A Summer Shame (7 page)

Georgiana Darcy and Kitty Bennet walked arm in arm from Meryton where both girls were surprised with post. Kitty gleefully opened hers though she noticed Georgiana saved her letter.

"Oh, you go first, mine is just from my brother."

Kitty shrugged and paused in the lane as she scanned the rather lengthy note from Jane. About half through, she laughed out loud and doubled over, passing the note to Georgiana. When Georgiana reached the middle of the letter she gasped.

"They did not!"

Kitty nodded. "I can see it now, your aunt and my sister, playing prim and proper all while dropping vicious gossip right into the lap of Lady Davish! Serves Caroline Bingley right!" Catherine Bennet kicked a stone to watch it skip down the lane in frustration. She had no doubt her sister Mary was likely rude if she was in a preaching mood at the ball, but if she had been there when Miss Bingley dropped an entire goblet of wine down Mary's front, her retribution might have barred her from polite society for all eternity.

Georgiana frowned and handed the letter back to Kitty. "I could not imagine all of London talking about me from a column in the Times." She shook her head. "I'm sure Miss Bingley is devastated."

"I hope she ran off to Yorkshire or wherever her people are from."

"You do not understand how vicious they can be. To receive a cut direct from so many, I would never be able to show my face in public again!"

Kitty shrugged. This was the tired subject on which she and Georgiana differed. Where Miss Darcy feared and anticipated her grand debut next spring, Catherine Bennet was at best indifferent and at worst full of dread at the thought of the coming season. She did have one question for Georgiana. "Do you know Lady Davish? How is it she writes for the Times? I thought women were not permitted?"

Untying her bonnet, Georgiana giggled at her rule breaking to enjoy the sun's rays as they came upon the outer yard of the home. "She is a widow. It is supposed to be a secret that she is Thaddeus Puck, but whenever someone wishes a tidbit to make its way to the papers, all one need do is arrange a tea with Lady Davish and the information prints within an edition or two."

With a smile, the younger Darcy broke off into a run. Even without a head start, Kitty's shorter legs were no match for her friend's and she reached the door last to shouts from her mother who watched from the window and Georgiana's giggles.

"Girls! Girls! Hurry in here before the neighbors see!" Mrs. Bennet ushered the two girls inside, wobbling most terribly. Kitty's eyes fell on the bottle of spirits resting on the table before giving a knowing look to Georgiana. She would distract her mother so Georgiana might escape to read her brother's letter.

"Mama, mama! A letter from Jane!"

"My dear sweet, Jane. What does she write, pray do tell your Mama?" Mrs. Bennet slurred her words and smiled dumbly at Kitty. As Kitty related the happenings at the ball and Jane taking tea to spread the gossip about the Bingley's, her mouth twisted once more in annoyance as she thought on the freedom Lady Davish enjoyed as a widow. When she reached the end, her mother snored lightly in the armchair and Kitty folded her letter and tiptoed up the stairs.

A small voice sobbing on the other side of the door made Kitty open it without ceremony to find Georgiana crying on the bed.

"What's wrong? Is someone hurt? Is Lizzie ill?" Kitty rushed to the bed to comfort Georgiana whose tears cut porcelain trails down her cheeks.

"He's heard we have been unruly and misbehaving. He says, he says I represent the family and I am to behave accordingly or I shall have to leave at once."

Her hands shook as she handed over the letter which Kitty read with interest. The details about the woods could only come from one scheming, sour, simpleton ninny and Kitty's eyes narrowed. Trying to gain favor with Mr. Darcy, was he? Two could play that game and Kitty knew she'd win against the insufferable oaf, Collins.

"Stop caterwauling this instant! We shall not be bullied by the puffed up nonsense of Mr. Collins!" Kitty walked over to the desk and began to write a stern-worded letter to her brother-in-law. Georgiana stopped crying and slid off the bed to peer over Kitty's shoulder.

"Oh, you mustn't, you mustn't. You do not understand. I have let my family down before and vowed I shall never do so again." Georgiana hung her head and sagged her shoulders.

