Page 29 of Rumours & Recklessness (Sweet Escapes Collection #1)

Chapter 27

A s the carriage neared the small turnabout which served Longbourn as a courtyard, Caroline glanced out the window at the pompous black figure on his rented horse. His lips were curling in smug satisfaction, and she could scarcely feel less pleased herself. At last, a cohort of influential personages were come together to impress upon Darcy what he owed to himself and to Georgiana. It was for his own good! That strumpet Eliza Bennet would simply have to be put aside.

Peering out the window nearest the house, Lady Catherine gave an unexpected start. Caroline looked to see what had discomposed the great lady and discovered another carriage, twice as fine as her own, already gracing the driveway behind Darcy’s.

She squinted her eyes somewhat and was able to make out the Earl of Matlock’s crest on the door. Perfect! The earl would give no quarter to an upstart country nobody! Caroline preened a little. She would look forward to renewing her acquaintance with the earl. She feared he had been left with a deceptively poor impression of her true qualities.

Lady Catherine, however, was rapping on the carriage. “Drive on immediately! Take us to Netherfield at once!”

Collins had reined in, preparing to dismount, but stopped himself in dismay. “Your ladyship, I assure you, this is the right place! I regret that the situation may not be-”

“I said drive on! It is not up for conjecture, Collins!” Lady Catherine, frowning her great displeasure, reared back on the seat of the carriage and glowered.

Caroline bit back her frustration. Perhaps Lady Catherine already knew the earl’s intentions and had decided to cause Darcy no further public disgrace. She could hardly lament such a motive. After all, the man must still have some credibility left when his family had done with him if she were to agree to be the next Mrs Darcy!

E lizabeth smiled as Darcy drew her aside and spoke lowly, “Handsomely done, sir. You have given the good people of Meryton fodder for several days!”

“Awkwardly done, you mean. I should rather have been more subtle, but clumsy as I was, I expect it will suffice.” He released a long, slow breath and glanced across the room where three young girls tittered behind gloved hands. “Richard’s arrival could not have been timed more perfectly.”

“Yes, quite the coincidence, I daresay,” she chuckled, then sobered. “Must you really leave so soon?” she asked softly.

She did not wish him to go any more than he himself desired it! Could it be true? Oh, how he could crush her to him! “I am afraid so, my Lizzy,” he answered in a low murmur, for her ears alone. “I intended to leave directly from here; my horse is already outside with the coach. The fellow who began all this trouble has yet to satisfy himself. I cannot allow him to continue to harm others as he has done.”

“You speak as though he is your responsibility,” she smiled warmly.

“So he is, or he was my father’s at any rate. I suppose I have inherited the reprobate. Had I put pin to his appetites months ago, these things could not have happened, but as I was eager to protect Georgiana, I did not pursue him as far as I ought. Now another has paid the price.”

She tilted her head. “Another? What has happened?”

He thinned his lips. “I am not certain of anything. However, you might employ sensitivity where Miss King is concerned.”

Elizabeth gasped. “No!” she blinked away a sudden terror.

Darcy put a hand out to reassure her, but his eyes quickly shifted to her left, and his voice took on its usual commanding tone. “Uncle James, we are honoured by your visit.” Elizabeth composed herself quickly and curtseyed again to the approaching earl.

“Your uncle is a man of sense, Miss Bennet,” the elder Fitzwilliam began. “Darcy, I have just discovered that your Miss Bennet’s uncle is something of a magnate, you might say. My broker has been investing in Gardiner’s enterprises for some while, and I have had no cause to regret it.”

“I am glad to hear it, Uncle,” Darcy smiled. “I find him to be quite amiable.”

“Indeed. Well, Miss Bennet, my son tells me that you gave Darcy here a rather hard time. I do hope so, Miss Bennet, for my nephew, has had entirely too smooth of an existence thus far.”

“Does His Lordship value an intractable lady, then?” she raised a pert smile to Darcy’s uncle. “If that be the case, I shall look forward to meeting Lady Matlock with much enthusiasm!”

Matlock startled into a great laugh, clapping Darcy on the back. “Just the thing! I say, Darcy, she has quite taken the likeness of your aunt, has she not?” He winked genially at his nephew. “Oh, do forgive me, Miss Bennet. She is a fine woman, Lady Matlock, but occasionally she sees fit to remind me who the real authority in the family is.”

