Chapter 14 Richard
Richard
Richard had been very, very drunk when a woman he had called Elizabeth while experiencing la petite mort—but who was almost certainly not actually named Elizabeth—had asked him, “Do you mean to tell me that you have never even told this woman how you feel about her?” He had gaped rather than answered, and the courtesan had continued, “You must tell her the truth, and soon, before it is too late. She does not even know that she has a choice, and if she did know, she might choose you!”
That had seemed to make sense the night before; Richard had always valued honesty, so he was inclined to approve anything with the words tell the truth.
However, now that he actually saw Elizabeth’s anger as he followed her across the park, he realised that telling this particular truth was a very poor idea.
It was equivalent to telling Prinny he was fat.
One would be telling the truth, of course, but one would also be extremely rude and a clear danger to oneself!
Also, the very notion that Elizabeth might choose him over Darcy…
was ludicrous! God, even if he was the one with untold wealth and Darcy was the second son with not even an acre of land to his name, Elizabeth would still choose Darcy.
Before she had even met his cousin, she had displayed kindness to Richard, friendliness, a bit of pleasure in his company, but nothing like the almost instant glow she had gained in Darcy’s presence, when every word out of her mouth enchanted Darcy, and every word out of his mouth enchanted her.
It was clear from the day they met that they were meant for each other.
So, he thought as he trudged after Elizabeth, wishing he could somehow make things better, I have ruined the friendship I had desperately wished to maintain.
When Darcy made a sudden surprise appearance, looking concerned as Elizabeth wept in his arms, Richard’s hungover mind slowly realised that Darcy would soon grow very, very angry. At him. Rightfully so.
Richard was not even a little bit proud of what he did next. He ran.
He ran because he could not think straight, and he ran because he desperately wished he could start the morning over again, and he ran because he was a really terrible person. And a worse cousin and best friend.
Richard had to report for duty not long after the debacle in the park. He decided that four cups of strong coffee and one swallow of brandy were necessary for him to be able to function, and he also swiftly cleaned up, shaved, and changed into a fresh uniform.
Unfortunately, an hour after beginning work, a lieutenant with a poor attitude rubbed his own bad attitude the wrong way, and Richard ended up having to be peeled off of the junior officer, lest he kill him.
The lieutenant was reprimanded and threatened with a court martial if he behaved so again, but once everyone had dispersed, Richard’s general had hissed, “This is your fault. You need to snap out of whatever mood you have fallen into, or I will have to punish you as well!”
“Yes, sir,” the colonel said. But he knew it was going to be difficult to snap out of his newly bleak outlook on life.