"What scandalous behavior could you possibly have engaged in under your tutors and chaperones?" Kitty seemed doubtful that the angelic Georgiana Darcy had ever come close to the rambunctious behavior she had once engaged in with her sister Lydia, chasing officers in the militia. Why, once when Lydia wasn't looking, Kitty had allowed Lieutenant Denny to kiss her cheek and although she liked it well enough, she would never allow the liberties Lydia did with George Wickham. Fiance or no fiance!

"I once nearly eloped with a man." Georgiana's voice was small and barely above a whisper as she shuffled back towards the bed. Kitty's eyes widened and she couldn't speak. "See, I told you I was not well-behaved and it was important to make this visit above reproach so my brother would trust me once more."

The wheels in Kitty's mind spun in fury as she had a hunch how this might be linked to Lydia. "If it is too painful to tell, I won't mind. But what was the name of the man that made you risk ruin?"

Georgiana inhaled deeply through her nose, knowing she could trust Kitty with this secret. She had not hidden the truth from her brother's wife. "The son of my father's steward, Mr. George Wickham."

Kitty gasped in horror, making Georgiana cry fresh tears. Quickly, Kitty rushed to the bed to embrace her friend and calm her. She related her own imperfection and smoothed the situation. But something made Kitty stop short of telling Georgiana of Lydia's involvement, praying the young woman would not know he nearly married another just six months later, for a long time to come. As the girls decided to wash their faces and find a pleasant way to spend the afternoon by calling on Maria Lucas, Kitty eyed the letter to her brother Darcy. With a smile, she realized she never agreed to not write him, just not straight away.

An unmarked carriage rumbled down the streets of London with Colonel Fitzwilliam, Mary Bennet, and her new maid, Madeline ensconced inside. Lady Matlock had insisted on hiring proper French maids for both Mary and Jane for as long as they resided in her home, arguing the extra assistance would be needed when they all retired to Matlock once the season ended. Mary had nothing bad to say about the poor girl, except that she barely spoke, but then again, Mary had never had her own personal maid for a comparison.

"I am a fool for letting you talk me into this. A fool! We should turn back, this instant."

"Absolutely not, this concerns my sister. A member of the Bennet family will be represented." Mary glared back at the Colonel, hoping the mettle she displayed masked the deep fear questioning their mission.

The Colonel had found Mrs. Younge's boarding house and Mary had devised the best plan would be for her to enter first, as she was completely unknown to Mrs. Younge, to inquire about Wickham. If either of them saw the Colonel, they would run, but Mary hoped Wickham would not remember her from the few times he ignored her in Meryton.

"My mother would skin me alive if she knew of this risky endeavor. I am of half a mind to turn this carriage round here and now!"

Mary reached out with her gloved hand to stop the Colonel's fist as he was reaching up to bang on the carriage ceiling to alert the driver. Her sudden touch stopped his progress.

"Do so and we will lose all chance we have to find him. We leave for Matlock in two days' time and all will be lost if we fail to act now. That scoundrel will dog my sister and new brother no end. Those are your own sentiments, sir."

Hearing his own words against him, the Colonel pulled back his hand reluctantly and scowled out the window. Every few moments he would look back at this wondrous creature named Mary Bennet and wonder how in the devil he had allowed her to become mixed up in this shady business? Before he could recommit to aborting the mission, the carriage stopped at the appointed address outside a shabby boarding house.

Mary looked around and realized she was a few streets over from her uncle's home! Her palms became sweaty as she wondered if Mr. Wickham had spied on them all along?

"You do not have to do this. I will not think less of you . . ." the Colonel's deep baritone voice soothed Mary's nerves like silk.

Tying her bonnet extra tight, she nodded stiffly to her maid and the two women descended from the carriage to a bustling street with none interested in her person. She hesitantly knocked on the door only to end the knock with a clear, strong hand. A very large man opened the door and looked her up and down, and it was all the Colonel could do to not leap from the carriage as Mary began their ruse. As soon as the weathered green door was shut with Mary and her maid inside, the Colonel opened the carriage door and whistled. A dozen or so of His Majesty's Finest surrounded the boarding house, with groups of three marching to watch the back.

