A faint scowl passed over Richard’s face. “I see thatnowyou are quick to defend a lady’s dignity. Where was this sense of chivalry last evening, when you defamed the very lady who discovered you, rotting in your own filth?”
“I hardly see a reason for you to take offence. Certainly, I am indebted to her for my life, and more than that, if indeed matters are as they appeared. I did not spare even you from scrutiny—why should I not question a woman who is known to me only as a relation of my captor?”
“She is genuine.” Richard crossed his arms and glowered.
“You speak with great certainty. How can you know the lady so well?”
“I know her.”
Darcy regarded his cousin narrowly. Richard’s stance brooked no argument; his jaw was set, his arms still crossed and bulging with tension. “If you vouch for her,” Darcy allowed, “then I shall return to thinking of her as my benefactress.”
Richard’s arms fell to his sides. “I do not know whether to congratulate you on coming to your senses, or to ask if your good graces now extend to me as well.”
“You claim to have brought news,” Darcy’s mouth tightened on one side. “Do you not know that the bearer of good news is always well received?”
“Is that an apology?”
Darcy turned, his eyes down. “From the depths of my being. I cannot answer for what came over me, Richard. I beg you—”
“No!” Richard interrupted. “Beg me for nothing. Your pride could not suffer it. It is enough for me to know that you no longer intend to brain me for entering the house.”
“Idobeg you,” Darcy repeated through clenched teeth. “You were right, and I have not been myself. I have never had cause to doubt you before, and I will not allow my adversary the satisfaction of seeing me doubt you now. I am heartily ashamed of the way I have behaved, and I am grateful that you have enough forbearance to still speak to me.”
“Well!” Richard seemed to stand somewhat taller, a surprised little smile growing. “I say, Darcy, I never thought to hear such from you, but damned if it doesn’t make things easier. We’ve a deal to do, you know, and I would rather have your sword at my side than pointed in my face.”
Darcy released an unsteady breath. He still felt he had done an abysmal job at confessing his wrongs, but it was a beginning, and Richard was right. They had work before them. “What have you found, Richard?”
“You will never believe it! But perhaps I ought to start from the beginning. I had heard before that Mrs Annesley’s brother was ill. She was taking leave constantly to attend him, but she was rather close about his illness.”
“Which was?”
“Syphilis.” Richard shuddered. “Poor devil, it’s a wonder he can even speak, but he makes no sense when he does. It’s a bad case, I fear, and little wonder Mrs Annesley did not confess his condition. Rather a black mark, naturally.”
“Do you mean that she was in need of help, and she was afraid to ask?”
“Well,” Richard gestured good-naturedly with his hands, “while you have a reputation as being generous, you are also rather exacting. I expect she feared that Miss Darcy of Pemberley could not have a tainted companion. It was well known that the last was dismissed on mysterious grounds, and she hoped to retain her employment. It seems she took whatever help she could get for her worthless brother, and got in rather too deep. By the time I first brought Georgiana back to Pemberley, she had few choices left to her.”
Darcy narrowed his eyes, suspicion glimmering. “Whom did you find with her?”
Richard grinned. “The devil himself. Yes, yes, you have guessed it. Wickham had been supplying her with medicine and money. I have not yet discovered the source of those, but I have my suspicions now. Mrs Annesley had had quite enough of him, and I think she was glad for me to find them out at last. The condition for had been that she would remain in Weston to nurse her brother—and, of course, stay away from Pemberley as much as possible in the process.”
“So Georgiana would be less protected,” Darcy mused. “Where is Wickham now?”
Richard jerked his head. “I feared permitting the ladies to know of his presence. I left him in the stables, under the eyes of several footmen. Oh, and tied up, of course, not to mention somewhat the worse for wear.”
“You captured him alone?”
“Well,” Richard chuckled, “he still had his trousers about his knees when I came upon him two hours ago. On that thought, are you planning to see him in your nightclothes?”
Darcy glanced down at himself, and he saw his cousin’s eye catch the outdoor chair, which still held a pillow and another blanket. He straightened, suddenly wishing for all the world that Richard had called on him in the study at a decent hour like a civilized human.
Richard was giving him a quizzical look. “It appears you require a few moments to make yourself presentable, Cousin. I will step out so you can call for Wilson; I’ve no intention of acting as your valet.”
Chapter fifty-two
“Darcy!So,myeyesdid not deceive me that night, and you have come back to Pemberley, safe and sound. I cannot tell you what relief that gives me. When I think of your father, and all his kindnesses toward me—”
“Oh, stow it, Wickham!” Richard growled. “You know very well what had happened to Darcy. Come now, out with the whole truth!”