“Truly?” Elizabeth raised her eyebrows innocently. “Perhaps I ought to beg His Lordship for any advice he might be able to offer. I should dearly like to make a good first impression upon Her Ladyship.”

“Simple enough, really, Miss Bennet. You must take care to compliment her rather questionable taste in art, sample whatever new culinary concoction she has ordered from that blasted French chef, and by all means, flatter her sons.”

Elizabeth smiled, aware that her conversation still had its attendants. “While I shall endeavour to do what I can as regards the former—I have no taste in art and simple culinary preferences—the last will be no great burden, I assure your lordship. Colonel Fitzwilliam is one of the finest gentlemen I have encountered—in my limited experience,” she dipped a cheerful half-curtsey.

The earl laughed. “But not so fine as my nephew, eh, Miss Bennet?”

“Certainly, less taciturn and forbidding!” Elizabeth slanted an impish smile toward Darcy. “In fact, now that I think of it, my lord, I may have chosen the wrong cousin entirely!”

Darcy’s eyes widened in some alarm, drawing a pleased chortle from his uncle and a swift reassuring smile from Elizabeth. He bent his head lowly, speaking only loudly enough for their small party to hear. “You forget, Miss Bennet, that you had quite little choice in the matter. It is most unfortunate for you, I am afraid, but it is too late to change your course now.”

The earl clapped a hand over his midsection and bellowed in laughter, drawing curious gazes from about the room. “I say, Miss Bennet, you have quite ruined our boy! Where is my sour old nephew?”

“Sour? Oh, no, my lord. Mr Darcy can be quite charming, but I beg you would keep that information close.” She tipped nearer with hushed conspiratorial tones. “We should not wish to reveal all of his secrets.” She cast sparkling eyes to her betrothed, who seemed not at all discomposed by her plundering of his deepest confidences.

Elizabeth watched Darcy carefully. He had only begun to learn to be teased, and she feared taking too many liberties before his relatives. His uncle seemed a man of hearty good humour, putting Elizabeth perhaps a little too much at her ease. She had no doubts that he was, in truth, more sly and cunning even than she herself. It was high time to divert the man’s attention away from tormenting his nephew!

“My lord,” she brightened, “I am quite looking forward to making my acquaintance with Derbyshire. I understand my lord hails from the region as well. Can your lordship tell something of the landscape?”

“Indeed, Miss Bennet. It is harsh and unforgiving; the rocks break the ploughshares, and the blistering cold nips the buds from the trees. The only blasted things that grow are brambles and burs. The game is scarce, save for some half-starved coneys and rats. Rats the size of felines, Miss Bennet! Every home in Derbyshire is ramshackle and replete with the pests. The only saving grace is the mongrel dogs that roam everywhere at liberty, eating them almost as fast as they can breed. It was a shame last year when the rats ran out, but we only lost one or two farm hands to the feral pack.”

Elizabeth’s face shone with ebullient laughter as the earl continued with his sardonic description, not sparing even the great Pemberley with his glib insults. Darcy was gazing back in wry confusion, marvelling at his uncle’s easy satire.

“I now no longer wonder at the immense height of your horse, Mr Darcy!” Elizabeth chuckled, then tipped a sweet smile up at him. “He must keep you well off the ground and out of harm’s way! Are there snakes as well, my lord?”

“Vipers, Miss Bennet, hundreds of them,” Matlock confirmed with a droll wink. Darcy nearly bit off his own tongue when he witnessed it. He watched some minutes longer in speechless awe as his little country miss parlayed disarmingly with one of the greatest men in England. It was apparent that Elizabeth had utterly cast her spell over James Fitzwilliam, the Earl of Matlock. Leave it to my Lizzy to take the measure of the man so quickly!

“Uncle,” Darcy interjected at last, “pray, do not give Miss Bennet false ideas of Derbyshire! I had nearly convinced her that it was a habitable and welcoming place. I beg you would not let slip anything,” he leaned close, lifting his eyebrows significantly, “ shocking . It is only Pemberley’s western wing that leaks, and it has been some while since we ‘misplaced’ any of our guests. You know we dealt with that she-dragon in the back wood last season, and I do not think her brood in the cave can have gained their full maturity as yet.”

