The Darcy Cousins (20 page)

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Even as she spoke, she realised it was not such a bad idea after all. For one never knew with Clarissa. The very idea of her younger cousin driving alone with Channing troubled her. Perhaps she ought to sacrifice her own time with Channing to prevent such a situation. In any case--or so she reasoned--it would be almost impossible to be rid of Clarissa. And there were decided advantages to her spending two days in a row with Channing rather than only one.

Georgiana's goal, therefore, quickly changed from making every effort to prevent Clarissa from driving with them, to making sure that the two of them would join him on both drives.

Neither young lady thought it important to consult Channing himself to discover his own wishes.

"The more the merrier, I suppose," said Clarissa with a quick laugh.

Having reached an agreement, with each lady convinced that she had outmanoeuvred the other admirably, they chatted contentedly about any number of insignificant things while awaiting the arrival of the young gentleman himself.

The long-awaited rap of the knocker finally reached them.

Georgiana controlled the urge to spring to her feet. She compelled herself to sit composedly, her hands in her lap, as befitted a well-bred young lady.

Hibbert the butler appeared, and with him a gentleman. But the name that fell upon their ears was not Channing. Instead, Hibbert announced a name that could not have been more unwelcome at that moment. It was Gatley.

She received him just as she ought, her manner courteous and friendly, but inwardly she wished him anywhere but there, wondering why he constantly appeared at the most inopportune moments.

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"I hope I have not arrived at an inconvenient time," he said, echoing her thoughts, "but I was passing this way and thought I might invite Miss Darcy to ride in the Park. But now that I see both of you are here, I will quite happily extend my invitation to Miss Clarissa Darcy as well."

"It is really most kind of you, sir," said Georgiana, "but I am afraid we have another engagement. Your cousin has very generously invited us to drive with him this very afternoon."

"Indeed?" said Gatley. He considered this with a perplexed expression, then added, "Are you sure it was today?"

"Quite sure," said Georgiana, making an effort to answer civilly.

"Is today not Tuesday?"

She went out to the hallway, and brought the card that was pinned to the bouquet. "It says here: Tuesday at half past five? And here is his name, clearly written."

Gatley took the card and examined it blandly. "Yes, this is my cousin's writing, unquestionably. I must have been mistaken."

Georgiana decided she would ignore his comment. He was trying to provoke her curiosity, but she had no intention of indulging him. Clarissa, however, fell easily into the trap.

"Whatever do you mean, Mr Gatley? Why should you be mistaken?"

"Only that I saw Channing drive by me not twenty minutes ago in his new phaeton with a young lady by his side, heading in the direction of the Park. But I must be quite wrong in my deduction. Perhaps he was simply returning the young lady home before coming here to call on you and Miss Darcy."

He was bent on trouble. Georgiana could see no other reason for Gatley's words but the intention of discrediting his cousin.

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town, Mr Gatley," she replied firmly, refusing to rise to the bait. "I do not think he needs to account to us for his every move."

"He certainly does not," said Clarissa, smiling. "Mr Channing is universally liked, and it is only natural that he should be seen about town with more than one young lady at his side."

Georgiana did not find Clarissa's words particularly cheering.

"I hope I do not impose if I wait here for a few more minutes,"

said Mr Gatley.

"Not at all," replied Georgiana. She would not make any effort to converse however. She was quite put out with him for casting aspersions on Mr Channing. He was proving to be just as Channing had described him--someone who believed he had the moral right to control people's lives. Worse, he was proving to be a gossipmonger intent on spreading rumours. One would not have thought it.

A strained silence followed. Georgiana was too well bred to allow it to stretch for long, even if she was vexed with him. Her instincts as a hostess finally came to the fore.

"Shall I ring for refreshments, Mr Gatley?" she said.

"Very kind of you, Miss Darcy, but you need not trouble yourself, for we will be quickly forced to abandon them. My cousin should be here any moment."

His statement held a certain sharpness--an unmistakable note of irony--that Georgiana did not like. A quick perusal of him revealed nothing in his face, however, and she decided she had imagined it. She made a remark about Napoleon, which could always be counted on to provide a lengthy topic of conversation, and it was some time before the subject was exhausted.

The clock chimed the three quarter hour. Georgiana relentlessly subdued the doubts that rose up in her. London streets 180

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were busy and full of a myriad obstructions. Besides, fashionable gentlemen were not so very nice in their notions of time. One was almost obliged to be fashionably late in London, and a quarter of an hour did not even begin to qualify for that--not for someone like Channing.

The door opened. But again, the young ladies were doomed to be disappointed, for it was only Darcy and Elizabeth.

"Gatley," said Darcy. "Hibbert told me that you were here."

"Mr Darcy, Mrs Darcy," said Gatley. "A pleasure to see you. I came to accompany the young ladies to the Park, only to discover they were otherwise engaged."

"Really?" said Darcy, casting an amused glance in Georgiana's direction. "I see no evidence of that. It appears to me they are perfectly at leisure."

"If you must know," said Elizabeth, smiling too, "they are waiting for Mr Channing."

Darcy looked at the clock significantly. It was by now almost six.

"Is it no longer fashionable for ladies to make an appearance at a half hour past five, or have things changed recently?" he said.

Georgiana disliked being teased, and that her dear brother of all people should undertake to do so--she could not bear it. She would not expose herself to any more disparaging remarks. She stood up decisively.

"It does appear, Mr Gatley, that you were correct in your surmise that I had the wrong day. Thank you, but I am delighted to accept your offer of a drive in Hyde Park."

She did not look at Clarissa. If Clarissa wished to wait for Channing, then she could. She certainly did not care if Clarissa accompanied her and Mr Gatley or not.

"It is too late to go for a drive now," said Clarissa. "If you would 181

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be kind enough to drop me off at Grosvenor Street, I will accompany you that far."

