Free The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy by Mary Lydon Simonsen Page B

that’s what Miss Bingley wanted, so he lined his pockets and kept his mouth shut.
    “I says to Martha, ‘Well, there’s not much news there. It’s just as you’d expect,’ and she said that was true but there was a surprise, and that was Mr. Darcy. Now, I know you don’t like Mr. Darcy, Miss Lizzy, but it seems that he was a good friend to Mr. Bingley, and when Mr. Bingley decided to have the ball, well, there was no way it could happen without some help. So Mr. Darcy sent a letter to wherever he lives in Derbyshire, and the cook, butler, and a wagonload of servants come down to get everything ready for the big night. And all of Mr. Darcy’s servants went on and on about how good it was to work for him and Miss Darcy. Well, I never would have believed it from what I heard about him from the time at the assembly when he snubbed Miss Lizzy.”
    Jane looked at Lizzy out of the corner of her eye. It seemed as if evidence was building that her sister had seriously misjudged Mr. Darcy.
    “But that’s nothing compared to what’s being said about Mr. Wickham,” Mrs. Hill said in a conspiratorial whisper. “Sally Smart, who works for the Drapers, says Mrs. Draper has been crying on and off for days because Mr. Wickham didn’t pay any of his bills. What Sally said was that Mr. Draper had ordered some expensive heavy fabric and a brass clasp from London for a cloak that Mr. Wickham wanted made special. He told them he’d pay them when he got paid, but he never did, and Mrs. Draper is afraid he never will. And once word got out that Mr. Draper hadn’t been paid, others from the shops said they were owed money too. But they hadn’t said nothing before with Mr. Wickham being an officer and a gentleman and all. But Mr. Corbin said, gentleman or no, he’s writing to Colonel Forster. He wants his money.”
    There was more news, equally bad, about Wickham taking liberties with some of the local girls, as well as extensive gaming debts and displays of bad temper and drunkenness. If only half of the rumors were true, Wickham was as vile as Mr. Darcy had described him.
    Both sisters were truly distressed by Mrs. Hill’s news, but Lizzy was heartsick. She could hardly bear to think about how she had taken sides in Wickham’s favor and at the expense of Mr. Darcy. Now, she completely understood the look of disgust on his face before he left the parsonage and the necessity of his writing that awful letter.
    “Lizzy, I can see what you are thinking. But it was not only in the matter of Mr. Wickham on which your dislike of Mr. Darcy was based. You had other provocations.”
    “Yes, I did. However, in the light of all that I now know, it can be argued that I am a terrible judge of character.”
    Jane was beside her sister in a moment. “You are too harsh. The Wickhams of the world succeed because they excel at deception. He succeeded in fooling everyone, Lizzy.”
    “Except Mr. Darcy. Apparently, he never succeeded in fooling Mr. Darcy.”

Chapter 11
    Darcy and Georgiana celebrated Christmas with Lord and Lady Smythe at their country estate in Sussex. Their daughter, Agnes, and Georgiana attended seminary together and had become the closest of friends. The Smythes were having a ball to celebrate their daughter’s eighteenth birthday, but the dance had another purpose: to serve as a practice ball, as both Agnes and Georgiana would come into society when the London season began in earnest in May. Darcy watched the event with mixed emotions. His sister had emerged as a beautiful butterfly from the cocoon he had kept her in these past five years. After admiring how gracefully she danced with the young swells and how easily she mingled with all the guests, he realized that he would soon have to set this butterfly free.
    After the holidays, brother and sister returned to London in preparation for Georgiana resuming her studies for her final term. From that point on, everything she needed to know would be learned as young people had