Wickham stilled, though his voice remained conversational. “And you are expected to work alongside such distinguished company?”
Levinson scoffed. “Work? Me?” He sipped the gin. “I have no intention of breaking my back digging through old Pharaoh’s tombs. Let Darcy and the others do the searching. I intend to profit from this venture with little effort on my part, should I even decide to go.”
Pouring more gin, Wickham’s mind raced. “A wise approach. Though I confess, I am curious about this treasure. Gold? Jewels?”
“Who knows? Who cares? Whatever it is, it is valuable enough to attract men like Darcy. Not that it matters to me now.”
“Oh? Have your circumstances changed?” Wickham sat up straight.
The viscount pulled a crumpled letter from his coat. “This arrived this morning. Father discovered my losses at Whites over the past few weeks. Now heinsiststhat I join the expedition and use the time away from England to ‘contemplate my sins.’” With a harsh laugh, he waved the letter and a cheque drawn on the Bank of England. “As if I would travel during the summer in anything less than a first-class stateroom.”
So speaks the man floundering at the Golden Garter.Wickham studied the letter with apparent sympathy. “How unfortunate. Though…” He waited a moment for dramatic effect. “No, it is too much to ask.”
“What? Speak up, man.”
Wickham peered closer. The cheque was for an even greater amount than he had hoped. “Well, it seems a shame that this opportunity should go to waste. This invitation, the information about the expedition…surely, for the right person, it would be a challenge.”
A shrewd wariness cut through Levinson’s drunken haze. “What are you suggesting?”
Wickham sighed, giving the impression that he was doing the man a favor. “Simply that I might be interested in assuming your place in this venture, thus allowing you to remain in London. Once I return, anything recovered in Egypt would be split between us. I need only information and sufficient funds to cover the journey expenses. As you say, you deserve only the best accommodation. I would be satisfied with less.”
He bent toward his companion conspiratorially. “Besides the details you have already shared, you might tell me where they are meeting…that sort of thing. I have my own reasons for wanting to encounter Darcy again.”
The viscount leaned back. “You know, I like you, Wickham. And you would bring me half for this?” He waved the cheque under Wickham’s nose. “Before I agree, I want to know why you are so interested in Darcy.”
Wickham smiled coldly. “Darcy and I have unfinished business. Old debts, you might say, that require settling.”
Levinson raised his glass. “To old debts, then. And to those foolish enough to go treasure hunting while wiser men profit from their efforts.”
Wickham clinked his glass against the young man’s. “Now, tell me everything you know about this journey.”
Over the next hour, he extracted every detail,including the first clue. Relieved that he would not have to forsake his haunts, Levinson staggered to the bank and exchanged the paper for coins. The viscount willingly gave most of it to Wickham, carelessly arming his new friend with the means to pursue a far more dangerous game than either the professor or Darcy imagined. Wickham had no intention of sharing anything of value that he might find. And he had his own plans for settling an old score with Fitzwilliam Darcy.
4
The two horsemen cantered south along the Great North Road, having departed Cambridge. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the familiar countryside.
“You seemed surprised by my acceptance of Professor Drye’s invitation, Richard.”
“Surprised? You have never shown the slightest interest in ancient manuscripts. As I recall, only last month you called such pursuits ‘romantic nonsense better left to university dons with too much time and too little sense’.”
Darcy avoided his cousin’s astute gaze. “Perhaps I spoke too hastily. The professor’s research is compelling. Just imagine what knowledge might be recovered. Works by Aristarchus, Apollonius, and even lost plays by Sophocles.”
“Since when do you care about lost Greek plays?”
Darcy sighed. “Since I realized that a man of my position should take a broader view of learning.”
His cousin grew skeptical. “This would have nothing to do with the fact that you have been uncommonly restless since returning from Bingley’s last autumn? Or that you have mentioned Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s name with unusual frequency, that you could not look away from her while we were in Kent, and that you have received confirmation that she is part of this expedition?”
Darcy would give nothing away to his inquisitive cousin. “Miss Bennet’s involvement with Professor Drye’s proposal merely confirms my opinion that she has a discerning character.”
“Ah! Tell me, Darcy, are you running toward her or away from her?”
“Running? Not at all. I am conducting myself as a gentleman should, with deliberation rather than impulse. A sea voyage will provide perspective on matters that have occupied too much of my thoughts.”
“And if this ‘perspective’ confirms your feelings?”
Darcy met his cousin’s eyes. “Then I shall at least know that I choose my associates wisely.”
