Darcy exhaled sharply, pushing a hand through his hair before turning to face his cousin. “Elizabeth is missing.”
Richard’s expression did not shift immediately. “Missing,” he repeated. “As in, she stepped out for a walk, or as in—”
“As in she was last seen leaving my house hours ago, and she never returned home,” Darcy snapped.
That got a reaction. Richard straightened slightly, his posture sharpening. “That is concerning.”
“It is more than concerning!” Darcy ground out, pacing the length of the little room like a caged animal. “She leftalone, Richard. The manservant said she did not call for her uncle’s carriage but took a hired chaise. And then—” He hesitated. He had not meant to bring this up so soon, but the words tumbled out anyway. “I did not hear of it for a solid half hourafterI arrived home. Half an hour! First Langton robs me of my time, then Georgiana, and now—”
Richard, who had been watching him with growing concern, leaned back against the door, arms crossed. “Hold on. You are spinning yourself into a panic over Miss Bennet, and now you bring up Georgiana? Darcy, what the devil is going on?”
Darcy turned sharply. “I am not spinning myself into anything.”
Richard scoffed. “Aren’t you? You are pacing like a madman and barking orders at me before you have even told me what exactly we are dealing with. You are rarely this discomposed. And now you are flinging Georgiana into the middle of it?” He shook his head. “This is not like you, cousin.”
Darcy inhaled sharply, forcing himself to still. But his hands clenched at his sides. “I have been on edge for days,” he admitted through gritted teeth. “Between the election, the schemes of our uncle, and… and Miss Bennet—yes, I am—concerned.”
Richard studied him carefully. “Concerned. Is that what you call it? What is this about Georgie?”
Darcy exhaled sharply, looking away. “I cannot—I do not know if she is well. I have had no word since her last letter more than a week ago.”
Richard frowned, the teasing edge vanishing from his voice. “And why should she not be well?”
Darcy hesitated just long enough that Richard’s expression darkened.
“Darcy,” Richard said slowly, now standing to his full height. “What has happened?”
Darcy dragged a hand down his face. “I do not know. I only know that something is amiss. I should have gone myself—I should have checked on her, and I would have if not for this… bloody nonsense! But with everything else—” He cut off abruptly.
Richard swore under his breath. “Blast it, man. Why did you not tell me sooner? Look, you are fretting about a few days of forgetting to write. Surely, Georgie is well enough. First, let us sort out this mess with Miss Bennet. You are right about one thing—something about this does not sit well with me.”
Darcy clenched his jaw. He had never wanted to be right less in his life. “I do not like this, Richard. Any of it. If she is harmed…”
“Are we back to talking about Miss Bennet now?”
Darcy narrowed his eyes and hissed in exasperation.
Richard let out a slow breath, running a hand through his own hair. “All right. First things first—Elizabeth. Tell me everything you know, every detail, however insignificant.”
Darcy nodded tightly, then relayed the events of the afternoon—Elizabeth’s visit, her distress over the note, her abrupt departure, and the message from Gardiner’s clerk,Temple. Finally, the man who had got into her carriage on his very own street. As he spoke, Richard’s expression darkened, his keen military mind already working through the implications.
“So she went to your house, possibly intending to seek answers about this shipping matter,” Richard mused, his fingers tapping against the back of a chair. “And now she is nowhere to be found.”
“Precisely.”
Richard inhaled deeply, then exhaled through his nose. “I will have my men begin asking around discreetly. In the meantime, we will pay a visit to Gardiner’s shipping office, whatever he has in port, and anyone who works for him. Someone knows something.”
Darcy gave a terse nod. “Agreed.”
Richard hesitated for only a moment before adding, “And as for Georgiana… If you still have nothing from her in the next day or two, I will go to Ramsgate.”
Darcy met his cousin’s gaze, his fingers curling into fists at his sides. “It should be me.Ishould be going, but I… I cannot leave London.”
“I know,” Richard said simply. “But you trust me.”
It was not a question. Darcy exhaled slowly, nodding. “Yes. I trust you.”
Richard’s smirk returned, though it was tempered by the weight of the moment. “Good. Then let us find your Miss Bennet.”
