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Mr Stewart hastily retrieved his effects, bowing and scraping all the while, heartily glad he would not be present at that confrontation—he knew the earl’s temper.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth could see that Mr Darcy was in a silent fury. When Farley was tasked with arranging an audience with the earl, she felt very much like the girl who had accidentally kicked the hornet’s nest. Darcy was not interested in hearing any more of Cecilia, and when Finn suggested Darcy might take his exercise early, Elizabeth was heartily glad to escape his presence. She secreted herself in the study with a book and thus was able to avoid the earl when he arrived half an hour later.

Then Vesuvius erupted. Elizabeth would never have believed Mr Darcy capable of such shouting. It reverberated in the woodwork two floors below, but the earl gave as good as he got. Although the content of their ‘discussion’ was not discernible, the boom of their voices overhead was still unsettling, almost as if a clash of the titans was occurring in heaven. Half an hour later, the earl descended. From the content of his commentary to Farley, Elizabeth gathered that the nephew had been victorious.

“I only thought to take the lion’s share of the work on my own back now he is in such a distressed condition,” said Geoffrey Fitzwilliam. “But, you see! Sacrifice is never appreciated!”

After the front door was safely closed, Elizabeth returned upstairs to enquire whether Mr Darcy wished to continue with the novel. Certainly, he needed something to calm him down. She was about to knock at the door, which was slightly ajar, when his plaintive voice reached her.

“Am I to be betrayed and tricked at every turn now I am no longer able to see for myself, Finn?”

A wave of guilt overcame Elizabeth regarding her own deception. It had not been her intention to hoodwink Mr Darcy, but she knew her position in his household was one big lie. She could not face him now. Quietly she crept back downstairs to the library.

Half an hour later, Farley came in with a tray for her lunch.

“Oh dear,” said Elizabeth, as the footman poured the tea. “I feel I am responsible for a family rupture.”

“I wouldn’t worry, Miss Gardiner. The earl always storms and rages like that, but he isn’t resentful. He is as good as gold the next day. I must admit I was a little surprised though to see the master stand up to him. I knew the young master had iron in him, but he was always very quiet in his determination, like his mother. On the whole, you did a good thing. The earl promised the master he could have the ordering of the townhouses if he went to Vienna, but he is a sly one. It looks like you managed to nip Lord Geoffrey’s plans in the bud. Mr Darcy will be grateful to you once he regains his temper. Unfortunately, he is sadly out of curl at the moment. I’ve never heard him raise his voice at anyone before.”

After Farley retreated, Elizabeth set aside the cover on the plate to reveal a very pleasant lunch of roast beef and chutney sandwiches with a cut apple on the side. Sitting to eat it proved impossible. Coming from a household where the worst altercations were tiffs between Kitty and Lydia over the likes of a shoe rose, the loud argument had quite overset Elizabeth. She paced up and down nibbling on her sandwiches, occasionally stopping for a sip of tea. It was during her agitated pacing that she noticed a list of books that had appeared on Darcy’s desk. When Farley came in to retrieve the tray, she asked about it.

“Ah, that is an order for Hatchard’s that Mr Finn drew up at Mr Darcy’s behest last night. I expect your reading inspired him. Mr Finn said he even included a couple of novels suggested by Miss Georgiana. I had hoped to get over to the bookshop today, but Hobbes is still in bed with the influenza.”

“Perhaps I could go,” suggested Elizabeth, “if Mr Darcy does not require my services this afternoon?”

Farley was by no means pleased to send Miss Gardiner out on such an errand, but when she insisted that she was very ready for an outing, he made discreet enquiries upstairs and agreed she would not be missed. Mr Darcy was taking his exercise, and it would probably do him good to have a nap afterwards before the doctor arrived at four. The footman then attempted to call the carriage for Elizabeth, but she insisted she could do with a walk.

“I know where the bookshop is on Piccadilly. It cannot be a mile.”

Elizabeth set off at a sprightly pace with Clara doing her best to keep up. In no time she had passed through Berkeley Square. Soon she reached Piccadilly and was walking past rows of shops, but dressmakers and bakeries could be of no interest to Lizzy when a bookshop was her destination. The glass windows of Hatchard’s turned out to hold all the delights they had promised when glimpsed from the window of a carriage. As she stepped through the door, Elizabeth inhaled with gratification—there was nothing she liked more than the smell of books.

Mr Hatchard immediately greeted her, and when he discovered she was in search of books for Mr Darcy, he left the counter to an underling and personally escorted her round the shop. Because of the length of Mr Darcy’s list, Elizabeth had been fairly confident that the bulk of the books would have to be ordered in, but in this she had underestimated Mr Hatchard’s inventory. As the volumes began to pile up and were spirited away by assistants, she began to wish she had not been so hasty in rejecting the carriage. Finally, the two novels were added to the hoard, and they returned downstairs to the ground floor. Mr Hatchard wrote out the bill of sale while his assistants neatly encased the purchases into four large brown paper packages tied up with string. Elizabeth was about to pick up two of these herself, as she would have done when shopping in Meryton, when she glanced round to find Clara who had parked herself on a chair just inside the door next to another servant. Looking at the slight girl, Elizabeth was wondering if the maid was up to helping transport the haul back to Grosvenor Square when two robust boys appeared from the street in answer to Mr Hatchard’s summons. The bookseller duly bestowed the packages on them and after thanking him gracefully, Elizabeth set off to lead the cavalcade home, feeling rather like a mother duck.

Back at the townhouse, Darcy had exhausted himself trying to shuffle across the floor leaning on a chair. Spurred by rage and frustration following the disclosure of his uncle’s perfidy, he had managed to move the chair a good six feet in the session while he was waiting for his uncle to arrive. After his uncle’s departure, Darcy had insisted on getting up again, despite Finn’s attempts to get him to rest. Darcy only succeeded in moving the chair half the distance he had achieved earlier before collapsing. He had to be carried back to bed by Finn and Farley. He then fell into an exhausted sleep until the doctor arrived at four.

When Darcy woke it was to a fugitive dream that he had turned into a crippled old man with the temper of his uncle, yelling at the servants to evict a guest from his house who had had the temerity to express distaste for the chutney on the sandwiches served for lunch.

He was unusually subdued during the doctor’s visit. Once Dr Gordon departed, Darcy became thoughtful and summoned Farley.

“Farley, do you remember the man the earl evicted from my house before I went off to the Continent? He was a fellow from the Royal Society...”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did he never return?”

“No, sir. But he did send a letter that arrived shortly after you departed.”

“I do not recall it.”

“Well, I’ll ask Miss Gardiner if you like, sir. She’s downstairs having tea with Miss Georgie and Princess Brunhilda.”

“No hurry, Farley. Do not disturb them. But I would like to apologise to that fellow; I cannot like the way he left this house.”

“Of course, sir. I’ll follow it up with Miss Gardiner as soon as she is free.”

Chapter 32: Tangled web

Although Farley knew that Princess Brunhilda was soon to become a member of the extended family, he had yet to officially meet her. Thus far, his acquaintance had been limited to bowing to her when the countess’s carriage had stopped in front of the townhouse. But he got his chance at last when Miss Darcy begged the princess to come inside to meet her other new friend, Miss Gardiner.