Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Mr Darcy paid a call the following day at a small estate a few miles outside Meryton.
Before departing Netherfield, Mr Grant had asked that he visit him there, as a business matter required a degree of privacy not easily obtained at the house.
Thus, after bidding farewell to the Bennet ladies, who were to return home that morning, he made his way to Millwood Cottage.
“Your hostess appears to be the sort who listens at doors,” Mr Grant had remarked before taking his leave. “Since what I wish to discuss is of a sensitive nature, it would be far more prudent to wait to have our conversation at Millbrook Cottage than at Netherfield while she is in residence there.”
Upon arriving at Mr Grant’s modestly named home, Darcy could not prevent a slight chuckle. He dismounted, patting his horse’s neck as he surveyed the neat, well-kept grounds.
“Miss Bingley would be very much astonished to behold what the gentleman deems a ‘cottage,’” he murmured to the animal.
“She sneered at my intention to come here, yet she knows nothing of his true identity nor of the wealth he undoubtedly commands. Although she prides herself exceedingly upon her twenty thousand pounds, I believe she would be quite taken aback to learn the value of Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s dowry. ”
Darcy frowned to himself as his thoughts turned towards the enchanting Miss Elizabeth.
He had admired her almost from their first meeting, yet his admiration had been safely contained—an indulgence he permitted himself without ever allowing his mind to wander towards the possibility of matrimony.
Whatever he might have implied to her grandfather the previous day, he had not, until very recently, considered her in such a light.
He had owed her an apology for some time, and had fully intended to offer it; yet he was reluctant to acknowledge, even to himself, how greatly his opinion of her had shifted upon discovering who her grandfather truly was.
It was not her fortune that attracted him—he scarcely knew the extent of it beyond Netherfield itself—but the knowledge unsettled him nevertheless.
For the present, he resolved to proceed with care.
He wished to know her better, but he would not, under any circumstance, have her or her grandfather imagine him to be a fortune hunter.
The thought alone made him stiffen with discomfort.
To show marked interest now, so soon after learning her circumstances, might very well give rise to such suspicions.
He drew a slow breath, determined to temper both his admiration and his haste.
If there was to be any future between them, it must rest upon foundations wholly unconnected with wealth or consequence—upon her wit, her character, and the quiet pleasure he found in her company.
Only then would he trust himself to pursue her without fear of misinterpretation.
It did not take long before Darcy found himself seated opposite Lord Granfield—Mr Grant, he corrected himself firmly.
He must not allow that title to slip, particularly not in Miss Bingley’s company.
To reveal the man’s true identity would be to betray his trust, and Darcy knew full well that such a misstep would cost him more than the gentleman’s good opinion.
He would almost certainly then forfeit any opportunity of remaining in Miss Elizabeth’s company.
When the earl removed his granddaughter to London—as he surely would—she would be courted by a host of gentlemen eager to attach themselves to her beauty, her wit, or, worse, her fortune.
The thought tightened something unpleasant in Darcy’s chest, and he shifted in his seat to dispel the sensation.
“Welcome, Darcy,” his host said genially, appearing to have forgiven him for his earlier slight towards the man’s granddaughter.
Darcy felt a faint, disproportionate spark of hope.
If the grandfather had forgiven him, then mayhap Miss Elizabeth had softened as well.
She had seemed to do so yesterday, but he had seen her only briefly that morning.
Miss Elizabeth had been above stairs with her cousin before his departure, leaving him uncertain of her current opinion.
“Thank you, sir,” Darcy replied, inclining his head. “It is very good to see you again after so many years. I keep in contact with only a few of my father’s friends since much of my time has been occupied with the management of Pemberley.”
Mr Grant nodded. “I have not thought of my old friend as often as I ought in recent years, and for that I am sorry. Much of the last years of my life has been spent abroad—much to my granddaughter’s detriment, I am sure—but the Crown has had need of me.
