“I…I shall say something to him next time I see him.”
Lady Margaret looked at him with her confused grimace and pulled her hand through her hair and rubbed a curly lock between her fingers.
Darcy knew she was hurt by his inability to act as a proper fiancé. He had never kissed her. Holding her arm or hands made him uncomfortable. Darcy had a terror of the wedding night. He honestly had no idea what he would do when it became his duty to touch her.
The wedding was scheduled for the end of the season, happily a full five months distant. When they made their plans a few hours after he asked her to marry him, Darcy had instinctively talked them round to holding it as late as plausible.
Lady Margaret put her hand on his arm. Darcy did not recoil, this time. “You know I am completely devoted to you. I wish you’d been there to tell him off immediately.”
He had meant to trap himself, and he had succeeded. “I promise I will be with you next time. We have a box at the opera tomorrow night. I am looking forward to it.”
“You will wear your green coat? You are so handsome in it.” She smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes.
“I will do anything for you, my dear.”
“Yes. I know you would. Thank you.” She ran her fingers through her curls again.
Damn, damn, damn.
It was strange that the only proposal he’d made to a woman which was truly obscene was the honorable one.
The silence had hung, and he could see Lady Margaret was becoming more worried that she had said something wrong. Darcy burst out, “Have you… What did you think of the play?”
“Oh.” Lady Margaret laughed nervously. “I didn’t realize you would wish to hear. I would have watched closely. I hardly paid any attention past the first act. We all were talking and had such fun. You should have been there. I wish you were.”
“I promise, next time. And then we shall dance at two different balls on Thursday.”
“Yes, you always dance so well.”
Darcy wracked his brains for something to say. The fact was that once he had exhausted superficial small talk, there was little he wanted to say to her. She did read, but their opinions on books were so different, and with Lady Margaret’s desperation to gain his approval, she would start trying to guess what he wanted her to think. They didn’t have so many friends in common, and while she was a fine horsewoman, that wasn’t a very interesting subject.
“Do you wish to ride in Hyde Park tomorrow morning, round about eleven, if the weather permits?”
“Oh, yes. No. I promised Miss Tyler I would visit Lady Emily with her. But I shall tell her that you require me, they will be jealous that I am so needed.” Lady Margaret smiled at him.
Darcy suppressed his instinct to tell her that she should keep her first engagement. “Then I shall see you happily.”
The clock softly rang out the hour. Lady Margaret stood, “Oh I must leave. I have an appointment for a fitting at Madame Durand’s.”
Darcy stood with her. He took her hand and kissed it. “Till tomorrow.”
“Yes, yes.”
Darcy sighed. He again wished he had not entered this engagement. There was no honorable way to end it. Only women were allowed to end engagements. Even hinting that he wished to escape would be deeply dishonorable. It was his duty to act as though he were happy and delighted to marry.
He’d proved to be a poor actor, but unfortunately Lady Margaret was not the sort of woman who would ever end an engagement.
He was selfish and stupid; it was a disaster.
When the door was safely shut on Lady Margaret, Georgiana giggled and laid her book aside. “She was trying to make you jealous.”
“What?”
“Oh, I liked talking to Captain Williams so much, and he flirts with me so pleasantly. Hahahaha.”
“Oh, yes. I thought so.” Darcy frowned. “I did say I would talk with Captain Williams, was that jealous enough?”
“Hahahaha, she wanted you to rage and tell her to never speak to him again, or like nonsense. She is so silly, trying to get your attention when you don’t care a whit for her. You must find it terribly annoying. It does prove what I’ve always thought, marrying without being in love is stupid.”
“Georgiana! This is not a joke.”
His sister shrugged. “I told you she would make a dull wife. I do think she is pretty enough that you could pay some attention to her for a few months.” Georgiana giggled again. “It is so funny how you look like a roach is crawling up your back whenever she touches you. If she had any sense at all, she’d realize you are a lost cause, and elope with that Captain Williams — you deserve to be jilted. Too bad that she thinks she is in love with you.”
