I swallowed. Stared at that light, airy figure bouncing down the lane, with her bonnet shading her eyes and her bubbling laugh carrying to my ears like music. And I panicked. “Do you know, Mr. Bennet, I believe I will belay that request to see your sculpture.”
“Are you certain? You do not wish to disappoint Lord Matlock or His Royal Highness, I presume.”
I shook my head, my mouth running dry. “No. Your personal guarantee will be quite sufficient. I will send word to Lord Matlock that you will entertain his offer.”
“Well! That was simple enough. I daresay Lady Catherine and William Collins will be very much put out, but if you can assure me I shall not be releasing the bird in my hand only to beat an empty bush, then I am quite content.”
“You will not be disappointed, sir. Forgive me, but I believe I will take my leave. You may look for further word from Lord Matlock in a day or two.”
He bowed from the waist. “It is a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Darcy.”
I returned the gesture. “You as well, Mr. Bennet.”
I could not walk back to the carriage quickly enough. It was fortunate that I had changed my coat and hat before coming, else Elizabeth could have recognized my clothing from afar. I hoped she did not already know my gait and bearing as intimately as I apparently knew hers. The ladies passed a hedge just before I reached my carriage, and by the time they had emerged, I was safely away.
And all that remained was to castigate myself for promising a purse that would impoverish an entire English county for a sculpture I had not even seen in person.
Twelve
Elizabeth
“Whowasthat,Papa?”
I took off my wrap at the door and poked my head around the door to my father’s library. He was just settling into his chair and pulling out a sheaf of writing paper. He looked up with a dazed expression.
“Who was what, my pet?”
I pointed toward the window. “The gentleman who was just here with the fine carriage. What did he want?”
A weak, euphoric smile warmed his face. “That, my dear, was a miracle. Now, run along and entertain Miss Lucas. I have a letter to write. Oh! If you see Mr. Collins wandering about, tell him I am busy, please.”
I narrowed my eyes, but stepped from the doorway. “Very well.” Whatever had he got up to now? Frowning, I went to the drawing room where Charlotte was settling herself by the hearth.
“Was it something important?” she asked when I sat beside her.
I shook my head. “Who knows? He has been behaving even more oddly than usual.”
“Speaking of odd! Have you heard of what happened to Mrs. Purvis? I overheard her talking to my mother this morning. She said that she went outside to find a strange man just coming out of her hen house!”
I stiffened. “What sort of strange man?”
“Well, according to her, he was a beastly, tall man with dark hair and a terrible leer.”
I nibbled my bottom lip. Mrs. Purvis tended to exaggerate. Why, only a fortnight ago, she claimed an entire herd of her neighbor’s cows had got loose and trampled her herb garden, but when the matter was investigated, it was found to be only two small calves nibbling on the parsley. But this report of a stranger in the hen house sounded too familiar for me to dismiss it.
“What happened? Did she speak to him?”
“Oh, as to that,” Charlotte laughed, “she said his accent sounded northern, but beyond that, she refused to give Mama a full account. I only heard a few whispers, and I saw her nodding most emphatically. If I had to guess, I would say our romantic rascal is still up to his old tricks, eh?”
My mouth tasted like sawdust. That bounder! That creeping cad! How dare he kiss and flirt with me and then move shamelessly on to the next conquest? Why, he was no better than the duplicitous jaybird, flitting from one tree to another and all the time disguising his true nature. Oh, if I ever saw him again, he would wish Ihadbrained him when I had the chance!
“Did he steal anything from Mrs. Purvis?” I heard myself ask.
“Why, of course! We never hear of this thief but that he stole something. She said he took Mr. Purvis’s best greatcoat and a clutch of coins that were hidden under a jar in the hen house.”
I squinted at the floor. He had never actually stolen anything when I was around him. Yes, those sounded like things a regular thief might steal, but I couldn’t quite picture William taking Mr. Purvis’s greatcoat. He already dressed far more richly than Mr. Purvis ever had. And he hadn’t struck me as the kind to loot for coins. Every time I had spoken with him, it had been about some sort of art. He was the most peculiar burglar I ever heard of.
“Did he not take any paintings or perhaps the China? I know they have that very fine Gainsborough hanging in the parlor, and that beautiful Wedgwood Queens Ware she always keeps on display and never uses. Why would he not have made an attempt for those?”
