“That was good of you.”
“I would do the same for any of my friends, but Mr Hartham has been particularly kind to me since I arrived in Brighton. It would have been rotten to return his solicitude with duplicity.”
“Yes, I suppose it would,” he replied unhappily.
“I think you would like him, if you knew him better. He is perfectly amiable. Indeed, I am not sure why Lord Saye was in such a rage to fleece him.”
Darcy shifted in his seat. He did not think Elizabethwould like to hear how Saye had wished to humble the vexatious little princock—or how wellhehad been looking forward to seeing it.
“I hope he did not go too hard on him when he returned to the party,” Elizabeth added.
“He never came back,” Darcy replied. “Much to my cousin’s annoyance, for it deprived him of the opportunity to recoup his losses.”
She smirked. “Somebody less politic than I might say that was just deserts.”
Jealousy rose like bile in Darcy’s throat. “You are uncommonly protective of Mr Hartham. You must like him a great deal.”
“I think very highly of him, but it was not him I was thinking of. If Lord Saye had not interfered in the game, you and I would never have argued.”
And just like that, the bubble of jealousy popped, and hope surged up to throw a smile across Darcy’s face. “That is very true. One gets used to the mayhem Saye creates everywhere he goes, but you are right—he deserves more punishment for the trouble he causes. And he has been especially troublesome of late.” At her querying look, he added, “Do not imagine that I ended up in the sea without assistance.”
“He pushed you?” she cried, laughing incredulously. “Why would he do such a thing?”
“My brother does not need a reason to misbehave, Miss Bennet,” Fitzwilliam interrupted from his seat nearby. “Mischief is his middle name.”
“Indeed it is,” Miss Hawkridge agreed. “Georgiana, tell them what Saye did to us the other night, after the card party.”
Darcy looked at Georgiana, certain she would be abashed to have all the eyes of the room directed uponher, but after a little encouragement from Miss Lydia, who seemed delighted at the prospect of some family tattle, she spoke with uncommon courage and even a hint of enthusiasm.
“Georgette and I were minding our own business in my room, thinking the men were all still playing at cards downstairs, when something banged against the window. We looked out to see a ghostly apparition floating about outside and it frightened us out of our wits, no doubt because Saye has been filling our heads for weeks with stories about the house being haunted. But it turned out to be him, dangling a cravat on a string from a stick from the window of one of the upper rooms, making it flap about in the wind.”
“He had drawn a ghastly little bat face with fangs on it, too, the toad,” Miss Hawkridge added, though she evidently found it at least a little amusing, for she was smiling about it now. “I think punishing him is a fine idea.”
“Why not give him a taste of his own medicine?” Elizabeth suggested. “Make him wonder whether the house truly is haunted.”
“Nowthatis a spectacular idea,” Fitzwilliam said with a grin. “But we shall have to be cunning if we wish to best him at his own game.”
“Never underestimate the ingenuity of a woman who has grown up with four sisters.” Elizabeth looked at Miss Lydia, whose eyes were positively gleaming in anticipation. “We have come up with some suitably mischievous schemes in our time, have we not, Lydia?”
“Do not get carried away, girls,” Mrs Gardiner warned.
“It is my house,” Elizabeth replied with mockindignation. “If I wish to have it haunted, that is surely my prerogative.”
“You are very quiet, Mr Darcy,” Miss Hawkridge said. “Are you opposed to the idea as well?”
“Not at all,” he answered. “I was trying to think where we could get our hands on some animal bones and when would be best to plant them in Saye’s room without him noticing us at it.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You do surprise me. I thought you were far too sensible to approve of such silliness.”
“I would advise you not to try and sketch Mr Darcy’s character based solely on his demeanour,” Elizabeth said, smiling and shaking her head. “He will always confound you.”
The look she turned on him made Darcy’s pulse quicken. It did not slow for the remainder of the visit, which was largely taken up with plotting Saye’s reprisal. He almost felt sorry for him by the end of it, though if his cousin’s torment was the price of Elizabeth’s allegiance, then it was a price he was more than prepared to pay.
19
Elizabeth walked slightly behind the others as they toured the house, setting up their various ghostly stagings. It was several days since they had discussed the haunted house conceit, and she had begun to think everybody had lost enthusiasm for it, but Miss Hawkridge had arrived at the Millhouses’ establishment in her phaeton half an hour ago with the news that Lord Saye had gone up to London, and that they had only a few hours to enact their plan.
Elizabeth had all but leapt into the phaeton, barely remembering to change her shoes in her haste. It was not the prospect of gulling Lord Saye that excited her so, though that was not without its appeal. Rather, she was all anticipation to see Mr Darcy again.
