The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy (30 page)

“Is it always Irish music?” she asked, recalling the time she had seen him play.

“No,” he shook his head. “We have theme nights. We’ve done an Irish night, a honky-tonk night, a jazz night, and a classical night. Tonight is classic rock.”

“Same lineup?” she asked. He shook his head again.

“Georgiana has a lot of friends, so they rotate in and out. She and I are the only two who are always there.”

They walked a few more blocks and arrived at the café hand-in-hand. Georgiana was looking out the window for him when they arrived.

“It’s about time,” she said angrily as they came in the door. He looked around.

“Fletcher isn’t even here yet, we can’t go on without him,” he said defensively.

“Yes he is, he’s taking a piss. Get your gear together,” she commanded. She nodded curtly to Elizabeth and then stormed off to her keyboard. Darcy looked down at Elizabeth with a grimace that said
I’m in trouble.

Elizabeth looked around and saw Jane and Bingley waving at her. She gave Darcy’s arm a squeeze in farewell and went to join them.

“When did you get in?” Jane asked, hugging her. Bingley planted a kiss on Elizabeth’s cheek and handed her a coffee.

“Just an hour or so ago. I’m staying with Will,” she added, blushing.

“Hooray!” laughed Bingley. Jane laughed and punched him playfully on the arm.

The band tonight was Darcy on guitar, a bassist, a singer Fletcher, Georgiana on keyboards, and a drummer. Fletcher was a young man with long shaggy, curly blond hair, who wore his shirt open and no shoes. He had a distinct Robert Plant vibe. Mrs.
Bennet
would swoon.

They all settled into their seats and, after some friendly banter among the band, began to play an acoustic versio
n of Rod Stewart’s ‘Maggie May.’
The song was perfect to warm up the crowd, starting quietly and then becoming lively. Elizabeth felt herself grinning along with the rest of the crowd, who clapped and sang along. This time she had chosen a seat where she could see Darcy and watched as he grinned widely while he played. He was clearly having fun. The crowd clapped loudly after the song and all the band members were laughing.

Darcy pulled his microphone to him and said,
“Where are your shoes tonight, Fletcher?” Darcy teased him.

“I gotta sing from the sole, man,” Fletcher replied, wiggling his toes, causing everyone to groan then laugh.

Darcy handed his acoustic to Georgiana, who handed him an electric guitar. She then sat next to him with the acoustic guitar while Fletcher introduced the next song,
selected by their drummer, as ‘More than a Feeling’
by Boston. It was another fun song, with everyone clapping and singing along. Georgie and Darcy sat side by side, rocking together to the music and smiling at each other. By the end of the song, all the guitarists were jamming, nodding heads to the beat, strumming with feeling. Nobody in the audience was sitting anymore, everyone was standing and dancing. Georgie laughed breathlessly at Darcy, who winked at her.

“Tonight, our multi-talented
-
and lovely
-
keyboardist is making her singing debut, so let’s give it up for Georgie,” Fletcher announced. He vacated the stool and moved to her microphone behind the keyboards while she adjusted her own microphone. She looked at Darcy, who nodded. They then immediately broke into a powerful ren
dition of Jefferson Airplane’s ‘
Somebody to Love.
’
It was startling to hear a strong, piercing voice come out of wispy little Georgiana. The bassist and Fletcher sang backup, Darcy having pushed his microphone away. Again, the crowd roared their approval at the end of the song.

“Nicely done, Georgie,” said the bassist. “This next one isn’t exactly classic rock but it’s a classic in my book and I’m going to sing it.” He stood at the microphone with his bass and they played an acoustic
, subdued version of Nirvana’s ‘
Come as You Are.
’
Georgiana and Fletcher both played accompanying guitars. After another burst of applause and whistling from the crowd, Fletcher returned to his stool and Georgiana to her keyboards. She spoke into the microphone.

“I picked this song to lighten up the mood after the last piece, so this is my contribution,” Georgie announced and she began to play piano to Elton John’s
‘
Your Song.
’
Fletcher sang with feeling as he sat on the stool, eyes closed. Once, he opened them, turned slightly on his stool and sang a line to Georgie. After the applause had died and the bassist and drummer had cooed a teasing “Awwwwww,” Darcy pulled the microphone again to him.

“Very romantic. We’ll talk later about you dating my sister,” he said sardonically into the mic.

