Compulsively Mr. Darcy

  “Or yours, don’t forget; you’re a Darcy,” he reminded her. “I don’t want you to blame yourself any longer. It’s my fault. I didn’t take George’s threat seriously and I didn’t warn you. Can you forgive me?”

  She accepted his apology and again tried to apologize to him; he interrupted and insisted it was his fault. Finally, they agreed to stop apologizing to each other. She wanted to hear more about his girlfriend, and he wanted to talk more about his girlfriend.

  When his sister heard his suggestion about her joining him on his return trip to Vietnam, her face lit up. “I’m not ready to go back to school yet. If you’re sure I won’t be in your way.”

  “You won’t,” he said firmly. “Elizabeth will love you. If you want something to do, Jane will appreciate your help at the orphanage. She’s a sweet lady. You’ll like her.”

  “Is Elizabeth a sweet lady too?”

  He laughed, glad to hear the teasing in her voice. “Actually, no. She’s a mischievous devil.”

  “Could we call them now and tell them I’m coming?”

  “I’ll tell her the next time I talk to her.”

  “Call her now. I’ll leave you alone.” She disappeared before he could respond.

  Surprised by her eagerness, he smiled and stared after her. He called Elizabeth’s cell phone. No answer. He sagged against the couch. Cell phone service and Internet connections in Vietnam were sketchy in spots, but he didn’t expect her to be this out of touch. He hadn’t been able to get through to her in the last few days.

  “When can we leave?” Georgiana came back into the room ten minutes later. “What did she say?”

  “I couldn’t get ahold of her. She’s traveling, giving medical lectures at various hospitals in Vietnam.”

  “Couldn’t we get there and surprise her?”

  “Hold on.” He held up his hand. “We’ll leave as soon as I can arrange to be away for another extended period. Anne’s having some difficulty and she needs me for some tricky negotiations during the next few weeks.”

  “Let Richard or Charles handle them.”

  “It’s not Richard’s area of expertise and Charles left for Africa.”

  “All right. I’ll wait,” she said, disappointment in her voice. “But I’m really anxious to meet Elizabeth.”

  “I’m anxious to see her too,” he agreed, looking down at his hands.

  ***

  Unable to contact Elizabeth, Darcy’s hands became more red and cracked over the next few days. He even tried to call the orphanage’s office; some woman answered each time and refused to give him any personal information about Elizabeth or Jane. The sisters must be traveling together. He even called the hospital, but all he got each time was: “Dr. E li sa bet go home!”

  “William, we’re ready to start looking at the figures for Abbate Inc.,” Anne said from behind him one day as he stood staring out of the window of the conference room.

  For the next few hours, he dealt with graphs and figures until the meeting finally ended. Except for his two vice presidents, everyone else exited speedily when he dismissed them. He was in a bad mood and it showed. Wearily, he returned to his previous spot by the window.

  Anne said, “William, the Frick Museum Board dinner meeting is tomorrow night before the reception. They acquired that painting you recommended and want your approval for the next one.”

  “It would be great for you to relax a bit, Cuz,” Richard said. “You always enjoyed beautiful women and beautiful art. I hear Helena is organizing the reception. Give her a call.”

  “I’ve already told them you would probably be coming with me, William,” Anne said. “I thought it would be more convenient to attend together.”

  “All right. Thanks, Anne.” He didn’t want to do anything except sit by the phone, but he still had obligations. Anne had been shouldering a lot of them and it was time he did his share. If he didn’t hear from Elizabeth soon, the DDF jet would be on its way to Vietnam and more work would be dumped on Anne. He owed it to her to escort her tomorrow night.

  Through the reflection of the window, he saw Anne glaring at a smirking Richard, who raised his middle finger. Anne quickly left the room.

  “Very mature, Richard,” Darcy said.

  “She deserves it. She—”

  “I don’t want to hear it.” Darcy held up his hand, not up to hearing the usual litany of complaints about Anne. He left the room, automatically checking his cell phone.

  He had missed a call from Vietnam!

  Jane’s orphanage number. He had, out of habit, put it on silent mode during the meeting. He stopped in the hallway and listened.