Elizabeth by now was daintily covering her mouth with the tips of her fingers and striving to contain the great belly laugh which threatened to undermine her reputation as a lady. “Oh! Dragons!” she cried with enthusiasm. “How exciting, Mr Darcy! Oh, now you have quite captured my interest!” She turned a bright grin and admiring eyes up to him. Ah, there is my reward! he thought with a warm, tingling thrill. It would be no hardship to endure his lessons from his mistress!

Matlock eyed the couple appraisingly as Darcy tried to rectify his uncle’s cynical description of Derbyshire. He had been concerned for Darcy for years. Either the motherless young man would be taken in by a gold-digger like that Bingley woman, or he would waste the prime of his strength away, never allowing anything at all to touch his heart. So far, it had appeared that the latter would be the case. He had taken life and his responsibilities altogether too seriously, and no lady was ever found who could meet his exacting standards.

Now, that other thing he had feared had come to pass. His highly sought-after nephew had fallen prey to a penniless young nobody. Yet, the earl could not in this circumstance find it within himself to feel disapproval. The girl did not seem in the slightest impressed by Darcy’s wealth or stature, a thing utterly unheard of. She appeared to hold the man himself highly in her regard, treating him with the respect due to one’s affianced, but with a light, familiar attitude which seemed utterly to have bewitched the young man. Matlock watched in some fascination as proud and serious Darcy stood before him jesting fancifully with a witty young girl of no consequence whatsoever.

There could be no doubt about it; the lady had clearly wrapped his nephew around her little finger. By Richard’s assertion, it had been quite unconsciously done on her part! Never had he expected Darcy to fall so easily to a woman’s charms, but this particular woman was something unique. Matlock listened a little longer to his nephew’s easy repartee with the bright young lady and sighed inwardly. His nephew was lost, and if he wished to uphold cordial family relations, there was nothing to do but endorse the match.

B ingley’s butler braced himself at the door of the Hall, wide-eyed and quaking. “The gentlemen left no indication that your arrival was expected, Madam,” Dawson answered nervously.

“How dare you address me so! Do you not recognize nobility when you see it? Such an ignorant, backward country!”

Dawson gulped. “Forgive me, my lady. I did not know!” His gaze slid surreptitiously to Miss Bingley. “May our coach house offer your ladyship’s horses fresh bait along the journey?”

“The horses! Fool, I shall see my nephew! We shall wait for him in the drawing-room. I expect he shall be returning immediately he has paid his call.” She began to stride toward the door, but the butler moved quickly to block her.

“I-I regret, my lady, that I cannot do that.” Dawson cringed, waiting for the blustering assault on his character and respectability, which he knew was to come.

The explosion was immediate and violent. “ Cannot do that? How dare! Stand aside. You cannot deny access to me! Do you know who I am? ”

Dawson, lacking the cool pluck of Darcy’s carefully schooled staff in London, cowered slightly. His own sweet-tempered employer had rather spoiled him, and great had been that wondrous day—yesterday, in fact—when the master had evicted the only resident source of strife from the household. “I… I have no idea, my lady,” he ventured lamely.

Lady Catherine glared silently for a moment, fuming. “Collins! Tell this worthless fool who I am!”

Caroline rolled her eyes as the subservient little twit came forward, bowing repeatedly before his wrathful patroness. He opened his mouth to speak, but the butler, having been exposed to Collins’ rambling on a previous occasion, moved to intervene.

“I regret, my lady, that it matters not. My master has ordered that Miss Bingley must not be granted entry—nor any of her guests... regardless of their identity.” The last part came out with admirably little tremble in his voice. Dawson straightened and squared his jaw, affecting more courage and adamance than he truly possessed.

Lady Catherine whirled on Caroline, rage and betrayal sparking from her faded eyes. “ What is this? ” she hissed in fury.

Caroline blanched but recovered smoothly. “My brother, your ladyship,” she intoned sweetly. “He is quite blinded as well and fancies himself attached to Miss Bennet’s older sister. He did not favour my disapproval of the Bennet family, either for himself or Mr Darcy. So, it is, my lady,” she adopted a slightly martyred expression, “one cannot act upon good intentions without occasionally being made to suffer for it.”

Lady Catherine’s temper seemed to shrink somewhat, her towering ire against Caroline, at least, abated for the moment. She cast a vengeful expression back to the butler. “I have not yet done! This house is not worthy of our regard! I am most seriously displeased. My nephew shall hear of this!” She continued her litany against the household, the persons who dwelt within, and the entire Hertfordshire countryside until she had ascended once more into her—or rather, Caroline’s—carriage.

