She stared as if I claimed to have invented world peace.
“That is extraordinarily generous. I am not convinced it was a sound idea, but it does show you have a good heart—far better than he deserves.”
I had never been chastised and complimented in the same breath before and was uncertain whether I liked it or not. At the very least, Miss Smith had an interesting perspective.
We spoke for another half hour about this and that, and it was nice to just talk to a young woman without threat or even hint of expectations.
I finally asked, “How goes your project, Miss Smith. Have you anything for me to purchase this year.”
“Nothing to sell, Mr Jones. You might be able to advise me, but I mostly just wanted to keep our tradition.”
I was amused that three meetings counted as tradition, but I had no objections. I did not pine for the young lady’s company all year, but it was nice to have at least one pleasant encounter always on the schedule. At the very least, she made me think.
“What have you been doing, if I may ask?”
“I made a study of how my parents spend their money and set out to see if any of the funds could be recovered, in whole or in part, on my father’s demise.”
“That is smart. What have you learnt.”
“My father spends a great deal on books, then guards them like a dragon in his lair.”
“That seems a valid target.”
“This time I recruited my elder sister to the cause. I studied the entail documents like a monk with a holy book, then we went down in the middle of the night to inventory them. It is painstaking work ensuring there are no errors we could be taken to court over, so we are about finished with the project. I seek a bookseller who can estimate their value and sell them quickly when the time comes.”
I was impressed with the plan. Darcys never used entails so I had never studied them, but I thought I might before the next meeting. That thought slightly startled me, but I saw no reason to curtail both of our one hour per year of intelligent conversations with different perspectives without expectations.
I had, at one time or another, vaguely wondered if I was risking compromise, but I thought the risk about a hundredth of what I chanced at every cutthroat London ball or house party.
“I may have a man who can help. He specialises in estate sales, and I am a frequent customer. You probably alreadyworked this out, but you need someone who can move fast. Once the heir takes possession, it becomes exceedingly difficult to extract things, whether they are yours or not. Better to present him a fait accompli. Make him be the one chasing his tail.”
“I never thought of that, and I thank you, Mr Jones,” she said with her brilliant smile.
She carried a notebook and pencil, so I gave her the direction for my bookseller.
Darcy’s love tradition, so I carried on with ours.
“Next year, Miss Smith?”
“Same time, same place, Mr Jones!”
15th July 1809 11 o’clock
“Miss Smith.”
“Mr Jones.”
That was how our fourth annual encounter began.
The young lady had matured to the point where I no longer considered her particularly young. She was as engaging as before, she had grown an inch or two, her figure had filled out nicely since her last visit, and I found it light and pleasing.
“If I recall correctly, you should be coming up on eighteen in a fortnight. How go the wars?”
She laughed gaily, which lit her eyes very prettily. She really was an engaging girl… well, not girl anymore. She was still in my opinion not ready to settle down, but from the curmudgeon’s perspective of my twenty-six years, I thought she might be ready to satisfy her mother’s ambitions in another few years.
I selfishly hoped her mother was not too effective in her plans but was honest enough with myself to recognise I was just being greedy for her company.
“You seem like a man with an excellent memory, Mr Jones. Can you remember what I said last year?”
