“Still, I thank you.”
Miss Bingley cleared her throat. “Yes, Sarah is an exceptional maid. Louisa and I have hardly felt the inconvenience of going without her, but we are happy to sacrifice our comfort if it helps sweet Jane.”
“Fetch Mrs. Nichols if you would, please, Sarah, and ask her to bring the basket,” Mr. Bingley instructed.
Sarah disappeared down the stairs in search of the housekeeper while Miss Bingley struggled to keep her expression pleasant. Much as Elizabeth wanted to laugh, she kept her expression carefully neutral. As long as her sister was a guest in the Bingleys’ household, she must do nothing to embarrass her hostess. Fortunately, Mrs. Nichols appeared with the maid, offering a much-needed distraction.
Now content that Jane would soon have some relief from her symptoms, Mr. Bingley promptly departed to change from his riding coat and boots. Miss Darcy also retired to change out of her riding clothes, leaving Elizabeth alone with Miss Bingley. Having nowhere to go and nothing more to say, Elizabeth excused herself. “My dog is in the stables,” she explained.
Miss Bingley’s smile turned genuine. “Excellent. Mrs. Nichols can show you the way. I shall send a servant to fetch you when Jane awakens.” Elizabeth had not planned on spending that long out at the stables, but if Miss Bingley was to be her company, she supposed she would rather stay with the horses.
The housekeeper nodded. “I shall take Miss Elizabeth to her dog.”
They descended the stairs. Instead of going out of doors and around to the back of the house, Mrs. Nichols took Elizabeth toward the kitchens. It was highly unusual for a guest to be brought below stairs, but she explained, “It is raining. This route is drier.” Maids scattered as they saw them coming, hiding their smiles behind their hands and stifling their giggles. It was a strange reception, and Elizabeth wondered if there was some joke in the air. If she was the target, far be it from her to deny anyone a laugh. She continued to follow Mrs. Nichols until they stopped in front of a closed door, and she frowned. The door faced the wrong way; it would not lead her outdoors to the stables.
Slowly, Mrs. Nichols reached for the handle. “Your dog, miss.” There was no malice in her expression, but she had a lilt in her voice and a gleam in her eye as she quietly pushed open the door.
CHAPTER 10
“Sit, Remy,” Darcy commanded, struggling to keep his expression as stern as his tone. Remy obediently sat in the tub surrounded by the little that remained of the warm, soapy water. “Now, I am going to take one step toward you, and you are going tostayseated.” Darcy did not know why he thought reasoning with the dog might work when nothing else had for these last few minutes.
Miss Elizabeth had said that Remy enjoyed his bath. What she had not mentioned was howmuchRemy enjoyed them. That was not the problem, however, and Darcy had no wish to lessen the dog’s delight. No, the difficulty was that Remy seemed to wanthimto share in the fun, which meant that what should have been a brief task was turning out not to be brief at all.
His coat and waistcoat hung from a peg inside the door of the scullery room, the only dry articles remaining of his clothing in the room. There was morewater around the tub than there was inside it. Darcy’s linen shirt clung to his skin, and he smelled of wet dog. At least he had some privacy. None of the members of Bingley’s household would think to look for him below stairs, and the servants had cleared out, too polite to laugh in front of him.
He ought to have left the dog in the stable for the stable boy to wash. The dog surely would not have minded the cold water as much as the lad would have, but Darcy had thought it best to bring Remy inside. Miss Elizabeth already had one ailing sister to concern her; she did not need her dog to fall ill, too.
Taking another step toward the tub, Darcy reached for the pail of water to rinse the last bit of soap from the animal’s fur, and Remy rose onto all four legs to show his appreciation. Darcy gave in. He was sopping wet anyway. “You big, lovable oaf,” he said, rubbing Remy’s belly and checking his paws to make certain all the mud was gone. Remy leaned into Darcy, rubbing against him and smearing wet dog water all over his shirt and breeches.
The door creaked, and light brightened the room. Mrs. Nichols turned away, and Miss Elizabeth’s eyes widened before she did the same. Darcy stood, water streaming down his forearms from his pushed-up shirtsleeves. He must look scandalous.
“I did not know you would still be here, Mr. Darcy. My deepest apologies,” Mrs. Nichols called over her shoulder.
Decency demanded that he cower behind the tubuntil the ladies departed or don the coat hanging on the back of the door they had just opened. Lunging for his coat, he twisted and writhed to put it on, straining to pull it past the bunched-up fabric above his elbows. With a mighty tug, he yanked it up his arms and peeled it over his shoulders.
He should have hidden behind the tub.
Elizabeth spunaround to grant Mr. Darcy a measure of privacy, but not before she had seen a great deal more of him than she had seen of any other man. He had hair on his chest! And strong-looking arms. She fanned her face with her hand.
It occurred to her that, with the absence of his valet, he would benefit from some assistance into his coat, but an offer to help seemed even more inappropriate than her current predicament. Should she leave? It did not feel right when her dog was also in the room and had caused Mr. Darcy’s current state.
Now she understood the giggling maids. They were not laughing at her at all but at Mr. Darcy’s kind attention to a cold, dirty animal. She strongly suspected that Mrs. Nichols had known precisely what she was doing when she had brought her to the scullery room, and Elizabeth did not know what to make of it.
For the moment, she felt it imperative to appease Mr. Darcy. Turning her head slightly to the side butnot so far that she would see him, she said, “I had thought to find Remy in the stables.”
“No sense in the stable boy—or the dog—catching a cold in this weather.”
What a perfectly wonderful concern to have! Was there a gentleman kinder or humbler than this one?“I thank you, sir.”
Mrs. Nichols offered to have a maid rinse off the dog and see him dry by the kitchen fire. While her offer was incredibly kind, Elizabeth felt she had caused the household enough trouble already.
“I do not wish to impose on you more than we already have.”
Mrs. Nichols lifted her chin, her tone firm. “Mr. Bingley would insist on the comfort of his friends, including their pets. Your dog is welcome inside Netherfield Park so long as he is clean. I will not allow dirty paws to drag mud and debris over my clean carpets.”
“Of course not. I would not allow it, either.”
“Very good. Then we agree to allow Molly to see to your dog. She likes animals, knows where everything is in the scullery, and she knows how to keep her mouth shut. Now, I shall show you into the front parlor while I send for the ladies of the house. They will wish to entertain you until you can join your sister.”
