He lifted his hat at my approach and smiled. “Good afternoon, sir. You look as if you have just set down off a carriage from London. I hope you have not lost your way.”
I touched my hat and offered a crisp bow. “Not if I presently stand before Mr. Bennet of Longbourn. I beg your pardon for arriving without notice. Fitzwilliam Darcy, at your service, sir.”
He nodded, his gaze sweeping me from top hat to boot tips. “Thomas Bennet at yours. How may I help you, sir?”
“I only ask a word for now, perhaps more, if you are agreeable.”
Bennet’s smile widened. “I am happy to oblige, but first, a question. Are you a bachelor?”
I blinked and drew back. “I beg your pardon?”
“It is a simple enough question. Have you a wife, or are you in the market for one?”
“Why, I… neither, sir. I say, this is a rather impertinent question.”
He chuckled. “Nay, for you do not know Mrs. Bennet. If you have not a wife already, she would be certain that you left with one. Perhaps you would prefer if I did not invite you inside but instead offered to walk with you up the lane. Will that suit?”
I glanced at the door of the house. My greatest fear on this errand had been to encounter Elizabeth Bennet, and this option might save me from that fate. “By all means, sir.”
I fell into step beside him, and he guided me toward a little wild pleasure garden to the south of the house. “Now, then. What was your business, Mr. Darcy?”
I clasped my hands behind my back. “I come at the behest of Lord Matlock, who, as you may know, is a Member of Parliament.”
“Ah! He sounds an important fellow.”
“Indeed, for he has the confidence of the Prince of Wales himself.”
Mr. Bennet gave a low whistle. “Then I wonder how a humble farmer like myself could be of interest to such a man.”
I glanced at him. “You must know. The prince received a letter that you have in your private possession a small statue that was brought from Athens with Elgin’s marbles. His Highness is interested if the statue is everything you claim.”
The man clucked and frowned. “Indeed, I have such a sculpture. I would be happy to show it to you, but you must know I have already received a prior offer. I should not like to default on my word, sir.”
“Then you have accepted the offer?”
Mr. Bennet smiled, his eyes twinkling, and suddenly, my mind was filled with the eyes of another Bennet. “I did not say I had accepted, but I have not refused.”
I stopped walking and pulled out a leather purse from my coat. “I have a note here from Lord Matlock, which may induce you to consider his offer more carefully than the one you already have.”
He grunted and took the note with a smile. Then his smile faded, and his cheek twitched. He read it over for at least a full minute, then folded the note and drew a careful breath. “You make your point most eloquently, Mr. Darcy. I believe I must consider it. But are you certain you do not wish to see it first? You may be purchasing a lump of clay for His Royal Highness.”
I tucked the note back into my coat. “Naturally, I would see it myself before I could assure you of the offer.”
“Yes, yes, you would. Well, come, Mr. Darcy. I believe I can keep Mrs. Bennet from breathing down your neck if I tell her your purpose in coming was to feather her nest a bit. May I offer you something? Come all the way from London. I shouldn’t wonder if you were thirsty.”
I hesitated. Mr. Bennet seemed agreeable enough, but the last thing I needed at this present juncture was another encounter with his daughter. No matter how my body tingled at the idea. “Are you certain you are quite at your leisure? I would not wish to interrupt any… family… events.”
He chuckled. “And what sort of ‘family events’ could I be expecting? No, you are quite safe from my wife. My daughters, however! You should be safe enough from Jane and Mary, but I daresay if you encounter Lydia, your wisest course is to run back to your carriage as swiftly as your legs may carry you. And Lizzy! It would be better if she did not know your business or even that walking stick would not be sufficient protection.”
“I can quite imagine.”
“Indeed. Oh! There she comes now.”
My heart plunged into my boots, and I looked urgently up the lane. Indeed, two women were walking our way, but too far distant for the unaided eye to recognize their faces. Except that I already knew that pale lavender gown and that animated way of walking. It was, assuredly, the very person I dreaded most.
“Oh, dear,” Mr. Bennet lamented. “I thought her away from the house all afternoon. She must have encountered Miss Lucas on the way and invited her back here. I am afraid, Mr. Darcy, that I cannot vouch for your safety.” And then he laughed as if it were funny.
It wasn’t.
