Chapter 15
“I assure you, I will have your money for you next week,” said Peter Smythe, Earl of Ransford. “I simply don’t have that much cash in the house. You can understand that, surely.”
“You’ve put me off like that twice already,” said the gruff, middle-aged man.
“My master is not overly fond of waiting for his money.” The man eyed Peter speculatively…
and a bit intimidatingly. “Very well, Your Lordship. You can have until the middle of next week, but I won’t be the one coming to collect next time. ”
“And who will that be?” asked Peter.
“He ain’t got no name other than The Collector,” the man grinned viciously. “He’s six foot eight and half again as wide as me. He’ll get my master’s money, or he’ll make absolutely certain you never gamble again.”
Peter just barely prevented himself from showing the fear that ran down his spine. Using every drop of self-control he had forged while navigating the perilous Society of London, he smiled in a cheerful, relaxed manner.
“There is no need to threaten me, my good man,” he said. “I will have it just as I promised. I do apologize that the matter slipped my mind the last two times you came, but I assure you it shall not happen again.”
“Of course it won’t,” said the man, “’cuz I won’t be the one trying to collect.” With that the man turned around and walked out of Peter’s house.
Once the door was firmly closed behind him, Peter swore…loud and long. How had it come to this? Plenty of his peers gambled, but none of them ever seemed to have found themselves in this position.
Maybe, he shouldn’t have gotten quite so drunk before playing…
repeatedly. At least then, he would be able to remember how his debts had become so large.
As it was, though, he simply couldn’t remember.
It was certain, however, that the balance was, in fact, his.
The owner of the gaming hell where he played had Peter’s signature on two dozen notes of debt.
Perhaps, it was time to call it quits and leave Bath, just as he had done with London.
It was truly annoying that he had to run away again, but it had worked before, and it would surely work again.
The owners of his debts in London hadn’t had enough incentive to chase him all the way to Bath.
Surely, if he headed somewhere far enough away, the same would hold true now.
Peter sighed. He couldn’t think of anywhere that he would like to go, though. Brighton might do, but it tended to have the same sort of society that London did, and it was within a single day’s travel from London. His old creditors might sit up and take notice.
He could head up north. He had heard that Manchester had become quite the city, but he hesitated to even think about it.
While there might just be wealthy and pleasant people there, they would all be factory owners or tradesmen or other similar sorts.
He didn’t particularly wish to associate with that sort, at least not exclusively.
His other option was simply to flee the country, but for that he needed more ready cash than he had available.
If only Lady Elizabeth hadn’t been so absolutely immune to his charms.
Peter was not used to ladies of any sort utterly ignoring him. Either they were drawn to his good looks or to his title. Either way, no lady that he could remember had treated him quite as coldly as Lady Elizabeth. Of course, he had never set out to seduce anyone of her status before.
When they first met, Peter had thought she was the answer to his prayers. Even in Bath, everyone knew that the only daughter of The Duke of Essex had a fifty-thousand-pound dowry. Surely, he could easily convince such a young, na?ve Lady to marry him, post-haste.
It had not worked. She barely acknowledged his presence upon first meeting him, and subsequent meetings had been even worse.
Not only was she ignoring Peter, but she spent most of her attention on Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam, two newcomers to Bath.
For God’s sake, neither of them had a title, and Mr. Darcy wasn’t even in line for one.
It had been three weeks since Peter had first met her in the Upper Rooms, and she had barely given him a glance in that entire time, despite them being in company together more than half a dozen times.
Of course, she had not turned down his requests to dance when they were at an assembly or a ball, but she didn’t seem to wish to actually speak with him.
What truly rankled, even more than the fact that his fortune hunting plans were falling apart, was the fact that she had ignored him in favor of two completely untitled men. He wondered what her father would say to that. The Duke of Essex was notoriously stuffy about that sort of thing.
The passing thought bounced around in his brain long enough to make him wonder.
Perhaps the duke would like to hear about his daughter’s associates.
Perhaps he would be exceptionally grateful to anyone who told him.
Perhaps he would be grateful enough to accept a betrothal on her behalf, or failing that he should at least show his gratitude in a more financial way.
A smile grew on Peter’s face. He went to find his housekeeper and gave orders for the house to be packed up as discreetly as possible.
If his conversation with the duke did not end with an engagement, he would need to flee, and he did not wish for either The Collector or his master to find out that Peter was contemplating such a move.
