Bryson shot to his feet, dropping the steak, and drawing back his fist, but Richard only gestured to the door as a reminder of the officer waiting outside. “You mean to ruin me!” Bryson raged.
“Precisely. It is more than you deserve, I assure you. One way or another, you will lose the ranch and surrender to the authorities when you leave this office. I suggest you keep your life when you go.”
The man stuck out his finger, the blood beetling in his brow and the whites of his eyes. “You won’t be safe anywhere, Fitzwilliam! You or that tramp! I’ll hunt you down—”
Richard snorted. “Do you have any idea whom you are choosing to threaten? You would be no more than a smear on Darcy’s boot. Oh, and that lady you see there?”
Richard meant to say something terribly clever about how the girl Bryson reviled would soon be the queen of Derbyshire, dripping with diamonds and escorted by a veritable army of footmen, but instead, he snorted in disgust and belted Bryson in the mouth. “Hold your filthy tongue! Darcy, want a turn?”
Darcy’s eyes were hard, but they crinkled wryly. “No, for I would take more than one.”
“Very well.” Richard shook out his fist and replaced the pen that had rolled off the desk. “Before I ask Elizabeth if she would like to take a shot at you, I suggest you sign the agreement.”
Bryson swiped his split lip with a snarl, glared roundly at them all, and finally, hatefully, took up the pen.
Chapter 54
“AjollygoodthingI have somewhere else to go, because I think I am fired.”
Elizabeth laughed at Richard’s quip, then sobered.Hewould be the one to fill her father’s shoes and restore her home at long last. And she would not be going with him. They were walking together, all abreast, with herself in the middle and her hand entwined in William’s, but Richard boldly touched her elbow—a friendly gesture, such as he might have done in the days of their first acquaintance.
“You will come back one day, won’t you?” he asked hopefully. “To see your aunt and uncle, and...”
“And you. Yes.” She glanced at William, taking heart from his open, encouraging look. “One day, I hope.”
“About that Marshal Jamison, I will lodge a complaint. Your uncle, and the sheriff, too, I am sure they would back it, and without Bryson about to support him, we will see the charges against you dropped.”
She stopped walking and pulled her hand from William to lay it on Richard’s shoulder. “But how will you go back? Everyone saw us married, and people around town—“
“Well, it may be scandalous, but annulments and divorce do happen. I would sooner take my chances there than anywhere else,” he replied. “Besides, you said it yourself that Longbourn was the finest ranch in the area with the most valuable water rights and herds. I expect its master will have ample sources of pride and diversion to be able to overlook a bit of old gossip. Especially with Bryson locked away.”
She nodded. “No one will miss him.”
“And, I hope to make a friend of your uncle. I quite liked Mr and Mrs Gardiner.”
Elizabeth smiled. “Thank you, Richard—for everything. You have given me back my life more times than I can count now.”
Richard made a halting, bashful attempt at a smile, and looked like he would say a great deal more, but simply cleared his throat and glanced over at William. “I... well, anyone would have—”
“No one would have,” she interrupted. “You said it once—you are no saint, but to me, you are a guardian angel.”
Elizabeth felt the soft touch of William’s hand, and she looked over to see him acknowledging his cousin with a firm tip of his hat. No words could have done justice to the admiration and gratitude in William’s eyes, and he attempted none.
Richard’s shoulders pulled back a little straighter, his figure drew a little taller, and he nodded. An understanding, a breach mended, a chapter closed. And, by some miracle, both men had remained hers, each in their own way.
“Elizabeth,” William said gently, “I do not like to rush you, but Richard needs to call the police, and it is better if you are not here when they come.”
“Quite right.” The cab was drawing up behind them, the bellboy loading her travelling case, and it was time. She had no more words for him than William had, but an impulse propelled her forward. She flung her arms around Richard’s neck, sniffed out a wavering, “Goodbye,” and then stepped back beside William again.
“Oh, it is not goodbye,” Richard said with a bit of forced cheer. “A couple of matters here to settle, and I will see you off at the Boston pier in two days. You’ll bring Georgiana, won’t you, Darcy?”
“I won’t be able to leave her behind.” William put out his hand. “Two days.”
They hastened into the cab after that and were on a train bound for Boston within half an hour. William spread his arm out for her to recline her head against him, and she draped a hand over his chest—grateful for the private car. How she had missed this! It was more, even, than she had permitted herself to remember. The way his breath would settle in time with her own, the play of his heartbeat, how she could interpret his thoughts without ever needing to ask—having once known this sort of oneness, anything else was artificial and unsatisfactory.
The silence was long and brooding, but eventually, William broke it. “Elizabeth—” He hesitated, his fingers stroking absently over her shoulder. “It... there is nothing wrong with missing him. I would not wish you to think you had to hide your feelings or could not speak of him. ”
She clutched the fabric of his coat, drinking in his familiar scent, and leaned into him a little more. “I know.”
