Page 105 of Dear Friend

“I wanted to know Miss Harding’s present condition before I did anything else, and I knew you would be here this morning.” Darcy paused, his thoughts moving unwillingly towards Georgiana. “Besides, I do not yet know what I shall say to Georgiana yet.”

“About Miss Bennet?”

“About any of it. Aside from what I told her of Elizabeth in my reply to her last letter, Georgiana knows nothing. When I wrote, I was courting Elizabeth and had every expectation that...” Darcy stopped, his fingers tightening briefly around the handle of his cup before he released it. “Matters were rather different then.”

Richard’s expression softened. “You need not tell her everything immediately.”

“No, but neither will I deceive her. She knows how I feel about Elizabeth. I made that sufficiently plain in my letter.”

“And now?”

“Now I shall have to tell her that the courtship has ended.”

Richard watched him. “Ended?”

“For the present.”

“For the present,” Richard repeated.

Darcy frowned at him. “Do not.”

“I said nothing.”

“You were about to.”

Richard’s mouth twitched. “I was merely going to observe that a man who has spent two days convincing himself that he must respect a lady’s wish never to see him again remains curiously unwilling to call the separation permanent.”

“I do not know it to be permanent.” Darcy held his cousin’s gaze. “Nor do I know it to be otherwise. Elizabeth was very angry when she said it, and perhaps, with time, she may think differently. Whether she does or not must be her decision, not mine.”

Richard inclined his head, conceding the point.

“There is something else Georgiana does not know,” Darcy continued. “I have not told her about Wickham.”

“Yes, Wickham.” Richard’s expression changed at once. “When you wrote that you had encountered him in Hertfordshire, I confess I was worried.”

“So was I.”

“I knew the militia was quartered there, but I had not expected that scoundrel to remain anywhere near you once he discovered your presence. I am glad the matter ended as it did.”

Darcy’s mouth hardened. “I would have preferred that it ended two years ago.”

“As would I. Forster wrote to me after the arrest. He said the information you gave him concerning Wickham’s character caused him to make enquiries he might otherwise have neglected. It seems the fraud in London was already waiting to catch up with him.”

“As always, Wickham accomplished his own ruin without requiring anyone’s assistance.” Darcy’s mouth twisted faintly. “A pity his considerable charm could not extricate him from this particular difficulty.”

“And I am exceedingly grateful for it.” Richard set down his cup. “Georgiana should hear of his arrest from you before someone else mentions it.”

“I know. I shall see her after we have been to the infirmary.” Darcy could at least give his sister that piece of news without dreading the expression it would produce. “Perhaps knowing he can no longer appear unexpectedly will give her some peace.”

“I believe it will.”

The subject settled between them for a moment before Darcy’s attention returned to the reason he had come. “Tell me about Miss Harding. Your letter could hardly contain everything.”

Richard’s expression grew more serious. “There is not much more that is encouraging. She has recovered physically from the fever, though Harding says it was doubtful for some time whether she would. Her memory remains the greater difficulty.”

“She remembers nothing of Hertfordshire?”

“Not nothing, but very little with any certainty. Harding says there are fragments. A name occasionally troubles her, or some object appears familiar, but when she attempts to pursue the recollection it disappears again. The physicians have advised him not to press her.”