~~~~~
It had been more than a fortnight since Mr. Darcy arrived in Bath, and Elizabeth could not remember a time in her life when she was happier.
Every day brought her Mr. Darcy’s company in some form.
Either he called on her at her home, or they met somewhere public like the park or at a shop.
They also met at evening entertainments: parties, balls, the theater, or assemblies.
Colonel Fitzwilliam was often with him, and of course Lady Priscilla always accompanied Elizabeth everywhere, but when Mr. Darcy was near, Elizabeth had no attention to spare for anyone else.
This morning, on the last day of March, the two of them were walking through the park. It was a somewhat warm day, and the air was full of the heady fragrance of spring.
“Lady Elizabeth,” said Mr. Darcy, “I would like to speak with you about something rather serious, today.”
“What is it?”
“You must know how I feel about you. These past few weeks that I’ve been able to spend with you have made me happier than I can ever remember being.
I love you with all my being, and I would very much like to ask for your hand in marriage, but I fear your father may not approve of the match.
I would like to discuss what we should do, what you would like to do, about this problem.
If you do not wish to marry me, I am afraid I must leave you… ”
Before he could complete that thought, Elizabeth burst out, “But I do. Very much.” For weeks now, she had been hoping that Mr. Darcy was contemplating such a move, and she had always known that if he ever did ask, she would leap at the chance.
She was rewarded for her outburst by seeing a smile of heartfelt delight bloom on his face. After enjoying the sight for several moments, she continued.
“However, I am worried about my father as well. He has specifically forbidden me to spend much time with you, and I am nearly certain that even if we managed to marry without his permission, at the very least he would withhold my dowry. Though he might seek revenge on you in some other way as well.”
Mr. Darcy looked at her, his eyes aglow with feeling, though they kept moving forward to keep their conversation from the ears of Colonel Fitzwilliam and Lady Priscilla, who were not far behind.
“I do not need your dowry,” said Mr. Darcy as his gaze turned back towards the front. “While I am practical enough to want it, simply for the sake of our future children, I would marry you without it, and I would never regret it.”
“I agree,” said Elizabeth. “I would prefer to have it, as it will make providing for any children much easier, but I would be perfectly content with no pin money whatsoever if it meant never having to part from you again.”
Mr. Darcy laid his hand over hers where she was holding his arm as they walked. Though they were both wearing gloves, his warmth filled her with the knowledge of his love and affection.
He said, “I am more than capable of providing you with a suitable amount of pin money,” said Mr. Darcy. “What I wish to know is whether it is even possible to get around your father’s strictures.”
“I turn twenty-one in just ten days. After that, I will not need his permission,” said Elizabeth.
“Nevertheless, I would very much like to have it. I would not wish to be alienated from my father for the rest of his life, nor would I wish him to retaliate against you for taking me from him. Though he is fundamentally selfish, I do believe he cares for me and my happiness as much as such a man can. I think I would like to talk to him, to see if I can convince him to let me go.”
“Much as I would like to maintain friendly relations with the duke,” said Mr. Darcy, “I am not certain that is wise. Simply asking him for permission would tip our hand. He might be angry enough to lock you up or attempt some other way of keeping us apart.”
Elizabeth shivered at the thought of being locked up. She believed her father was capable of such a thing, but at the same time, she did not believe him capable of keeping it up for long. As he had proven several times already, his attention never stayed on anyone or anything for long.
“Then, I think it would be wise to make contingency plans,” said Elizabeth.
For the rest of their walk, and for the two days following, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy discussed their options, speculating on what the duke might do and how they could get around it.
One thing they were certain of was that, whether the duke agreed with their plans or not, he would almost certainly release Lady Priscilla from her position.
If he refused his permission, Lady Priscilla would be dismissed for failing the task he had paid her for.
If he granted his permission, the duke would have no reason to continue paying the lady when Elizabeth left home.
They agreed that, no matter what happened, Lady Priscilla would be offered a position with Mr. Darcy. Hopefully, that position would be as Elizabeth’s companion, but if something completely prevented their marriage, he would find other work for her.
They also made several contingency plans for how Elizabeth might escape should the worst happen and her father attempt to lock her away.
Hesitantly and cautiously, they introduced their plans to Lady Priscilla who, once she knew her future employment was secured, was most happy to provide input and support where she could.
In the end, they planned to journey to London on the third of April to confront Elizabeth’s father and find out if it was at all possible to convince him to agree to her marriage to Mr. Darcy.