“Is there any chance she will?” Darcy’s voice was hopeful. He collapsed into his heavily cushioned chair and buried his face in his hands. “No. She is in love with me.”
Georgiana rolled her eyes. “You use a different version of that word now. She is an idiot. Dumber than I’d always thought. ‘Tis an additional object lesson. But you will be very happy with her dowry at least.”
“I am not marrying her for her money.”
“Then you want to be Radnor’s son so desperately? Whatever. I had expected you to marry her, but when you evidently dislike her—”
“I do not.”
“—it becomes much stranger.”
They were interrupted by the butler. He opened the ornate door to the drawing room and immediately shut it behind him. He rubbed at his bald pate, worriedly. “A woman wished to speak to you, sir. She appeared distraught. She said—”
The door to the drawing room was hurled open violently.
Elizabeth strode in.
For an instant Darcy’s heart leapt with hope that she had changed her mind. Her eyes blazed, red and bloodshot; Darcy’s attention was fully caught by the beautiful angles of her face.
She slapped him, hard and fast.
“My sister — what have you done with my sister!”
“What?”
“Jane! Yellow haired, very beautiful, my sister — your friend stole her.”
“I have no idea—”
“No lies! Bingley would not hatch such a scheme on his own. He visited you two days ago.”
“Elizabeth! I have not seen Bingley since November.”
She sneered. “Who else would he visit in London before stealing my sister. You corrupted him. Did you also suggest he use force? Did you?”
“Where did you ever get such an idea?”
“Mr. Wickham said you make a practice of stealing girls for pleasure.”
“Mr. Wickham?”
“I wouldn’t let you make me your mistress — is that why? Is that why you encouraged Bingley to abduct my sister?”
She pulled back her arm to slap him again, and Darcy instinctively caught her arm this time. “Madam, do not be absurd. If I made a practice of abducting women, I assure you it would not be Jane whom I abducted.”
She viciously pulled her arm away from him. “I thought you felt something for me. That you just were lying to yourself when you said you did not love me. But two months later. I understand that you would not, could not marry me, but did you ever care anything for me? You didn’t. You only thought of me once since we parted, and that was when you told Bingley to abduct Jane.”
“I told Bingley nothing, because I haven’t seen him.”
“Damn you, damn you, damn you. I loved you. And you just tried to use me, and then…then… Oh, damn you! And…and…” She sobbed and covered her eyes with her hands. “I just need to rescue Jane. Please.”
He had thought of her every single day since they parted.
Darcy tried to think on practical matters. Had Jane really gone off with Bingley?
“Miss,” Georgiana spoke. Darcy had half-forgotten her presence. Though she kept her voice sympathetic, Darcy saw from the glow in his sister’s eyes that she was delightedly amused at seeing him be slapped and shouted at in this manner.
“Miss, you mustn’t trust Mr. Wickham. Last summer he made me think I was in love with him, but I was not so stupid as to agree to an elopement, and since then he has viciously abused the character of my family at every opportunity.”
Elizabeth jumped when Georgiana spoke. She brushed at her tears with the sleeve of her dress. “Oh — I had no idea — you must be Miss Darcy — I should not have — not in front of your sister—”
In a natural motion Darcy took Elizabeth’s hand. “Do not worry. Tell me about Jane. What happened?”
Elizabeth swallowed convulsively. Her anger was gone for the moment, and she looked at him with trusting eyes. “She disappeared yesterday morning, and then a man saw her at a post station in Bingley’s carriage. He abducted her. Forgive me, I know you would not have, not really… I am so unsettled…”
Tears were running from her eyes, and her throat caught. Darcy remembered how she had brushed his tears away that day in the woods. Without even thinking he brushed his hand over her wet cheeks, his fingers running along her silky skin. “Lizzy, Lizzy, I have wronged you deeply, though not in that way. Anger is natural.”
