“I apologise, Mother.” The Colonel made her an elegant bow.
“Hmmph. Let the poor boy have a cup of tea and a few sandwiches before you harangue him any further, do you hear me?”
“Yes, Mother. We will pick this up later, Darcy.”
***
After spending an hour in the Matlock drawing room, Mr. Darcy excused himself.
“Where are you off to, Darcy?” The Colonel enquired.
“I must get the debt documents from my safe.”
“I shall accompany you.”
“Must you?”
The Colonel laughed aloud. “I fear that I must.”
In Mr. Darcy’s carriage, headed for Darcy House, the Colonel wasted no time in accosting his cousin. “Let us return to the subject of the young lady.”
“What young lady?”
“Darcy, there is no point to this. You know I shall hound you until you confess all.”
Mr. Darcy cast his eyes to heaven and then said, “Fine. I shall tell you what you wish to know, and then I will beg you to stop speaking of it.”
The Colonel did not reply.
“Bingley decided to lease an estate in Hertfordshire, but he broke his leg and so was unable to sign the final papers andaccept the keys. He sent me a message, begging me to act in his stead.”
“He expected you to leave Pemberley in order to act the part of his attorney?” The Colonel’s voice was appropriately surprised.
“Yes, and I will admit that I did not feel overly charitable toward him while executing his request. Nonetheless, I did so. However, as luck would have it, Franklin’s mother was ill and he stayed behind to tend to her. I was happy enough to travel on my own, but I required rather different clothing in order to do so.” Mr. Darcy explained how everyone had assumed that he was Mr. Bingley’s attorney or man of business, and the Colonel roared with laughter.
“So much for the high and mighty Fitzwilliam Darcy! Were you glad to see the back of him?”
“I was, truth be told, Richard. For once, there were not a dozen or more young ladies clinging to my arm.”
“And, under this disguise, you met someone?”
“I did; she is everything bright and beautiful! I cannot wed her, of course, so I must learn to be content with enjoying her company while I can.”
“Has this nonpareil a name?”
“Miss Elizabeth Bennet.”
“What will happen when your true identity becomes known?”
“It is already known, for Franklin appeared at Bingley’s house and nearly had apoplexy when he learned that I had been taken for an attorney.”
Both men laughed at this. Then the Colonel said, “Has Bingley’s leg healed?”
“It has. Not only that, but he is also now engaged to Miss Elizabeth’s elder sister.” There was pain in Mr. Darcy’s voice.
The Colonel gentled his tone. “So Mr. Bingley is free to marry as he chooses, but you are not.”
“Exactly.”
