Chapter 18
Richard felt as if he did not exist, so completely did Miss Bennet ignore him—her rescuer!—in her rush towards Darcy.
He had been enjoying Miss Bennet just as he used to in Kent. The feeling of her hand on his arm, the sound of her occasional musical laugh, the evidence of her clever mind easily finding connexions others might miss—Richard found her company perfectly delightful.
He had been feeling quite good about his success in finding her, and he loved thinking about her radiant smile as she had hurried out of the wheat field calling out, “Colonel!”
Now that Darcy was here, it did not feel as if she pulled away from him, unlinking her arm with his—it felt as if he had quietly disappeared, his clothes collapsing, empty, on the road.
It felt as if the beautiful and genteel creature at his side suddenly sprouted wings and flew to Darcy.
His cousin did not behave as expected, either—instead, Darcy leapt off the moving horse and somehow managed to catch Miss Bennet as she threw herself into his arms.
They are not even mortal, Richard mumbled to himself.
It was a foolish little sentence, of course, but the emotion on the two beautiful faces as they sprung together in some way that seemed to violate the established order of the world—well, it was as if the handsome couple did not exist within the laws of nature.
Richard might have thought that Darcy racing towards Elizabeth and jumping off his mount without taking the time to slow the creature down would have been a safety problem for all on the road, but Beorht, too, seemed to have the choreography of the morning well in hand, for the horse, now riderless, slowed on his own, made a sweeping turn, and stayed several yards away from the three humans on that patch of road.
After seeing that Beorht had come to a halt, Richard turned back to his cousin and Miss Bennet.
Then the soldier who had seen all manner of violence and ill behaviour in his years in army—the man who had lain with dozens of Cyprians and not a few light-skirts—the son of an earl who had moved in the world and knew its unseemly underside—blushed deeply, because the very inexperienced Darcy was tightly embracing and vigorously kissing his intended bride, and she was holding onto him so tightly as she kissed him right back that her feet were dangling above the ground.
Richard turned, took his own horse’s reins and walked over to Beorht so that he could tend to his cousin’s horse. He talked gently to the two horses as he slackened Beorht’s girth and patted his neck. Then he walked both horses a bit until he heard Beorht’s breathing become regulated.
Darcy and Miss Bennet were beginning to whisper to one another, and Richard hoped his blush had faded.
He led Beorht to the couple and asked if they wished to go back to Netherfield, to Georgiana, or if they would rather go to Darcy House in London.
“I assume getting married as soon as possible would be wise,” he said.
Miss Bennet’s face changed a bit, and she sighed.
“You do wish to marry as soon as we can, do you not?” Darcy asked. “I have learnt that I do not have any rights under the law to protect you, not until we wed.”
“Of course I wish that, my love,” she said quietly. “I was just remembering that the entire reason I wished to come home to marry was that I wanted Papa to walk me down the aisle, and I wished for Jane to stand up with me. But now I would not welcome either of them at my wedding.”
“Indeed,” Darcy said. He turned to Richard. “We both owe you a thousand thank yous, but I wonder if you wish to earn yet another?”
“I owe you everything, given my parents’ actions!” Richard protested.
“You are certainly not responsible for your parents’ choices,” Miss Bennet said.
Darcy agreed and said, “I will not separate from Elizabeth again, but I would love to take her home to Darcy House rather than go anywhere near Longbourn. However, Georgiana, her companion, and her maid are still at Netherfield Park. I wonder if you could go and collect them?”
“I would like nothing better,” Richard said. “I thought this situation would take at least a week, so I still have time off from my duties.”
“I only ask that you bring Georgiana to Darcy House. I do not know quite what I wish to do about your parents, but I cannot have Georgiana in their power.”
“Oh, my God, I had not even thought about how often we have allowed that, Darce! I cannot imagine ever trusting them again!”
Darcy and Miss Bennet both thanked him another few times.
Darcy said, “As you travel northeast, you will encounter my carriage. Please tell Mr Evans that Elizabeth and I will wait for him here. You may also run into my two footmen, Travers and Barnes, and if you do, please tell them to make their way to Darcy House. If they are close enough to the carriage, they can serve as outriders.”
“I will do just that, Darcy. I will see you soon.”
As Richard mounted and took off at a brisk pace, he heard a chorus of thank yous from the still-entwined couple.
He felt a good deal of satisfaction that he had fulfilled his goal of reuniting the two—but a surprising new goal rose as he contemplated their enthralment with one another: he wished to find the same sort of love his cousin had discovered.