Page 51 of Shields and Roses

After a thoughtful pause, Darcy said, "You can. I will respect your confidences whatever they may be. I have recently learned that much I thought was true is not and I suspect you have the answers to many of my questions. I will try to keep an open mind as I listen. Whether I agree or not, I will not betray your trust."

Richard continued to look searchingly at his cousin. Darcy returned his gaze steadily. Finally, Richard looked away as he took a sip of his drink.

"Very well," he said a moment later. "I will trust you with it all." He swirled the remainder of his drink in the glass, watching the light from the window and the nearby table lamp play in the moving liquid.

Darcy remained silent as he waited for his cousin to continue. He had a strange feeling that all of life's secrets were somehow about to be revealed to him. He did not wish to miss a word.

"We never were at odds, Father and I," Richard said at last, "although we worked hard to make sure James, Grandfather and especially Aunt Catherine thought we were."

Darcy stared at him. The news was surprising, but he did not feel as surprised as he thought he ought to be. Then a question hit him.

"Why Grandfather?" he asked.

Richard chuckled, and this time his expression brightened into a real smile. "You cannot imagine how glad I am to hear that is your first question instead of many others you could have asked. There is hope for you, Will. So, Grandfather had to be convinced because he is in too tightly with James, and he has never been as good as he thinks he is about keeping secrets."

"Why was it so important for Aunt Catherine to think that you and your father had disagreed?" Darcy asked after he had digested the first answer.

The serious look returned to Richard's face. "I know you may not agree with me, and with Father, for that matter, since he is the one who taught me. Family ties and all that implies cannot change the fact that Aunt Catherine is a scheming old witch. She has plans...for you, for me, for Georgiana, for Anne, for the Bennet family and for many others. She is easily offended and when she takes offense, she plots revenge without any possibility of forgiveness, no matter what good sense might say of the matter."

"Or she makes decisions regardless of the wishes of the other parties involved, like her insistence that Anne and I should marry?" Darcy asked.

"Exactly. Of course, you know that is all about gaining power over Pemberley and circumventing Uncle George's dictate that she is allowed no control over Georgiana's future."

Darcy nodded. "Yes, she has already hinted that she would be a frequent visitor once I come to my senses and marry her daughter."

Laughing, Richard said, "Visitor? I imagine she would be firmly in residence before you and Anne returned from the wedding tour."

"I will not marry Anne," Darcy said quietly. His thoughts were on Miss Elizabeth.

Richard raised his glass in salute. "Anne will not marry you," he said before taking another sip.

A sudden realization hit Darcy. "Is there someone else she hopes to marry?" he asked.

Richard nodded. "I believe there is. I will not say who for now, but there is much Aunt Catherine does not even suspect about her own daughter."

"I have known that much for a while," Darcy said. "Why did you and Uncle Peter pretend to be at odds? What purpose could that serve? And Uncle and Mr. Bennet were only pretending to be at odds as well, were they not?"

"Ah, so you figured that out, did you?" Richard grinned. "Well, the simple answer is that we gave Aunt Catherine what appeared to be a victory over us and in doing so, we prevented her from taking more harmful or even permanent means to gain her ends."

Will shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "Wait, you have been pretending to have broken with your father for over ten years to prevent our aunt from...what, exactly?"

Looking down at his nearly empty glass, Richard replied, "I told you, she has plans. Ten, well, eleven years ago I was interfering with those plans, as was my father. When we told your father about George Wickham and Uncle George acted, she was furious at being thwarted in her plans for you. When she offered to buy my commission, Father and I both knew she was really attempting to drive a wedge between us and to purchase my affection, or my cooperation, much the same way as she had bribed James years before."

"She bribed James? How?" Even as he asked, Darcy offered to refill Richard's glass, but his cousin declined with a wave of his hand.

"She sent him gifts regularly, especially gifts of money, on the understanding he would spy for her. He does not really care for her, but he likes the extra funds. She still has him on an allowance and encourages him to report on Father's actions and anything he hears about me. So, we make sure he hears what we want her to hear."

"She never offered me any kind of bribe," Darcy objected.

"She never had to," Richard explained. "You believed her without question. She saved the bribes for George. He was paid to keep you isolated and under observation."

"Why? How would that serve her?"

"I think she was afraid that if you had friends, you might turn out to be a rebellious nuisance like me," Richard laughed. "You know she had him doing his best to drive a wedge between the two of us as well?"

As Darcy was clearly searching and assessing his memories, Richard finished off the liquid in his glass, which he then placed on the table next to the lamp. He waited quietly.

Darcy sighed. "We frequently disagreed on three things – Aunt Catherine, the Bennets and George Wickham. Eventually, we avoided those three topics as much as we could. I remember George insinuating that you were trying to make a fool of me or assert your control as the elder of us. It did not matter to you what you said or what was the truth, you just wanted to be the officer in charge of us all. I knew that was not right, though. Yes, you liked to be in charge, but you also believed what you told me."