“At once. She is quite exhausted with her confinement almost upon her. I fear I must leave immediately.”
“Then, we will have you packed and ready to go at first light. I will have my husband go into the village and reserve your passage on a London bound coach, and we must go to Rosings and have you take your leave.”
Mrs. Collins left the room, and Darcy opened his letter. He read a few lines before happiness washed over him.
“Good news, I hope?”
“It is, Miss Bennet. I have been waiting for this correspondence since last week. If it is not an inconvenience, might I accompany you to London tomorrow? It appears I have some business to attend to.”
Day 9
The carriage passed rolling hills, and Darcy did all in his power not to stare at Elizabeth. They had traveled a considerable way with the wisps of London chimneys seen over the trees in the distance. The maid sent to accompany them was sleeping against the squabs, and Elizabeth was peering out the window, a look of contentment playing at her lips.
“I have never ridden in so fine a carriage. It was very generous of Miss de Bourgh to offer it for our journey.”
Darcy agreed. “And as my own townhouse is undergoing repair, her generosity knows no limit in offering me hers for my stay in London.”Although I still puzzle at her sly grin when the offer was extended.
“Are you pleased to spend time with your family?”
“I am,” she said. Her countenance seemed to radiate at this. “We are much closer with the Gardiner side than the Bennet. You have met my cousin Collins. He is an oddity and much like his father.”
“He and yourfather did not get on?”
“My father once told me how when he was a lad, he and Mr. Collins’s father decided to build a flying invention based on Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings. They knew my grandfather Bennet would not be pleased, so they constructed the craft in a small cave in the woods a short distance from Longbourn. They then waited until my grandfather was away in London on business to test it.”
“What happened?” Darcy asked, leaning forward with his fingers clasped.
A mirthful sound escaped her lips. “My grandmother Bennet was out visiting friends in Meryton, and the two scamps dragged that invention through the woods and up to the top of Oakham Mount.”
“They did not!”
“They did!” she replied, grinning. “Father convinced his cousin to be the first to fly. He told him, ‘Collins, your name will be in the history books. I owe you that since you will never inherit Longbourn.’ How little my father knew.”
Darcy felt lost in the glow of morning light on her skin, and her playful grin filled him with pleasure.
“My brother Collins cannot be what is called a sensible man. And according to my father, the man who sired him was the same.”
“And the result?” Darcy asked.
“Massive injuries,” she replied more soberly than the onset of her tale. “Mr. Collins suffered two broken legs and was unable to return to his own home for months. Forgive me,” she replied, covering her mouth. “I am not unfeeling”—she giggled—“but my dear father is not one you would call sociable. He fulfills his obligations but is more comfortable hiding in his study and reading a well-cherished tome.”
“Your father sounds like a man I can understand. But why do you laugh at his natural traits?”
“You see, as punishment for his misdeed, he was required to read to his cousin every day.”
“That sounds like a blessing, not a punishment.”
“Oh, if only he could have chosen the books, his joy would have been endless. Shakespeare, Aristotle, or Galileo. But no. My grandfather Bennet made him read a popular book at that time.Fordyce’s Sermons.”
“Fordyce? But that is for the improvement of young women.”
“Precisely. So, you can understand my grandfather’s mirth. My father inheritedhissense of humor from my grandfather—and I from both of them.”
“And was the young Mr. Collins not affected by the choice?”
“Not at all. My father said he was in so much pain that he either moaned so loudly he could not hear, or he had taken enough laudanum to put him to sleep. As intended, it was more of a punishment for my father than entertainment for Mr. Collins.”
His deep laughter hung in the air as they settled into a comfortable silence. “And I am certainyouhave never committed a deed which would invoke a severe punishment.”
