Page 35 of Pride, Prejudice, & Pretense

"Ned, that's right. Thank you, but I still don't understand."

He stopped walking altogether and drew closer to her. "I want to warn you about Mr. Wickham. I have had the chance to know things about him…his habits. I noticed him interactingwith you at the party and overheard him later talking?spatting, really?with Lady Catherine. He is…interested…in you. I believe will be in touch with you soon."

Lizzy was unsure how to react, how Fanny should react. Demur denial? Reveal that Wickham had already contacted her? That they had gone sightseeing, gone to dinner, were going to dinner tonight?

Her unsureness played in her favor. The delay in response caused Father Robyn to continue. "I have tried to convince Lady Catherine to break with that man, but he has an occult hold on her. That’s why I'm here, my worry about you."

"Father?"

"Women are Mr. Wickham's…hobby. He collects them, to put it bluntly. I know he has charm, a gift for making a woman feel as if he is sensitively heedful of her, that he is not objectifying her…much the opposite. But that's only because he objectifiesslowly and in secret. Let’s say that he's an expert at being friendly, making friends, but that he keeps?that hecankeep?only a few friends, if any. Particularly women." He searched Fanny's face. "Do you understand?"

Lizzy nodded hesitantly. "But what about Lady Catherine?"

Father Robyn frowned and seemed embarrassed. "He keeps her because she continues to be useful and because she's so rich. And because she's foolish. He stays at Rosings, uses her influence, her car and driver. Often, he uses her and her resources to pursue other women."

Lizzy mirrored his frown. "Mr. Wickham did…call me. We went…sightseeing yesterday and had a quick dinner. It wasn't a date, though. Ned had planned to spend my vacation days with me but was called back to New York. Mr. Wickham only invited me along on his architectural tour. It wasn't a date." Lizzy made sure Fanny hesitated and stumbled.

He nodded, shaking his head. "I feared I was too late. I should have called, but I find this deeply distasteful and feel it is wrong to make it easier for myself, to slough off any difficulty connected to my decision, my dilemma. Attacking another man's character is not the Christian way, but neither is standing idly by and watching one person abuse another…"

"But Father," Lizzy said, pleading a little, since the mission required Fanny to carry on with Wickham, "I'm in love with Ned. Mr. Wickham's been attentive, yes, but I'm in no danger. I know who I am, and I know who I love."

The conversation was beginning to bother Lizzy. It was too much like last night's debrief with Darcy. And too much, also, like her earlier musings about her name…her names. She'd blame men if her own voice hadn’t echoed theirs in her head.

Father Robyn studied her severely. "Good. I trust you are not overestimating yourself or underestimating Mr. Wickham. What a person knows and what she feels do not always interact reasonably. But you're a rational creature, a librarian, after all, so I'll leave off the warnings.”

He began walking again and shifted the topic. “What architecture did you see?"

"Marina City and the Robie House."

They walked on, chatting more about the House and about Frank Lloyd Wright and then about the beauty of the cool, sunlit late morning.

Lizzy parted company with the priest outside her building and returned to Fanny’s apartment. The laptop remained closed. She needed a minute to herself after such a whirlwind of a morning. Jane, her mother, Charlie, Father Robyn.And that debrief last night!

Her stretched feeling had returned…and the sourness had never left her.

Fanny's phone rang. Lizzy looked at it, her shoulders sinking.

It was Wickham.

Chapter Nine: Salon

Lizzy cursed inwardly, silently. She had hoped for time to recoup, to gather herself, before she had to deal with Wickham.

Not answering was a possibility. She tried quickly to reckon with it.

On the one hand, it would keep Wickham on the hook and give her a chance to breathe, reorient. On the other hand, it might suggest to Wickham that she was better able to withstand his charms than he hoped and that she would not yield before his timetable demanded he leave Chicago. She did not take him to be easily dissuaded, but could she risk it? Risk that she might have to make it up to him if he did seem dissuaded?make it up in the flesh, so to speak?

She inhaled slowly and ran her hand through her blonde hair. Then she answered the call.

"George?" Lizzy was careful to speak his name with enthusiasm.

"Fanny!" he responded with equal enthusiasm, "I know you told me to text but…um, I confess, I wanted to talk with you. I enjoyed yesterday. Enjoyed itimmensely."

Lizzy considered his action, his calling, his explanation for it. He wanted her; his actions continued to confirm that. Last night, he had taken the issue between them all but settled, the deed all but done. The question was only how long Fanny would make him wait, how long her already fraying loyalty to Ned would restrain her. He had called her, she realized, not only to hear her voice but deliberately to do something other than she had (twice) asked him to do:text her.This was Wickham not being Gentle Ned (too gentle); it was Wickham's assertion of himself.

He takes Ned to be a…simp.

Lizzy had not understood Ned that way, but now she recognized that Darcy must have, and he had intended for Wickham to, as well. Such an understanding would make Wickham more confident that he could steal Fanny from Ned.Wives and Daughters.It had been a brilliant stroke of backstory, a backstory to convey a lurking weakness in their relationship, a weakness someone like Wickham?analphain his own estimation?would be confident he could exploit.

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