He remembered he was engaged and dropped her hand and forced himself to back away. Darcy pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and he handed it to Elizabeth. She brushed at her eyes and tried to stand straight. She looked at Georgiana in brief glances.
Georgiana stared unembarrassedly back. “I did not mind seeing this at all, but with Mr. Wickham, you must only pay attention to his face and figure, never his words.” Georgiana giggled. “You know Fitzwilliam enough that you can’t really believe he’d abduct a woman.”
“He would try to ruin a woman. Even if he cared nothing for her.”
“Oh, do not take Lady Margaret so seriously. He likes you far more. He only is marrying her because he is a nitwit. You should see them together. It is quite funny, but I doubt you would be left jealous.”
Darcy wanted to touch and hold Elizabeth. He could help her find her sister. “They were on the road into London?”
“I must rescue her. I must. Oh, poor Jane. They were headed for London. Where else? Have you any notion where your friend would take her.”
“Bingley would not force a woman in any way.”
“He was seen with Jane! At the post station when Mr. Chandler was changing horses. They were together.” Elizabeth buried her face in her hands. “Oh — I am so anxious, I cannot think. I knew you would not, I told myself again and again as I rode here it was only Wickham’s hatred that would say that. You may not have cared anything for me, I now know you couldn’t have loved me, but you never lied. You respected my refusal — I know that. Oh God. Poor Jane. But there is time, Bingley must hope she will agree eventually. He wouldn’t force himself on her.”
Darcy laid a soft hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder.
She took a deep breath. And then another. She looked up. Her face was pale.
“Elizabeth, is it not more likely — do you not think — I think she freely agreed to travel with him.”
“No! Jane wouldn’t! My sister would never enter such an arrangement — I would not, and she is better than me. You know her, you have seen her virtue. I have told you about her, about how good Jane is, and, and… I know she must have been forced to go with him.”
“You know.”
Darcy felt pain behind his eyes and in his throat. He wanted to cry for her.
Bingley would never treat a woman in the manner Elizabeth suggested, but for a second he almost wished for her sake that he would. No, Darcy was quite sure that Elizabeth’s sister had reacted differently than she had when offered the choice to become a wealthy man’s mistress.
Elizabeth said, “You must have some idea where she might be. Please. Help me rescue Jane before it is too late. I beg you, if the friendship and affection you held for me once meant anything, please help me.”
Darcy remembered what it was like to refuse to believe a dear family member had done something. For weeks he’d been convinced his father couldn’t possibly have killed himself. He had tried to question all of the servants and neighbors to see if anyone had seen a sign of the true murderer. Everyone looked at him with sad eyes and shook their heads.
At last his uncle forced him to stop and dragged him back to Matlock, and Darcy accused his uncle of having hired the murderer for some dark purpose. Darcy saw again his father’s suicide note.
“I have some idea where Bingley may have gone. We’ll go rescue your sister.”
Chapter 20
Elizabeth watched Darcy silently as they waited in his opulent drawing room for the carriage to be made ready. She could not sit down and her hands still trembled. She had been thrown between such extremes of emotion.
She had not eaten since a few bites yesterday afternoon; her stomach churned, but she felt nausea, not hunger.
Darcy had been so kind about how she’d slapped him and shouted at him. Even though he was to be married he still looked the same. He still looked at her the same way. He shouldn’t; he did not love her. He did not love anyone.
Miss Darcy grinned at her. “I have been most curious to meet you, Elizabeth. You do not mind if I call you Elizabeth, do you? I am sure we are to be the best of friends."
Darcy’s sister sat on a blue and yellow sofa with her legs pulled up under her. Elizabeth knew she was only sixteen, but she was tall and had a woman’s figure. Her voice was inappropriately cheerful and chirpy.
