Any and all protests Mr Collins made, that he most certainly couldn't leave Mr and Mrs Bennet alone for even one evening, were quickly rejected by Lydia. Any protest Eleazar made came to a similar fate and in the end the coach conveyed them to Meryton at a suitable hour. Upon entrance they had the misfortune to hear that Mr Wickham had accepted the invitation and had already arrived.

Once they were seated Mr Collins had finally the time to look around and admire the room. He was struck by its elegance and didn't fear to show his admiration by comparing it to the small summer breakfast parlour at Rosings. A comparison that went as well as could be expected considering the fact that Mrs Philips had never heard of Rosings, nor its mighty inhabitants before. But once she had heard the, many, stories regarding Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Eleazar's aunt was very flattered.

Luckily for Eleazar, unlucky for his sisters, he was able to escape to the company of his Uncle who was waiting in the other room with the officers. This ensured Eleazar had to make the tough decision on who he desired less to interact with, Mr Collins lost.

Mr Wickham was having an animated conversation with one of the other officers when Eleazar entered, and though he did look up he had the sense to ignore Eleazar.

It didn't take long before they joined the ladies in the sitting room, where every eye was immediately caught by Wickham's appearance; much to Eleazar's regret.

Why he thought it was an excellent idea to sit next to Eleazar during the meal was a mystery. He had already been forced to think about the man a great deal more than he thought desirable, and now he even dared to disturb his family time.

The meal passed without any disruptions, much to Eleazar's regret who wouldn't have mourned a dish falling into a gentlemen's lap. Mr Collins might have even been able to catch some attentions that came not from Mrs Philips who was more than eager for another whist player.

The decision to not play whist was an easy one, and Eleazar sat himself beside Lydia for a game of lottery tickets. It appeared to become a peaceful evening after all, that was until Mr Wickham tearfully told Mrs Phillips he did not play whist, and would another table accept him as a player.

Lydia was more than happy to accept Mr Wickham who delightfully sat down between Eleazar and his youngest sister. The first few minutes Eleazar was spared conversing with Mr Wickham as Lydia was not yet engrossed in the game, but it didn't take long before her competitive nature won over her desire to be with Mr Wickham.

Mr Wickham therefore was at a leisure to talk to Eleazar, who had hoped against belief that would not be part of the evening happenings. He did not wish to hear George Wickham's story, he did not wish to hear the man speak at all. And if the man remembered anything about Eleazar he would understand it was a bad decision to push him to the edge.

However, Mr Wickham could not read minds, and as he was prone to do in company of young women, began his life story. The beginning was innocent enough; he asked how far Netherfield was from Meryton; and, after receiving Eleazar's curt answer, asked how long Mr Darcy had been staying there.

"About a month, he is a man of very large property in Derbyshire, I understand."

It was of the utmost importance that Eleazar found out how much George Wickham knew, and remembered. How much he was willing to speak about in company, and most of all, was Georgina Darcy and her brother, the people George had spoken about during their conversations.

"Yes," replied Wickham; "his estate there is a bible one. A clear ten thousand per autumn. You could not have met with a person more capable of giving you certain information on that head than myself, for I have been connected with his family in a particular manner from infancy."

Eleazar could not but look surprised.

"You may well be surprised, Mr Bennet, at such an assertion, after seeing, as you probably might, the very cold manner of our meeting yesterday. Are you much acquainted with Mr Darcy?"

Did George Wickham truly not remember, or did he simply not care.

"As much as I ever wish to be, I have spent four days in the same house with him. It suffices to say it was not the most pleasurable time of my life."

It wouldn't harm to give George something, a supporter in his laments about the injustice of meeting Mr Darcy.

"I have no right to give my opinion, as to his being agreeable or otherwise. I am not qualified to form one. I have known him too long and too well to be a fair judge. It is impossible for me to be impartial. But I relive your opinion of him would in general astonish—and perhaps you would not express it more strongly anywhere else. Here you are in your own family."

The odds of Mr Darcy being the man harmed by George Wickham became larger and larger with every passing second.

"Upon my word, I say no more here than I might say in any house in the neighbourhood, except Netherfield. He is not at all liked in Hertfordshire. Everybody is disgusted with his pride. You will not find him more favourably spoken of by anyone."

It was a truth, but Eleazar knew better than to show his true opinions to George Wickham. The man could not be trusted with them, nor with an open secret.

"I cannot pretend to be sorry, that he or that any man should not be estimated beyond their deserts; but with him I believe it does not often happen. The world is blinded by his fortune and consequence, or frightened by his high and imposing manners, and sees him only as he chooses to be seen."

Eleazar did not know from what society Wickham had known Mr Darcy, the man spoken of, had been a very different one in Netherfield.

"I should take him, even on my slight acquaintance, to be an ill-tempered man."

He hadn't pretended to be anything else either.

"I wonder whether he is likely to be in this country much longer."

The question came during the next lull in the game, giving Wickham ample opportunity to disturb Eleazar once more.

"I do not at all know; but I heard nothing of his going away when I was at Netherfield. I hope your plans in favour of the shire will not be affected by his being in the neighbourhood."

