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| Adrian Lukis as Wickham (1995) |
It is a pleasure for me
to have been invited here to share a moment with you, dear readers, in between
campaigns. Indeed, what better excuse to bid my dearest Lydia a fond farewell
and retire to my rooms, take up my pen and note down a little something that I
hope you might enjoy.
What, though, might a
man, a soldier
such as I, share with
visitors to a salon so esteemed as this? What could I possibly know that might
entertain you, might give you reason to afford me a smile?
Well, I turned my mind
to this whilst strolling with Lydia in Hyde Park, looking out over the
Serpentine that was so quiet now with winter drawing in. The horses thundered
on Rotten Row, the carriages rattling this way and that but everyone was, of
course, fully and firmly clad.
’Twas not always so.
And I was not always a
respectable married fellow, nor were all my days passed in boyish play with my
brother and friend, Mr Darcy. I know that you will find it hard to countenance,
dear reader, but even I, George Wickham, had my moments of bawdiness.
