Imperative: Volume 2, A Tale of Pride and Prejudice (47 page)

Darcy looked up to the landing.  “Perhaps we should remain during her withdrawal.” 

“She will simply not be feeding her.  They will not be separated from each other.  It is something that she must become accustomed to, regardless of who is here.  And Susan is more than capable of taking care of Georgiana.  Besides, she will be home at Pemberley in just a few weeks.”   Richard watched the set line of her jaw curiously.  When she finished with her gloves she noticed his attention, “Are you going to the Kelly’s home, Richard?  You seem to be turned out in your finest this morning.  And appear particularly handsome.” 

Darcy coughed and Richard shot him a look before stuttering, “I . . . I have not called in two days . . .”

Laughing at his defensive posture, she squeezed his arm.  “That is fine, I was not criticizing!  I received a note inviting Aunt Susan and me to visit. How they knew that we had more guests is a mystery . . .”

“In this neighbourhood?  I do not think so, love.” 

Elizabeth glanced at her husband and smiled, “True.  Well in any case, Mrs. Kelly suggests that we visit.  She has invited Mrs. Annesley, and I need to speak to her about coming to Pemberley . . .”

“So you are asking me to accompany you?”  Richard asked with a frown.  “What of your unoccupied husband?”

Darcy cleared his throat.  “I have some work to accomplish with Ferguson.” 

“Oh.” 

“Uncle has taken Samuel to visit the seaside in the curricle.”  Darcy added.

“Oh.”

“And of course, wild horses could not coax Aunt Susan away from Hope.  I promise you that I will not infringe on your time with Miss Kelly, Richard.  And I may just be distracting enough that the two of you will have some time alone?”  Elizabeth tilted her head and winked.

Richard’s eyes lit up.  “You would do that for me?” 

“Of course!” 

“Well then . . . let’s go!”  Elizabeth laughed and he headed towards the front door.  “Time is a-wasting!” 

Elizabeth turned to Darcy with a grin and he smiled softly.  “Be careful.”

“Harris is driving, not me.”  She fussed with his neck cloth.  “What are you doing with Mr. Ferguson?”

“Oh, just shoring things up before we go . . . First I will take a look around the estate on my own.”

Her fussing stopped.  “For Mr. Wickham?” 

“As we discussed last night.  No, I did not forget our conversation, no matter how distracting you tried to be.”  He read the worry in her eyes and caressed her cheek.  “I am not a murderer, love.” 

“Is he?”  She whispered.

“Seemingly not, if his letters are to be believed.”  Elizabeth immediately wrapped her arms around his waist and he held her closely.   “I do not fear him.”

“I wish that you would tell Richard or Uncle Harding, or even Samuel that he was truly here . . .”

“Then we
would
see a murder.”  Darcy looked down to her upturned face.  “Too many people have been my proxy in this.  If I can locate him, if he is indeed still in the area, I want to speak to him on my terms, and not while having to hold off my furious relatives.”

“But
you
are furious, too!  Do not attempt to fool me with this calm facade, Fitzwilliam Darcy!  You cannot hide behind your mask with me.  I
know
how angry and hurt you are.”

“And I would like to express it at last to the one who deserves it.”  Darcy studied her eyes and kissed her tenderly.  “I love you, too.” 

“When I return from seeing Mrs. Annesley, I will begin our packing.”  Her face held a determined glare.  “You have one afternoon to yourself, Mr. Darcy.  One.  If you do not find him, then he will just have to remain lost.  As you say, he will undoubtedly appear again regardless of what threats come his way.”

“You are set to go home.”

“If we are not stepping across the threshold to Pemberley in . . . four days time, I will . . . I will be . . .”

“What?”  He smiled.

“You will just see, sir!”  Detaching herself from his grasp, she started furiously tying the ribbons of her bonnet.  Darcy stayed her hands and took over the job.  “We
need
to go home.  It is high time that you and I worried about the two of us alone.  We need to go home and just . . . be.”  She glanced at him and his lips twitched as he finished and adjusted the bow. 

“Yes, dear.” 

Elizabeth grew increasingly frustrated.  “You are feeling better, you know that you are.  I will not have you return to the way you were.” 

“The way I was?”  He rubbed his thumb along her jaw.  “I have discovered something about the way I was.”

“What is that?”  Her eyes were welling up and she held his hand to her cheek.  Darcy leaned down and spoke softly in her ear.  Elizabeth blushed as his warm breath and low voice caressed the words.  “Will.”  She bent her head and rested it against his chest as he continued talking gently.  “Ohhh Will.”  Darcy lifted her head back up and they kissed.

