Darcy waited until she was at the top of the stairs and turned down the corridor.There is still hope.
His thoughts left the woman herself and strayed to the letter he had begun to read aloud.It is not possible! I wrote that in my dreams with the threat of Wickham’s duel before me.
He heard the door open down the corridor, and Richard walked toward him. “Darcy, there you are. The good doctors shall join us shortly. Wiley’s associate is quite a find! Been traveling throughout India for years learning all about the brain. Hopefully, he can tell us if you have one.” Richard’s heavy hand thumped the middle of his back, and Darcy scowled.
“I am going to my room to clean up. Send the doctors to my rooms?”
“I will,” Richard said, following Darcy up to his room. “But I am only half-joking. I hope whatever the good doctors find, you will help me alleviate Georgiana’s need to blame herself.”
Darcy stopped in front of his apartment. “Georgiana is blaming herself? Why?”
“I am uncertain,” Richard replied, walking through the door and over to sit in a large chair. He laced his fingers and rested them upon his chest. “To be truthful, it made no sense to me, but I am an old bachelor, not familiar with the minds of a young lady. Yet, she said she woke up crying that if she had not married Wickham, you would be safe.”
“Not married Wickham?” Darcy spat out his words. “She said that?”
“Yes!” Richard held up his hands. “She has been worrying for you, and her thoughts are muddled, disturbing her dreams.”
Darcy sat down on the edge of his bed, visibly fatigued, and rested his head in his hand. “I am just perplexed about Georgie.”
“And about Miss Bennet?” The colonel waggled his eyebrows and dodged the pillow Darcy threw at him.
“Yes, if you must know. But that, I can attempt to remedy. Georgie…I cannot. Why would she feel to blame?”
Richard leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs as Darcy rose and began to prepare. “Mrs. Annesley said she would wake Georgie up from these nightmares when your sister would scream out in fear and anger. Our young charge could not discern at first between reality and dreams once awake. She seemed quite addled.”
“Addled? How am I only hearing of this now?” His voice began to rise. “I am her brother, her guardian. I should be kept informed when things occur!”
“Darce. You have recently been in the sickroom, remember? We have taken good care of her. It is nothing…merely difficulty sleeping. Worry. Forget I mentioned it. Now, shall I send a footman for the doctors?”
“Yes. Let us finish this examination quickly so that I might move to more enjoyable pursuits.”
His cousin sent a footman to retrieve the doctors, and within five minutes, there was a knock at the door. A footman opened it allowing the doctors into the room, and Richard stood as Darcy said, “Doctors, thank you for coming. You will see I am fit, and my cousin worries…” His words died on his lips as he stepped back, the color draining from his face. “Clarence!”
He had not thought of the day he and George Wickham had encountered the old gypsy woman when they were boys for many years, but her words had always floated just under the surface of his conscious thoughts.
“You will become a great man.”
“You will have the chance to change your life and choose your circumstances.”
“The purest love will always recognize your soul.”
“When you have lost all hope, I will send you a sign.”
“All will be well.”
All will be well.That memory had been the furthest from his mind as Darcy had welcomed in Doctor Wiley and his associate an hour before. His shock at seeing Clarence could little be disguised during the whole of the examination. Richard’s concern was evident as the typically direct Darcy was pensive, even distracted. However, when the examination concluded, he spoke.
“Doctor, you have no concerns for a full recovery?”
“No, Darcy,” the physician said, putting his instruments in his bag. “You are further along in your convalescence than I hoped when I first saw you a week ago.”
“And I am also quite pleased with your clarity of mind,” Clarence added.
“If my colleague is pleased with your clarity of mind, that is commendable,” Dr. Wiley said, closing his bag and walking to the door.
“How so?” Darcy asked.
The doctor stopped. “Because as I mentioned to the colonel, Clarence’s studies on injuries to the head are quitethorough and respected. His recent studies gave us insight into the mind we have never known before.”
