AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 13
Elizabeth was not reading the book in her hand when Colonel Fitzwilliam returned. She and Aunt Matlock were sitting in a smaller parlor, one more suited to family parties than the drawing room they had inhabited earlier. She glanced up and set her book aside, watching the colonel’s expression tighten as he realized the men had gone.
“Where is Darcy?” he asked after he had greeted them both.
There were voices in the hall. “That must be them now,” Aunt Matlock said.
The colonel leveled an irate glare at Mr. Darcy, but he only shook his head slightly in response.
Aunt Matlock sighed. “Let us hear it then, Richard.”
Elizabeth met Mr. Darcy’s gaze with a questioning look, not knowing to whom his aunt referred. Mr. Darcy inclined his head towards the colonel.
The colonel said nothing, only lifted his eyebrows. He and Mr. Darcy then appeared to have an entire conversation between them. There were arched eyebrows, a slight shrug, a frown—but no words. Perhaps this was why her betrothed was such a quiet man. He had no need to speak. The idea was amusing, but whatever it was that they were conveying to one another was not. They were both irritated. So was Aunt Matlock who finally asked, with some impatience, “Well?”
“You were right to tell me not to return home with you, Fitz,” Mr. Darcy said. “But Henry was also right to drag me to the club.”
The viscount—Henry—smirked at both men and removed a small silver item from his pocket to admire. A toothpick case, from the looks of it.
“What happened?” the colonel asked.
“Fitz,” Mr. Darcy murmured, “not here.”
“Why not here?” Elizabeth inquired. “We are to be wed, sir. I should be included in important matters.” She nearly bit her tongue. She had not meant to chastise him in front of others. Strangely, he appeared more charmed than annoyed.
Henry laughed. Oh, it was strange to think of a viscount by his Christian name.
“And this is why I shall never wed,” Henry declared, waving a hand between Mr. Darcy and herself.
“You do not mean that,” Aunt Matlock reproved.
“Oh, but I do,” was Henry’s firm reply.
“Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth addressed him firmly, before the conversation spun entirely out of control, “I wish to know your thoughts. What is it that you have to say?”
Her intended shook his head and addressed both her and the colonel. “The club was crowded. Henry had me write the date of our marriage in the betting books, and I offered a toast to my lovely bride.” He glanced at the colonel. “Then I saw Howard.”
Elizabeth sat heavily. “I do not know which of those statements to examine first,” she told him.
The colonel’s expression hardened. “Howard was there?”
Mr. Darcy nodded. “Henry kept me from engaging with him, but his reaction to my toast was . . . he was incensed.”
“Henry was right to stop you, Darcy,” the colonel said roughly. “Of course, you ought not have been there at all.”
Henry was nonplussed. “We know more now than we did before. Howard’s reaction is telling.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam shook his head. “I could have told you as much without the risk.”
“He needed to be seen celebrating his marriage, brother,” Henry replied calmly. “Now, tell us what you learned.”
The colonel rubbed a hand across his face. “The fair man’s name is James Baker. He did eventually confess that Howard hired him and Henderson.”
“To do what, precisely?” Aunt Matlock asked before Elizabeth could form the words.
“To punish Darcy,” the colonel said evasively. “He said Howard did not much care how.”
Mr. Darcy’s eyes darkened. “What of Elizabeth?”