“Why don’t you announce the next song, Darcy?” Fletcher said mischievously into the mic.

“Sure. This next song is one my favorites. It’s called ‘What Is and Should Never Be,’ by Led Zeppelin.” He paused. “And, ah, it’s for Elizabeth,” he mumbled, pushing the mic away.

Fletcher and Georgiana both looked at Darcy sharply.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, who’s Elizabeth?” Fletcher laughed. Darcy didn’t answer but made a ‘shoo’ing motion toward Fletcher. “Yeah, who’s Elizabeth?” chimed in the bassist. Darcy shook his head. He was already regretting the impulsive dedication. He sighed inwardly and wondered how many more times he would make a fool of himself over her.

“OK, this song is for Darcy’s goldfish, Elizabeth,” said Fletcher into the mic. Darcy laughed and waited patiently for Fletcher to begin singing.

Darcy played the bluesy guitar bridge with eyes closed, brows knitted expressively, nodding and shaking his head to the rhythm. Elizabeth saw him look at her as he sang along with the next verse, although his mic was pushed away.

The band finished the song to raucous cheers. Bingley grinned widely at Elizabeth and whistled his approval over the applause. The crowd was loud, whistling and whooping. Over Fletcher’s banter with his band mates, Jane looked at Bingley.

“Why don’t you ever play a song and dedicate it to me?” she asked him teasingly.

“Sweetie, I dance with you. Darcy
plays
, I
dance
. You can’t have both. Besides, every karaoke song is for you,” he said, hugging her and playfully nipping her cheek. She laughed and pushed him away.

“We’re going to liven it up again by finishing with another Rod Stewart song, ‘Hot Legs’,” Fletcher announced. There was more applause and cheering for the song.

Bingley looked at Jane. “Here, darling, I’m dedicating
this
song to you,” he grinned. She laughed and kissed him, while he ran a hand up her leg. Elizabeth noticed that Jane had taken to wearing much shorter skirts now that she was with Bingley. Jane jumped down from her stool and began to dance with Bingley, joining others who were now moving to the music. Bingley sang to Jane, “
Am I pussywhipped
?” and she nodded sympathetically.

As the last song ended, Fletcher said “Let’s hear it for our great band, Taylor Smits on bass, David Brass on drums, Georgiana Darcy on keyboards, and Will Darcy on guitar. My name is Fletcher Stevens, and you guys have been great. Thank you.”

The band started to break down but the crowd protested and asked for one more song.

“What do you guys think, have we got one more in us?” Fletcher asked, looking at the other band members. They did a brief huddle, then all burst out laughing and resumed their positions. Darcy moved the microphone back to his mouth.

“This song is not for my goldfish, it is for Fletcher,” he grinned. Fletcher laughed and Darcy stru
ck the opening lines of Beck’s ‘
Loser.
’
The crowd screamed its approval. Fletcher took over singing but Darcy did sing back-up on this one.

Fletcher did a sort of hippy psychedelic dance with Darcy laughing at him. They finished the song with a surge of cheering, clapping, and a pair of underwear thrown at Fletcher. He picked them up; they were very large.

“I think these are for you, man,” he said, tossing them to Darcy. Darcy laughed and let them fall on the ground
,
no way was he picking up anything that unsanitary
!

Elizabeth sat in the back waiting for the crowd to thin when she overheard someone say,
“I knew it! That’s Judge Darcy! Man he can play!
...
Dude, I have him for trial on Monday.” He was speaking into his cell phone as he looked at Darcy. He was a young man who Elizabeth did not recognize; he had probably started after she left. He continued to chat on the phone and took a seat near her. Jane nodded at Elizabeth in understanding, and Elizabeth stood and pushed her way to the front of the café.

Darcy was surrounded by patrons who were complimenting him; he was thanking them with good humor as he put his guitars in their cases. Fletcher was sitting on the window seat behind him putting on his shoes.

Elizabeth reached them and leaned close to Darcy and said, “There’s an attorney in the back who recognized you. He doesn’t look familiar to me. He’s already on his cell phone talking about you.” She was concerned that they’d be recognized; Darcy was however concerned for other reasons. He was not comfortable with attorneys knowing much about his private life, not to mention any criminal defendants knowing anything about him or his whereabouts. He nodded and turned to Georgiana and said quietly,
“Georgie, there’s an attorney here. I’ll meet you at Franco’s in 20 minutes,” he said and swiftly gathered his things. She nodded in understanding and told Fletcher to hurry up.