Once settled within, Lady Catherine put her head graciously out the window so that her parson might have the honour of hearing her private directives to him. “Collins! Do you take us to the home of your betrothed. I believe you said her father bears some manner of title. He shall know how I am to be received!”

T he half-hour the earl spent visiting with Miss Bennet’s family passed agreeably enough. He glanced once more about the room, mentally ticking off his final thoughts on his future relations.

That Mama of Miss Bennet’s seemed a mousy thing, easily cowed by her relatives. He had been surprised to discover that; he had thought Richard had made some derogatory mention of the woman’s brazen manners. He decided the woman was a powder keg—innocuous enough for the moment but poised at any public moment to shower embarrassment upon those too closely affiliated with her.

The two younger sisters had caused him to raise his eyebrows more than once. It was plain that they, along with their companion, appeared over-eager to quit the house as soon as he had removed his arduous presence from their home. The blatant and hungry stares directed toward Richard did nothing to improve his impression of them.

That middle sister he could not quite put his finger on. She had posted herself loyally near his niece, saying little but never far removed. He wondered briefly if the young woman had tried to attach herself to shy Georgiana, hoping to gain by circumstance. He would be sure to make mention of his concerns to Richard.

Despite all, he had been surprisingly impressed by Miss Bennet’s aunt and uncle. They had paid him the respectful civilities due to one of his status, but their manner was gracious and humble without descending into obsequiousness. They struck quite the perfect balance, and the earl went away with the impression that Mr Gardiner was in all probability the most genteel and respectable tradesman he had yet encountered.

The eldest sister—the one favoured by Darcy’s friend—was one of the most stunning creatures he had ever beheld. She was perfectly enchanting, and unconnected as she was, she still struck him as more than suitable for a man of Bingley’s status. She was everything maidenly and innocent, and the earl thought fleetingly of a few London girls who could stand to gain by her example. Even so, her classic beauty paled next to her sister’s lively sparkle.

By far the most fascinating diversion in the room, and likely in all of Hertfordshire, was Darcy’s affianced. The girl’s effervescence had revealed a new nephew to him. It was as though she alone had been privy to the man beneath the mask of stoicism and had taken it upon herself to unveil her loyalty to that man to the world while still somehow respecting his deep privacy. He had never seen Darcy so at his ease since he was a child.

The earl still suffered somewhat in confusion at their circumstances. Richard had not neglected to inform him of the details of Darcy’s relationship to the young lady and had led him to believe that she still remained noncommittal about their proposed union. No such reluctance was apparent now!

It was refreshing, he supposed, that the lady had required a little convincing from his nephew. Curiously absent in Elizabeth Bennet were the ambitions which marked many women who approached Darcy, but it seemed clear enough to the earl that he had, at last, won her honest regard.

As the proper length of their visit drew to a close, the earl moved to bid his farewells. “Miss Bennet,” he bowed to Elizabeth, “it has been my pleasure to make your acquaintance. I do hope your father continues in his recovery.”

Elizabeth curtseyed very properly. “Thank you, my lord. We have every hope that he shall.”

“Just so. Darcy,” he turned to his nephew, “you must bring Miss Bennet to London as soon as may be. Your aunt is most eager to make her acquaintance.”

Elizabeth’s face clouded slightly. “I was most sorry to hear of Her Ladyship’s indisposition. I do hope she may recover soon!”

“Indisposition?” The earl shot a questioning gaze across the room at his son, who was still trying to avoid Darcy’s confusing presence. “Why, no, Her Ladyship is quite well. She only fancies herself greatly beset in the cold months and refuses to stir abroad! My son is rather too prone to indulge his mother’s complaints, I fear.”

Elizabeth nodded her acknowledgement and slanted a curious look at her betrothed. Darcy’s hid his satisfied smirk rather poorly. While a careful examination of his statements yielded no untruths regarding his cousin’s situation, he had certainly allowed idle minds to believe what they would. No one could now find Colonel Fitzwilliam a man motivated to seduce innocent young heiresses, nor could his cousin’s confidence in him be questioned.

U pon their departure, the gentlemen decided among themselves that Fitzwilliam would return to Netherfield with Bingley and Georgiana. The earl, determining to return to London himself, desired his nephew to keep him company. Darcy agreed to ride the first part of the journey back to London in his uncle’s coach, but for the sake of speed, he would take his leave and depart on horseback at the first coaching station.

