“I have no reason to trust in your assistance. Good-day.”
“Thescheming,groveling,filthyblackguard!” Richard was fuming. “Darcy, how the devil did you not choke him to death where he stood?”
Darcy’s eyes followed the graveled drive as they walked. “I have encountered worse men since my last meeting with Wickham. I find that he no longer holds the power to infuriate me.”
“Well, that makes one of us! Now I know why he was so easy to find. Hewantedus to discover him.”
“Indeed,” Darcy mused. “But I believe he fears someone else as much as he fears the army. Otherwise, why wait until now? And why ask our assistance, we who best know his crimes and have the least motivation to aid him?”
“Someone paid him to lie to us, obviously.”
“No, I believe his fear was genuine, and he may have even intended to speak the truth. I think he has now been cut adrift by his former benefactor, and no longer has the resources to remain in hiding. He may have forced a bold front, but he knows what fate may await him if he is found at last.”
“And you have rescued him time and again! What I want to know is how he was getting his money. Was he in direct contact with his source, or was there another?”
“Without question, there must have been another—a messenger, at the very least, unless hewasthe messenger, and his duty was to find a contact already installed here at the estate. I intend to have Hodges interview all the footman and maids again. Jefferson expressed his concerns regarding Mr O’Donnell, for one. I also intend to look over the accounts myself.”
Richard grinned suggestively. “Miss Bennet may be able to offer you some perspective. I believe she spent some time studying them with Georgiana—after she restored your library, that is.”
“I intended to ask her if she had noted anything. She is… rather clever.” Darcy was grateful once again for the concealing facial hair. It would not do—no, it would not do at all! —for Richard to perceive the simple pleasure warming his expression whenever he thought on Elizabeth. A man with his cares had no right to take leave of his senses simply because a woman had smiled at him, but hang it all, it was his delight in Elizabeth Bennet that helped him to cling to his senses. He would go right on as he had done.
They gained the house, and Darcy at once summoned his steward. “Jefferson, will you attend me in the study? I have a number of questions pertaining to recent events, and I would like to look over the accounts with you.”
“Certainly, sir. The rents and investments are all in order, and I will deliver them directly. The shopkeeper bills are not yet totaled for this month, but I will complete them right away.”
“Very good. I shall also require the household records, as well as a current summary of cash, Mrs Reynolds’ funds, and pin monies.”
Jefferson’s eyes widened at the surprising request from his master. It had never been Darcy’s custom to scrutinise the minor expenditures of the estate. “Of course, sir,” he answered in a tight voice. “When did you desire my presence?”
“An hour will suffice, if you can be ready with the figures. I have yet to break my fast.”
Jefferson glanced at Richard—rather curiously—and then made a brief bow. “I shall be ready, sir.”
They walked on toward the breakfast room, and Richard waited until he had closed the door. “Darcy, what are we to do about Wickham until tomorrow? We must tell his wife that he has reappeared, but how do we inform her without troubling Georgiana?”
“Why must Mrs Wickham be told anything? She is still a child, Richard—younger even than Georgiana, and certainly less mature. I foresee only trouble in alerting her to his whereabouts. Let the army judge what is to be done with him, and then if by some miracle they grant him clemency, we will think of how best to inform her.”
“Oh, come Darcy, you must do something, if for no other reason than the servants may talk. Mr Bennet and Mr Gardiner would no doubt be interested to know that the rascal has been found, you must at least allow them that satisfaction.”
Darcy poured his coffee himself and wandered to the window. “I continue to hear Mr Gardiner’s name. What is his interest in my affairs?”
“None, so far as I know, but he is understandably concerned about his nieces. Did you not work with the man yourself in recovering Mrs Wickham?”
“That was intended to remain private knowledge.”
“Well, for my part, I thought the man clever and honest. I needed a man I could trust to look to business while I was out of the country, and he obliged out of affection for his nieces. Did you read that letter I left from him?”
“I did, and I found nothing at all to give me pause. It is only that I was privy to a conversation that, in my state of mind, sounded rather damning. I would like to think the best of the man, for I had previously nurtured a good opinion of him.”
“You cannot always trust what you overhear, Darcy. I have absolutely no reason to suspect him, and every reason to place my confidence in him. Why, he even wrote me about a buyer he had found for your spring wool who was willing to pay a sixpence more per fleece than you had previously been getting. A sixpence! Now, does that sound to you like a man who would do you harm?”
“No,” Darcy confessed, then fell into thoughtful silence. He was still contemplating his hot cup when the door opened and Elizabeth entered.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” she smiled brightly, seeming not at all surprised at the colonel’s presence.
“Why, Miss Bennet, you are looking most refreshed this morning,” Richard made her a partial bow.
“Thank you, Colonel,” she answered, “I have just returned from a short walk about the garden. “May I ask, is something amiss? There seemed to be a disturbance in the direction of the stables.”
