The Darcy Brothers

by Abigail Reynolds

  *****

  The next morning at breakfast, Lady Catherine announced her intention of sending a messenger to the parsonage to issue an invitation for tea for the afternoon.

  “It is not the first time,” she stated. “I have graciously invited the Collins’s and their guests already, but while Darcy was here, I did not require their company.”

  “I am sorry you do not find me entertaining enough, Aunt.”

  “As you well know, I hardly see anything of you. You are either risking your life riding madly about the estate on that great brute of a horse or you are sulking in the library. For the life of me, I cannot imagine why you have an interest in those dusty old books of mine. I was informed by one of the maids that you even took a whole stack of books off the shelf and were searching through them as though your life depended on it.”

  So the Old Bat’s maids were carrying tales, were they? Well, his life had depended on it, or at least his peace of mind. Fortunately, Cousin Richard had responded to his recent letter and told him the name of the volume in which he had drawn yet another incriminating cartoon of their aunt, and he had been able to put the issue to rest.

  “You have a very valuable collection, Aunt,” he said.

  How was it that Lady Catherine always drove him to utter barefaced lies, like a boy of eight caught stealing a custard tart?

  “I would have thought you would be pleased to see me engaged in harmless pursuits.”

  His aunt gave a most unladylike snort. “Your behavior has certainly improved since the last time you were here, but I am not such a fool as to believe that you now prefer books to other entertainments. Besides, I do not approve of bookishness. Too much reading can have a detrimental effect on one’s health. It can make one excitable.”

  How fortunate it was that not everyone agreed with this perception of reading, or the human race would not have advanced beyond its primitive origins. However, this was a perfect opportunity to appease his aunt. She had handed it to him on a silver platter.

  “Perhaps, now that you mention it, I have been spending too much time indoors with dusty books. It cannot be good for my health, particularly since the weather is improving.” It occurred to him that he could kill two birds with one stone. “I could call on the parsonage if you wish, Aunt, and give them your message. If I cannot entertain you, at least I could be useful.”

  “You will do no such thing,” said Lady Catherine, severely. “I will not have you playing errand boy. It is quite beneath your dignity. But since you are being so obliging, I have another task for you.”

  Theo groaned. He could not imagine what it was, but he doubted he would like it.

  “I hope it can wait until after I take Theseus for a ride. He will break down the stable door if he is not exercised.”

  “Mark my words, that brute will be the death of you,” said Lady Catherine. “Do not come running to me to say you are sorry when you have been tossed to the ground with your neck broken.”

  “I doubt I will be in any condition to do so, Aunt Catherine.”

  “Enough of your insolence!” said Lady Catherine. “Go. But be back before luncheon. I will be expecting you.”

  Things were not looking promising. Not at all.

  *****

  The hours until the guests arrived passed painfully slowly. Not only was Theo impatient to find out more about Miss Bennet, but since there was little to keep him occupied, his mind dwelled too often on Wickham and his letter. What had he written about? It could not solely be a demand for funds, as was his wont, for that alone would not draw his brother so rapidly to London. Had it been an attempt at blackmail, an underhanded way of convincing Theo to lend him the money he had requested? What harm might the bounder threaten if not complied with? Had Theo done the right thing in allowing Darcy to go to Town in his place?

  As if his brother had given him any choice in the matter! Obviously, Theo was still the bad boy, and Darcy did not trust him enough to deal with the problem. Would he ever redeem himself in his brother’s eyes? At this moment, the chances of that happening were about as good as the chances of Theseus winning a race at Haymarket. Theseus was a fine specimen, but he could never compete against the racing thoroughbreds.

  Theo was feeling decidedly glum. The heavy chains tying him to Rosings seemed to be growing shorter and heavier by the hour.

  To make matters worse, his aunt had called him to the drawing room in the afternoon and made him read some ghastly book of sermons. Lady Catherine was clearly deluded enough to think that they would be instructive, but since after two or three sentences he had been bored to tears, he no longer paid any attention to what he was reading, allowing his thoughts to drift.

  When the footman announced the arrival of the party from Hunsford, Theo had to stop himself from jumping up and dancing a jig.

  Even prisoners were allowed out for the occasional walk.

  He rose and, putting as much space between himself and his aunt as possible, sought out Miss Bennet's vivacious figure. The sight of her was like a whiff of fresh air in the moldy confines of his aunt’s living room.

  First, though, he was forced to give his attention to Collins’ kowtowing. Theo's good humor returned as he heard the clergyman’s long-winded expressions of pleasure at being invited to spend time in their august company. Having already discovered Collins to be an unintended source of entertainment when the clergyman had become entangled in the holly bush at the parsonage, Theo was all anticipation that something similar would happen today. However, for the moment at least, nothing untoward did.

  Once the irritating parson had finished expressing his effusions, Theo turned his attention to the rest of the party. Mrs. Collins was as he expected—politely deferential. Her sister, Miss Lucas, appeared quite overwhelmed in Lady Catherine’s presence and hardly raised her gaze from the ground, despite Theo’s attempts to put her at ease.

