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Of course, he would have to go through the tiresome process of sitting in the drawing room with Collins and Mrs. Bennet, but perhaps that would maintain the fiction that he was a friend to the Bennet family rather than an overeager suitor. Hopefully, he was fooling the inhabitants of Longbourn because God knew he was not fooling himself.
As Darcy neared Longbourn, his eye was drawn by movement at the back of the manor, so he reined in his horse to observe. A woman, dressed plainly as a farmer’s wife, knocked on a back door that must lead to the kitchen.
When the door opened, Darcy was not at all surprised to see Elizabeth emerge. Of all the house’s inhabitants, she seemed to care the most for the tenants, but Darcy still ground his teeth together. Was she always pressed into kitchen service so early in the day? A fist closed around his heart. He had not forgotten her admonition the night of the ball, but he could not prevent a small sliver of his heart from viewing her as the future mistress of Pemberley.
He wrestled with the desire to race down the lane and whisk her away that minute. The simple act of marrying her would restore her to the life she should be living. He tried to push such delighted imaginings away by reminding himself that he would be marrying into a family with low connections, a family in disgrace. And yet that reminder did not conjure the disgust that it should.
The other woman seemed quite distraught. At one point, Elizabeth even put her arms around the other woman’s shoulders. Finally, Elizabeth’s words calmed the woman sufficiently that her tears ceased. She listened to whatever Elizabeth said, nodding eagerly, and then hurried away. Elizabeth slipped back into the house.
What was the cause of such agitation? It could simply be a matter of a tenant farmer with a neighborhood dispute or a hole in the cottage roof, but they would be unlikely to bring that to Elizabeth. No, Darcy would wager Darcy House that word of the woman’s concerns—whatever they were—would not reach Collins.
The farmer’s wife had been seeking assistance that only Elizabeth could give. How interesting. Elizabeth had no official role on the estate; she was not the landowner or his wife or daughter. In fact, she was barely above a servant herself, and the tenants’ wives were approaching her for help.
It was of a piece with other odd happenings at Longbourn. Elizabeth purchased lambs for the estate, and Collins did not know. She had grown agitated when he had mentioned the seed drill, a device a gently bred woman should not even recognize. And she had an unusually close relationship with the tenants’ wives. There must be a pattern behind all of this strange behavior, but Darcy did not discern it.
Perhaps he could learn more. Darcy guided the horse to Longbourn’s front door, arriving just as Elizabeth was exiting the house, tying her bonnet ribbons under her chin.
When he dismounted, she gave him a fleeting curtsey but practically quivered with urgency. “Mr. Darcy. Good morning.”
He strove to keep his tone casual. “Where are you going so early, Miss Elizabeth?”
“Town. I must fetch the apothecary for one of the tenants. A little boy is quite ill.”
Darcy frowned. “Could they not send for the apothecary themselves? That hardly seems an errand that requires your assistance.”
Elizabeth hesitated before speaking. “They cannot afford to pay the man and were reluctant to summon him at all, but I will bear the cost.”
“Not Mr. Collins?” Darcy would never allow one of his tenants to suffer so.
Her gaze flicked back toward Longbourn. “I did not wish to disturb him.”
In other words, she knew he would not expend the resources, the sanctimonious little toad.
“Surely you can send a servant for the apothecary.”
Her feet shuffled in the gravel, clearly eager to be gone. “Nobody else can be spared at the moment.”
She was about to sweep past him, but Darcy put a restraining hand on her shoulder. “Please allow me to collect the man,” he said impulsively. “I have a horse. Help will reach the boy much faster.”
For a moment Darcy thought Elizabeth might argue, but then she nodded. “That is a most gracious offer. I thank you. That will allow me to take some supplies to the family immediately. Do you know where the apothecary is?”
“Yes, I remember.” Darcy strode toward his horse. “Where should he go?”
“The R—Greeves house.” She stumbled over her words. “Mr. Jones will know where it is.”
Darcy placed his foot in the stirrup. “I will be as fast as possible.”
“Godspeed, Mr. Darcy.”
***
Darcy had no need to accompany Mr. Jones to the Greeves house. He could do nothing to help a sick child and doubtless would overcrowd the cottage. But Elizabeth’s behavior struck him as suspicious. While her concern for the tenant’s family was admirable, Darcy sensed she was concealing something.
So, he waited while the apothecary gathered his bag and saddled his horse and then rode with the man to the small village of Longbourn. The Greeves house was identical to its neighbors, perhaps a little better kept than some.
Mr. Jones’s knock was answered by a plump woman with a baby on her hip. She greeted the apothecary warmly, but her eyes widened at the sight of Darcy. He introduced himself to Mrs. Greeves and explained that he had hoped he might lend some aide.
She nodded dubiously and yielded to admit him.