"A fine spy you have there, Fitzwilliam. Fine spy indeed." Colonel Forster recognized the lithe Bennet form from his time in Meryton.

"Miss Mary is not to be harmed. That is paramount to catching Wickham."

Colonel Forster laughed. Perhaps to Colonel Fitzwilliam catching the dastardly Lieutenant Wickham was not important, but Colonel Forster had been humiliated by the scoundrel's flight. Not only had Wickham abandoned Forster's militia regiment months ago, he also absconded with the unit's mid-month pay, an insult felt by the bellies and bills of every soldier waiting outside these boarding house walls. A woman's scream rang out, the signal to storm the house.

As Richard leapt into action, he charged the door with wild abandon, his pistol cocked and lowered. Allowing his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting, he met up with a half dozen troops near the back of the house to spy Mrs. Younge with her hands on a visibly upset Mary. Madeline the maid appeared unconscious in the corner, loomed over by a brutish footman. The other men trained their muskets on the oaf, leaving Richard to focus on saving his lass.

"Unhand her, Sally Younge, or die for the crime of harboring a fugitive!" Richard yelled out, steady and true, pointing his pistol directly at the woman with scraggly brown hair falling out of her coif. Mary's fists were clenched and she stomped hard on Sally's foot almost getting away from the woman, but still the desperate boarding house shrew held onto Mary's arm, yanking her back.

"Richard!" Mary called out, desperate to reach his safety, she struggled again against the woman, pulling herself away as a shiny piece of silver appeared in Mrs. Younge's other hand, a long, sharpened pin pulled from her hair. A shot rang out and Mary crumpled to the floor, kicking her feet beneath her. Strong arms lifted her and she was suddenly turned and turned about, hysterically yelling, "Wickham ran out the back, Wickham ran out the back."

"Sssh, they have him. You did well, you did well." Richard lifted Mary as she started to go limp in his arms, overwhelmed by the danger she had placed herself in, unable to grasp how Mrs. Younge lay dead, bleeding in her own parlor.

"Richard," she uttered, barely trusting her own voice. "I am so sorry I ruined the plan."

Reaching the carriage, he placed her inside and hopped up to join her not caring about Colonel Forster taking the credit, and trusting the driver would fetch Madeline. He wiped the tears streaming down Mary's face and looked into her deep, brown eyes, woefully affected by the knowledge of how close he came to losing her. Before knowing his own plans, Richard Fitzwilliam leaned in and passionately kissed his fears and love directly upon the lips of Mary Bennet, pulling her close to his person in the privacy of the carriage.

A sudden pull on the door behind him made Mary jump back and the Colonel relinquish her as a groggy Madeline was assisted into the carriage.

"I supposed you wished to spirit the ladies away from this nasty business as quick as you may. No need to list their role in the report." Colonel Forster gruffly dismissed their small party from his official business.

Mary bit her lip and looked out the window, scrunched as far away from Richard as she could. Before Colonel Forster  could shut the door, Richard asked about Wickham.

"Oh, he'll hang for sure." Colonel Forster tipped his hat and slammed the carriage door making Mary jump in her seat.

As the carriage rolled away, the entire party remained silent until Madeline unfortunately lost the contents of her stomach. Mary busied herself with tending to her poor maid's condition, secretly stealing glances at the Colonel as her feelings tumbled over and over in her heart.

The parlor drapes of Matlock House in London were drawn as preparations to close the house were well under way. Lady Matlock bustled into the parlor at the request of her youngest guest, anxious to hear what the girl had to say. Mary Bennet had been quieter and more withdrawn than usual and she was hopeful the young woman was finally confessing that which vexed her.

"The silverware is secured away and the books Reginald wished to be packed are set aside. Now, Miss Mary, how can I help you dear?" With a genuine smile, the grand dame of Matlock took a regal seat in her normal armed chair to begin the interview on an open tone.