Asthecarriagenearedthe small turnabout which served Longbourn as a courtyard, Caroline glanced out the window at the pompous black figure on his rented horse. His lips were curling in smug satisfaction, and she could scarcely feel less pleased herself. At last, a cohort of influential personages were come together to impress upon Darcy what he owed to himself and to Georgiana. It was for his own good! That strumpet Eliza Bennet would simply have to be put aside.
Peering out the window nearest the house, Lady Catherine gave an unexpected start. Caroline looked to see what had discomposed the great lady and discovered another carriage, twice as fine as her own, already gracing the driveway behind Darcy’s.
She squinted her eyes somewhat and was able to make out the Earl of Matlock’s crest on the door. Perfect! The earl would give no quarter to an upstart country nobody! Caroline preened a little. She would look forward to renewing her acquaintance with the earl. She feared he had been left with a deceptively poor impression of her true qualities.
Lady Catherine, however, was rapping on the carriage. “Drive on immediately! Take us to Netherfield at once!”
Collins had reined in, preparing to dismount, but stopped himself in dismay. “Your ladyship, I assure you, this is the right place! I regret that the situation may not be-”
“I said drive on! It is not up for conjecture, Collins!” Lady Catherine, frowning her great displeasure, reared back on the seat of the carriage and glowered.
Caroline bit back her frustration. Perhaps Lady Catherine already knew the earl’s intentions and had decided to cause Darcy no further public disgrace. She could hardly lament such a motive. After all, the man must still have some credibility left when his family had done with him if she were to agree to be the next Mrs Darcy!
ElizabethsmiledasDarcydrew her aside and spoke lowly, “Handsomely done, sir. You have given the good people of Meryton fodder for several days!”
“Awkwardly done, you mean. I should rather have been more subtle, but clumsy as I was, I expect it will suffice.” He released a long, slow breath and glanced across the room where three young girls tittered behind gloved hands. “Richard’s arrival could not have been timed more perfectly.”
“Yes, quite the coincidence, I daresay,” she chuckled, then sobered. “Must you really leave so soon?” she asked softly.
She did not wish him to go any more than he himself desired it! Could it be true? Oh, how he could crush her to him! “I am afraid so, my Lizzy,” he answered in a low murmur, for her ears alone. “I intended to leave directly from here; my horse is already outside with the coach. The fellow who began all this trouble has yet to satisfy himself. I cannot allow him to continue to harm others as he has done.”
“You speak as though he is your responsibility,” she smiled warmly.
“So he is, or he was my father’s at any rate. I suppose I have inherited the reprobate. Had I put pin to his appetites months ago, these things could not have happened, but as I was eager to protect Georgiana, I did not pursue him as far as I ought. Now another has paid the price.”
She tilted her head. “Another? What has happened?”
He thinned his lips. “I am not certain of anything. However, you might employ sensitivity where Miss King is concerned.”
Elizabeth gasped. “No!” she blinked away a sudden terror.
Darcy put a hand out to reassure her, but his eyes quickly shifted to her left, and his voice took on its usual commanding tone. “Uncle James, we are honoured by your visit.” Elizabeth composed herself quickly and curtseyed again to the approaching earl.
“Your uncle is a man of sense, Miss Bennet,” the elder Fitzwilliam began. “Darcy, I have just discovered that your Miss Bennet’s uncle is something of a magnate, you might say. My broker has been investing in Gardiner’s enterprises for some while, and I have had no cause to regret it.”
“I am glad to hear it, Uncle,” Darcy smiled. “I find him to be quite amiable.”
“Indeed. Well, Miss Bennet, my son tells me that you gave Darcy here a rather hard time. I do hope so, Miss Bennet, for my nephew, has had entirely too smooth of an existence thus far.”
“Does His Lordship value an intractable lady, then?” she raised a pert smile to Darcy’s uncle. “If that be the case, I shall look forward to meeting Lady Matlock with much enthusiasm!”
Matlock startled into a great laugh, clapping Darcy on the back. “Just the thing! I say, Darcy, she has quite taken the likeness of your aunt, has she not?” He winked genially at his nephew. “Oh, do forgive me, Miss Bennet. She is a fine woman, Lady Matlock, but occasionally she sees fit to remind me who the real authority in the family is.”
“Truly?” Elizabeth raised her eyebrows innocently. “Perhaps I ought to beg His Lordship for any advice he might be able to offer. I should dearly like to make a good first impression upon Her Ladyship.”
“Simple enough, really, Miss Bennet. You must take care to compliment her rather questionable taste in art, sample whatever new culinary concoction she has ordered from that blasted French chef, and by all means, flatter her sons.”
Elizabeth smiled, aware that her conversation still had its attendants. “While I shall endeavour to do what I can as regards the former—I have no taste in art and simple culinary preferences—the last will be no great burden, I assure your lordship. Colonel Fitzwilliam is one of the finest gentlemen I have encountered—in my limited experience,” she dipped a cheerful half-curtsey.
The earl laughed. “But not so fine as my nephew, eh, Miss Bennet?”
“Certainly, less taciturn and forbidding!” Elizabeth slanted an impish smile toward Darcy. “In fact, now that I think of it, my lord, I may have chosen the wrong cousin entirely!”
Darcy’s eyes widened in some alarm, drawing a pleased chortle from his uncle and a swift reassuring smile from Elizabeth. He bent his head lowly, speaking only loudly enough for their small party to hear. “You forget, Miss Bennet, that you had quite little choice in the matter. It is most unfortunate for you, I am afraid, but it is too late to change your course now.”
The earl clapped a hand over his midsection and bellowed in laughter, drawing curious gazes from about the room. “I say, Miss Bennet, you have quite ruined our boy! Where is my sour old nephew?”
“Sour? Oh, no, my lord. Mr Darcy can be quite charming, but I beg you would keep that information close.” She tipped nearer with hushed conspiratorial tones. “We should not wish to revealallof his secrets.” She cast sparkling eyes to her betrothed, who seemed not at all discomposed by her plundering of his deepest confidences.
