Page 27

“That is Fitzwilliam! I wonder what he is doing here.”

“I guess we shall soon see, shall we not?” Madison looked over his shoulder at his friend. Then, he nudged his gelding into a canter.

A few minutes later, Darcy and his friends were greeting his cousin.

“Welcome to Netherfield, Colonel.” Bingley bowed. “Come on inside. You must be hungry if you have ridden here all the way from town.”

“Thank you, I am.” The colonel greeted all four gentlemen. “I am glad to see you well, Cousin.”

Darcy’s brows rose. “Why would I not be?”

“How about I share the tale over a meal?” Fitzwilliam glanced around. “What I have to say should stay confidential, I think, or at least kept between the five of us. Your friends can help me keep you safe.”

Darcy frowned. “Very well, we can do that.” He gestured toward the drive. “Let us follow the rest up.”

A quarter hour later, Colonel Fitzwilliam, his cousin, and his cousin’s friends were ensconced in Bingley’s study.

A pair of maids had just left the room after having delivered trays of food and hot tea.

The gentlemen gathered around the table to make up plates for themselves before choosing seats in front of the fire and balancing their meals on their laps.

“So,” Darcy said to his cousin. “What is it that brings you so unexpectedly from town?”

Richard looked around the room, then rose and locked the door. He came back to his place and settled himself once more, lifting a forkful of meat pie. “Have you seen Lady Catherine lately?”

Darcy’s brows rose. He chewed his mouthful of food twice more, then swallowed. “I have. Why?”

“It seems she has hired one of her tenants to drug you, tie you up, and transport you to Rosings.”

Darcy’s fork fell from his hand, the handle clattering on the edge of the plate. “ What ?”

Richard gave his cousin a pointed look. “You heard me. She wants you kidnapped and brought to her. I am quite certain you can understand why.”

“Why on earth would she think to do something like that? I told her I would never marry Anne. I thought she understood me.”

Richard shrugged. “All that notwithstanding, that is her plan.”

Bingley’s head had been swinging between the cousins. “How do you know this?”

“My father has a spy in her house; one of the servants. This person overheard some things and sent the earl an express to warn him.”

“A spy?” Darcy shook his head. “I always suspected he had someone watching what was going on there. Well, then, I assume Lord Matlock had something to say about it?”

“He did.” Richard spoke around a mouthful of the savory pie. “He went to Rosings and sent me here.”

“Good.” Madison leaned forward. “We will need to develop a plan to keep Darcy safe. Do you know what drug she has given this tenant?”

The colonel shook his head. “No; our source did not relay that to us. If my father discovers it, he will send someone here to tell us.”

“And in the meantime, what? I have someone taste my food before I eat it?” Darcy set his plate on a table an arm’s reach from his chair and stood to stride to the fireplace, where he turned around and faced his cousin.

“Is she insane? Does this man know the proper amount to give me, or is he going to dose me heavily enough to kill me? All this, and for what reason … undoubtedly to try to force me to marry her daughter. That is the only possible thing that might induce her to behave in such a manner.” He turned around and slammed the side of his fist on the top of the mantelpiece.

Hurst had been watching Darcy closely, but now had a question for the colonel. “Do we know who this tenant is that Lady Catherine has sent?”

“According to our spy, he is a man named Larkin. Matthew Larkin. I think I recall who he is, but I have never dealt with tenant concerns like Darcy has.”

Without turning, Darcy confirmed his knowledge of his would-be assailant.

“He leases the worst-performing farm in all of Rosings. He is perpetually behind in the rent but only because he is lazy. He does not maintain the ground as he is supposed to and so it does not yield like it should. That plot of land is capable, with proper management, of being one of the best in the area.” He fell silent for a long moment.

“I have had words with him more than once.”

Fitzwilliam sipped some tea, having eaten his fill in the swift manner of someone used to having only short breaks for meals. When he had swallowed, he stared at the cup for a moment. “Then, he has reason to be resentful of you, which might explain his obedience to Lady Catherine’s demands.”

Darcy nodded. “Indeed. He likely also wishes to retain his lease. He has been threatened more than once, by my aunt as well as myself, that he will be evicted if he does not catch up on his rent. Combined with his dislike of me, I would imagine the idea of being forgiven the debt would be a strong incentive to completing the assignment.”

“True.” Madison stood to place his plate on the table where the food was laid out and to choose a biscuit off the tray. He turned back toward the group of men. “So ... a plan. Do you have any ideas, Colonel? How are we to keep Darcy safe and here in Hertfordshire, and prevent a possible poisoning?”