Darcy wiped his eyes with his hand until they were blurry. He had been ill-prepared at this moment to have Richard bring up his father’s memory. “What can you mean by that?”
“Auntie Anne—sorry, I still think of her by that name—she was always so gentle with you and Georgie. I remember how she would encourage you to speak to anyone and everyone, just to help you overcome your shyness. You took her advice a little too much to heart for Uncle’s comfort. Do you remember how you used to play with the shopkeepers’ boys from Lambton?”
Darcy nodded slowly. “Father eventually declared an end to that. He felt it beneath me.” He had been devastated at the time, although too proud to let his father see it. His playmates had been his primary diversion after losing his mother. After losing their fellowship as well, he had retreated to the stables and his books, and of course, to little Georgiana.
“You must not blame Uncle for that,” Richard continued. “He genuinely feared you would be taken in by anyone who would try to use you for his own advantage. He wanted to prepare you for your responsibilities, and he knew no better way to do it. Father advised him to limit your acquaintance to only those who stood little to gain from using you. Only Wickham was allowed to continue with you, and that was because he was your father’s namesake, and his own father was respectable.”
Darcy chewed thoughtfully on his lower lip. “Are you saying that I was purposely taught to be prideful and conceited to protect me from being taken advantage of? That makes no sense.”
“Well, perhaps not in hindsight, no. You were far too soft-hearted, though, and Uncle knew it. Remember the robin’s nest?
Darcy laughed lowly at this. “I had forgotten about that! I cried about those broken eggs the entire afternoon until Father returned home. Little did I know the empty shells actually meant the chicks had hatched and were well!”
“I remember,” Richard chuckled. “Uncle thought you were being ridiculous! And what happened that time you had to destroy that dying broodmare in the field?”
Darcy shuddered. It was the first time he had had to put an animal out of its misery, but unfortunately not the last. Hunting was different. This had been his father’s finest broodmare, a horse he had ridden himself as a toddler. To this day, she appeared on his pedigrees as one of the grand dams of his own stock, including Pluto. “It was horrible. I will never forget that dreadful shriek, and then the dead foal… that perfect white diamond, such a promising colt...”
“See what I mean? You wouldn’t go back to the stables for days. Uncle felt you needed to learn a little distance, a little coldness even, for your own good. Even then, you were naïve, blind to Wickham’s ways until you were at school together and were daily confronted with his notoriety. You refused to believe any one of your good friends could be such a rogue. It was while you were at school that you truly began to change. Then later, when you first entered thetonas an eligible bachelor….”
“When I was relentlessly pursued by lacklustre debutantes and their scheming mamas? Yes, I suppose that did pull the wool from my eyes rather quickly. In very little time, I was fed up with most people’s society.”
“Of course, your one close acquaintance whohadbeen truly beneath your status ended up betraying you, no doubt reinforcing your father’s lessons to not mingle below your station. You never were an easy one to know, but you became even more distant and forbidding after that. Bingley has been good for you, I think, but amiable and friendly as he is, even he has not been able to quite chip off that calloused exterior you worked so hard to build up.”
“You would have me make myself vulnerable again? The way you describe it, I have done nothing more than to protect myself.”
“You are ten years the wiser now,” Richard pointed out. “I cannot tell you how delighted I was to hear you had found a woman you truly esteemed—and not even of theton! When I first heard of it, I supposed that in pursuing such a woman, you could only have motives of the very noblest kind, and so it is. You can gain nothing from her but the riches of the heart, and that is just as I would wish for you.
“She is magnificent, Darcy—a queen among women, if I may be so bold. She will defrost that tender heart of yours and still make you toe the line. My advice, Darcy, is to do whatever it takes to win her affections, regardless of how you must humble yourself to do it.” Richard stretched sleepily and winked at his cousin. “Had she any dowry of her own, I might not advise you so, for I think she is quite a captivating woman myself! You always did have exquisite taste.”
Darcy ignored his cousin’s jab. “How am I to do so? If you and Miss Elizabeth are correct, I have managed to give offence at every turn. How am I to undo the mistakes of the past weeks or the habits of half a lifetime?”
“Practice makes perfect, old man. Try starting with that mama of Miss Bennet’s. No doubt she will seat you by herself at dinner tomor—I mean tonight. If you can stomach her effusions without making any of your haughty speeches, I would say you are well on your way to learning how to please a woman worthy of being pleased.”
Darcy gulped; his eyes widened. “Do you really think that necessary?” For Elizabeth, he would dare anything, risk any chance, but an entire evening trading inanities with Mrs Bennet? Torture!
“Can you think of a better one to practice on?”
Darcy groaned, knowing Richard was right, but dreading the discomfort a long conversation with Mrs Bennet would cost him. “Could we not dig up Wickham? Perhaps I could publicly exonerate him, hand him the keys to Pemberley, and find him a rich bride….”
Richard laughed. “Speaking of our old friend, he may be out of our hair.”
“What? How would that be?”
“Well, I wouldn’t put too much confidence in it. I saw him last evening and made note of the advantages of America. Much opportunity there for a man with ambition, they say.”
“He would never go there willingly. Besides, the fare costs more than he has ever been able to hold on to for more than a week.”
“Oh, I saw to it that was not a concern. He has ample funds for such a voyage.”
Darcy narrowed his eyes. “And I suppose I am twelve guineas the poorer for it? I wondered why my purse seemed so light.”
Richard shrugged, spreading his hands supplicatingly. “Call it an investment. Not that I would expect him to use the money as it was intended, but if he sells up here, he will now have enough to purchase a Lieutenant’s commission in the Regulars or any number of more honourable options. He can have no excuse for sticking around to make trouble for you now, and if he does, well, he is being watched very closely. Colonel Forster and I go back a long way.”
Darcy frowned thoughtfully. “It is an interesting plan, at least. I doubt he will make good use of the funds. More likely, he will use it as seed money to fleece another unsuspecting ‘friend’, but it was worth a try to shield Georgiana—and Elizabeth’s family from him. The younger girls are exactly the kind of empty-headed quarry he tended to favour when we were at school.”
“From what you said, it sounds as though his tastes have lately coincided more with yours.”
Darcy’s face darkened. “He certainly found Miss Elizabeth appealing, for which I could blame no one, I suppose. He did not spare her his charm, either. However,” Darcy rubbed his still-tender jaw, “I believe she will be safe from him now. She knows him for what he truly is, and I have proof that she has enough spunk to send him packing.”
