“Lily is another of my regrets. Although I had initially intended her to be a gift for my sister, Georgiana agrees with me that Lily belongs with you. If you will accept her, I shall give her to you now.”
“I cannot do that, although I appreciate the generous suggestion.” Her fingers kneaded her forehead. “I shall confront my uncle today and demand answers from him.”
My chest tightened. “I urge you not to do that—not yet. He is your guardian and could decide to isolate you and prevent me and others from seeing you, at least until you reach your majority.”
She chewed upon her lip. “I suppose that is a possibility. I shall turn one-and-twenty in May.”
“Ah, I see.” My jaw clenched.May, seven whole months from now.
“While I cannot conceive of Uncle Barton going to such extremes, I must not know him as well as I had believed.”
“If you agree, I shall call upon Mr. Barton this afternoon and inform him of my intentions towards you. I want to avoid any further misunderstandings.”
“Yes, I think that would be best.” She folded her hands in her lap. “And I shall speak with Cassie lest she imagines you and she may make a match.”
Blast.“I have attempted to avoid raising Miss Barton’s hopes whilst preserving civility. It seems I may have failed. I should hate to be the cause of tension between you and your cousin.”
Elizabeth flashed a smile. “I expect she will see reason, eventually. The most difficult aspect for me will be to keep what I have learnt about my two uncles to myself.”
“I understand that will be a burden. Yet I could not in good conscience allow you to go another day not knowing the truth about Mr. Gardiner and the money he has been investing on your behalf.” Although, I had hoped to explain all this as herbetrothed.
“How long must this information be kept secret?”
“That depends on you.” I swayed closer to her. “Are you prepared to meet Mr. Gardiner? The Haywards are willing to host him and his wife.” Last night, Hayward had assured me that Mrs. Hayward would be pleased to have the Gardiners as guests. “If that comes to pass, the Haywards will make every effort to keep their presence a secret.”
“Yes, I should like to see my uncle Gardiner as soon as may be.” Her brow furrowed. “My uncle Barton must have directed Oliver, our butler, tointercept my correspondence from Uncle Gardiner. I shall write to Uncle Gardiner today and take my letter directly to the post office.”
“You need not go to Salisbury. My messenger will deliver your missive for you. If you have your letter ready this afternoon, you may give it to me then. Otherwise, you may bring it to me at Springvale tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you.”
“I am glad to be of assistance. Once you have met Mr. Gardiner, we may plan the best way to confront your uncle Barton.”
She touched my arm, and I held still, diverted by the tingling warmth she generated. “I shall never forget what you have done. You have given back my uncle to me, as well as a family I did not know existed.” She removed her hand, leaving my limb bereft.
“Anything I may ever do to help you is my pleasure. No matter what the future brings, that will always be true.”
Her bewitching eyes lingered on me, and my breathing grew shallow. What should I do if she did not fall in love with me?I need her.
Back at Springvale House, a footman directed me to find Hayward in the study. My friend greeted me with a grin. “Well, Darcy, shall I be the first to wish you joy?”
“No, there is no call for that. At least not yet.” The admission left an acrid taste in my mouth, and I sat heavily in a chair. While I gave Hayward a succinct summary of my meeting with Elizabeth, he poured two brandies and set one at my elbow.
My friend took a seat across from me. “You must be disappointed that you are not already betrothed, yet there is every reason to hope that you and Miss Bennet will wed in time. I know her well enough to assert that if she had been decidedly against you, she would have denied your request for a courtship.”
“That is what I have been telling myself.” I took a healthy swallow of the liquor.
Hayward leaned back in his chair. “Will you inform Barton of your intentions for Miss Bennet?”
“Yes, I shall do so today.”
He stared into his glass before taking a sip. “I truly detest this situation with Barton. At some point, we shall have to tell him what we know.”
“Yes, but for the time being, I want to eliminate any possibility of incurring his ire. And there is the matter ofMissBarton. The sooner she knows there is no possibility of a match between us, the better.”
“Ah, yes. She has tried her best to get your attention.” His eyebrows shot up. “You know, I realise this will be cold comfort to you, but at least we know the problem of Lily has an easy solution.”
“What do you mean?”
