Page 46 of The Cheapside Runners
Soams had followed the colonel in, so he turned immediately to see to it. They spent the next half-hour catching up on what little had happened in their lives since the last discussion with Bingley—starting with their recoveries from the blue devils, naturally.
They finally finished, so Darcy got to business.
“I asked you here to see if you care to participate in a rather disagreeable task.”
“When you put it like that, how can I resist? When do we start?”
Darcy chuckled with the small humour of the reply along with its utter predictability.
“When I dragged your ne’er-do-well brother to your father, I was thoroughly dissatisfied with both of them. As I suspect you know, your father thinks he is just sowing his wild oats, as is his right and privilege, and so on and so forth ad nauseum.”
The colonel grunted. “They say you reap what you sow. I would not be entirely surprised to find him floating down the Thames one day… but as they say, that is not my battle to fight.”
“Nor is it mine, but Ididdecide to do some pittance about it. I ah… encouraged him to give me the name of as many of his paramours as he could manage. Either he is a better liar than I expected, or the number is lower than I feared.”
“One is too many, but I suspect you are right. Gambling anddrink are his primary vices.”
“At any rate, I set a discreet and reputable investigator to the task of finding the women. I thought I should at least ensure they are not starving in the gutter, and his offspring are not in the workhouse.”
“I would not be entirely surprised to find some of both the women and children in pauper’s graves.”
Darcy sighed. “He chose his victims carefully. He apparently would find it beneath him to bed a doxy or servant girl, and he apparently sated most of his appetites dallying with married women.”
“Not unheard of in theton.Not everyone is as fastidious as you.”
Darcy shrugged indifferently. “My investigator found three. One is but five miles from here, so I thought to visit her.”
“And you thinktwo Fitzwilliamsare just the thing?”
“You have a better idea?”
“Send your man of business with hat in one hand and a hefty purse in the other.”
“I will not make another man shoulder my responsibility.”
“HAH! You have it bad, cousin. I hope this Miss Bennet is worth it.”
“I amnotdoing this to impress Miss Bennet. Mr Gardiner, maybe, but not her. I feel it is my duty.”
The colonel just chuckled. “Tell yourself that if it makes you feel better.”
Darcy grumbled a bit, but there seemed little point in beating the subject to death, so they let it rest. Both men changed into their older hunting clothes. They were the closest thing to how Mr Gardiner dressed they could muster on short notice. Appearing in uniform or the first stare of fashion hardly seemed ideal for making a decent first impression.
~~~~~
Two hours later, the cousins looked out the carriage windows at Fleet Street, watching the bustling trade that epitomised far more of England’s prosperity than the first circles liked to believe. In a half mile they passed a plethora of printers, bookstores, attorney’s offices, businesses, clerks, servants, maids, taverns, newspaper boys, and general mayhem. It was as different from where they spent their time as could be, and yet, many thought it was more the future of England than the landowners.
When the carriage stopped at the Copper Kettle Coffeehouse, Darcy let out a hoot of laughter.
“What is so funny?” The colonel laughed.
Darcy continued chuckling. “I have been a hundred yards from here, just up the lane at John Murray’s Bookshop or the Albemarle Coffeehouse dozens of times… some quite recently.”
“Happenstance, I suppose. I would not get too excited at the coincidence. Based on Netherfield, I would not be overly surprised to find one of his offspring at Pemberley, and Matlock seems all but certain.”
Darcy grumbled but could not deny the assertion. They exited, girded their loins for battle, and entered the most ordinary coffeehouse in the world. It had the usual notice boards, newspapers, chalkboards with specials, a counter full of pastries, a few urns of coffee and tea, and a fireplace.
They arrived at three, which typically had a lull in business and were lucky to encounter only two occupied tables.
