another shock to him. Thankfully, he did not have long to wait before his valet and trunks arrived.

As he sat in the equipage, still very much in a daze, Bingley used the light of the lamp burning within to look at his letters in an attempt to distract himself from his woes. The ones he recognised as written by senders connected to business, he put to one side, that left three all in the same hand whose script was unfamiliar and had no return direction or the sender's name written anywhere.

He opened each one and by the third one his anger had built to a crescendo. "I would have paid to keep them silent!" Bingley raged at the interior of his coach. If only he had seen the letters before the two had written to Darcy!

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Wickham waited until he saw the man who arrived at the inn alight with his manservant. The man, who had his back to him, looked like he was rich and Wickham needed funds. He was calculating how to relieve the man of his purse when he overheard the conversation between man and servant, who was possibly the valet.

"Damned Darcy," Bingley exclaimed. "There was no need to kick me out like a stray dog."

"Aye master," the valet agreed.

‘ This man has been done badly by Darcy, ' Wickham thought. ‘ I can use this to my advantage! ' Wickham dusted himself off and followed the man and his valet into the inn.