The Darcy Cousins (36 page)

"Thank you, Robert, but I do not need your advice on how to deal with my sister."

"And I would thank you, Darcy, not to deal with mine."

The two men's eyes locked. Neither of them was prepared to back down. Any moment now, Georgiana was convinced, they too would challenge each other to a duel.

"Devil take it!" said Georgiana, jumping up, her patience in shreds. The two men were so taken aback they turned immediately towards her. "If you will kindly sit down, both of you, then I will tell you what is going on."

"No, Georgiana!" exclaimed Clarissa.

"We have no choice but to reveal the truth," said Georgiana.

"Do you want them to kill each other?"

Clarissa slumped down onto her chair, and leaning her elbows on the table in front of her, propped up her head in her hands as if her head had become too heavy.

The gentlemen had at first been reluctant to follow Georgiana's demand. Now they were too intrigued to consider refusing.

Georgiana, with all eyes on her now, wondered if she was doing 328

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the right thing. She held the fate of another woman's future in her hands. What if her brother decided to drag Anne back to Rosings?

Could she really be the one responsible for such a terrible thing?

She swallowed, licked her lips, and uttered a small prayer that she was not about to do the most terrible thing in her life.

"I--" She stopped. She could not do it. She shook her head.

"I am sorry. Clarissa is right. I cannot tell you the truth. You may judge me as you see fit, and I will take the consequences, but I cannot say anything."

A sigh of relief reached her from the table--Clarissa, at least, applauded her decision. That would have to be enough.

"You are playing games, Georgiana," said Darcy, his temper snapping. "Very well, if you will not tell the truth, then I will deal with the matter as I see fit."

Georgiana bowed her head. "That is what I thought." She knew that she had done no wrong. She knew that she was not guilty of misconduct. That was good enough.

"Very well, so be it," said Darcy, thwarted enough to become unwise. "I will have to demand that you remove from London and go to Pemberley immediately. Your Season will have to be curtailed until next year."

Georgiana nodded. What did it matter in any case? This Season had brought her nothing but misery. She had nothing to keep her in London.

"But why should Georgiana be punished?" said Clarissa "None of it was her fault at all."

"If you are so concerned about Georgiana, perhaps you are ready to tell us what has transpired?" said Darcy in clipped tones. "You would not wish her to be punished for something that you were guilty of, would you?"

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"Back off, Darcy," said Robert. "I cannot prevent you from talking to your sister like that, but I will not allow you to do so with mine."

Darcy turned his back and stalked to the window.

"Clarissa?" said Robert kindly. "It seems to me that this is all about some small thing that has been blown out of proportion. Are you sure that your secret is so dire that you cannot tell it? I know that you have a tendency to exaggerate and to prefer the dramatic over the mundane. Perhaps your secret is not so very important.

Surely it cannot hold anyone's life in the balance."

Clarissa looked helplessly at Georgiana.

"It is not my secret to tell," she replied.

Darcy swirled round. "All this talk is getting us nowhere. It is not Georgiana's secret to tell, nor is it your secret to tell. Whose secret is it then? By God! Have we not had enough of mysteries, with Anne's disappearance, and now--" He stopped, and something flashed into his face. "Does this have anything to do with Anne?"

The mingled expressions of horror, guilt, and relief on their faces were enough to tell him he had found his answer.

"Good heavens, is that all? Why did you not say so?" said Robert, and he began to laugh.

"It is no laughing matter," said Georgiana. "It is Anne's life we are talking about."

"But what could it possibly have to do with Anne?" said Darcy.

"She is in America."

Georgiana sighed and exchanged glances with Clarissa, who shrugged helplessly.

"Since you have guessed that it is about Anne, you wil soon guess the rest. But I wil reveal nothing unless I have your word of honour--both of you--that you wil not attempt to force Anne to return home."

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"Do you think me such a tyrant, Georgiana?" said Darcy.

Georgiana lifted her brow cynically.

"Your word, Brother."

"You have it."

"And you, Robert."

"Of course."

"And that you will tell no one at all of this--not even Elizabeth or Caroline."

"You are making me quite nervous with this talk," said Robert with an uneasy laugh. "You cannot really expect me to keep secrets from Caroline."

"This is not your secret to share or not to share. I need your word of honour, cousin Robert, or I cannot speak."

"You have it, Georgie. I give my word of honour not to speak of it to anyone."

Georgiana nodded. "Fitzwilliam?"

"I cannot say I am happy with it, but I give you my word of honour."

"Then I will tell you where we were going when we met with the accident. We were going to visit cousin Anne."

"All this time, we have been searching...!" exclaimed Darcy.

"No!" said Clarissa. "Why is everyone so very ready to jump to false conclusions? We did not know until recently."

Robert nodded. "I knew there was something fishy about that letter you received."

Georgiana, satisfied now that she would be heard, launched into an explanation of what they had learned from Anne's letter.

By the end, both Robert and Darcy looked grave.

"I cannot say I approve your conduct," said Darcy. "But I agree that your options were limited."

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"In all fairness, I can understand how the whole situation came about. But the question is, what do we do now?"

"We must go and see Anne."

"But you cannot!" said Clarissa. "Oh, how could you shame me so? What will she think of me?"

"She will think badly of you and will know better than to trust you again," said Darcy. "But that is of little import, compared to the need to verify that she is safe."

Clarissa was not happy with this remark, but no one could deny the truth of it. It was decided, therefore, that they would spend the night at the inn--after sending home the news that the young ladies had suffered little more from the accident than a shake-up--and on the morrow would set out early to satisfy themselves as to Anne's safety.

Georgiana was so angry at Mr Gatley that it did not even occur to her to wonder where he was. It was Darcy who rose abruptly and strode to the door.

