“You may not, for she is none of those things.”
“Then is she perhaps of an unpredictable temperament? Given to fits of melancholy, or rage, or scandalous behaviour?”
Darcy dropped his gaze and stubbornly followed in silence, refusing to allow her the victory.
“Oh, dear, I have touched a little near the mark,” she apologised, all the animation and playfulness gone from her voice. “Forgive me, sir, if I have spoken when I should not have.”
“You mistake my silence for a confession,” he replied quickly. “I assure you, my sister has a very generous and mild disposition. I would not have you think otherwise. She has, however, fallen victim to the pretty words of one who is insincere, as young ladies occasionally do. Her spirits have been slow to recover from such an injury.”
The lady walked on with a lowered head. “My apologies, sir,” she murmured after a moment. “I can see that you are very fond of her, and she is not the first to make the acquaintance of a false friend, lady or gentleman. I ought not to have teased you.”
“You did not know,” he answered matter-of-factly. “None do, save my cousin, whom you met before.”
“And I know nothing either, as I do not know the lady’s name and I will nobly forget your cousin’s. There, she is quite safe from me. I am certain she is a lovely girl and will recover well in time.”
Darcy smiled in earnest. “I hope so. I have endeavoured to guide her as best I may, but there is much an elder brother cannot understand.”
“Yet your concern for her does you credit,” she replied warmly. “It almost makes me envious that I have no brother. Oh! I should not confess the turn of my thoughts, but you are harmless, are you not?”
“Far from it.”
“Only one who intends todono harm would speak so. I was only thinking that if I had a brother, I would not be walking over London to avoid my aunt’s guest. I would have remained, and heand I would be agreeably engaged in concocting all manner of mischief to torment a respectable man.”
He stifled a chuckle. “It seems, madam, that in half a morning’s time, we have come to know both everything and yet nothing about each other. You have only insinuated, not fully confessed, the reason you wish to remain at large rather than returning to your relations.”
“My good fellow, I must protest. In the time we have been walking as lady and servant, all while secretively chatting about sisters, you have let at least three vacant hackneys pass. As we must go some distance yet and you are in haste, I insist you catch that next one, or I shall be forced to reconsider your employment.”
The corner of his mouth twitched helplessly. “As you wish, madam.”
Chapter thirteen
“No. I will not do it.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Again. “The footman rides on the back of the coach! It is always so!”
“I am perfectly aware of this, but I will not do it.”
“Well, you certainly cannot ride inside the coach. What will passers-by think?”
“If I am inside, they cannot see me.”
“They can see me, mounting and dismounting the box with you. I will tell you what they will think! We will be presumed to be entering an assignation—a lady and a lover dressed as a servant to evade prying eyes at home! You wish to avoid drawing attention? That would certainly do the opposite.”
“We must simply wait for a coach that is better suited.”
“You have dismissed two already. We will never make half a mile at these odds.” Elizabeth blew a huff of frustration. “How can you have lived so long in the world and yet remained so innocent to its realities?”
“I am not a simpleton. I know very well the realities of the world, I thank you, but bouncing on the rumble seat of a hired coach through the busy streets of London, knowing that at any moment the horseflesh I stare backwards at could very well seat itself in my lap, is not an appealing way to travel. Even worse to cling by the straps, standing on a step no larger than a stirrup iron. Have you ever examined the hand grips on the rear of coaches? I have no wish to meet my death today.”
“I suppose you must own some manner of carriage? After all, you have confessed to fewer details of yourself than have I, but if you are not some manner of a gentleman, you would be the most worthless manservant in the house. I pray you truly are a man of means, for your own sake.”
His eyes darkened, and even his nostrils flickered in annoyance. Elizabeth tried not to smile. He was soeasyto goad.
“I do have a carriage, madam, if I must confess so much. More than one. What has that to do with the issue at hand?”
“If you object so strongly to the usual accommodations for a footman on the back, I presume you have suited your own carriages with better provisions?”
She watched his jaw tighten. His lips were twitching into a frown, and he glared at the pavement for half an instant. Elizabeth tilted her head and waited.
