Page 211 of A Question of Character

“Admired thirty thousand pounds exceedingly.”

Mrs. Younge winced.

“I believed his attachment sincere.”

“Did you?” Darcy asked.

She hesitated too long.

“I believed... there was affection.”

“That is not what I asked.”

Her composure faltered.

“I believed he intended to marry her.”

“And afterward?”

She stared at the carpet.

“I did not trouble myself overmuch with afterward.”

Darcy’s expression remained unchanged, though anger gathered beneath the calm with increasing force.

“You encouraged my sister to distrust me.”

“I encouraged her to think for herself.”

“You informed her that I wished to be rid of her.”

Mrs. Younge’s lips parted in protest before closing again.

“I may have spoken... imprudently.”

“You told a lonely girl that her brother considered her an inconvenience.”

“I feared she would never act while she relied upon your approval.”

“And that suited Mr. Wycombe.”

She did not answer.

Wickham rose from his chair and wandered toward the window, apparently occupied with the stable yard below. His voice, when he spoke, remained conversational.

“Did he ever intend to take her as far as Gretna Green?”

Mrs. Younge faced him.

“I beg your pardon?”

“The question is simple.”

He looked back over his shoulder.

“Had he truly reserved rooms? Arranged witnesses? Or was each day’s journey merely another promise until he could persuade Miss Darcy to surrender more than her fortune?”

Color drained from Mrs. Younge’s face.