"We have forgotten Mr Gatley! We must tell him that there has been a misunderstanding. I will explain to him what happened."

"He will be sharpening his dagger upstairs, no doubt," said Robert. "Be careful."

Clarissa giggled.

Darcy was not amused. "Must you turn every situation into a joke?" he said.

"Not every situation. Some are funnier than others," replied Robert.

"I'm sorry to say this, Fitzwilliam, but you cannot tell him the truth," said Georgiana heavily. "We cannot reveal anything at all about Anne. You gave your word."

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"Then what do you propose to do? We cannot let him leave without an explanation. Georgiana, the things I accused him of were very grave--grave enough for him to challenge me to a duel.

His name must be cleared."

Georgiana reflected that in turn, Mr Gatley had levelled some very grave accusations at her, and he had made no effort to clear her name. Let him think himself wronged. Let him ponder what it meant to be found guilty and judged without the smallest evidence.

She did not care to relieve him of that burden, when he had not given a moment's consideration to her.

Whatever happened, she would make sure no one entrusted him with Anne's secret. She knew now she could not count on him. Very likely he would condemn Anne for hiding from her mother, and go straight to Lady Catherine to inform her. How could she believe in him when he had turned against her at the blink of an eye?

"You can inform him that you realised that the young ladies were telling the truth," said Robert, "and that I suddenly remembered the school friend that Clarissa had talked about. We could say that she had eloped with a British naval officer and that there was a large scandal attached to her, which was why Clarissa was visiting her in secret. I am sure there are any number of stories we could tell. None of them would reflect well on Clarissa, but they would be better than your wild accusations of secret assignations and some such."

Darcy gave a rueful sigh. "Anything would be better than that.

And to think that I accused Mr Gatley--who is one of the most honourable men I know of--of being involved! I do not know how I will ever be able to look him in the eye again."

He sat down again. "Let us come up with a likely narrative then, which we can present to Gatley as soon as possible."

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Georgiana, who had no interest in reconciliation, replied that any narrative was acceptable to her, as long as she was not expected to deliver it.

No sooner said than done. A story was agreed upon, and Mr Darcy set out to present it and to express his sincerest apologies.

A few minutes later, however, he returned. Gatley had already left.

Gatley did not know which was worse, the headache that clunked and squeaked inside his head like the springs of the carriage beneath him or the bitter bile that churned inside him, turning him physically sick. A part of him--the sensible part--told him he was not yet well enough to ride home. He really should not have left in such a hurry. The other part threw caution to the wind as the carriage tore down the road, wanting to put as much distance between himself and that cursed inn as possible.

They had played him for a fool--in more ways than one. To think that Darcy--who should have known better--had seen fit to reprimand him! And to be humiliated in that manner in public!

To have his honour questioned! He had been prepared to fight a duel, for heaven's sake. It may yet come to that. A gentleman could not allow his honour to be brought into question so openly without consequences.

And then to find that no explanation was provided. When Miss Darcy had asked to speak to him, he had hoped that she would explain matters to him, that there was some reasonable way to account for what happened. Then he would at least be willing to swallow his pride at the insult and accept that the circumstances required prudence. For her, he would have been willing to do so.

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But no! No explanation was forthcoming. No account was to be provided.

He had been met with evasion and duplicity. And when he had insisted on discovering the truth, what had he encountered? More accusations and scorn. And nothing but coldness from a young lady he had come to admire. He had been fooled by that innocent-looking face, but he should have known better.

Yet how could he have guessed that they would go so far as to set up an assignation in an inn and that he should have been duped into taking them there? And who would she be meeting with, pray, but his own cousin? He had seen her making eyes at no one else.

He would never have thought things had progressed so far though.

But Darcy himself had said so, and Darcy would not make accusations like this without good reason.

After this, his cousin would have to marry Clarissa, of course.

His cousin had been nothing but trouble throughout this Season; broken promises and irresponsible behaviour galore. The three of them--Miss Darcy, Miss Clarissa, and Channing--had been the bane of his existence since he had come to London. It was always one or the other that was in trouble. Somehow, every time, he was expected to step in and rescue them from their own folly. As if they were mere children falling in scrapes!

They had to comprehend that they were adults and that no one was there to save them if they broke the rules. Well, now Channing had been hoist by his own petard. As had Clarissa. Darcy would never accept anything less than marriage.

Of course, he might never live to see the wedding. One of them would be hurt, at the very least, perhaps even killed, if there was a duel, and he did not think he could possibly kill Darcy. Not even after what his friend had said of him, though he deserved it.

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He thought regretfully of Miss Darcy, and his heart--along with his head--throbbed with pain. He had made allowances before. He had apologised before and had meant every word of it.

But one could not keep bending over backwards. There was such a thing as dignity and pride and honour.

This time she had gone too far, and there was no going back.

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Chapter 26

It was fairly easy to find the Academy. An elderly maid admitted the Darcys and preceded them through a long corridor to a back room that obviously served both as an office and a small classroom.

A tall lady of middle years was alone in the room, standing near a small chalkboard. She had sharp dark eyes, dark hair with strands of grey, and an air of quiet authority. She was dusting chalk from her hands when they entered, but as soon as they were announced, she looked up and went pale.

"Mr Darcy. Miss Darcy," she said. She acknowledged the other two by inclining her head.

Mr Darcy bowed to her tensely. "Mrs Saunders. I suppose I should have expected this."

Georgiana had some vague remembrance of a very kind lady who had been Anne's governess. "Mrs Saunders," she said. "I remember you."

"So you should, Miss Darcy. I picked you up and dusted your clothes a few times when you fell," said Mrs Saunders. She had already recovered from her shock at seeing them. She began to move to the door. "I suppose you are here to see Mrs Williams. I will fetch MONICA FAIRVIEW