“This does not sound like the Darcy I know,” Antony said. “But if he is not going to learn from my mistakes, then why should I help him? On the other hand, he is my cousin, and on occasion has lent me money. So I shall agree to send my man to Kent, as Darcy lacks my experience in handling unpleasant situations. However, I would like to know how Anne is going to help prevent a marriage in London when she is sequestered with Empress Catherine in Rosings Park.”
“I need Anne’s help to get Darcy to Pemberley. Once there, our cousin will be unable to resist the charms of Miss Elizabeth Bennet. I am telling you, Antony, he is head over heels in love with the lady. This is a Will Darcy you do not know.”
Richard also took Mercer into his confidence, urging him to plant seeds of doubt about Miss Montford whenever possible, even at the risk of his master’s displeasure. Mercer readily agreed, as he was a daily witness to his growing unhappiness. When Mr. Darcy had repeated a comment made by his housemaster at Eton, “You have made your bed, and now you must lie in it,” Mercer had responded by saying that was an excellent lesson for a boy, but perhaps being miserable for the rest of his life might be too harsh even for his housemaster.
“And what did Mr. Darcy say?” Richard asked.
“He told me he wished to hear no more on the subject.”
The next evening, after dinner, Darcy took the day’s post into the parlor and was happy to see that he had a letter from Anne de Bourgh.
“Damn!” Darcy said after scanning the letter.
“What?” Richard asked innocently.
“Anne is to go to her Aunt Hargrave’s and will not be at Rosings when I had planned to visit,” and he read on. “However, she is eagerly looking forward to receiving a description of the autumn colors from Georgie. Very interesting since I had not mentioned that Georgie was in Derbyshire. I had intended to tell Anne when I saw her.”
“I may have mentioned it to Antony, and I know he is in frequent correspondence with Anne,” Richard said, quickly trying to cover up Anne’s mistake. He could not blame his cousin for the slipup as she was a novice conspirator.
“Am I to believe that Antony immediately dashed off a letter to Anne to apprise her of Georgie’s whereabouts? So my next question is, did you have something to do with this?” and he held out Anne’s letter.
“I thank you for the compliment. If you think I am capable of informing Anne in Kent of events in London that have only just happened, you obviously think me a clever fellow.” Darcy agreed that it was unlikely. “Listen, Darcy,” Richard quickly added, “you cannot avoid Miss Elizabeth. Her sister is to marry your closest friend, and you will see her at the wedding, at christenings, when you visit with Bingley at Netherfield, and on many other occasions. I suggest you write to Georgiana and tell her you are coming to Pemberley for the shooting and fishing and that you will have limited contact with her guests.”
“I don’t know what else I can do. If I am supposed to be in Derbyshire, I cannot be seen anywhere in town. I am beginning to feel like an adolescent incapable of managing his own affairs.” After several minutes of thought, Darcy agreed. “You have convinced me. I shall tell Mercer to make preparations for us to go to Pemberley.”
Mercer stepped into the room from his listening post in the hall. “I assume that we are to leave first thing in the morning, sir. May I suggest that we travel lightly? I will arrange for a wagon to come to Pemberley the next day, carrying your trunks as well as the colonel’s. In that way, we will make excellent time because we will have a lighter load.”
“Mercer, tell me the truth. Had you already started packing?” There was something going on here, but he had not figured it out yet.
“Sir, part of being a good valet is anticipating the master’s wishes, so I have packed some things, but not all, and there is much to be done.”
“Well, it seems the Fates, being helped by others, I suspect, have conspired to have me in Derbyshire, and I will not defy them.” But what would he do once he got there?
Chapter 25
When Colonel Fitzwilliam emerged from the Darcy townhouse, he was expecting to get into the Darcy carriage. Instead, the Gardiner carriage awaited. Richard, who lived the life of a soldier, had no problem with the simpler conveyance. But it would be a good deal noisier than Will’s well-sprung, thickly padded carriage, and he wished to speak to his cousin about Miss Montford. With Mercer present, he was unsure of how much he should say. It quickly became a moot point because, despite the noise and bumps, Mercer went to sleep almost immediately.
“Do not worry about him,” Darcy told his cousin. “There are only two things that will wake him up. One is if you say his name, and the other is if the carriage makes any noise that in his many years of experience in driving a coach sounds wrong to him. He will sit straight up as if a cannon has gone off. It is amazing, but he is able to filter out all other sounds.”
“Like a man who cannot hear a baby crying.”
“Exactly. I will provide a demonstration of how quickly he reacts when we get near to the inn. In any event, you may speak freely whether he is awake or not. But if you want to talk to me about Miss Montford, I must tell you I have grown weary of the subject. There is nothing more to be said.”
“Will, I must speak, as I believe your happiness depends upon it, so let us look at the facts. You have paid Miss Montford only enough notice so that people suspect you are about to embark on a courtship. But even the limited amount of time you have spent in the lady’s company is too much for her, which is why she has encouraged you to go to Pemberley.”
“Are you saying she does not want me to court her?”
“Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. I think you quite overwhelm her. You two are so different. I wonder what you talk about when you are together.”
“She likes to speak of the weather and ladies’ apparel, and the opera, but after a half hour, there is nothing more to be said. The last time I called on her, I thought I should turn the conversation in a different direction. Make it a little more interesting. I had just spoken with Mr. Gardiner, Elizabeth’s uncle, about how remarkable it is that our tea and coffee come from such distances.”
“Did she swoon?” Richard asked, and Darcy rolled his eyes. “You spoke of tea and coffee. That is not exactly the language of love.”
“I know what the language of love is, and it is nauseating. And that was not the only thing discussed. I also admired her hair and her handiwork that is prominently displayed throughout the house. You cannot look anywhere in the drawing room without having some accomplishment in view. It is like visiting a gallery. But her favorite topic is the weather. On each visit, she has commented on the chilly, foggy mornings, which are followed by afternoons with either sunny, partly cloudy, or cloudy skies with a possibility of rain—or not—followed by cooler temperatures and darkness. This is typical weather for London in late November and has been since this town was known as Londonium under the Romans.”
“Those are things she has been taught to do and say. The more accomplishments a lady has, the more likely she will marry well, and being so new to society, what do you think she is going to talk about? The debates in Parliament? You are used to discussing such things with Mrs. Conway in her salon.”
Darcy did not respond to Richard’s comment about Mrs. Conway, his friend as well as his lover. Once he had decided to court Miss Montford, he had to stop visiting her as it would have been inappropriate, but the result was that he was starved for intelligent conversation, as well as other things.
“You speak of accomplished ladies,” Darcy said. “Recently, I have changed my opinion as to what constitutes an accomplished woman. If Miss Montford played only the pianoforte, I would consider her to be accomplished because she plays brilliantly. She need not do anything else, except one thing. She must read books and newspapers. She must know what is going on in the world in which she lives. I spoke to her of the power of ideas. I gave as an example America and their remarkable experiment with a government with no monarch at its head, but she showed no interest.”