Chapter 17
“Icannot believe it.” Howard’s mouth slackened, and his posture slumped. His face gradually turned a sickly shade of green. “I cannot . . .”
Howard stared at his feet. Suddenly his head shot up and turned to the right, searching the room for something. When he lunged to grab a pitcher sitting on a small table in the far corner of the room, the other men turned away but were unable to escape the sounds of the man retching. When he was finished, Howard staggered back to the chair and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, his complexion waxy.
“You say you accepted my challenge today to satisfy your honor,” Darcy said flatly. “How is any of this honorable?”
Howard was silent for several minutes. When he lifted his head, his color was a little better, but his eyes were bloodshot, and his cheeks were wet.
“I thought it was.” Howard blinked. “I was furious when you refused to marry Amelia,” he said quietly. “A man I had always thought to be of sterling character, I now believed was nothing more than a vile seducer. Our sisters were preparing for their first season together. I thought that must have been how you met. It felt like such a violation.”
Darcy crossed his arms over his chest. “Go on.”
“I made a few inquiries and discovered your sister was traveling to Ramsgate. It is no secret you have loathed George Wickham since we were all at university. I hired him. Sent him after her. Paid him to seduce her. To elope. You had ruined my sister, and so I would ruin yours. Involve you in the same sort of trouble I was suffering. But you arrived just before Wickham could carry her away.”
Fitz took a step towards Howard, but Henry held out a hand to stop him.
“Tell me everything,” Darcy said grimly. “From the beginning.”
Howard did not look up. “In February, your friend Bingley made a ridiculous wager on a pair of horses any idiot could see were not well-matched. I intended to collect my winnings and frighten him into better behavior before eventually returning his losses.” He paused. “It was a large sum, and better to lose it to me than someone who would encourage him to continue until his fortune was spent. Before I could follow through with my plan, the situation with my sister was revealed to me, and I was distracted.”
“Did you tell Bingley to invite me to Hertfordshire?” Darcy inquired.
“Yes.” The word rang hollow. “I told him I would forgive a part of the debt if he would. He was happy to do it, had intended to in any case, he said. Wanted you and his sister to spend time together.” Howard glanced up. “I offered to forgive the entire sum if he was successful in compromising you and his sister, but I suspect he would have done it even without the inducement. He desperately wanted the connection and probably wished to have access to your pockets.” Howard stared blankly at the wall behind Darcy. “Your sister was safe with the countess. I thought perhaps a compromise by Miss Bingley might satisfy me—fulfill my duty to a wronged sister. If you would not marry Amelia, you would at least be forced to marry a woman I knew you could not abide.”
“How would you know that?” Darcy asked.
Howard peered up at Darcy. “You have always decreed that you would never be compromised into matrimony. And you detest social climbers. To forever be attached to one through no choice of your own would eat away at your soul, or so I hoped. I would make you sorry you had not offered for Amelia instead.” He shook his head. “But Bingley kept delaying. He was interested in some local girl and was not focused on my request. I wrote before the ball and insisted he follow through.” He rubbed his palms against his shirt. “I did not expect him to set up the compromise during the ball, with so many people in the house. Bingley wanted witnesses to force your hand, but I thought the timing an unnecessary risk. We did not require many witnesses, only a few of the right sort. My concern was borne out when Miss Elizabeth Bennet witnessed the attempt and spoiled the whole.”
“You were at Netherfield?” Fitz asked abruptly.
“You witnessed the attempt?” Darcy asked at the same time.
Howard simply nodded. “Yes. I was hidden in the library. It was quite dark.” He sighed. “When you removed yourself from the room, I insisted that Bingley go after you, force you to comply,” he said quietly. “I was not in control of myself, and he shoved me away when I came too close. My spectacles fell to the floor, where I stepped on them. I had a second pair at the inn, but not on my person.” He looked away. “I somehow made my way back to the ballroom and awaited Bingley there. Despite your anger, I was certain he could persuade you. He was your friend, and men like us do not have many of those. Miss Bingley was in your embrace when Bingley entered the room. I did not believe you could escape your duty, despite your bluster.” Howard ran a hand through his hair. “I waited in vain. He was to make an announcement of your engagement to Miss Bingley at supper, but he never did.”
“Because I was already gone,” Darcy added, and Howard nodded.
“Even if I could not see you clearly,” Howard said, “I wanted you to see me, to know that I had been the one to ruin your life the way you had ruined Amelia’s. The way you had ruined mine.”
Darcy towered over him. “And yet I had done nothing of the sort.”
Howard closed his eyes. “I did not know that. I believed my sister.”
“Your sister has much to account for,” Henry said, his voice even but somehow dangerous. Just as Elizabeth had said.
“Amelia was foolish and naïve, but she did not expect me to act as I have,” Howard replied hollowly. “I am the one to blame for how far this has gone.”
“You are,” Darcy agreed. “What happened after I left Netherfield?”
Howard coughed. “After supper, I cornered Bingley, and he told me you had left the house, on your way to London, he presumed. I tried to insist he follow you in the morning to press matters, but Bingley would not. He had guests to tend to, he said, and he still had hopes for Miss Bennet. Said I had already destroyed his friendship with you and that Miss Elizabeth’s knowledge of his actions might cause him to lose Miss Bennet’s hand were he not close by to thwart Miss Elizabeth. He was determined to have the eldest Bennet girl—he told me if he wed her, he would not require me to forgive his debt. I threatened him with Baker and Henderson should he reveal my connection to him and left at dawn.”
“Not before giving your men instructions,” Fitz prompted.
“I was out of my mind with rage. Darcy had evaded me again.” Howard ran a hand through his hair. “Bingley still owed me three thousand pounds. I told Henderson to punish Miss Elizabeth for interfering and you for escaping. I did not care how, though I offered to pay them a thousand pounds each if the two of you were found together or connected in some nefarious way. I left the details to them, but I wanted the world to know you were not the honorable man you seemed.”
Darcy was shocked into silence. It was an extraordinary amount of money to have set out. No wonder the men had been willing to enter his home in search of Elizabeth. He was perversely grateful that Howard had wanted them found together—otherwise, Elizabeth might have been killed and left in Hertfordshire. His fists clenched and he had to turn away to regain his composure.
“What was Wickham’s role in this?” There was a great deal of anger in Fitz’s question.