DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY: A Regency Murder Mystery (Part 2) {Recap}

The conclusion of Death Comes to Pemberley, based on the P.D. James book, aired last night on PBS, revealing quite a dense story of mystery, intrigue and sordidness.

George Wickham is on trial for the murder of his friend Captain Denny; and while he claims to be innocent, nearly everyone involved believes in his guilt. But, there is so much more to this whole story than meets the eye.

Through a complicated maze of lies and deception, it is slowly revealed that Wickham seduced young Louisa Bidwell, the sister of sickly Will Bidwell, who are the children of the butler at Pemberley, the grand estate owned by Fitzwilliam Darcy. The baby boy Louisa had been tending to was not her sister’s but her own to Freddie Delancey – an identity for which Wickham took on while traipsing over the Pemberley Estate (even though he was married to Lydia and forbidden to even be on the grounds of Pemberley).

The odd woman for whom Lizzie encountered during a walk about the estate also turned out to be Wickham’s sister and none other than Mrs. Younge, the governess who originally put Darcy’s sister Georgiana in Wickham’s path all those years ago, nearly costing the young girl her good reputation and a great deal of money on Darcy’s part.

Mrs. Younge was set to take Louisa’s baby under the pretense of safeguarding the child until Freddie could acquire money so he, the baby and Louisa could go away together. Captain Denny was merely standing in for Freddie (aka Wickham), trying in vain to help his friend get himself out of yet another unfortunate circumstance of his own doing. But, during that carriage ride to Pemberley with the Wickham’s, Captain Denny demanded to be let out, heading for the Bidwell cottage to tell Louisa the truth about Wickham and that is where all of the trouble ensued.

Wickham is found guilty of murdering Captain Denny and sentenced to hang. At the last possible second, though, Lizzie saved the day with the help of the judge who presided over the trial. As it turned out, Lizzie was able to get the truth out of Will Bidwell, who encountered Captain Denny at the cottage thinking he was Delancey. Will struck Denny with a walking stick and as the Captain ran off into the forest, he took a horrible stumble down a hillside, cracking his skull on the gravestone of Darcy’s disgraced great-grandfather. That is where Wickham found him, seeing Will only in shadows and firing off the shots that were heard by the carriage driver and Lydia.

During this exceedingly difficult time, Lizzie and Darcy were at odds with each other due in part, of course, to the Wickham trial, but also due to the engagement of Darcy’s sister Georgiana to Colonel Fitzwilliam. Georgiana, however, is clearly in love with Henry Alveston, a young solicitor who Darcy brought on to defend Wickham during the trial; but – unlike what her brother did in order to marry Lizzie for love – she put her true feelings aside to help prolong the legacy of Pemberley by marry out of duty.

In the end, though, Darcy discovered Col. Fitzwilliam’s involvement in Wickham’s deceit regarding Louisa and the baby and his engagement to Georgiana is called off, allowing the young woman to move forward with Henry, marrying for love just like her brother. And, with the trial behind them and his name cleared, Wickham and Lydia head off to America and Lizzie breaks the good news to Darcy that he will be a father again.

Death Comes to Pemberley starred Matthew Rhys as Darcy, Anna Maxwell Martin as Lizzie, Matthew Goode as Wickham, Jenna Coleman as Lydia, Trevor Eve as Sir Selwyn Hardcastle, James Norton as Henry Alveston, Tom Ward as Col. Fitzwilliam and Mariah Gale as Mrs. Younge.

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