When I met your cousin, however, I was reminded strongly of George Darcy. ”
Darcy’s expression softened, even as a familiar ache stirred beneath the surface.
“I wish I had been able to spend more time with my father after I left university,” he confessed quietly.
“He prepared me well to manage the estate, but our time together was far too short. Georgiana… she has been an orphan for too long. My father named Richard and me as her guardians, and while I understand why he would not entrust her to my Aunt Catherine, I have never fully understood why he did not appoint my Uncle Matlock. My Aunt Matlock, at least, would have known precisely what to do with a young lady.”
“That, in fact, is what I wished to discuss with you,” Mr Grant said, surprising Darcy enough that he straightened instinctively.
“Your cousin’s tongue became quite loose after too much liquor one evening.
He is not a man who confides easily, but I am skilled at drawing out what I wish to know.
From him, I gained much of the story concerning the incidents at Ramsgate. How is Miss Darcy?”
Darcy’s breath caught, and his eyes closed briefly as the import of the earl’s words settled upon him.
A wave of mortification swept through him—mortification on Richard’s behalf, and on his own.
Though his cousin was a jovial man, he was not typically indiscreet; yet in his cups he could be more forthcoming than he realised.
Darcy prayed fervently that Fitzwilliam had not shared that story with anyone else.
The very thought made his jaw tighten and his pulse thrum with an uncomfortable mixture of fear and resentment.
He opened his eyes slowly, bracing himself for whatever reprimand might follow.
“She is recovering—or at least attempting to do so. I have engaged a new companion for her. Mrs Annesley is a recent widow and was already known to us by reputation; my aunt spoke of her favourably long before the situation arose. Still, I did not rely upon that alone. This time, I knew the lady well who I asked to be my sister’s companion.
I believed I had exercised caution with her former companion, having gone over her references carefully, but it appears the woman proved more adept at deception than I had supposed. ”
“Yes, I always believed your father far too lenient with his godson,” Mr Grant said with a huff
“I told him so more than once. I do not know if you were aware, but your father received several letters from the headmaster of Cambridge concerning Wickham’s conduct—letters which threatened to have him sent down on more than one occasion.
Your father always managed to prevent it, but as you know, Wickham did not trouble himself to read for his final examinations and therefore took no degree.
He could never have taken orders, even had he desired to do so, and thus he has no just cause to complain that you did not give him the living. ”
Darcy sat back in his chair, momentarily taken aback by the depth of the gentleman’s knowledge regarding matters he had believed entirely private.
When he recalled that Mr Grant had long been employed as a skilled negotiator—indeed, a man whose duties might well have extended into the realm of espionage—he realised he ought not to be surprised.
Such a man would naturally excel at discovering precisely what he wished to know.
“I warned Wickham that if I encountered him again—if he ever attempted to interfere with my family after Ramsgate—I would have him sent to Marshalsea for the debts he owes,” Darcy said at last. “I possess receipts amounting to more than five hundred pounds; a quarter of that sum I purchased from shopkeepers in Ramsgate after his attempted seduction.”
Mr Grant shook his head slowly. “I understand your desire to shield honest tradesmen from the consequences of that scoundrel’s behaviour, but I cannot help wondering whether stepping in has not allowed Wickham to escape accountability for far too long.
Had you permitted others to pursue him for what he owes, he might have been dealt with before now. ”
“Most of the receipts I hold were incurred during his time at Cambridge, or later in Lambton and Kympton,” Darcy replied, shaking his head in return.
“There are several debt collectors in London who seek him even now. For the most part, however, I have been ignorant of his whereabouts. He is adept at vanishing whenever it suits him.”
“I suggest you do precisely as you threatened,” Mr Grant said gravely, before clearing his throat and turning the conversation.
“But that is not the matter I wished to address today. I wished to inform you that your cousin will be returning to England within the next few weeks; indeed, he is already en route. I have invited him to stay with me at my cottage, and I intend that Elizabeth shall join me and preside as my hostess.”