Page 4 of Till Death Us Do Part
“It is a difficult thing leaving five ladies to starve, particularly since you really do not know if four of them are guilty or innocent.”
Darcy growled but nodded. “Six if you count the mother, though starvation may well be what she deserves.”
Both men sat in silence for a minute, but then the Earl stirred himself enough to say, “I hate to pile one more thing on, but I have heard whispers that the selfsame George Wickham was in town a couple of nights ago, and he started spreading rumours.”
Darcy sat up with a start. “What kind of rumours?”
“An elopement, foiled by her brother.”
“And you did notstartwith that?”
The Earl sat forward in his chair and glared. “We have three estates and an earldom at risk. Forgive me if I started at the top. We all know he just made the whole thing up, so it should be easy enough to disprove it definitively and squash him like a bug.”
The Earl watched his nephew carefully and was distressed to see his shoulders sag.
“He didnotmake it up. It happened—last summer in Ramsgate.”
The Earl sighed. “Were there witnesses? Did he take her virtue?”
“He did not get her virtue, though there may have been some touching I am unaware of. He had a confederate—Georgiana’s companion, if you can believe it. The worst hiring failure of my life. I kept Mrs Younge quiet with threats, but she could be induced to talk, and if the rumours are out there anyway, she can confirm without saying anything. There were also the servants, though they only have suppositions. I buttoned it up as tight as I could, and spread around some funds, but itcouldcome out, and it would devastate her.”
The Earl sat back and thought long and hard. “I hate to tell you this, but I think you need to marry the little adventuress—for Georgiana’s sake, if nothing else. About time for you to start thinking about an heir anyway.”
“I agree,” Darcy said with a resigned sigh. “I do not see how our family name can take very many more hits, and Georgianawould absolutely be harmed by even a hint of impropriety, not to mention your fraught relationship with the bankers. Right at this moment, I do not have enough money to pay out Georgiana’s dowry without selling some investments I would rather keep after what I loaned you last year. I suppose that money is long gone?”
“I can get it back, but it would start the bleeding. I do not think it would stop if I pulled that much out of the estate right now.”
Both men sat and stared at the fire for a minute, and Darcy finally got up to restock it just to give himself something to do.
After a while, the Earl asked, “Is she tolerable? Is she reasonably intelligent? Is she at least good stock? Do you think you can make a life with this woman?”
Darcy sat down and sighed in resignation. “Maybe I could—eventually. I must admit I was feeling a bit of an infatuation for her before all this started. Believe it or not, I actually thought I could be in some danger—not much, of course—but some. That is why I was dancing with her. It seemed harmless enough since I would never see her again and it was only one last dance.”
“Famous last words, son. Famous last words.”
“Her mother is a shrill, ruthless mercenary—a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. She bet big without understanding the stakes. I suppose if she wins, she can boast of being smart or lucky. Of course, if she loses, she would be the opposite, but I doubt very much she would ever take responsibility.”
“Big bet for an uncertain outcome. I would suppose she did not understand how easy it would be for you to walk away.”
“If our family was not in such a precarious position, I would.”
The Earl nodded, knowing that Darcy’s reputation would be fine, and Georgiana’s would recover in time—or at least it would have without the attempted elopement.”
“Do you think you can stand her long enough to produce an heir and a spare?”
“I suppose I can forgive her the part she played in the debacle—eventually.”
“Are you sure she was in on it?”
Darcy gave it some deep thought for a few minutes, and his doubts from earlier resolved themselves in his mind.
“Yes! Absolutely!”
The Earl nodded, assuming his nephew was in the thick of it and would at least understand all the players. “You need to fetch Richard. That will take three months or more. These things always do. Your ire should cool by then.”
“Where would I go?”
“Paris. You need to give your steward excellent instructions. I will help where I can, and Napoleon will guarantee your safety, as much as such can be guaranteed in these perilous times. You do not want your personal business going through the French postal service. Post to England is blocked, so you must use privateers. They either leak like a sieve, lose your letters, try to sell them, or all three.”