Please, let Mr Darcy be deterring enough for you to leave before dawn.

"Oh! No—it is not for me to be driven away by Mr Darcy. If he wishes to avoid seeing me, he must go. We are not on friendly terms, and it always gives me pain to meet him, but I have no reason for avoiding him but what I might proclaim before all the world, a sense of very great ill-usage, and most painful regrets at his being what he is. His father, Mr Bennet, the late Mr Darcy, was one of the best men that ever breathed, and the truest friend I ever had; and I can never be in company with this Mr Darcy without being grieved to the soul by a thousand tender recollections. His behaviour to myself has been scandalous; but I verily relive I could forgive him anything and everything, rather than his disappointing the hopes and disgracing the memory of his father."

Unfortunately, though Wickham was greatly pained by Mr Darcy's presence, it was not enough for him to disappear. No, he would stay and be a general nuisance, bringing pain and sadness to everyone involved.

Eleazar had no idea what kind of grievances had truly conspired between the two men, and though Wickham would probably be more than happy to go into great detail, Eleazar did not wish to hear more of it. Therefore he wasn't all that sad, when Wickham began to speak on more general topics. Meryton, the neighbourhood, the society, appearing highly pleased with all that he had seen, which was not that surprising.

"It was the prospect of constant society, and good society, which was my chief inducement to enter the shire. I knew it to be a most respectable, agreeable corps, and my friend Denny tempted me further by his account of their present quarters, and the very great attentions and excellent acquaintances Meryton had procured them. Society, I own, is necessary to me. I have been a disappointed man, and my spirits will not bear solitude. I must have employment and society. A military life is not what I was intended for, but circumstances have now made it eligible. The church ought to have been my profession—I was brought up for the church, and I should at this time have been in possession of a most valuable living, had it pleased the gentleman we were speaking of just now."

Eleazar barely contained his initial exclamation, and settled on a hurried, "Indeed!", Wickham in church was as laughable as it was unsettling.

"Yes—the late Mr Darcy bequeathed me the next presentation of the best living in his gift. He was my godfather, and excessively attached to me. I cannot do justice to his kindness. He meant to provide for me amply, and thought he had done it; but when the living fell, it was given elsewhere."

Not for a second did Eleazar believe that to be the complete story, apart from the fact that he had seen Wickham's spending habits up close.

"Good heavens! But how could that be? How could his will be disregarded? Why did you not seek legal redress?"

Yes, please Wickham, do explain. What did Mr Darcy do to make it impossible for you to be who you said to be?

"There was just such an informality in the terms of the request as to give me no hope from law. A man of honour could not have doubted the intention, but Mr Darcy chose to doubt it—or to treat it as merely conditional recommendation, and to assert that I had forfeited all claim to it by extravagance, imprudence—in short anything or nothing, certain it is, that the living became vacant two years ago, exactly as I was of an age to hold it, and that it was given to another man; and no less certain is it, that I cannot accuse myself of having really done anything to deserve to lose it. I have a warm, unguarded temper, and I may have spoken my opinion of him, and to him, too freely. I can recall nothing worse. But the fact is, that we are very different sorts of men, and that he hates me."

Extravagance, imprudence—in short anything or nothing, Eleazar was more than ready to believe that was the only truth Wickham had spoken in that moment.

"This is quite shocking! He deserves to be publicly disgraced."

But not for Wickham's grievances, Mr Darcy was quite horrible on his own.

"Some time or other he will be—but it shall not be by me. Till I can forget his father, I can never defy or expose him."

And yet, here he was, speaking ill of Mr Darcy, in a room with several gossips who would be more than happy to share this information with everyone in Meryton.

"But what could have been his motive? What could have induced him to behave so cruelly?"

Eleazar had several ideas and he didn't like a single one of them. Mr Darcy stood not in high regard, but he didn't deserve being attacked by George Wickham.

"A thorough, determined dislike of me—a dislike which I cannot but attribute in some measure to jealousy. Had the late Mr Darcy liked me less, his son might have borne with me better; but his father's uncommon attachment to me irritated him, I believe, early in life. He had not a temper to bear the sort of competition in which we stood—the sort of preference which was often given me."

Eleazar did not know the Darcy family enough to judge the honesty of that statement, but was inclined to believe Wickham for once. He had no reason to lie about this, something so easily verified.

"I had not thought Mr Darcy so bad as this—though I have never liked him. I had not thought so very ill of him. I had supposed him to be despising his fellow-creatures in general, but did not suspect him of descending to such malicious revenge, such injustice, such inhumanity as this."

Mr Darcy had shown his general dislike of Merton and his inhabitants on every occasion. It had made Eleazar believe him simply proud, but there might be something more behind it.

"I will not trust myself on the subject, I can hardly be just to him."

Eleazar did not respond to that last statement, despite it being an obvious lie. It was important to find out as many things about Wickham, and Mr Darcy for that, but that didn't mean he enjoyed the conversation. It had been supposed to be a lighthearted family evening, something that had become impossible at the mention of the officers.

