Chapter Six
Finally recognizing the danger, the dog spun around and scampered back toward the house, but the swan continued to advance on Miss Elizabeth.
She backed away, guarding her head with her hands. However, the swan continued to peck aggressively. She shouted “No!” several times; the creature paid no heed.
Darcy ran toward them, grabbing a large stick from the ground and waving it at the bird. He did not strike it, but the swan apparently decided it had made its point and retreated into the pond.
Once they were safe, Darcy turned toward Miss Elizabeth, who had slipped on the damp grass and fallen onto her back.
“Are you hurt?” He stretched out a hand to her.
She staggered into a standing position and examined the arm where the swan had bitten her. “I believe I will have an astonishing bruise.” She gave a shaky laugh. “People might not believe me if I explain how I acquired it.”
Keeping one hand on her elbow to steady her, Darcy scrutinized her.
An impressive welt was already forming on her arm.
She appeared otherwise unharmed. Her gown had fared less well.
Parts of her hem were three inches deep in mud, her hair had fallen from its arrangement, and the back of her gown revealed impressive grass stains.
She showed the bruise to Darcy. “What do you think, Mr. Darcy? Perhaps I should tell everyone I fell from a horse or that we were attacked by pirates?”
Darcy gaped. How could she make light of this? This was a disaster. In this situation, Miss Bingley would have been livid. Georgiana would have been in tears.
“Do you require a doctor?”
She set about fixing her hair. “Please, no. I have had far worse bruises falling out of trees.”
“Of course, you climb trees,” Darcy muttered under his breath.
She brushed off her gown, but the mud stains remained. “I am certain to make an excellent impression on your aunt at this moment. She will see me and think, ‘Now I understand why my nephew wants to marry her!’”
Her merriment was infectious.
When they sobered, Miss Elizabeth shook her head. “All our scrupulous plans undone by a little terrier!”
“I apologize that I could not forestall the disaster.” It was always his responsibility to protect the ladies he accompanied.
She rolled her eyes. “Mr. Darcy, a disaster is a house on fire or a year’s worth of crops ruined. This is merely a mishap. And there is no reason for you to apologize—unless you are the owner of that dog.”
Darcy glanced toward the terrace and then back at Miss Elizabeth. No matter how many explanations they provided, her appearance would excite a sensation. She followed his eyes.
“Perhaps,” she said, “you might escort me to Lady Sterling’s carriage and then tell her ladyship and my sister that I am ready to depart?
Perhaps account for my absence to Lord and Lady Portland by saying that I was suddenly indisposed.
” She inspected her gown ruefully. “It is not far from the truth.”
“Indeed.” It was a good solution. Darcy offered her his arm, and they set out for the gravel drive where the carriages awaited. He gave her a sidelong glance, but she did not appear particularly angry or distraught. Perhaps she was sincere in not regarding it as a disaster.
As they climbed the hill, she remarked, “I am relieved the dog was not hurt.”
Unfortunately, before they reached the carriage, Aunt Catherine intercepted them, standing directly in their path. She must have been watching and waiting to ambush them. Darcy sighed in irritation. Miss Elizabeth did not need to add Aunt Catherine to her list of mishaps today.
His aunt sneered at the dishevelment of Miss Elizabeth’s clothing. “Merciful heavens, girl! Have you been mucking out the stables?”
Miss Elizabeth flushed, but her expression might have been carved from stone. “Nothing so strenuous, your ladyship. I merely slipped on the mud near the pond.”
Aunt Catherine dismissed the explanation with a wave of her hand and a curl of her lip. “Nevertheless,” she addressed Miss Elizabeth, “I would have a private conversation with you.”
“Why?” she asked.
His aunt, unaccustomed to being questioned, huffed indignantly. “Do not ask impertinent questions. Come with me.” She gestured imperiously toward the terrace.
“Now is not a convenient time, my lady. I must postpone that pleasure.” Miss Elizabeth’s words were perfectly polite, but her tone was less so.
