Page 77 of A Quiet Affection

Mr. Wickham said to Mr. Bingley, “You, sir, you have attempted to destroy the honor of my wife, and the happiness of my heart.You have no oath to your father to hide behind. Will you meet me tomorrow, or are you a coward?”

When Bingley did not reply immediately, Wickham pointed at Bingley, “A coward. A true coward.”

Mr. Bingley stiffened and stood taller. “I am no coward, and you know that I am not.”

“Then meet me.”

“I shall.”

“Tomorrow morning. At dawn.”

“I shall be there. Darcy, will you be my second?”

“Bingley,” Darcy said. “There is no cowardice in refusing to fight a duel.”

“My honor, and the honor of Mrs. Wickham has been questioned,” Bingley replied with the sangfroidthat he knew was supposed to be present in a gentleman in such a situation. “And I am no coward. If you do not wish to accompany me, I shall ask Mr. Hurst.”

Mrs. Wickham was pale. She said to Bingley, “You should not do this. Your own conscience tells you that our behavior has always been proper. Ignore him.”

“I am not a coward,” Bingley replied. His hands were visibly shaking. “I will not be a coward. Darcy, for the third and last time, I ask: Will you accompany me as my second?”

“I shall,” Darcy replied. He intended to use every opportunity between now and then to convince his friend to not fight. That was a chief duty of a second.

Mrs. Wickham started crying, and Mrs. Darcy embraced her sister while Darcy and Bingley waited for Wickham to find his own second.

It transpired that Mr. Taylor, who had gone so far in promoting this fight, was absolutely insistent that he would not act as Wickham’s second for a duel.

Quickly, all of Wickham’s friends disappeared from the room when it was known that he needed a second. This likely was out a fear of Mr. Darcy.

Not only was it illegal to participate in a duel, being the second in one also could subject someone to legal penalties. Everyone in the room assumed that if Mr. Bingley was killed in the duel, his friend would bring a prosecution against Mr. Wickham. It was well known that Darcy always wished to know if anyone had evidence that Mr. Wickham had engaged in illegal behavior.

It was not even certain that Wickham would escape punishment. He was widely disliked, and it was clear that this duel would not be fought over a sensible matter.

Those who might have otherwise accompanied Wickham as a lark, and to see an actual duel fought—or for the joy of bringing home the story of how Wickham begged off at the last minute once again—were frightened by the possibility that they would become involved in such a legal case.

After looking around the room for one of his companions, and seeing none of them, Wickham burst out angrily to Darcy, “What is this! Have you bribed my friends to abandon me?”

Darcy said to Bingley, “Mr. Wickham cannot find a friend at an assembly in his home county, who is willing to stand with him. No one will despise you if you do not meet him. He is not enough of a gentleman that any serious person could be expected to accept his challenge.”

“I am not a coward,” Bingley repeated. “I have known him since I was a schoolboy, and I have the highest respect for his wife. I have dined at his house, and we meet frequently in company.You cannot pretend that he has no standing to challenge me.” Bingley called out to the crowd that was only a little dispersed, “Will anyone stand with Wickham as his second? I will not have it said that I am a coward who avoided a fight when my honor demanded that I appear.”

Silence for half a minute.

Then Wickham’s old friend Mr. Clarke came from the crowd. “If no one else will stand with Wickham, I would be happy enough to see him shot. Though I dare say he’ll beg off again when he realizes that you are serious about shooting him.”

“I shall not,” Wickham said. “I have never been a coward.”

“You certainly have been,” Mr. Clarke said in reply. “But if no one else will attend you, I will—Darcy, let’s go decide where they will fight and the other arrangements. Shoot at the same time, or what?”

Darcy felt cold. He had sincerely hoped that Wickham’s difficulties in finding a second would cause the matter to come to nothing.

The two men went to the card room, which was then vacated of its usual residents so they could discuss the matter in privacy.

“Mr. Clarke,” Darcy said, “this is madness. Mr. Wickham is drunk. You do him no favor by serving as his second.”

“I hope to see him dead. Bingley is a good enough shot to manage it. Do you think he has the stomach to shoot at Wickham?”

“I do not know.”