[Pride and Prejudice] Liz's Little Vest

Chapter 84 Wickham's Ending

Let's go back in time to mid-June.

London is foggy after the rain.

In the words of Sherlock Holmes: "Shadows loomed and dissolved into the mist. Burglars and murderers roamed London as freely as tigers in the jungle in such weather." As in, no one can see[1].”

Such a thick fog really gave the criminals a lot of time and place.

Wickham is one of the beneficiaries.

After Christmas last year, he was jailed by the London police on suspicion of theft and murder.

But now, taking advantage of the thick fog, he conspired with his accomplices to escape again.Submerged into this city full of rain and fog.

However, for criminals, escaping from prison is only the first step on a long road.

Because of bad social credit, it is difficult for them to find decent jobs.And if they had to work hard to escape from prison just to do illegal work, they would certainly not be happy.

Only at this moment, they were still immersed in the joy of escaping from the prison.

Wickham's companion, Jim, looked at the streets on both sides of the rain and fog, his eyes shining brightly: "Dude, I still have some money in my hand, let's go get some girls to play with?"

"Jim. It won't last long." Wickham shook his head. He was educated by the nobles of Pemberley Manor since he was a child, and he also knows the principle of chicken laying eggs and money making money.

"So what are we supposed to do, man?" Jim asked.

Wickham didn't speak, just looked at the small casino on the left side of the street, in the dark rain and fog, his eyes were shining.

"Nothing brings more happiness than a casino, man. I'll show you how to turn a few pounds into tens, hundreds, or even thousands of pounds..."

Jim is an ignorant young man imprisoned for the first time for theft.What he stole at the beginning was just some cheap antiques from the neighbor's house, which were not worth a lot of money.Even without Wickham's instigation, he would be released in a few days.

Therefore, his immature mind immediately lit up after hearing Wickham's temptation.

"Dude, you're amazing!" Jim said admiringly.

"It's all a trick." Wickham said triumphantly. "I once easily tricked a lady from a viscount's family. The family once gave me thousands of pounds in order to beg me to marry her. "

"Please! My God, man. I adore you."

"I said, he begged many times."

"Then how many times have you multiplied the thousands of pounds now?" Jimmy's eyes lit up.

"Oh, this—" Wickham hesitated, "There are so many that you can't think of—well, let me take you to experience the joy of the casino."

Jim wanted to ask something more, but Wickham quickly stopped him from doing so.

The casino was half-lit and half-dark.

In the London fog, the atmosphere was even more eerie.

Wickham led Jim across the dim candlelit gaming tables, like a demon leading his servants down the road to hell.

The unspoken rules of the casino quickly made Jim win several hands, and the mere five pounds quickly turned into one hundred pounds.

Jim's eyes were shining, and he walked further and further on this road of no return.

Wickham hadn't touched the gambling table for a long time, and now his gambling addiction also came up.

At this moment, the people in the casino slowly began to seduce Wickham to borrow money with leverage.

Borrow from one hundred pounds to two hundred pounds, four hundred pounds, five hundred pounds...

This is not enough.

One of the fake gamblers suddenly said: "Sir, you are very lucky. What is your name, I really want to know you."

"Wickham. Wickham from Pemberley Park."

"Oh, my dear Mr. Wickham. I want to lend you some money. Would you like to play a big ticket together?"

"If I win, how will the money be divided?" Wickham asked.

"Four to six. I am four and you are six."

Wickham's eyes flashed greedily: "You are very generous, sir."

"But what if you're going to lose?"

"Oh, sir, don't you believe me?"

"Believe, believe. Of course I believe. But—what if you lose?" Casino people have their own way.

"How much do you pay?" Wickham didn't answer directly.

"Ten thousand pounds."

"Ten thousand...ten thousand pounds?" Wickham's eyes were blazing with greed.

"Yes. Ten thousand pounds. What if you lose?"

"Then my life is yours," said Wickham.

Jim gently tugged on Wickham's hem, trying to persuade him not to be so impulsive.

This move reminded Wickham of the episode when Collins pulled his clothes out of his trousers when he was in Meryton.With a stinky face, he couldn't hold back the urge to scold Jim.

Jim dared not persuade any more.

"Deal, sir. I trust you immensely." The casino man pretending to be a gambler showed a satisfied smile.

In fact, he is just one of the many scammers in the casino.

Ten thousand pounds was not an amount he dared to take out.

It's just that a well-dressed coachman told him just now that if he lured the man in the red uniform to make a big bet, then the hundred pounds would be his.

Of course he was happy to do it.

Seeing the man named Wickham saying "deal" with joy, he couldn't help but mock in his heart.

How can casino money be so easy to earn?

Today, he can earn a hundred pounds for free, and go back to buy some butter and white bread for his wife and children, with good beef sandwiched between them, he is already very satisfied.

In the casino, the most taboo thing is greed.

However, how can people who are not greedy be attracted to casinos?

It's a paradox, the gambler thought.

Wickham actually had a plan in mind.

That is, if he really loses, the big deal is to run away!He has succeeded in this strategy many times.

How to repay the debt owed after fleeing?

He only needs to find a place where no one knows him, and use his appearance and temperament to deceive a rich girl—usually such a girl has a dowry of [-] to [-] pounds—and the money will come naturally.

However, he didn't know that today he was facing Miss Elizabeth, who calculated him carefully.

Under the tricks of casino tricksters, he finally lost.

Just as he was about to escape, two big men stood in front of him.

"Please step aside. Otherwise, I will call the police. I know very well that casinos have no right to intercept customers." Wickham said in a deep voice.

"But I just heard that you lost a bet of ten thousand pounds. Can you come up with ten thousand pounds?" one of the big men asked.

"Well, I'm going to get it. However, this should have nothing to do with the casino, right? This is a private bet between me and that gentleman."

"Is that so? But sir, as far as I know, you have just escaped from a prison in London."

Wickham was shocked, his legs were trembling, and he was struggling for the last time: "Sir, anyway, it is against the laws of the British Empire that you block the way like this."

"The laws of the British Empire? Oh, I think I do it quite legally."

"Please come up with a valid reason, or I will call the police."

"It's so simple. You just promised that if you don't get ten thousand pounds, your life will be the gentleman's, don't you?"

"Indeed it is."

"Just admit it. Because that gentleman was entrusted by my master." The big man said.

Only then did Wickham realize that he had been tricked.

He suddenly turned pale.

He tried to shout to get the attention of the police before fleeing in the commotion.

But how could Elizabeth have allowed him to succeed?

The whole city was immersed in the joy of the Duke of Wellington's victory, and the police could not hear his call for help.

If you want to call, wait until some years later to Mr. Darcy's plantation in India.

The author has something to say:

[1] Quoted from the Sherlock Holmes detective story "The Bros. Partington Project".

The plot of Wickham being caught is slightly different from the finale, here is a slight adjustment~