  Miss Bennet alone of the group did not seem at all awed by his aunt, which confirmed Theo’s positive opinion of her. She was not easily intimidated, and she clearly delighted in anything ridiculous. Her eyes danced as she gave him her hand in greeting and he laughed back.

  “Any mishaps with your bonnet on the way here?” he asked.

  Elizabeth’s eyes sparkled as she shook her head, the chestnut curls framing her face bouncing merrily.

  “None at all, I assure you,” she said. “I was particularly careful to hold onto it, knowing you would not be available to come to my rescue.”

  Theo had not intended to flirt with the young lady he suspected his brother admired, but he really could not help it, not when she was looking at him expectantly, a mischievous smile hovering on her lips. The words slipped out of their own accord.

  “You have only to say the word, Miss Bennet. I would climb the highest tree, if it meant earning your gratitude.”

  She pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. “I do not believe there are many tall trees at Rosings, and even if there were, I do not think my bonnet capable of sailing quite so high.”

  He was about to answer when Lady Catherine turned a disapproving eye on him. Normally, he would have ignored it, but under the circumstances it was a timely reminder. He was not supposed to engage with Miss Bennet on his own behalf but on behalf of his brother. His only purpose in talking to her was to discover as much as possible about her.

  For once, he was glad of his aunt’s intervention.

  “I see that you, like your brother, have a prior acquaintance with Miss Bennet,” said Lady Catherine.

  He opened his mouth to respond to the implied reproof in her tone—though why a prior acquaintance was something to feel guilty about, he could not fathom—but Miss Bennet forestalled him.

  “Not at all, Lady Catherine,” said the lady, oblivious to the fact that his aunt did not look happy at being contradicted, “I did not have the pleasure of being introduced to Mr. Theophilus until two days ago, when Mr. Darcy himself introduced his brother to me.”

  The
o noted that she did not mention their earlier encounter.

  “That was when Mr. Darcy condescended to visit our humble abode to offer me and Mrs. Collins his congratulations,” said Mr. Collins, “and to express his pleasure at my fortunate choice of a bride. “Mr. Collins,” he said. “You are to be congratulated—.”

  “Yes, yes,” Lady Catherine interrupted, “unfortunately, my nephew has been called away to London. However, he will not stay long. He is excessively devoted to me and will wish to return as soon as possible.”

  Theo watched Miss Bennet closely to see the impact this information had on her, but she gave no indication of the news interesting her, one way or the other.

  So is that the way the wind blows, then? Is the lady indifferent? Poor William. No wonder he was in such a state.

  Theo found it hard to believe. True, his brother was arrogant and abrupt at times, but that did not seem to stop the ladies from fawning over him. In fact, Theo could think of few occasions in which his brother was not being actively pursued by some young lady or the other. It was quite blatantly unfair. Theo himself had his share of ladies who expressed interest, but that was because he made every effort to charm them. William, however, did nothing at all. His brother’s ten thousand a year helped, of course, but it was not simply that. Viewed objectively, Theo supposed his brother was quite handsome, but Darcy seemed to possess some other mysterious quality that appealed to the ladies.

  Yet here was Miss Bennet, seemingly indifferent to his brother. Of course, it was too early to tell. She could simply be very good at concealing her feelings. He tried to remember if she had looked around the room in search of his brother when she had first entered, but unfortunately he had been too caught up in conversing with her to notice.

  Well, if he wanted to help his brother, Theo had to discover how she felt. It was really most fortuitous that he had come to Rosings with Darcy at the very same time as Miss Bennet was visiting. Fate had practically thrown the young lady into his lap. Metaphorically, of course. Determining the level of her interest in his brother was a task which required the utmost delicacy if he was to avoid revealing Darcy's attachment, but Theo was something of an expert on affairs of the heart.

  He cast a quick glance around. This was as good a moment as any to begin. Lady Catherine was engaged in conversation with Mr. Collins and his party. Theo would have Miss Bennet to himself, for a few minutes at least.

  “I am all agog, Miss Bennet. How did you come to meet my brother?”

  She threw him an amused glance, almost as if she knew what he was up to.

  Tread carefully, Theo. Miss Bennet is no fool.

  “You may well ask that question, since it seems your brother is not fond of making new acquaintances. I was introduced to him at an assembly, through a friend of his. Do you know Mr. Bingley?”

  “Yes, he has been a particular friend of my brother’s since their school days.”

  She frowned. “Is not Mr. Darcy older than Mr. Bingley?”

  “It is common at boarding schools to have older boys take charge of younger ones.”

  “Did you have an older boy as protector?”

  “Yes, I did.” He shied away from the memory. Wickham had been the older boy. “Not all of us are so fortunate, however.”

  “You think Mr. Bingley fortunate? Perhaps it was the other way. Perhaps it was your brother’s good fortune to be associated with such an amiable companion.”

  Was it possible Miss Bennet admired Bingley rather than William? She certainly seemed to think highly of Darcy’ friend. Theo pounced on the opportunity to interrogate her.

  “Is Mr. Bingley a particular acquaintance of yours?”

  Miss Bennet’s countenance took on a more guarded expression. Aha. He was on the right track.

  “I have not known him for long, but I was fortunate enough to stay at his country estate—Netherfield—for four days.”