"We were born in the same parish, within the same park; the greatest part of our youth was passed together; inmates of the same house, sharing the same amusements, objects of the same parental care. My father began his life in the same profession which your uncle, Mr Philips, appears to do so much credit to—but he gave up everything to be of use to the late Mr Darcy and devoted all his time to the care of the Pemberley property. He was most highly esteemed by Mr Darcy, a most intimate, confidential friend. Mr Darcy often acknowledged himself to be under the greatest obligations to my father's active superintendence, and when, immediately before my father's death, Mr Darcy gave him a voluntary promise of providing for me, I am convinced that he felt it to be as much a debt of gratitude to him, as of his affection to myself."

Though Eleazar had never personally met the late Mr Wickham he had heard many a tale about him. How it had come to be for such a man to father a child like Wickham was a mystery.

"How strange! How abominable! I wonder that the very pride of this Mr Darcy has not made him just to you! If for no better motive that he should not have been too proud to be dishonest—for dishonesty I must call it."

Something was missing in Wickham's tale, something Eleazar feared he already knew about.

"It is wonderful, for almost all his actions may be traced to pride; and his pride had often been his best friend. It has connected him nearer with virtue than with any other feeling. But we are none of us consistent, and in his behaviour to me there were stronger impulses even than pride."

His sister.

"Can such abominable pride as his have ever done him good?"

Eleazar knew himself to be prideful, though he hoped he never acted in the same way as Mr Darcy.

"Yes. It has often led him to be liberal and generous, to give his money freely, to display hospitality, to assist his tenants, and relieve the poor. Family pride, and filial pride—for he is very proud of what his father was—have done this. Not to appear to disgrace his family, to degenerate from the popular qualities, or lose the influence of the Pemberley House, is a powerful motive. He has also brotherly pride, which, with some brotherly affection, makes him a very kind and careful guardian of his sister, and you will hear him generally cried up as the most attentive and best of brothers."

The few mentions of a younger sister had previously created a small spark of curiosity in Eleazar. Now he would have the time to satisfy it, though the source of the knowledge was less than desirable.

"What sort of girl is Miss Darcy?"

Wickham looked pained, as if he would have to say something bad about someone he admired greatly. Eleazar prepared himself to try and figure out the truth from the lies in Wickham's next statement.

"I wish I could call her amiable. It gives me pain to speak ill of a Darcy. But she is too much like her brother—very, very proud. As a child, she was affectionate and pleasing, and extremely fond of me; and I have devoted hours and hours to her amusement. But she is nothing to me now. She is a handsome girl, about fifteen or sixteen, and, I understand, highly accomplished. Since her father's death, her home has been London, where a lady lives with her, and superintends her education."

Eleazar's heart stopped beating for a moment, before coming back in full force.

She would have barely been of legal age when it had happened.

He didn't have time to interrogate Wickham more about Miss Darcy, as the whist party was breaking up. It gave Mr Collins the chance to situate himself near his cousins once more, who were not that eager at all to continue conversing with him. Mrs Philips on the other hand was more than happy to ask after his success in the game, information Mr Collins was happy to provide.

It had not gone well at all, though, when Mrs Philips tried to over her condolences, Mr Collins told her it was of no importance at all.

"I know very well, madam, that when persons sit down to a card table, they must take their chances of these things, and happily I am not in such circumstances as to make five shillings an object. There are undoubtedly many who could not say the same, but thanks to Lady Catherine de Bourgh, I am removed far beyond the necessity of regarding little matters."

This caught Wickham's attention; and after observing him for a moment turned to Eleazar once more to inquire after his relation's connection with the family of de Bourgh.

"Lady Catherine de Bourgh, has very lately given him a living. I hardly know how Mr Collins was first introduced to her notice, but he certainly has not known her long."

It had been long enough for Eleazar to decide he did not like the Lady in question, and he wondered how Wickham would know about her.

"You know of course that Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Lady Anne Darcy were sisters; consequently that she is aunt to the present day Mr Darcy."

For the second time that evening, Eleazar's heart skipped a beat.

"No, indeed, I did not. I knew nothing at all of Lady Catherine's connections. I never heard of her existence till the day before yesterday."

That was a lie Eleazar vehemently hoped Wickham would not recognise as such.

"Her daughter, Miss de Bourgh, will have a very large fortune, and it is believed that she and her cousin will unite the two estates."

That was certainly new information Eleazar would have loved to have had before.

"Mr Collins, speaks highly both of Lady Catherine and her daughter; but from some particulars that he has related of her ladyship, I suspect his gratitude misleads him, and that in spite of her being his patroness, she is an arrogant, conceited woman."

Eleazar for one knew she was an arrogant, conceited woman, one of the few things he and Wickham could agree on.

"I believe her both to be in a great degree. I have not seen her for many years, but I very well remember that I never liked her, and that her manners were dictatorial and insolent. She has the reputation of being remarkably sensible and clever; but I rather believe she derives part of her abilities from her rank and fortune, part from her authoritative manner, and the rest from the pride for her nephew, who chooses that everyone connected with him should have an understanding of the first class."

Supper came soon after that, making an end to the conversation to both parties' satisfaction. It left Eleazar with some peace and quiet to think about all the new things that had come to light. Wickham, it gave the opportunity to charm the room and its many young women in it.