  Jane apologized for missing his calls. Her sister Mary—sister Mary? What happened to Elizabeth? Darcy held his breath—had not realized it was a personal call and not one related to orphanage business. Jane had bad news—Darcy’s heart stopped—Wickham had been released from prison early. He reportedly had bribed his way out.

  Elizabeth! Darcy’s head screamed inside. He should never have left her there! The message ended with Jane telling him she was trying to get ahold of Elizabeth to inform her also. He replayed the message again. He called Jane back. No answer.

  “Darce, say Darce, are you all right?” Richard appeared next to him. “You look white. Is it bad news? Georgiana? Mrs. R.?”

  “I should never have left her there. I can’t believe I came back for some business deals while she was still in danger from him.” Heart pounding now, he walked rapidly toward his office. “I have to go back to Vietnam right now.”

  “What? Vietnam? Who, who are you talking about?” Richard followed and furiously whispered, “Is it the paid escort?”

  Richard’s assistant appeared around the corner. “Mr. Fitzwilliam, the people from Tgruy are waiting for you in your office.”

  Richard held out a hand. “Wait, Darce. Let me deal with this quick.”

  Darcy ignored him and kept walking. He gave Mrs. Ching the orphanage number and asked her to try to reach Jane to find out where, exactly, her sister Elizabeth was in Vietnam and for the DDF jet to be prepared to leave. He went into his inner office and started planning what he needed to do.

  Richard ran in and shut the door. “Darce, man. Don’t go back. Don’t go crazy on me here. If I knew you were going to go this apeshit over some casual vacation hook-up, I would never have pushed you to get involved with one.”

  “Be quiet. I have to think,” Darcy snapped, his mind was already on the next item in his list. By the time he finished his mental list, Richard had disappeared. Darcy picked up the phone. “Mrs. Ching, get me Colonel Brandon.”

  ***

  A few short hours later, three cars pulled up to the tarmac where the DDF jet waited. The first car had Darcy with a team of people with him, listening as he deluged them with rapid-fire instructions. The second car had the DDF security team traveling with him to Vietnam. The third car had his cousin Richard, chasing after him, still frantically trying to convince him not to go. Darcy ignored him while he talked to Colonel Brandon, his chief of security.

  A fourth car pulled up. At the sight of it, Darcy stopped talking.

  Carrying a bag, Georgiana ran up to him. “If you’re going to Vietnam, I’m coming with you. You promised.”

  His cell phone buzzed with an incoming text message: Elizabeth Bennet found. Call office.

  “Mr. Darcy, I have a Miss Jane Bennet on the phone holding for you. I’ll transfer you,” Mrs. Ching said in her usual quiet efficient manner after one ring.

  “William, this is Jane.” Amidst the background hum of the crowd around him, her calm voice was a welcome relief. “Your secretary said you’re about to board a plane to be on your way back here to Vietnam.”

  “Elizabeth?”

  “Elizabeth is fine. She isn’t here. I told her she should have told you what she was doing,” Jane said. “I’m a bit frustrated with my impulsive sister for causing this panic.”

  “Where?” Darcy said, his heart racing too fast for
him to manage more words.

  “She’s in New York,” Jane replied.

  “New York?” Darcy was shocked.

  “New York?” repeated Richard.

  “New York?” chorused the crowd.

  “Yes, New York City. Are you anywhere near there?” Jane’s raised voice could be heard clearly.

  The crowd laughed, then stopped abruptly at Darcy’s glare.

  “Where exactly in New York City?” He ignored his staff’s mumblings about their near miss of a frantic trip halfway around the world to find a woman already here in New York. He stepped away from the crowd to better hear Jane.

  She answered his question, and the next, and the many more he asked. As he listened, his hands shook. Standing apart from the crowd and next to Richard, Georgiana looked worried. Darcy gave his sister a reassuring smile as he said to Elizabeth’s sister, “Thank you, Jane. Let me assure you I have enough to take care of your sister and her great-great-grandchildren’s grandchildren, if I can convince that crazy, impulsive, maddening sister of yours to marry me.”

