"Good," said Wickham, studying his reflection in the large looking-glass over the fireplace. "I used to be rather fond of angling. It's all in the bait, you see. Throw 'em a bit of juicy bait, and you've hooked 'em before you can say Jack Robinson ? and with bait like this..." He caressed his elegantly-folded cravat and admired himself in the mirror.
Jane Austen described Wickham as "One of the most worthless young men in Great Britain". This book explores Wickham's worthlessness from his early days as a young rake and fortune-hunter in London, through his seduction of Georgiana Darcy in Ramsgate, to his elopement with the fifteen-year-old Lydia. It goes on to describe how he reaps what he sows in Lydia's gradual transformation into another Mrs Bennet.