“It is true.”  Holding her eyes he caressed her jaw again.  “Whenever you love me, everything is well again.  I did not tell you, but so many times when it was hurting, we loved each other and the pain would disappear.”

Elizabeth pressed her palm to his chest. “It would?  But does it not make your heart beat faster?” 

“It certainly does.”  His eyes twinkled and he bent to her ear again, “And you taste far, far better than that elixir you discovered.”

“Then . . . then, we will go home.”  Darcy wiped the tear that was rolling down her burning cheek.  “We will go home and you will be well, and you and I will . . . put all of this behind us.”

He leaned and kissed her, “Yes, dear.”

“
Yes, dear
?  Is this the cause of the delay?”  Richard reappeared and laughed when they started from their deepening embrace.  “You will never hear me kowtowing to my wife . . .”

“Oh . . . that was a mistake, Cousin.”  Darcy laughed and indicated Elizabeth’s flashing eyes. 

“What did I say?” 

“Plenty for me to mention to Miss Kelly.”  Elizabeth spun in a swirl of her skirts and headed for the door.

“Mrs. Darcy.”  Darcy called softly.

She stopped, but did not turn.  “Yes, Mr. Darcy?” 

“Be careful.” 

“I love you, too, Will.”  Darcy smiled and looked down at his feet as she quickly walked outside.

“What was that about?”  Richard asked curiously.

“Find yourself a wife who loves you, and then you will understand.”  Darcy gave him a shove to the door.  “Good luck.”

“ANOTHER?”  Gladney watched a curricle pulling up to the house.  “How many is that now?  Ten?  Should not this choice have been made by now?”

“Mother is casting her net far and wide.”  Anne rose from her seat before a quilting frame and joined him at the window.  “It was kind of you to give her the duty of interviewing new pastors for Hunsford.”

“Kind or lazy?  The occupation keeps her from my hair.”  He smiled and heard her throat clear.  “I retained the right to reject any of them.  I do not want another Collins.  There is only so much fawning a man can take.” 

“I wonder if it was sincere?”

“Oh . . . he was grateful for the job, I am certain.  He simply forgot to stop applying for it once it was won.” 

Anne leaned against the window.  “I wonder how he is getting on with his own estate.”

He watched her as she looked out over the drive.  “He is likely insufferable.” 

“Elizabeth’s sister has her work cut out for her.”

“She is insufferable, too.  How she could be of the same lineage is beyond me.”

“Are you like Richard?”

Gladney smiled.  “Touché.” 

“Thank you.”  Anne curtseyed slightly. 

“Speaking of Richard, he sent me a letter.”  Turning away, he walked to a table where his correspondence lay in a pile.  “It seems that he is courting a Scottish girl.”

“Is he?”  Interested, Anne stood beside him and read.  “The only girl with four brothers . . . a decent, if not overwhelming dowry.  A son of an earl should do better than that.”

“Fifteen thousand for a younger son is nothing to sneeze at.”  Gladney mused.  “He has told his future father the situation at Gladney and the man remained encouraging.”  Anne laughed derisively.  “Well, no small surprise there, I suppose, the father sees a good man and a good home for his daughter.  But Richard fears it may be some time before he can propose and bring her home.”  Albert’s hand went automatically to his waistcoat pocket, but all that his fingers found was his watch.  Noticing Anne’s eyes following his movement, he cleared his throat and unconsciously touched his nose.  “His needing to wait is my fault.  If only I would die . . .” 

Ignoring the statement, Anne pointed at the letter.  “I suppose that her dowry is not enough to furnish the house?”

“Oh it is, but he rightly points out that he has no desire to plunder her security for a few tables and chairs.  That money is for her future and their children, should they come.”  With that, Anne turned away and returned to her needlework.  “I am sorry, Anne.  I did not realize that you would care.” 

“Neither did I, until we married.”  She picked up her needle and started working the fabric.  “I am willing to try, I feel fit enough.  Besides, the next earl should be your child, not your brother’s.”

“And what if I pass on my disease to the baby or you?” 

“You said that you have not seen any sign of it on your person.”  She looked up at him and watched as again his hand searched for the missing snuff box.  “I am sorry.” 

“No . . . I am as well.”  He sniffed and looked back at the letter.  “I . . . like you; I had not expected to feel . . . stirrings for such matters when we married.”

