Because of Envy and Jealously

(fan fiction on “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen).

By Jésica López

 

Lydia and her husband, Mr. Wickham, had been living in London after their wedding. They had been living with the money that Mr Darcy, their brother-in-law, and Lydia´s father had given them to pay all Mr. Wickham´s gaming debts, however, there were some that still remained. But their imprudent and extravagant behaviour had made them spent all the money they had been given.

A letter arrived at Pemberly Woods, the place were Mr. Darcy and his wife Elizabeth lived. In that letter, Elizabeth´s sister, Lydia, said that she and her husband had not got a place to live because they had had to sell their house to pay her husband´s gaming debts. Also, she desesperately asked her sister to lend them some money. Elizabeth replied the letter saying that they would not send money, considering Lydia´s husband behavior, but they would happily received them at Pemberly Woods. To Mr. Darcy, this letter was not a surprise. He knew that marriage had not changed his brother-in-law behavior. As regards Elizabeth, she knew perfectly well that her sister was still a bad-mannered and naive child that could not perceive the sort of person Mr. Wickham was.

After receiving the reply, Mr. and Mrs. Wickham parted to the Darcys´ place.

 Although Elizabeth and her husband did not like her sister´s husband very much, the owners of Pemberley Woods were very kind and generous to the couple. Mr. Wickham treated them as usual. He appeared to be a good sort of person but the truth was that he was not. Certainly, he envied Mr. Darcy because he was a very respectable man, well educated and well known by everyone in the region. His wife was beautiful and kind. They were very rich and, of course, extremely happy. And, despite of his being a wicked person Mr. Darcy was very generous with him and his wife Lydia. Mr. Wickham could not stand that Mr. Darcy was such a good person. All this thoughts were poisoning Mr. Wickham´s mind. He began to hate Elizabeth´s husband.

Those feelings of envy made Mr. Wickham outline some ideas to get rid of Mr. Darcy and keep Pemberley Woods and Elizabeth for himself. Maybe, after Mr. Darcy´s death Mr. Wickham could win t Mrs. Darcy´s heart. He did not care about Lydia. He did not love her anyway.

One day Mr. Wickham bought a very effective and lethal poison to kill Mr. Darcy. The plan was to poison him that night.

 At dinner time, Lydia´s husband went to the kitchen where the meal was being prepared. The young man asked one of the servants which meal Mr. Darcy had chosen to eat that night. The servant observed that Mr. Darcy’s guest was very nervous. He answered that his master had chosen beef for dinner. After that, Mr. Wickham began to ask some other questions about the food just to pretend he was interested in. As soon as the servant and the cook left the kitchen, the man poured some drops of the poison in the beef dish. Then Mr. Wickham heard the sound of the door opening but, after taking a look in that direction, he observed there was nobody there. He was trembling. Then, he closed the poison bottle and left.

 Two hours later, Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth, Lydia and Mr. Wickham were at the table waiting for the main course, when servants went into the room with the dishes. Mr. Wickham tried to behave as usual, and he decided to be the first in eating the meal. He did not pay attention to what he was eating because he could not stop looking at Mr.Darcy´s and the beef that was in his dish. When Mr. Darcy was about to began chewing the piece of beef he had in his mouth, Mr. Wickham began to feel funny.

Some minutes later the doctor arrived and said that Lydia´s husband, who was lying on the floor, was dead. At that moment, the servant, who had talked to him in the kitchen two hours earlier, left the room in a hurry. Everybody in the room was astonished. Lydia was devastated.

“What happened to my dear Mr. Wickham?” she cried.