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“That is why I did not want my name being used, or for Wicky to see me before we had this meeting. He is a coward, and when we were much younger, I put the fear of God into him. He fears me still. Had he seen me before he was apprehended, he would have run regardless of the potential penalties.” Fitzwilliam looked at the two militia officers. “I assume, as he lied when he signed the honour code, that you will strip him of his rank?”

“I will! I do not want such a miscreant in my regiment,” Forster insisted. Then he thought of something. “Did either of you ask Mr Collins to warn Sir William, which led to credit for my officers being revoked?”

“No, it is the other way around. Mr Collins acted on his own, but it was him who wrote to me and informed me of Wicky’s presence,” Fitzwilliam responded. “My cousin here used to believe that if he moved against the bastard that he would be dishonouring his late father who was Wicky’s godfather. After I arrived, he was finally convinced that was not true.”

“Do you know why Mr Collins involved himself in all this?” Forster asked.

“Yes. He is a cousin to the five Bennet sisters, and he saw the lecherous way Wicky was looking at the second oldest and two youngest Bennet sisters.” Fitzwilliam saw William tense up at reference to Miss Elizabeth. “He would have had no chance with Miss Elizabeth; however, the youngest two are a different story. You need to know that Wicky has left ruined girls and young ladies in his wake across the country. Darcy is supporting several scorned women, and the bastards Wickham gave them on promises of marriage.”

“Every time I think I have heard the depths of his depravity, I am proved wrong.” Forster shook his head in disgust. He turned toward the colonel’s cousin. “Mr Darcy, I must beg your pardon. I believed the tale Wickham wove without question and thought that you were a dishonourable, blackhearted man. I was very wrong.”

“I accept your apology, Colonel Forster,” Darcy granted. “The miscreant is very good at pulling the wool over decent people’s eyes for a while. That is, until his vicious propensities are on display. I should have sent him to debtors’ prison long ago. As my cousin said, better late than never.”

“I will send word to you as soon as I have him in custody,” Forster promised.

The two severely chastened militia officers were soon on their way back to Meryton. The cousins felt satisfaction in the knowledge that Wickham would soon be excised from society.

Chapter 22

Bennet was sitting doing what he did most of the time when he was in his study, reading a book with a glass of port on his desk close enough to reach whenever he wanted a sip.

There was a knock on his study door, and the person waited for his response, which meant it could not be his wife. She knew he wanted her to knock, but she had never grasped that she was to wait for him to call out before entering his sanctuary after knocking.

“Come,” Bennet called out. Perhaps, it was Lizzy, wanting to discuss a book she had read recently.

William Collins opened the heavy oak door when he was bade, entered the study with Mary on his arm, and then pushed the door closed. He did not miss his cousin’s raised eyebrows when he saw who had walked into his study.

Although he had a good idea why the two had come to see him, Bennet decided to wait until one of them spoke first. As Collins had Mary with him, he would not be able to have any sport asking which of his daughters was being sought as his potential wife.

“Cousin Bennet, Mary and I have realised that we suit each other very well. However, as neither of us feels we know the other well enough to enter an engagement, I have requested a courtship with Mary, and she has agreed, pending your approval, of course. We hope that we will gain your blessing as well as consent. Do you have any questions for us?” William enquired.

No matter how he tried to, Bennet could not find any reason to make sport of the request. It had been exact and to the point. The man opposite him was no simpleton. “Mary, I assume by your presence, this is what you desire?”

“It is, Papa, very much so,” Mary confirmed firmly.

“As such, I see no reason to deny your petition. You have my permission and blessing,” Bennet allowed.

“You are aware that I will return to Hunsford on Friday upcoming, are you not?”

“I am. What of it?” Bennet asked. “Knowing when you are to depart has led me to believe that you would ask for Mary’s hand right away, not a courtship.”

“As I said, neither of us wanted to jump into anything before we were sure. I would much rather that we take our time, and once, if, we are both sure, then, we will proceed. It is far better this way than to decide in haste and repent at leisure, do you not think?” William queried innocently. He was aware that having been captivated by a pretty face, Cousin Bennet had proposed to the then Frances Gardiner before he ever came to know who she was. William supposed that although his cousin wished he would have acted differently, if he had not married Cousin Fanny, they would not have their daughters, and he would not have come to know Mary. God worked in mysterious ways.

“Papa, what William wanted to request is that we be allowed to correspond by letter. We are both more than willing to submit to your authority and have our letters to each other go through you so you can read them to make sure all meets with your approval,” Mary explained.

Mary speaking distracted Bennet, who had been about to ask his cousin what he was trying to say about the marriage between him and Fanny. Perhaps Cousin Collins was not aware how precipitous Bennet had been in offering for Fanny within days of beginning to court her. He had been worried he would lose the local beauty to another. Unfortunately, it had not been long before he learnt that beauty was indeed only skin deep.

Realising that Mary and her suitor were awaiting his reply, Bennet shook the thoughts of his past folly from his head. “I know Mary to be a pious and moral daughter. As such, I do not believe I need to read her letters. From what I know of you, Cousin, I do not see you as one who would stray from the bounds of propriety.” He cogitated for some moments. “Who will inform your mother that her dream of matching Lizzy with my cousin has turned to dust?”

“Excuse me if I speak out of turn, Cousin,” William began. “Is it not the duty of the father to announce something like this?”

As much as he hated that his probable future son-in-law was correct, knowing he needed to do his duty meant that Bennet would need to exit his sanctuary and accompany the couple to the drawing room. “Come, now is as good a time as any for my wife to caterwaul about her plans for Lizzy marrying my cousin coming to nought.”

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

There was nothing for Fitzwilliam and Darcy to do but wait for a message from Colonel Forster to inform them that Wicky had been arrested.

As he had planned when they departed Longbourn, once Bingley and Mrs Hurst had made their amends, Fitzwilliam told the Hursts that his brother and his and William’s mutual cousin, Anne de Bourgh, had decided to stop at Netherfield Park while they were in the area. Bingley had, as expected, extended an invitation for Anne and Andrew to be hosted at his leased estate and that they would be welcome to attend the ball on the morrow.