Page 94 of A Question of Character

“Who recommended it?”

“My solicitor learned of it through another client.”

“And the owner?”

He leaned back and gave Darcy a self-satisfied grin. “Willing to lease immediately.”

Darcy nodded with growing satisfaction. “It sounds promising.”

“It is.”

“Where is it situated?”

Bingley reached for the map lying upon the side table but thought better of it. “Hertfordshire.”

Darcy’s hand, reaching for his coffee, stopped halfway. “Hertfordshire?”

“Yes.”

“Near where?”

“A market town called Meryton.”

Everything else Bingley had been saying vanished.

Meryton. The word alone conjured images with astonishing clarity. The Gardiners’ comfortable drawing room, Elizabeth laughing over some teasing remark, Hyde Park beneath early summer sunshine, and a promise exchanged before her carriage departed.

I shall return directly to Hertfordshire in September.

Might I call upon you then?

Yes.

He had intended to honor that promise. Now, through the happiest of accidents, Providence appeared determined to assist him.

Bingley watched him with open amusement. “You know the place.”

“I do. My...” Darcy cleared his throat. “My acquaintance, Miss Elizabeth Bennet resides within a few miles. Her father’s estate is Longbourn.”

“So that is why you suddenly appear interested.”

“I was interested before.”

“Not quite so intensely.”

Darcy made no attempt to deny it.

“No.”

Bingley leaned back laughing. “I ought to have guessed. Richard told me you had formed an attachment.”

Darcy shot him a warning glance.

“He said nothing improper,” Bingley assured him. “Just that there existed a lady who had accomplished what society has attempted unsuccessfully for years.”

“And what is that?”

“She persuaded Fitzwilliam Darcy to speak of someone besides estate management.” Bingley looked thrilled to be relaying the information.