The earl settled back on the plush squabs, fixing his nephew with a firm stare. No harm in testing the besotted young man a little. “I am quite disappointed in you, my boy,” he began.

Darcy merely smiled. “I had expected you might be.”

“A man of your station has no business meddling with the impoverished daughter of a modest country squire.”

“You are quite correct, Uncle,” he agreed.

“The estate cannot be worth more than two thousand a year, at best, and likely entailed besides.”

“Two thousand, one hundred, to be exact, and the heir is a toad,” Darcy confirmed.

His uncle cocked a questioning eyebrow. “With her connections to trade, she will suffer in the ton .”

“Miss Bennet will have the ton at her feet by the end of the first Season if I know her at all. Those holdouts who are not swayed to her favour are not worth my trouble.”

“You do not fear that Georgiana’s chances may be harmed by the association?”

“Georgiana is quite taken with Miss Bennet and has no desire to be the darling of the ton . I rather think she would fancy not having a Season altogether.”

His uncle paused in surprise. He squinted penetratingly. “The youngest sisters are barely respectable. One of them for certain is set to bring disgrace upon the family if not properly checked.”

Darcy lifted his brow in silent accord.

“And that mother—quiet enough today, I grant you, but Richard assures me her company can be most tedious, even bordering on alarming.”

“All true,” Darcy draped his arm across the back of his seat and crossed his calves comfortably.

“And yet you are determined to have her? There are other arrangements possible, you know.”

Darcy dropped his arm, and both feet thudded to the floor of the coach, his features hardening and his voice turning brittle. “Out of the question! I would never stoop to such disgrace, and even less would I ask it of Miss Bennet! Uncle, if you disapprove of Miss Bennet, make your opinion known. You shall not cause me to alter my course, but your answer determines whether you shall be welcome to our homes in the future!”

Matlock roared in delight. “Calm yourself, my boy! I mean no disrespect to your future bride! I am only surprised at you.”

Darcy relaxed somewhat. “As was I myself, I assure you. However, I am quite satisfied that she is exactly the wife I should desire. It is just as I would wish.”

The earl frowned, but it was not an unfriendly expression. “She is clever, Darcy, and accustomed to much liberty. I doubt not that she will challenge your authority.”

Darcy grinned unrepentantly. “I would expect nothing less from her! Bingley tells me I have been too long without some iron edge against which I myself might be sharpened.”

“Then, my boy, you have quite met your match. Do you know, I have the unsettling impression that after this first meeting, she still knows a deal more about me than I know about her.”

“I often feel the same, Uncle!” Darcy laughed.

“I say,” Matlock changed the subject abruptly, “what calls you so urgently to London? I should have thought you most reluctant to leave your enchanting lady. You are not rushing into a special license, are you? Is her father’s condition truly so precarious?”

“No!” Darcy jumped in alarm. “That is, my trip had nothing to do with... Although it is an interesting idea you have just given me.”

“Not the first time you have thought it, no doubt,” the earl commented dryly.

“Certainly not,” his nephew agreed. “However…” he sighed, thinning his lips in uncertainty. “How well do you remember George Wickham?”

“Not him again.”

“The same. He has been spreading rumours about Georgiana to harm her, linking her name with Richard’s when… well, let me simply say that I do not believe Wickham travelled to London alone. “

The earl’s face turned to granite. “He said what about my niece? And Richard! I will break him! Darcy, you may count on my assistance. I’ll not have the Fitzwilliam name slandered!”

“I thank you, Uncle, but I believe I can handle Wickham,” Darcy replied, trying to keep an edge of nervousness out of his voice. There was much he still preferred to keep private from his uncle.

“You will have your hands full when you get to London,” the earl grunted. He squinted in surprise at his nephew’s questioning glance. “Why, did Drake not send you word? Oh, I suppose it may have missed you. Your aunt came to Town, and she does not look upon your marriage with a favourable eye.”

Darcy sagged, pressing his fingers into his eyes. “She came to your house?”

“No! To yours!” the earl laughed. “Had a devilish time of it, too. Stranded, she is, or was yesterday.”

Darcy’s lips twitched a little. Richard! He sighed. “I suppose the conversation had to happen. I never intended to marry Anne, but she has not believed me.”

The earl narrowed his eyes. “Yes, whatever you do, you must not marry Anne.” He was then silent for a long time.