Page 34 of Twice Chosen

"To every conversation?"

"A remarkable talent."

Bingley laughed and moved on.

Darcy leaned closer. "Rule five."

"We do not have rules yet."

He stared.

Elizabeth realized what she had said.

They stood motionless.

Then Darcy murmured, "Not yet?"

Her heart jumped.

"A figure of speech."

"Of course."

Neither believed the other.

Chapter Nine

Wickham Arrives

Darcy learned George Wickham had joined the militia before he saw him in Meryton.

This time he did not wait.

Colonel Forster received him in his quarters with the polite surprise of a man who had not expected Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley to call on regimental business. Darcy's deliberate efforts in the neighborhood mattered now. He had called upon Sir William, dined with the Gouldings, spoken civilly with Mr. Phillips despite disliking the man's jokes, and listened to Mrs. Long describe her nephew's horse for seventeen minutes without once looking toward the door.

It had nearly killed him.

But it meant Colonel Forster knew Darcy as a reserved gentleman, not an arrogant stranger.

"Mr. Darcy," Forster said, offering a chair. "What may I do for you?"

Darcy sat. "This concerns George Wickham."

Forster's expression altered. "Our new man. You know him?"

"Since childhood."

Darcy did not enjoy what followed. He had brought documents: old debts, Wickham's signed renunciation of the Kympton living in exchange for three thousand pounds, copies of letters from tradesmen, and a statement from an innkeeper near Ramsgate concerning unpaid accounts.

Not Georgiana.

Never without her permission.

Forster read in silence. His face hardened as he turned the final page. "Why tell me?"

"Because he will be among young officers and younger ladies."

Forster looked up. "Is there more?"