“And what am I to do? Sit here in this park until such a time as I may reasonably expect to meet with Mr Gardiner?”
“Perhaps you do not have to stay in this same park, per se.”
“You are serious!”
“Perfectly. Darcy, she is searching for you. That was the last thing your valet told me. She has sent men round to all the clubs, fencing parlours, and every fashionable place she could think of. Now, would she do that if she thought she needed to beg and plead? No, Darcy, I tell you, she has some notion of how to force you, even beyond the supposed compromise. You may need far more than an alibi by the time you return to the house.”
“And how am I to know what that is?”
“As I said,” Richard grinned and clapped him on the shoulder, “let your valet sort that. When this is all over, you should buy that fellow a country house of his own. Meanwhile, Darcy, I suggest that you continue to make yourself invisible. By the by, you look as if you have a capital little situation here, not to mention agreeable company. Is that a bakery parcel I see over there? How very thoughtful of you, Darcy!”
“Hold here, you cannot truly be advising me to remain away, doing nothing at all.”
“Why not? There is nothing else you can do at present. When was the last time you took a holiday?”
Darcy narrowed his eyes. “That is precisely what Miss Bennet asked me.”
“Hah! I am liking that young lady better and better. Now, shall we escort the lady to her home?”
“We?”
“Indeed. I should like the chance to know her, and you need a chaperon. What is she calling you—have you at last given up your name, or were you afraid she would attempt matrimony upon you as well?”
Darcy raised his brows in a short laugh. “She did not even wish to know it, claiming that matters were simpler for us both if she only knew of me as a footman. An enigma, she is. I have never known her like.”
“Truly! Well, then if I must address you directly, I shall call you ‘William,’ as Georgie does—no, do not look at me like that. I intend to enjoy this.”
“Richard, wait!” Darcy hissed, snatching once more at his cousin’s arm as the other made to move away. “I will not have you teasing the lady and leading her on to false presumptions!”
“No one is doing any leading but yourself.”
“I have not lied to her,” he growled reproachfully. “She knows something of my situation, or as much as either of us felt comfortable with disclosing.”
“Then I suppose that is enough for now. Let us enjoy a pleasant afternoon with an exceedingly charming companion. After that, you can obtain from her family what you need, then part from her acquaintance with no regrets and no cause for censure by anyone.” Richard turned and walked decisively toward the bench.
Darcy raised a futile hand again, watching his cousin approaching Miss Bennet.No regrets….
“Mama, where can he be?” Anne pouted. “It is not like Fitzwilliam to ignore his duties.”
Lady Catherine snorted aloud—although she herself would have described the sound as something far more refined. “And what has he done for the past eight years, but ignore his duties? I shall see an end to this, for my own dear sister’s son must learn his place.”
“You do not think he has left Town, do you? Perhaps some elaborate scheme to claim he was never here, or even…” Anne’s eyes widened, and her mouth rounded in a horrified gasp. “He could not have eloped with some other woman to Scotland, simply to avoid our marriage!”
Another indelicate sound escaped her lady mother. “Darcy is a selfish boy, but he is not a fool. He would never court such disgrace.”
“But he is wilful, Mama. How shall I ever manage him? He will be sure to make my life a misery if he does not get his way.”
“Never mind that. Even Darcy can be made to know what is best; you shall see. I depend on you to do your duty, and I shall see to it that he does his.”
Anne shuddered in distaste but said nothing.
“What is this?” her sharp-eyed mother remonstrated. “A man knows when a woman does not welcome him, Anne. You would do well to remember my directions. It is not as if Darcy’s person is objectionable! Many men have less than half his attributes.”
“That is just it, Mama. He is… rather large and strong. I should have preferred a more gentle-looking sort.”
“Let me hear no more of this! I know your preferences, but it will not do! Think youthatsort could make a proper husband?” The lady sneered in disgust. “Darcy will correct the errors in your proclivities.”
“But he is hardly courteous! He has never once paid me a real compliment, other than what was expected of a cousin, and from what our cousin Richard has said—”
