The clip clop of hooves and a familiar voice explained her change of expression.
“Darcy! Anne! What the devil are you doing standing out in the street?” Richard dismounted, his booming voice contrasting with the dark circles rimming his eyes and his dusty boots. Lord love Richard. He must have gone to a lot of trouble to arrive so soon. The tension coiling in Darcy’s shoulders loosened. There was nobody else he trusted more than the colonel.
Nodding at Darcy, Richard bowed at Anne and Mrs. Jenkinson. “You will never guess whom I saw at the club two nights ago. Do you remember Patrick Gibbs?”
Darcy did not recall the name, but the blush blooming over Anne’s face said that she did.
“The navy has been very good to him,” Richard continued. “He is staying in town seeing to some business matters before he returns to the comfortable little estate he purchased.”
Anne’s blush deepened. “He deserves any good fortune which finds him.” Clearing her throat, she added, “We ought to return to the inn before Mother wakes from her nap. She will be cross if we are gone.”
Darcy nodded. “We will call later.”
“Not today, I beg. Mother went to bed with aheadache. Any attempt to reason with her would be futile and make her cross.”
Which would only make Anne suffer. Darcy did not wish to add to her troubles. “Very well. I will call on the morrow.”
After seeing Anne to the inn, Darcy led Richard to the stables where his horse waited, brushed and saddled.
“I came as quickly as I could, Darcy. Have you written to Georgiana?”
“The same day I wrote to you.”
“Good. My mother says she has never seen Georgie more excited. She has been preparing Pemberley to receive its new mistress, her new sister.”
His words jabbed Darcy’s heart. “I wrote, but I did not explain in detail the cause of our delay. I did not want her to worry needlessly.”
Richard met his eyes. “Needlessly? Do you wish to know why I did not arrive earlier?”
Darcy did not, but he was certain to hear it.
“I inquired amongst the doctors and surgeons in my circles, those close enough to inquire quickly, good men with a great deal of experience on and off the field. And all of them are of the same opinion.” His pause added weight to what would come next. “Without exception, they agree that amnesia is one step away from insanity. I hate to say it, Darcy, but your Elizabeth is in grave danger.”
Every muscle in Darcy’s body tensed. He hadalready lost Elizabeth once. He refused to allow it to happen again. He urged his horse onward, turning off the road before they reached Longbourn or Netherfield Park.
“Where are we going?” the colonel asked.
“Lucas Lodge.” Darcy tightened his grip around the reins, the leather pressing into his palm and dulling his skin, tension stabbing through his numb body like a painful pulse warning him. Warning him not to loosen his hold lest he shatter into a million pieces.
CHAPTER 22
Anne held her breath and tiptoed past her mother’s rooms.
“Anne! Anne, is that you?”
Sighing in defeat, Anne sucked in a lungful of air and resignation and walked into her mother’s room.
“Good afternoon, Mother. Did you rest—”
“You were gone too long. Where did you go?”
Anne sat in the chair beside the bed. “Only to the apothecary’s.”
Mother narrowed her eyes — ever suspicious, always unhappy. “All this time? I have been awake this quarter of an hour.”
“I inquired into the ingredients of the tonic, and Mr. Jones was kind enough to explain.” Anne felt it best not to tell her mother she had seen Fitzwilliam and Richard. “I apologize if I took longer than you expected.”
Her mother huffed. “It is no matter. I was able to attend to some correspondence while you were away.” The smugness in her expression gave Anne pause.