“There is no reason you cannot speak in my presence.” Darcy made no attempt to conceal his impatience.
“Very well.” Aunt Catherine drew herself to her full height and glared at Miss Elizabeth. “This marriage to which you aspire cannot take place!”
Miss Elizabeth crossed her arms over her chest. “Why not? Is he already wed?”
“No.”
“Then I fail to see any impediment.” Miss Elizabeth shrugged.
Aunt Catherine stared down her nose at Elizabeth. “He is engaged to my daughter.”
“Curious.” Miss Elizabeth tilted her head to the side and glanced at Darcy. “Are you engaged to your cousin?”
Good for her. His aunt had not expected her to be so direct. “I am not,” he said, endeavoring not to smile.
Miss Elizabeth returned to Aunt Catherine. “I hate to disagree with your ladyship. But I do consider Mr. Darcy to be the superior authority on this particular subject.”
Darcy smothered a laugh with his hand.
His aunt was speechless. Had anyone ever dared address her in such a manner? Darcy savored the experience. But all too quickly, she turned to Darcy. “How can you conceive of allying yourself with such an impudent girl?”
The younger Darcy would have apologized, but he had vowed to avoid such lifelong habits. He spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “Perhaps you should not have insulted her.”
“Insults do appear to provoke my impudence,” Miss Elizabeth said with mock contrition.
Aunt Catherine glared at her. “You cannot be allowed to pollute the bloodlines of the Darcy family!”
Darcy gasped at the insult.
Miss Elizabeth merely lifted her chin, but her expression was very similar to when she had challenged Darcy’s “frank” words at the ball. “My father is a gentleman. I am a gentleman’s daughter. So far, we are equal.”
“And who is your mother? Who are your aunts and uncles?”
Darcy foresaw a long and tedious debate about Miss Elizabeth’s ancestry. “It matters not,” he exclaimed, using his firmest master-of-Pemberley voice. “I am responsible for my betrothal to Miss Elizabeth.” He gave his aunt his coldest glare. “Your quarrel is with me, not her.”
“Oh, I will quarrel with you,” his aunt said in a low, dangerous voice.
“You are welcome to visit me at Darcy House anytime.” He took Miss Elizabeth’s arm. “Now, if you will excuse us…” Without waiting for his aunt’s response, he led Miss Elizabeth toward the carriages.
***
When they arrived at Lady Sterling’s carriage, Mr. Darcy fussed over Elizabeth’s injury for several minutes. She suspected his solicitude reflected pique over his aunt. But she convinced him that he could best help her by summoning Lady Sterling.
The incident with the swan had served as a distraction from Elizabeth’s worries. But once she was alone in the carriage, they returned full force. She could easily dismiss Lady Catherine’s indignation, but what could she do about Lord Harwood’s threats?
Should she confide in Mr. Darcy? Certainly, there seemed to be no love lost between him and the viscount.
But she barely knew Mr. Darcy. He might be revolted at news of her father’s extreme imprudence.
He already held Elizabeth’s family in low regard; she could not bear for his opinion to sink further.
It was difficult to imagine Mr. Darcy getting foxed and losing ten thousand pounds on a wager.
Certainly, the incident with the swan had done little to convince him of her genteel upbringing.
Belatedly, she realized that a lady of the ton would have screamed for help from a safe distance when the dog started barking.
A real lady would not have ventured within fifteen feet of the swan. But the dog had been in danger…
She would have to talk to Jane about the viscount. Although she hated to trouble her sister, Elizabeth required someone’s advice, and Jane was the only other member of the family who knew the whole sorry business of her father’s foolishness.
Elizabeth did not have to wait long for Lady Sterling and Jane to appear at the carriage. When she narrated the story about the swan, Lady Sterling chuckled, but Jane worried over Elizabeth’s injury despite her reassurances.