“Children?”

“Children and . . . other things.”  He glanced at her and noticed that she did not look away.  Rubbing his nose again, he picked up the letter and walked back to the window.  “What say I plunder Rosings’ coffers a bit and refurnish Gladney for him?  Get the place on its feet so he can propose and start making the Fitzwilliams some heirs, eh?  Your mother amassed quite a fortune, and the manor certainly does not need any more mantlepieces.”

“Is there anything left of my dowry after paying your debts?   I do not need to preserve it.”  Anne said quietly. 

Gladney sighed.  “Even if I was healthy, my body does not respond as a man’s should anymore.  I have done too much damage to myself.”

“If you would let me touch you, I could try.”  Her cheeks coloured with the suggestion, but he knew instinctively that it was not from embarrassment. 

“Anne.  I have come to care about you.  And that is why I do not let you touch me.”  Gladney set down the letter and walking to her side; bent and kissed her cheek.  “I think that I will go take a ride.”

She regarded him suspiciously, “I will come with you.”

Shaking his head, he patted her shoulder.  “No, I need to be alone.  I promise, I will return no more damaged that I already am.”  Clasping his hands behind his back, he strolled from the room. 

“STUBBORN FOOL.”  Elizabeth said to herself and held onto the strap of the rocking carriage as they drove over some deep ruts in the road. 

“Pardon?”  Richard turned away from the window, “Who is a stubborn . . . Oh, my tall cousin?  You seemed to be getting on quite well when we parted.  What has he done, or rather, what have you imagined he has done?”

Elizabeth glared at him. “Richard, if you want me to help you, do not goad me into talking just now.  Otherwise I will say something you will regret hearing.”

“I may just wish to force your hand to hear what you have to say.”   He smiled and saw lips pressing together.  “Elizabeth?”

“We are here.”  She let go of the strap and fussed over her gown.  “Do you have anything in particular that you want to accomplish with Miss Kelly?”

Watching her carefully, he spoke slowly.  “Yes, I do, but I am afraid that it will have to wait for our wedding night.”

“If you speak to her like that you will deserve the heat of her fury.” 

“Sometimes I forget that you are a woman, Elizabeth.”

“Oh, now that is a compliment!”  She snapped.  “I am surrounded by fools today!” 

“No, no.  I said that badly.”

“Go on!  You realize that the hole you are digging is becoming deeper by the second?”

Richard smiled as her eyes flashed and wondered just what Darcy had done.  “I cannot talk to women, but I can talk to you.” 

“Practice that on the woman you have as much as proposed to.”  The carriage stopped and Ben jumped down from the driver’s seat to open the door.  Elizabeth took a calming breath and looked at the startled man across from her.  “By the way, when will that be?”

“I barely know her!”

She looked at the open front door of the Kelly home where Sophie stood waiting for them and gave his leg a kick.  “So, go and know her!”   

KICKING BRUIN, Darcy set off across the field at a rapid pace.  It was a move meant more to redirect his thoughts from the sight of Elizabeth’s pensive face turned to watch him from the back window of the carriage than to gain any ground.  He understood her worry and frustration, but this was something he had to do on his own.  If he did not search for and find Wickham, he would never rest easy.  Despite his wife’s contention that he took on far too much, this was one fight where he had never engaged the enemy; and in Darcy’s mind, that was why Wickham remained a shadow lurking in their lives. 

All night he had brooded over the news that Wickham had dared to come to Sommerwald and the motivation behind it.  He debated what he would do if they met.   “Nobody knows him as well as I.”  He said to Bruin.  “I was raised with him.  We were friends and playmates for years until . . .”  He shook his head and let his thoughts wander.  “What shall I say when I find him, eh Bruin?”  The horse snorted and stamped his front hoof.  “Ah, so you are in favour of crushing the bastard?  That is a thought, since words seem to be ineffective.  He does not hear what does not fit into his own ideas.  There is nothing in his mind that tells him to leave well enough alone.  He just comes back for more, over and over again.” 

He scanned the horizon and thinking like the man he knew so well, he started them off on a run.  Coming to a stone wall, Darcy thought nothing of bending forward and urging his stallion to leap.  They landed easily and he rode on, scanning the countryside as he searched for the man who had been his nemesis for a decade.  It was difficult.  He did not know Sommerwald like the back of his hand as he did Pemberley, but Wickham had never accompanied Darcy and his father on their fishing trips, so the estate was new to him, too.