  He rang off after assuring Jane he would get in touch with her once he found Elizabeth. He tried the numbers of Elizabeth’s new cell phone. It went to her voice mail. He closed his eyes and exhaled in relief. At least he had a working number now.

  He shook his head. In a small way—a very small way—he was exasperated with her obstinate obtuseness. A large part of his heart—an overwhelming large part—however, was now filled with an unbelievable warmth. He was astounded, touched, and very humbled by the miracle of her selfless love.

  It totally fit with his Elizabeth’s tendency to champion the underdog. And he was the lucky dog.

  He sent the security team home, canceled the flight, and gave the rest of the staff instructions. His employees began placing calls. He walked over to Georgiana and Richard.

  “Darce, she followed you here to New York. Some girl followed you to New York!” Richard’s panicked voice was a near shout.

  “She’s really here?” Georgiana asked in a hopeful tone.

  “Yes. Isn’t it wonderful?” Darcy impulsively picked up his sister and swung her around.

  His unexpected exuberance surprised her, he saw, but then she laughed aloud and said in a near shout of her own, “I’m so happy to see you happy, William.”

  “Darce, you can’t…” Richard paused as one of Darcy’s assistants approached.

  “Mr. Darcy, there is a Dr. Bennet lecturing at an Infectious Disease Grand Rounds at Lambton Medical Center in ten minutes.”

  CHAPTER 19

  Rich Man, Poor Man

  “Remember, when you hear American Sleeping Sickness disease, they’re not talking about what happened in Washington, DC, they’re talking about Chagas Disease, a parasitic infection,” Elizabeth ended her talk to the sound of laughter and applause in the hospital auditorium. “I’ll take questions now.”

  She flipped a switch to turn the light on. Scanning the audience, she noticed a stylishly and expensively dressed blond couple she didn’t recognize studying her intensely. Dismissing them as pharmaceutical sales reps, she pointed to some raised hands and answered questions. When the questions stopped and the room began to empty, she saw she had a few minutes before her dinner meeting with the residents.

  Her frantic job search had paid off. Right before the Grand Rounds, the chairman of the department had offered her a one-month position, starting tomorrow; they needed someone to fill in for a pregnant attending doctor who had suddenly developed some complications. Elizabeth’s application came at the right time. Since she had spent time at the hospital and her research paper was recently featured on the cover of an infectious disease journal, they were happy to offer her the temporary position on the spot.

  Except for a brief break to meet with a financial planner Hussein had given her the name of—some distant cousin of his—she had been busy with job-hunting. Now that she had some good news, she wished she could skip the dinner, go back to her hotel room, and call William.

  As if her wishing had conjured up a vision of him, she suddenly saw him and smiled. He seemed so real. When she straightened after bending to pick up her briefcase, the vision smiled back at her. She blinked. The vision came closer.

  ***

  Richard observed the woman’s stunned face when Darcy approached. With a hesitant motion, she reached one hand toward Darcy then paused and, instead, covered her gaping mouth. Darcy’s arms enveloped her. Her small white coat–clad figure disappeared into Darcy. Richard turned away; witnessing the private moment felt intrusive. When he turned back, the couple had finished their embrace, yet they still leaned toward each other with their hands clasped.

  Reassured the doctor at least appeared to have some feelings for his cousin, Richard let out a relieved breath. The next moment, he frowned. After nearly a year of being depressed, Darcy had bounced back and lost his head over a woman. And that worried Richard. He remembered the brief period of wild partying Darcy went through right after his father died, before the threat of losing custody of his sister to his aunt brought him out of his self-destructive grief.

  Richard studied the doctor’s appearance. Dark chestnut hair framed a lively face. Though he easily saw why his cousin was captivated, he shrugged and decided he wouldn’t be too concerned. Brains and beauty, nothing unusual there; Darcy was constantly exposed to smart and beautiful women. They were a dime a dozen, all jockeying to get at Darcy’s large coin purse. Sooner or later, they’d show their tarnish and bore Darcy.

  “Let’s go see what’s the deal with this one,” he muttered and walked up to the couple. Georgiana followed.

