Richard frowned. "Leave?"
"It is plainly the only sensible course. Every hour I remain beneath this roof increases the possibility of further embarrassment. Miss Elizabeth has already been made uncomfortable enough through my thoughtlessness. My departure will spare her any further awkwardness. And though her expectations may be… disappointed, it is for the best."
The colonel regarded him in genuine astonishment. "My dear Darcy," he said at last, "that is the least Darcy-like course of action I have ever heard."
Richard rose from his chair and wandered towards the window, clasping his hands behind his back. "You have always been thesteadiest man I know. When difficulties arise, you meet them. You do not run from them."
"What else am I to do?"
"Remain."
"Remain?" He let out a short, incredulous laugh. "Richard, I have taken a liberty with an unmarried lady. I have placed myself under an obligation from which there is only one honourable escape."
Richard regarded him steadily. "Is that truly what you believe?"
"What else can I believe?" Darcy replied. "Had any other gentleman confessed such conduct to me, I should have expected him to make an offer at once. Am I to hold myself to a lower standard merely because I happen to be the offender?"
Richard was silent.
"And yet the notion is absurd." Darcy began pacing once more. "I have known Miss Elizabeth scarcely two days. We disagree on almost every subject. Only yesterday she could scarcely endure the sight of me, and this evening she has every reason to think me a scoundrel. Am I now to conclude that because I forgot myself for one reckless moment, I ought to ask her to become my wife?"
He stopped before the fire. "It would be madness."
Richard watched him quietly. "Would it?"
Darcy looked at him in disbelief.
"Surely you cannot be serious."
"Entirely. I have watched you since we arrived at Chaffley Hall, Fitz," he said, reverting to Darcy’s childhood nickname. "And I have seen something I never expected to witness."
Darcy said nothing.
"Do you know how many ladies have attempted to engage your attention over the years?"
"Far too many."
"Quite. Most of them succeeded only in persuading you to scowl and retreat to another part of the room." A faint smile touched his lips. "Miss Harrington could scarcely breathe in your direction without Burke embarking on a rescue mission."
Despite himself, Darcy's mouth twitched.
"And yet Miss Elizabeth..." He let the sentence hang for a moment. "You watch for her."
Darcy's expression altered, almost imperceptibly.
"When she enters a room, your eyes find her before they find anyone else. During Lady Hortensia's speeches you were supposed to be listening to our hostess, yet you scarcely looked away from Miss Elizabeth. At dinner, every time another gentleman addressed her, you forgot whatever conversation youyourself had been having. Even this evening, before the two of you disappeared onto the terrace, you had spent the better part of twenty minutes looking in her direction whenever you imagined nobody was observing you."
Richard smiled gently and continued, "You speak as though Miss Elizabeth were an impossible choice. Who is she? The daughter of a gentleman of unquestionable respectability, possessed of more wit and sense than half the company assembled beneath this roof."
"The Earl. Our aunt. Your mother—"
"My mother would tell you that Miss Elizabeth is a gentleman's daughter." He held Darcy's gaze. "And you are a gentleman. So far ," Richard continued, "you stand upon equal ground."
He crossed the room and laid a hand upon his cousin's shoulder. "If you truly believe you have wronged her, then behave as the gentleman I know you to be. Treat her with every consideration. Offer her no further liberty unless she invites it. Conduct yourself so that, when this house party ends, she has no reason to think ill of your character."
Darcy stood for a long time after his cousin had finished speaking. At length he reached into his waistcoat pocket and withdrew his father's watch, turning the worn gold case slowly between his fingers.
"I shall keep myself under better regulation."
