Darcy groused and gave a half-hearted toss of his hand at a passing hackney, but it was already occupied. He turned back to her in near defiance, relieved that he had not truly gone so far as to summon a carriage like a common domestic.
“If your uncle is late returning,” he protested his earlier point, “then will it not be because he has been honestly detained? That is yet another reason I am reluctant to disturb him. If he is about other business and I insist upon his notice, he may not be well disposed toward me. It is a ridiculous predicament, but I am forced to depend upon his goodwill. I would rather not approach him at all than to offend him and further complicate my circumstances.”
She smiled back at him. “You are accustomed to high-mettled gentlemen of theton,I think—easily offended and quick to set themselves against one who might impose upon them. My uncle is not of that disposition, and you have no need to fear his censure. In fact, it may profit you greatly to make your request in the presence of his legal witness, for he will certainly see that it is drawn up properly. As to discovering his whereabouts, that is simple enough. He always uses the same attorney for business matters. My other uncle, do you see, is an attorney in Meryton and he has a partner here in London.”
Darcy felt his face twitching. “Your uncle is an attorney? And the other is…”
“A merchant, yes, we have already canvassed this. I am afraid I cannot produce any lords or even knights from my pedigree to make your acquaintance.” She glanced back with a look which was hardly apologetic for her poor connections. “My uncles both labour for their livings, but that fact renders them no less agreeable in my eyes.” There was an iron in her gaze and heat to her tone which Darcy did not dare contradict, however much he might cringe at her situation.
“I am certain they are perfectly respectable,” he agreed unevenly. “But… what of your father?”
“I could tell you much of his situation which might sound flattering, but I have no interest in leading you on to some pretty images of great houses and lands. My father is a good man, but I can boast of little in the way of connections by him. I am certain that so discerning a fellow as yourself would find our house, as well as its master, beneath your notice.”
“A gentleman does not judge another man by the size of his house, but his management thereof, and his attendance to his duties,” he clipped out, with a tightness to his voice which, if she cared to notice, could not help but betray his own uncertainty on the matter. “Pray do not suspect me of thinking meanly of a man I have never met. You have already informed me that he is a fair and reasonable father. Surely you and your sister have no cause to repine.”
“Which sister? For I have four of them.”
Darcy stumbled to a halt. “Four?There are five of you, altogether?”
“Of which I am the second, and I shall spare you the indelicacy of enquiring after my brother, for I have none. Do keep walking, sir, for it looks odd that a lady’s footman should fail to keep pace on the street.”
Darcy forced his feet into motion again. “But your father must have a brother, of course. Someone to care for his family, should the unforeseen strike?”
“Not one, and I would hardly call a man’s eventual demise ‘unforeseen,’ for as you know, sir, none of us escape this world alive. My mother has a holy terror of the hedgerows, but perhaps that is unwarranted, for my father does have a relation. He is a man of the cloth and has vigorously sought to amend that breach… it is only a pity one cannot tighten that cloth abitmore snugly about his parsimonious neck!”
Darcy made a strangled noise in his own throat, perhaps in sympathy for the unknown gentleman who had also fallen victim to this lady’s barbed tongue… or perhaps in unwonted laughter. She, however, seemed to understand him to be commiserating with her, for she offered a mischievous little smirk over her shoulder.
“Ah! I am irreverent, and I know it very well. You see, however, something of the predicament in which a lady may find herself, quite apart from any fault of her own. Agreeable gentlemen can be in rather short supply when ladies are so bountiful.”
Good heavens, Darcy’s chest froze.Bingley! To such a family, in such a neighbourhood, his friend would be as a prize bull…. No, not a bull. Not Bingley. The fool would be little better than a bleating lamb with wide, innocent eyes, happily trotting toward the slaughter.
“Madam,” he enquired hesitantly, “what of your neighbours? Have you,” he coughed, “any acquaintance among the local gentlemen?”
She looked back to him again. “You must cease calling me ‘madam,’ for it really does sound ridiculous. Miss Bennet will do nicely, as my older sister Jane is not present. It is a pity, for I think you would have liked her—everyone does—but Mama desired her to remain at home when word was had that Netherfield’s new tenant might be a person of interest.”
Darcy’s stomach knotted.Damnation… one lady already being groomed to be thrown into his friend’s path, and he had yet to even take up residence in the county! Yet even if this elder Miss Bennet had warts and a witch’s cackle, Hertfordshire was apparently overrun by ladies. There would be entire legions of simpering misses, no doubt led by a battalion of strategising matrons such as would do His Majesty’s army proud! Bingley would not have a prayer. He would declare the first lady he danced with an angel and would host the very enemy upon his own doorstep if it meant some fair creature would spare him but a smile.
“My eldest sister,” continued the dark-haired vixen, just as if she could have read his thoughts, “is the sweetest, most generous person alive, not to mention the most beautiful lady in the county. I have the greatest affection for her. I am not of the persuasionof some, who might be led to act out of desperation to preserve her family, but I do earnestly hope matters resolve to everyone’s satisfaction. If anyone deserves her happiness, it is Jane.”
“Not yourself?” he could not help but ask, then bit his tongue. If he were not careful, he would end up no better off than Bingley!
“I have not half of Jane’s goodness,” she answered plainly. “I do have such a habit of letting my tongue run on, and occasionally it is rather sharp. My sister possesses every virtue I lack. She is as genuine and true-hearted as she is beautiful.”
“Warm praise for a sister, Miss Bennet. I wonder if anyone can truly be deserving of such high esteem, for such has not been my experience.”
“Such a cynic, sir! Surely there must be someone you admire without reserve. Perhaps a near relation?”
He found, much to his chagrin, that he was beginning to smile. Unlike most ladies, she was noteasyto talk to, in that she eschewed the banal, safe topics and forced him to defend his position, but he was growing to be at ease in her presence. She was interesting, at least, a thing which could be said for few among his acquaintance, almost none of whom were female. “I must confess to the very sincerest affection for my own sister.”
“You have a sister? Will you tell me something of her? Has she your grave turn of countenance, or is she agreeable?”
“You think me disagreeable?”
“I think you are inclined to a more generous opinion of yourself than others might accord you,” she returned tartly, but not without a teasing lilt to her voice.
“I think I am justified in punishing you for that remark. Therefore I will refuse to answer your question regarding my sister.”
“Ah, but you have no choice, for you see now I am free to think the worst of her. Shall I assume that she is sour, ill-favoured, and lacking in all talent?”