Georgiana regretted her impulse as soon as Clarissa descended from the landau, for even with a groom present, she was conscious that she was alone with a gentleman she knew very little--and one, moreover, that she was not sure she liked at all. She could not even practise her Arts on him, for he was completely impervious to them. She was at a loss as to why he had called to take her for a drive, for he certainly betrayed no interest in her. Perhaps he had heard something from his cousin and had come to rescue her from embarrassment.

His interference, kindly meant though it may be, was humiliating. She had not asked him to mediate between her and Channing. It would have been far better if he had left her to suffer her disappointment alone. Then at least there would have been no witnesses.

But perhaps he had other reasons. Georgiana had caught glimpses of some sort of rivalry between the two. And there may be other reasons, unknown to her. Curiosity propelled her to probe his motives. She did not, however, set out to question him the way the old Georgiana may have done--in a more direct, though infinitely more naive way. Instead, she gave him a sly smile, as though to coax some admission of partiality for her out of him.

"You really have been most gentlemanly, Mr Gatley, to offer to replace your cousin in this manner," she said, casting him a sidelong glance. "You have been quite the knight in shining armour, for without you, I would still be waiting at home for your cousin."

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Mr Gatley slowed the horses to a trot as he negotiated through a particularly busy knot of traffic. Nothing in his appearance indicated that he had heard her, and since she could hardly repeat the question--for he might have heard her--she sat impatiently by his side, waiting for the road to open up before them.

"Perhaps we may run into Mr Channing in the Park," she said, eventually, for lack of anything else to say.

"Is that what you wish?" asked Gatley, driving through a narrow gap between a cart full of vegetables and a small gig that sped past them too quickly.

Georgiana regretted her words immediately. It was her turn to pretend she had not heard. She gave her full attention to a young lad who was sweeping the road, but when he stopped and whistled at her she turned her head quickly, only to find Gatley's dark eyes brimming with amusement.

"You cannot quite make up your mind, can you?" said Gatley.

"One moment you play the coquette, and the next you blush like a young girl fresh from the schoolroom."

Needless to say, this remark did not endear him to her. Nor did she know how to answer him. She was out of her depth in this unexpected conversation.

"You play a dangerous game," he said in an almost offhand manner. "For you do not know the rules, and you do not know how far you can go without harming either yourself or someone else. Your cousin, perhaps, can play with less risk. She has some inherent sense of what to do."

Georgiana was beginning to grow tired of being told that Clarissa played the game--whatever it was--better than her.

"I do not know by what authority you speak to me in this manner," she replied coldly. "You are little more than a stranger."

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"True enough," he said.

They had now entered the Park. Georgiana quickly realised how little chance she would have had of conducting any kind of meaningful conversation with Channing, for almost as soon as they entered the Park they had to stop and exchange greetings and introductions with any number of persons.

"You are correct in maintaining that I have no right, and I apologise if you think my remarks too presumptuous," said Gatley, during a quiet moment. He seemed to know a vast number of people. "But you will admit that I know my own cousin better than you know him. I will say no more--only that you must not take everything he says or does too seriously. Other than that, I promise to remain silent on the subject for the rest of the drive. Indeed, it is far too pleasant an evening to dwell on unpleasant subjects. Let us enjoy the drive at least, and I am even willing to promise that I will never ask you to drive in Hyde Park with me again. Will that satisfy you?"

An odd trick of light from the descending sun turned his eyes suddenly from dark brown to liquid gold. She became aware for the first time that his features--the sharp contour of his jaw, the gently arching outline of his nose, the dark lashes that bordered his eyes--were actually very handsome. Why had she never noticed before?

He caught her staring. For an instant, their gaze met and tangled.

Her breath caught. His eyes were warm and rich and golden--a reflection of the sun.

She pulled away from that steady gaze and composed herself, making herself breathe more deeply. She hoped he did not think she was staring for any particular reason. It was just because of the way the sun had fallen on his face, nothing more. She deliberately turned her attention to a high phaeton coming their way.

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As ill luck would have it, the driver turned out to be Channing, accompanied--she guessed--by the same young lady Gatley had mentioned.

If she thought Channing would be discomfited at being caught out in this manner, she was quickly proven wrong, for as soon as he spotted her he drew back his horses and came to a halt by the side of the landau.

"Well met, Cousin!" he said cheerfully. "I see you have stolen the beautiful Miss Darcy all to yourself."

He leaned down far enough over the edge of the high perch for her to fear that he would unbalance it, and addressed himself to her in a half whisper. "You must endure his company as best as you can, for I am sure you must find it deucedly sombre. Has he been lecturing you on your behaviour?"

He was entirely correct, of course. Gatley had lectured her on her behaviour. And he was a great deal too serious. But Georgiana was so exasperated by Channing's sublime forgetfulness that she came immediately to Gatley's defence. "On the contrary, Mr Channing,"

she said, "your cousin has been everything that is amiable. I could not have wished for a more agreeable companion."

At that moment Gatley chose to set the landau in motion again, and they had soon left Channing behind them.

"Touche. I believe you ruffled his feathers a little," said Gatley, his lips twitching. "Under normal circumstances, I would thank you for your kind defence. But I am certain that your flattering remark was more a reflection on my cousin's behaviour than my own."

Georgiana was finding Gatley altogether too clever for his own good. His comment piqued her, and all charitable thoughts of him came to an immediate demise.

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"Have you and your cousin always been rivals like this?" she enquired, startling herself with her audacity, yet determined not to let him have the last word. The question was rhetorical and she did not expect an answer. She meant it as a challenge.

The question clearly startled him. His quick frown revealed his displeasure, and almost instinctively she began to formulate an apology. He did not give her the chance to utter it, however.