“Only the best, eh, Darcy?” He sipped, his eyes closed, and drank in a long sigh. “Now, then, I know this is only a ploy to soften me up a bit, but it is having the proper effect. You must need something that you cannot or will not do for yourself.”
I met Richard’s gaze. He still disapproved of this idea, but not on moral or legal grounds. He just didn’t trust Wickham.
I topped off Wickham’s glass. “I understand you have been keeping busy lately.”
Wickham chuckled and sipped. “I didn’t know you were keeping tabs on me. I suppose I ought not to be surprised.”
“I had a passing interest. You’ve been spending a bit of time in Hertfordshire this past month. Stealing spoons and seducing ladies?”
He coughed and cleared his throat. “Egad, Darcy. I didn’t know you’d had me followed. Who was your informant?” He shot a hard glare at Richard.
My cousin held up his hands. “Don’t look at me. I was in Kent.”
“Then who was it? No! I know you won’t tell me. And you’re not set to turn me in, or you would not have invited me here to ply me with your best sherry.”
“Perspicacious as ever.” I folded my hands on my desk. “Let us simply work forward with the assumption that I can and will have you imprisoned on the strength of witness testimonies. If need be.”
Wickham rolled his eyes and set the glass on my desk with a clunk. “Carrot and stick. Very well, Darcy. What do you want?”
I glanced at Richard, then smiled at Wickham. “Thatis the proper question.”
Wickham looked nervously at my cousin, who had worn his military regalia today—brass buttons polished, medals glimmering. He gulped, then pointed. “Tell me I’m not working withhim.”
“Oh, believe me. I hate this as much as you do,” Richard growled.
I lifted my hands in a helpless gesture. “He means to scare you straight.”
Wickham reclaimed his glass and swallowed it in one slosh. “Consider me properly frightened. May I go now?”
“You certainly may,” Richard said. “Our carriage is right outside.”
Wickham blinked, first at Richard, then at me. “Am I not to know what is going on?”
I laughed. Dash it all, but I was enjoying having the upper hand on Wickham for a change. “Oh, you’ll find out soon enough. I only want to be assured of your cooperation. However, I have another appointment to keep as well.” I stood and pulled out my pocket watch, and, as if on cue, Dobbs opened the door of the study.
“Mr. Bingley is here, sir.”
I nodded. “Show him in, please. We are finished here.” I came around the desk to face Wickham. “Safe journey, George. I shall see you back tomorrow, provided you are successful.”
He turned a bewildered look on Richard, who had closed in behind him. “Suppose I’m not successful? I don’t even know what I’m doing! What if I don’t manage whatever you’re asking?”
I shrugged and grinned. “I suppose you’ll hang, after all, but I cannot be sure. I had not thought that far ahead.”
His face crumpled into a sullen glare. “You really can be rather dark, Darcy.”
I only smiled as Richard pushed him out the door.
Bingleystaredatmeas if I had grown another eye in the middle of my forehead. “You have arranged what? Who is this lady?”
I stood for Dobbs to slide my coat up my shoulders, then reached for my hat. I was still rather careful about how I put my hat on, and I took a few extra seconds about it. “From what I am told—and my source is both reliable and forthright—the sweetest and most beautiful lady in all Hertfordshire. One of your new neighbors, as a matter of fact. She is here in London for a few days, and I understand she requires an escort.”
“But why me? And how did you come to know her?”
“Oh, that? Simple, really. I had business there, and that business brought me into contact with the Bennet family of Longbourn.”
“Bennet? Oh, indeed!” His eyes brightened. “My solicitor, Philips, told me the Bennet ladies were his nieces. He claimed they were the handsomest girls within fifty miles, but I assumed that was merely obligate praise for his relations.”
“The praise was not unfounded. Now, look, Bingley, my business is not entirely concluded, which is why they are come to London. One of the Bennet ladies, Miss Elizabeth, is… Perhaps I ought to say she came on her father’s behalf, and we require some chaperonage. I can think of no one more suitable to escort Miss Jane Bennet on a pleasant outing. There, will that suit?”