  She was being evasive. He sensed Miss Bennet would not make it easy for him to extract information. She was too quick-witted to be fooled into any inadvertent admission.

  He decided to change the direction of his questioning.

  “I am surprised my brother attended a local assembly. Normally, he avoids such situations like the plague.”

  “I assure you, Mr. Darcy made it abundantly clear he did not wish to be there. In fact, he might as well not have been, because he refused to dance with any of the young ladies present, other than with Mr. Bingley’s sisters. I wonder that he made the effort to put in an appearance at all! In fact, he later implied quite openly he considered dancing akin to savagery.”

  A bark of laughter escaped Theo. “My brother said that? He must have been in a particularly disagreeable mood. He does not easily express his opinions to strangers. Darcy is generally rather shy. It takes him some time before he feels comfortable in a social situation with people he does not know.”

  He was on the verge of sharing his nickname for his brother—Prince William—when he thought bitterly of yesterday's letter from Wickham. He had relished when Theo had used the nickname and had used it himself openly. With disgust, Theo realized it had become forever tainted by its association with that man, and he would never find it a source of amusement again. More was the pity, because he sensed Miss Bennet would have appreciated it.

  “I detected no shyness in him,” said Elizabeth, readily. “His attitude was one of superiority. It was clear he found the company beneath his notice.”

  Though she said it in a half-laughing manner, there was a degree of intensity on Elizabeth’s countenance that surprised Theo, and no mistaking the sharp gleam in her eye. Had William said something in particular to her to trigger an aversion?

  Whatever it was, one thing was unfortunately clear. The lady did not think favorably of his brother.

  That being the case, Theo was at a loss. Would it serve any purpose for him to make a concerted effort to interest Elizabeth in his brother? There were ways he could nudge her into thinking better of him, but would that amount to love? It was not unusual for many of their class to marry without their feelings being engaged, but such marriages were usually arranged because they were beneficial to both parties. Charming as Elizabeth was, it was by no means certain that marrying her would be beneficial to his brother.

  Theo caught the direction of his thoughts and almost smiled at the irony. Only two days ago, Theo had argued with Darcy in favor of love as a foundation for marriage. Now, he was not so certain. What could a one-sided love bring to a marriage other than pain? If Elizabeth did not care for his brother, surely it would be undesirable for Darcy to be shackled to a woman who did not return his regard?

  Would it not be better to find a way to discourage Darcy from his interest in Miss Bennet altogether? Although in his experience, it was impossible to convince anyone in love to change his or her course.

  It was deuced difficult to decide what to do under the circumstances, but then, he did not really have to do anything. He could wait for a response from Cousin Richard, to whom he had written asking him to unearth what he could about Miss Bennet’s family. Perhaps the Colonel would discover some crucial information about her circumstances. Meanwhile, there was no harm in furthering his acquaintance with the young lady. He would discover more about the type of person William had developed a tendre for and, at the same time, relieve some of the boredom of his visit, for if there was one thing that was certain in this rather muddled business, Elizabeth Bennet was more amusing company than his aunt.

  As though the Old Bat guessed his intentions, Lady Catherine chose that very moment to call Elizabeth to her side.

  “Come sit by me, Miss Bennet. I cannot converse with you from across the room. I wish to ask you a few questions.”

  The lady threw Theo a laughing glance and rose to her feet, her teacup showing its protest by clattering loudly against its saucer. Theo wanted badly to laugh, but under the withering glance of Lady Catherine, he managed to smother it.

  “Should I submit c
almly to the inquisition,” murmured Elizabeth, as she stepped past him, “or should I show some resistance?”

  “I believe submission might be the best course of action for the moment, Miss Bennet. It is too soon to organize the forces of resistance.”

  “Then you must promise to come to my rescue shortly,” she said, setting her cup down firmly on the table.

  “What are you saying to Miss Bennet, nephew? You are delaying her. I wish her to sit here. I wish to speak to her.”

  There was more to her imperious tone than her usual desire to take charge of the situation. He knew the Old Bat well enough. She suspected him of conducting a flirtation with Elizabeth, and she meant to prevent him.

  “I am sorry, Aunt. Miss Bennet was reluctant to relinquish her tea.” Yet another barefaced lie. Staying at Rosings was not good for his heavenly credit.

  “And so she should be,” said Lady Catherine. “The tea in this household is of the very highest quality. At least it shows she has good taste.”

  “Everything in this household is of the very highest quality, Lady Catherine,” interjected Mr. Collins. “When I was in Meryton, I took every opportunity to extol the grandeur of Rosings and to impress a sense of its magnificence upon those who have never had the fortune of seeing it. I was able to describe at length the refinement of your drawing rooms, the fine proportions, the ornaments and, in particular, the exquisite quality of the fireplace, but I feel mere words cannot do it justice.”

  Theo could barely restrain himself from snorting at this blatant sycophantic behavior, but his aunt lapped it all up. His gaze met Elizabeth’s across the room. It was brimming with laughter. He felt in her a kindred soul. She at least understood what it was like to be forced to endure day after day of Lady Catherine’s presence. She did not condemn him as Darcy did.