Elizabeth covered her mouth as she laughed. “It is a family trait.”
Anne turned to her hostess. “You look remarkably well yourself, Elizabeth.”
“Thank you, I am indeed very well. But you must be fatigued from your journey. Would you like to rest before dinner? I shall send hot water an hour beforehand, but if you would prefer to go up now, I can take you.”
Anne sighed. “Yes, I believe I should. I am exhausted, but only because Richard insisted we leave by seven o’clock this morning. He would not remain another night at an inn. He said he wanted to sleep here at Pemberley in a clean bed, and not in lodgings with questionable sheets.”
Elizabeth grinned. “That does sound very much like a military man.” Rising, she held out her hand. “Come, I will take you to your rooms.”
“Aunt, I promised Mrs. Jenkinson that if she escorted me here to Pemberley, she might have a holiday for the rest of our visit, and that you would be my chaperone on the journey to Windermere. I never asked either of you if that was acceptable. Elizabeth, may your household accommodate my companion while we are away?”
Elizabeth took her cousin’s arm. “Of course. Mrs. Jenkinson can be no burden in a house so well-staffed, especially when the entire party will be absent on holiday. And both Lady Helen and I will act as your chaperone.”
In Darcy’s study, Phillip leaned forward and addressed his brother. “Well, Richard? You promised us every detail. I want to hear about the smugglers.”
“We tracked and fought against the gang for weeks after Darcy abandoned me for his wife. The final attack came in the dead of night with dragoons and half a dozen excise men. The smugglers were moving kegs through a barn near the coast. They fought like the devil with clubs, knives, whatever they had to hand. One fellow came close to cracking my skull with an oar.”
Darcy raised his brows. “And yet you sit before us whole, still able to drink my brandy.”
“Only just,” Richard replied, laughing. “The dragoons pressed them hard, but the gang knew every ditch and hedgerow. We caught most, though not all. Their leader slipped away, but we tracked him down, and three days later, we had him. We broke their net in my corner of Kent, and French brandy by the keg willnot cross through our borders for some years to come, if I have anything to do with it.”
Phillip laughed. “Ah, did you drink all the brandy yourselves?”
Richard smirked. “We did break into a keg and each took a swallow in celebration. For the Crown, of course.”
Darcy studied his cousin’s face. “Trust you, Richard, to find a way to celebrate with your men in the midst of blood and intrigue.”
Richard shrugged. “Better to laugh than to brood. The work is foul, but it is work that must be done. Smuggling feeds on desperation, and it leaves honest men ruined. Still, I am not sorry if this is my last campaign against them.”
Darcy sighed. “Then let us hope Anne proves your salvation.”
Phillip raised his glass in salute. “To Anne.”
Richard lifted his glass. “If Anne is indeed my salvation, then I shall owe Elizabeth no small debt for contriving it all with this trip to Windermere.”
“Elizabeth has contrived more futures than she admits.” Darcy grinned at his cousins as he lifted his glass. Then his manner grew serious, and he addressed Richard directly.
“Richard, you must find a way to persuade Anne that you will be constant. She knows your reputation for loving and leaving beautiful women. Say or do something that convinces her you will not trifle with her, nor prove unfaithful. I see how she looks at you, but she is holding back. You must make her trust you.”
Darcy poured each man another drink. “Constancy. That is all the advice I shall ever give you, I swear it. Put it down to my father, for it was the last counsel he ever gave me.”
Chapter 82: Forwarding a Union
Lady Helen buttered a slice of toast with deliberate care before glancing at her niece. “Anne and Georgiana have ordered their breakfast on trays. They mean to eat in their chambers this morning. And as for the Stanton sisters, I happened upon them in the hallway just now. They were wrapped in shawls and bonnets, off for a brisk walk. They said they would return later to take breakfast.”
Elizabeth smiled. “They are full of energy. Abby especially seems incapable of sitting still for long.”
Lady Helen inclined her head with a small smile. “Yes, she is a lively girl, and I find her quite refreshing. One need never wonder at her thoughts, and I admire the frankness of her speech.” She sipped her tea and set the cup down gently. “Anise, on the other hand, is more subdued, almost too much so. I spoke to her as they were going out, and she scarcely replied. She has a sweet disposition, but she disappears into the company like a shadow.”
Elizabeth looked thoughtful. “She listens more than she speaks. It may be her nature, but I believe she has a quiet strength. Perhaps, given time, she will surprise us.”
Lady Helen arched a brow, unconvinced. “Time may show it, but Phillip would not have the patience. He thrives on conversation, on wit, and on a spark of challenge. He would soon find a woman who says so little quite wearisome. I already do. It is too great an exertion always to be laboring to draw her out.” She paused, her expression softening. “But Abby is another matter.”
Elizabeth teased. “You are already choosing her gowns and arranging their wedding breakfast, I think.”
Her aunt laughed lightly. “Not quite yet, but I will not deny that the thought has occurred to me.”
Elizabeth buttered a roll, then glanced across the table at her aunt. “You know your son best. Tell me truly, do you see him giving Miss Abby more attention than he ordinarily shows a beautiful young woman? He seems to me a very amiable young man, and never at a loss for words.”
