Darcy grinned unrepentantly. “I would expect nothing less from her! Bingley tells me I have been too long without some iron edge against which I myself might be sharpened.”
“Then, my boy, you have quite met your match. Do you know, I have the unsettling impression that after this first meeting, she still knows a deal more about me than I know about her.”
“I often feel the same, Uncle!” Darcy laughed.
“I say,” Matlock changed the subject abruptly, “what calls you so urgently to London? I should have thought you most reluctant to leave your enchanting lady. You are not rushing into a special license, are you? Is her father’s condition truly so precarious?”
“No!” Darcy jumped in alarm. “That is, my trip had nothing to do with... Although it is an interesting idea you have just given me.”
“Not the first time you have thought it, no doubt,” the earl commented dryly.
“Certainly not,” his nephew agreed. “However…” he sighed, thinning his lips in uncertainty. “How well do you remember George Wickham?”
“Nothimagain.”
“The same. He has been spreading rumours about Georgiana to harm her, linking her name with Richard’s when… well, let me simply say that I do not believe Wickham travelled to London alone. “
The earl’s face turned to granite. “He saidwhatabout my niece? And Richard! I will break him! Darcy, you may count on my assistance. I’ll not have the Fitzwilliam name slandered!”
“I thank you, Uncle, but I believe I can handle Wickham,” Darcy replied, trying to keep an edge of nervousness out of his voice. There was much he still preferred to keep private from his uncle.
“You will have your hands full when you get to London,” the earl grunted. He squinted in surprise at his nephew’s questioning glance. “Why, did Drake not send you word? Oh, I suppose it may have missed you. Your aunt came to Town, and she does not look upon your marriage with a favourable eye.”
Darcy sagged, pressing his fingers into his eyes. “She came to your house?”
“No! To yours!” the earl laughed. “Had a devilish time of it, too. Stranded, she is, or was yesterday.”
Darcy’s lips twitched a little.Richard!He sighed. “I suppose the conversation had to happen. I never intended to marry Anne, but she has not believed me.”
The earl narrowed his eyes. “Yes, whatever you do, you must not marry Anne.” He was then silent for a long time.
Chapter 28
Itwaswiththevery greatest satisfaction, for a change, that Elizabeth observed the departure of her mother and sisters from the house just after their hasty luncheon. Primped and powdered, and each of them decked in their Christmas gifts from Mr Darcy, the Bennet entourage set upon the unsuspecting town of Meryton with the very juiciest gossip. The presence in town of a handsome colonel, son of an earl, who stood someday to inherit—the imminence of such event and the size of the estate mattered not—was not a thing lightly to be dismissed!
Elizabeth and Jane had elected to remain behind, but Mary, curiously, had followed the others to town. Elizabeth suspected that sweet Georgiana had somehow won Mary’s loyalty, and that the quiet middle sister wished to see her friend’s reputation exonerated.
Elizabeth was pleased, on the heels of everyone else’s departure, to welcome Charlotte Lucas. Together they and Jane drew chairs around Mr Bennet’s bedside. Mrs Cooper cheerfully made way in the cramped room for them, listening with much enjoyment to the plans of three young maidens on the cusp of matrimony.
Jane confessed, in strictest confidence, that Mr Bingley had obtained their uncle’s conditional blessing upon their marriage. Still, in light of their father’s improvement, it had been decided to keep their engagement private until Mr Bennet could have his say. Nevertheless, Bingley would now, in their uncle’s eyes at least, be accorded the privileges of one affianced to a daughter of the house, and Jane might consider herself an engaged woman.
Several things became readily apparent to Mrs Cooper’s wise discerning. She observed with satisfaction that her favourite Bennet sister, at last, looked forward to her inevitable marriage with pleasure. A fine thing, it was. Too often, bright young women with no dowry were shackled to insufferable husbands, but it seemed Miss Elizabeth had escaped that fate. That sweet Jane also bubbled with shy enthusiasm and hopeful pleasure.
Miss Lucas, however, seemed much more pragmatic about her approaching nuptials. There was certainly nothing wrong with a level head, but Mrs Cooper thought she detected a little wistful longing in the eldest of the prospective brides. Ah, well, not all could marry for love. It sounded as though the girl would be well provided for, and that was surely a mercy.
At two o’clock in the afternoon, the bell was rung, and Mrs Hill arrived shortly at the door of Mr Bennet’s sickroom. With her were two men instantly recognized by Mrs Cooper. The comfortable little woman wasted no time in introducing the young ladies to her husband, the Doctor, and to her son, who also wore a doctor’s smock. The elder Dr Cooper stood about Mr Bennet’s height, with kindly greying eyes and soft, weathered hands. Somehow, he was exactly what Elizabeth had expected him to be.
The younger, however, stood a head taller than his father with a broader form. He appeared to be about thirty years of age, with an average face, sandy hair, and bright green eyes. Though merely a country doctor of modest means, he obviously took gentlemanly care about his person and address. His manner to the ladies was pleasantly direct and unassuming. He smiled a little timidly at the pretty faces introduced to him by his mother.
Somewhat awkwardly, due to the tight spaces, the young ladies attempted to file out of the room so that the doctors might examine Mr Bennet. Elizabeth and Jane escaped neatly, but Charlotte stumbled a little over the post of the bed. It would perhaps have been in her better interests to be watching her path rather than trying to steal discreet glances at the young doctor. She suffered no major misfortune for it, as that young man was compelled to put out a hand for her support.
Blushing furiously and stammering her thanks, Charlotte reclaimed her elbow from the doctor and scurried out to the hallway. There, she encountered a knowing twinkle in her friend’s eye. She scowled, a most unaccustomed expression for her. “Stop it, Lizzy!”
Elizabeth affected an innocent look. “Stop what? I am only pleased that my father appears to be in good hands—verystronghands.”
Charlotte’s face flushed a deeper shade of ruby, causing even Jane to dip her head to hide a smile. “I am going home,” she mumbled uncomfortably.
Elizabeth did not let her friend escape without a warm embrace but was not above a guilty chuckle at her expense once the door had closed.
