Inspired, she dipped the tip in ink and listed all the ways she could fan the flames of friendship, respect, and attraction into an ardent, lasting love.
CHAPTER27
Richard removed the kitten from inside his coat before its sharp claws ruined his shirt. Plopping the intrepid feline on his shoulder and receiving a nuzzle of thanks for it, Richard guided his horse to fall in beside Darcy. Georgiana and the lady kitten rode ahead with Mrs. Annesley, providing the perfect opportunity for frank conversation. He hated to interrupt his cousin’s reverie, but questions must be asked. “What do you think Wickham was up to?”
“Hm? Wickham?”
Richard rolled his eyes. “You remember the man? Reprobate. Lecher. Parasite. Thorn in your side.”
“Of course, I do,” Darcy snapped.
Ah, there was his taciturn relative.“I like you better when you are with Miss Elizabeth.”
“I like you better when you are silent.”
Richard ignored the hint. “You have not told her about Wickham and—” He nodded toward Georgiana.
“No.”
That was it? Richard was not satisfied with the clipped reply. Judging by Darcy’s silence, his cousin knew he ought to have confided in her too. “You marry in ten days. Do you not trust her?”
“I trust Elizabeth.”
“Then why have you not told her?”
“I have told her most of his history with me. She knows there is more I shall tell her when the time is right.”
“Darcy, the time is right. It could not be more right.”
“An observation easily made from one not deprived of a normal courtship. What most gentlemen need months or years to accomplish, I have been forced to do in three weeks and with an excessive number of chaperones.”
While Richard commiserated with Darcy—it had been Georgiana’s idea to call at Longbourn to find her brother—he held strong objections to Darcy’s other point. “Years? How would that progress? You stare at her at dinner parties for a month before you work up the gumption to ask her to dance? Then you applaud yourself over the next few months for your attentions while the lady remains oblivious to them?”
“She would know if I was courting her.”
Richard jerked his head so quickly, his collar protested with a high-pitchedMew!“I doubt that. Courting is too akin to small talk, and you were never any good at it. No, Darcy, you were wise to skip the courtship entirely and just marry the lady. Three weeks is ample time if one is quick about it.”
“The power of doing anything with quickness is always prized much by the possessor and often without any attention to the imperfection of the performance.”
“Good advice to remember on your wedding night.”
Darcy turned a brilliant shade of red. “Will you shut up if I agree that you are right and have every intention of telling her?”
It pleased Richard immensely to see how thoughts of Darcy’s bride-to-be discomposed the groom, even more satisfying than getting his cousin to admit he was right. “Good. There is no reason for Wickham to sniff around Longbourn unless he means to benefit from your marriage into that family. He could ruin the youngest easily enough and then demand regular payments for his silence.”
“A possibility I had also considered.”
“Excellent! Then I shall say no more on the subject.”
How satisfying it had been to see Wickham dumbfounded. The look on his face when he had seen Darcy hold Miss Elizabeth’s hand, his heart in his eyes, the likeness of a lovelorn buck…
For months, Richard had dreamed of exacting justice from Wickham, of calling in his debts, or sending him to debtor’s prison, of disfiguring his pretty nose… but this was infinitely better! Who knew that the ultimate dagger to Wickham’s heart was for him to see Darcy sublimely happy? Ah, it did a man good to see justice served on a silver platter filled with Wickham’s own envy.
Richard could have basked in his cousin’s triumph the rest of the way, but he had granted Darcy enough contented silence. There was another question burning in his mind. “What about Bingley?”
Darcy made a noise between a growl and a sigh.
“I take that to mean you have said nothing to her about your little scheme? Whatdoyou talk about?”