Exhausted upon their return to Sterling House, Elizabeth treated herself to a bath and dinner on a tray.
When she heard Jane return to her room, Elizabeth slipped into her sister’s bedchamber and sat on Jane’s bed.
While her sister brushed and braided her hair, Elizabeth recounted her discourse with the viscount—omitting only the parts relating to Mr. Darcy.
Jane regarded her with wide and horrified eyes. “Ten thousand pounds? How is half such a sum to be repaid?” she said when she had regained her powers of speech. “I knew Papa had lost money, but I had no thought that it might be so much! How did it happen?”
“Papa said he had a good hand and wagered everything on it, but the viscount had superior cards.” Elizabeth remembered that time vividly.
The viscount had invited their father to a few nights of cards with his other friends, all men of means.
Papa had been flattered to be included in such august company.
Over the course of a few games, he had started drinking more than was his wont and wagering more than he should.
“Papa believed it was not possible for the viscount to have the cards he did.”
“But Papa was foxed,” Jane said dully.
Thankfully, he had ceased excessive imbibing after losing the enormous wager.
“I am sorry to burden you with this trouble, but I have no one else I may confide in,” Elizabeth said.
Jane took her hand. “Please, I am quite the most proper person to address it,” Jane assured her. “We should keep this within the family.”
“I agree.”
“Perhaps we should write to Papa?”
“I considered that,” Elizabeth said. “But he has known about this dilemma for months. If he could easily fix it, he would have done so.”
Jane nodded slowly. They were both well acquainted with their father’s ability to avoid situations he did not want to face. “Perhaps Uncle Gardiner?”
Elizabeth sighed. “I do not believe he has such a sum, and if he does, he must preserve it for his children.”
“Of course,” Jane agreed. Their aunt and uncle were raising four children of their own.
“Besides, I hate the thought of anyone paying the debt, as we suspect the viscount cheated.”
“But everyone believes him to be an honorable man,” Jane said.
“Today the viscount has comprehensively shown us that he is without honor,” Elizabeth said firmly.
“This may have been the viscount’s object all along.
I refused to dance with him at one of the assemblies, and now he wants to humble me.
” At first she had not wanted to believe it, but she was now inclined to think the viscount’s invitations to her father had been a trap from the beginning.
“He is an odious man!”
“Yes, and if the viscount cheated, Papa is not honor-bound to pay the money.”
Jane clasped and unclasped her hands. “But we have no means of proving that he cheated. What can we possibly do?” She gasped. “You are not seriously considering going to him?”
“No! That would bring disgrace on our family in a different way.”
Jane sank back against her pillows. “It seems a hopeless business!”
“I had one idea, but I wanted to ask your opinion. The scheme may be entirely foolhardy.”
Jane leaned forward, listening eagerly.
Elizabeth took a deep breath. “What if I can steal the voucher back from the viscount?”
Jane’s eyebrows rose. “Steal it? You cannot be serious! You are not a professional cutpurse!”
“It is not impossible. Viscount Harwood and his mother, the dowager viscountess, are throwing a ball in five days. We have been invited. While everyone is busy with the ball, I can slip into his study and search for the voucher.”
“But what if he enters his study during that time?” Jane asked in a hoarse voice.
Elizabeth bit her lip. “We will simply have to hope that he does not.”
They were both silent as they considered the possibilities. “Perhaps there is a better way,” Jane said slowly. “If I offer him a few compliments, the viscount will probably request a dance from me. A set would take half an hour. Would it be enough time?”
“Would you do that?”
Jane’s expression was resolute. “It is far less dangerous than what you are undertaking. The biggest risk I take is that he will step on my feet.”
Elizabeth disliked the scheme, but it was the best they had. “Very well. We will attempt it. If we can steal the voucher, then he will have no way to claim the debt, and Papa will be free.”
Jane squeezed her sister’s hand. “Let us hope this works.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Perhaps this will be the beginning of my great criminal enterprise!”