Darcy replied severely, “Georgie—”
"Fitzwilliam would hardly speak about you directly. I only got him to talk the once. He is quite dull and backward about such things, but he has been in quite a mood these past months."
“I have told Miss Bennet about your piano playing, why don't you display for us?”
“Nonsense — I want us to become friends. Can we be friends?”
There was something warming about the girl’s cheerfulness. Elizabeth smiled at her, and the smile felt good despite the twisted ball of anxiety in her gut. “I would like to be friends — but I am not sure your brother would view it as quite, ah, proper." It was strange that she could tease him at such a time, and so soon after she had embarrassed herself so completely. The pain still sat in her stomach, but it was nice to ignore it. Elizabeth smiled and arched her eye at Darcy. “He can after all be quite dull and backward about such things.”
Georgiana said, “You needn’t worry about that — Uncle Charlie is my primary guardian, and he is not dull at all.”
Darcy looked between the two of them and said, “It would delight me if you became friends. Miss Elizabeth, you are more respectable company than many my uncle has introduced Georgie to.”
Elizabeth’s eyebrows raised at that.
Georgiana leaned forward eagerly. “You can call her Elizabeth. After all you’ve called her that so many times. No need to be formal now.”
He had. Automatically. And she hadn’t noticed. Elizabeth unconsciously began smiling.
Georgiana hopped up and shook Elizabeth’s hand vigorously. “So then we are friends! I’m normally quite shy, but I never shall be in your presence. Not after I saw you rush into the room and slap Fitzwilliam. He deserved it. I have wanted to slap him on occasion myself. I could say anything to you, and not feel embarrassed at all, because you have acted even more improperly in my presence.”
“Yes…” Elizabeth’s face felt hot. “Well, I am pleased you are not scared of me.”
“In most cases, I wouldn’t approve, but you were completely right to not become my brother’s mistress. I kicked him for you when he told me what he said while asking you.”
Elizabeth rubbed at her neck. “What…did he tell you?”
“That he said he didn’t love you. What sort of man would say that at such a time?”
Darcy was looking the other direction with his hand covering his forehead. His cheeks were red. At least she wasn’t the only one embarrassed.
There was a soft knock on the door, and the butler entered the room and
informed them that the carriage was ready.
In her chirpy voice, Georgiana said, “I should go with you. To keep respectability.”
Darcy and Elizabeth both stared at her.
Georgiana enthusiastically said, “As a single woman, you should not travel alone with my brother. It might damage your reputation. I definitely should go with you both.” She nodded her head seriously, but was clearly suppressing a grin.
What did Darcy wish? Elizabeth glanced at him, and the way he frowned at his sister suggested that however much Georgiana wished to observe scandalous scenes, her brother did not wish her to.
Elizabeth also did not wish the company of this girl who simply did not understand how awful the situation was.
“I trust your brother to leave my virtue intact, and as for my reputation, that is hardly worth worrying about any longer.”
Georgiana began in a whiny voice, “But it will be so interesting…”
“Georgie, no.”
They were silent as Darcy led her to the side exit of the house where the carriage stood under an awning. Four fine horses that stamped eagerly were hitched to the carriage. There was a group of footmen and postilions in splendid livery. The carriage was a large landau with a closed roof.
Darcy handed her in, and Elizabeth slipped comfortably onto the blue velvet cushions. There were intricate carvings traced into the expensive dark wood of the interior’s paneling. The carriage set off with a jolt that Elizabeth barely felt through the springs. It was warm despite the winter cold because of the hot water bottles and furs on the floor and under the seats.
It showed her how very rich Mr. Darcy was in a way that only seeing his fine, but understated clothing had not.
He seemed determined not to speak. It was so strange seeing Darcy again, his shoulders were broad, and the curve of his lips and jaw was firm and strong. His lips were pale red. Elizabeth remembered how they had tasted, and the jittery jolts in her stomach when their tongues pulled and pushed against each other.
A Dishonorable Offer Page 24