  “It’s time I give you a shock, Doctor Bennet,” Darcy said.

  About to respond to Darcy, the doctor caught sight of Richard and Georgiana approaching. In a cool tone, she greeted them, “I’m sorry, but I’m not able to talk right now about any new antibiotics your company is promoting.”

  “Sweetheart, this is my cousin Richard and my sister, Georgiana.” Darcy turned to them. “This is Dr. Elizabeth Bennet.”

  Richard’s mouth fell open. Sweetheart?

  At first, the two women greeted each other with shy smiles. Then, spontaneously and simultaneously, they hugged each other. Darcy sported a silly grin watching them.

  “I’m sorry for my mistake. You both look so beautiful and stylish. Pharmaceutical reps are usually good-looking. That’s how they court us doctors.” The doctor tilted her head in Richard’s direction. “I figured they’d sent me a pretty boy here.”

  While his cousins laughed, Richard winked at her. “Not handsome enough to tempt you though, Doc?”

  A glower replaced Darcy’s grin. Richard rocked on his heels, happy to see it.

  Georgiana said, “Dr. Bennet, I enjoyed hearing your lecture.”

  “Please call me Elizabeth, or Lizzy. And I thank you for the compliment. I’m glad that you didn’t run out when you saw the gross slides”—the doc winked at Darcy—“as someone likely did.”

  Darcy winked back at her. “It wouldn’t do for me to faint in the middle of your lecture.”

  Richard reminded himself to set up a background check on the woman. Pronto.

  A group of young doctors, mostly young males, approached. The doc told Darcy she had to leave for her dinner meeting with the residents. “I don’t know how long we’ll be.”

  Darcy’s face fell. “I’ll kill some time and drop Georgiana and Richard off, then I’ll come back for you. We’ll go get you checked out of your hotel and I’ll take you home.”

  ***

  His cousin’s last words alarmed Richard. This was serious. Darcy was going to take this woman to his townhouse and not the penthouse. Once they were in the car, Richard repeated his earlier concern. “Darce, don’t you think it’s odd she followed you here to New York?”

  “No.”

  Richard could not believe what had happened to his ultra-careful cousin. “Aren’t you concerned? How well do you know this girl?”


  “No, I’m not concerned,” Darcy said. “I know her well enough—”

  “You can’t know her that well, you haven’t been dating her that long. You just left Vietnam a little over three weeks ago,” Richard interrupted. “She probably has tons of debts from medical school and followed you here before you could get a chance to come to your senses.”

  “Are you done?”

  Darcy’s furious tone made Richard pause briefly, but he pressed on. “You’re acting like Charles when he meets a nice piece of a—” He stopped, reminded of Georgiana’s presence. “Once people learn of your net worth, they’ll do anything. Wait for a thorough background check before you do anything stupid.” At the anger flaring in Darcy’s eyes, Richard leaned away from him. “You know I’m watching out for you.”

  “Precisely why I’m not wringing your bloody neck right now.”

  “Don’t be taken in by a pretty face. She may be pretty and smart and a doctor, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a hidden agenda.”

  “You want to know what her hidden agenda was in coming to New York? She loved my sorry arse well enough to leave her sister, drop her volunteer commitment, and come here to find a well-paying job.”

  “There you—”

  “A well-paying job to help me.”

  “What? That makes no sense.”

  To his surprise, Darcy suddenly laughed and slumped back against the seat; all tension seemed to have left him. “She wants to lighten my financial burden. She thinks I’m unemployed. She doesn’t want me to take a job I’d hate, in accounting. She thinks I’m an accountant. She wants me to do what I once told her was very relaxing work for me: looking at grants for art foundations. She thought that was a real job I had once.”

  “You’re serious?” Georgiana said.

  “You’re kidding?” Richard said.

  “Yes, I’m serious. And no, I’m not kidding. Her sister Jane told me all this on the phone earlier.” Darcy smiled at his sister. His smile disappeared when he faced Richard. “You’re right. We don’t know each other that well because we haven’t been together long. But in essentials, she’s the most real thing I’ve ever met.”