Darcy led Elizabeth to Franco’s restaurant, a dimly lit Italian eatery that Darcy and Georgiana frequented. He was greeted by the barman with a loud “Heeeeey, Judge!” Darcy smiled and waved. They found a table in the back and a waitress came by, greeting him by name and taking their drink orders.

They settled into the booth to wait for Georgiana and Fletcher. Elizabeth slid in next to Darcy and as soon as the waitress was gone, she turned to him, pulled one knee up to his lap and purred,
“You are such a rock star. You are completely turning me on.”

He grinned and she thought his cheeks flushed a little. He turned to face her and slipped his hand onto her thigh. He massaged her leg lightly, creeping higher, slipping his hand into the slit in her sarong, and leaned down to give her a kiss. His free hand found the side of her neck and he ran a thumb by her lips, then he kissed her again.

“Would you like another performance?” he asked against her lips. She nodded her assent. With a slight smile curving his lips, he quietly sang from Led Zeppeli
n’s ‘Traveling Riverside Blues.’

Elizabeth laughed softly against his lips and kissed him again. She moved her hand to his thigh. They kissed for a few moments, before he continued:

She let out a low giggle and kissed him again, letting her thumb stroke across his groin. His breath caught in a little laugh and
-.

“Ahem.”

Georgiana and Fletcher were sitting across from them in the booth; so involved in each other were Elizabeth and Darcy that neither noticed them arrive.

“Sorry,” mumbled Darcy as he pulled his hands from Elizabeth and scooted a respectable distance away from her. Both of their faces were flaming. Darc
y silently willed his breathing,
and his blood pressure
...
oh, and my erection too,
he thought
,
back to normal.

Shock showed plainly on Georgiana’s face. She had never seen her brother in an intimate situation with a woman, let alone in a state of obvious sexual excitement. To find him singing an erotic song, completely oblivious to his surroundings, was stunning to say the least. She looked from Darcy to Elizabeth then back to Darcy, a flush covering her own cheeks. There was a moment of awkward silence.

“Nice goldfish,” Fletcher said as he picked a pretzel stick from the bowl on the table and winked at Elizabeth.

If possible, Elizabeth’s cheeks flushed deeper. Then she laughed.

“Well, Darcy, we are caught,” she teased. “Anti-goldfish miscegenation laws be damned!”

Darcy laughed shortly, painfully and acutely embarrassed.
Ah,
this
would be the next time I make a fool of myself,
he thought ruefully.

“Fletcher, this is Elizabeth,” Darcy said trying to regain some dignity. Elizabeth offered her hand to Fletcher.

“It’s nice to meet you and nice to see you again, Georgiana. I’m afraid Will’s tardiness was my fault, there was traffic at the airport,” Elizabeth said warmly, covering for Darcy’s embarrassment. “That was a great show; are they always that fun?”

“When I’m there they are,” Fletcher said. Georgiana rolled her eyes, Darcy nodded, and Elizabeth laughed.

“Why the hasty retreat?” Fletcher asked. Darcy shrugged.

“There was an attorney from work there. I don’t want any of the attorneys who appear before me to know anything about my private life. Where I hang out, what I do in my spare time. Our unequal positions make it important to keep a social barrier between us,” he said.

“Spoken like a true aristocrat,” Elizabeth mused at him. Georgiana looked at her sharply and Darcy looked at Elizabeth as if to say
come on, you know it’s true
.

Fletcher nodded.

“That’s understandable. So, Liz, what do you do?”

“Uh, I’m a lawyer,” she said and looked at Darcy with irony.

Fletcher grinned. “I see. And how did you meet Darcy?”

“Well, I used to appear before him before I was transferred to San Diego a few months ago,” she said, enjoying watching Darcy squirm. Darcy scowled at being caught in his own hypocrisy.

“Just how long have you been dating my sister?” he asked Fletcher, changing the subject.

“Well, that’s a rather personal question, don’t you think? How long have you and Liz been dating?” Fletcher replied, smiling. Elizabeth laughed. Darcy scowled deeper.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he looked to Georgiana, giving up on Fletcher. She rolled her eyes.

“Will, believe it or not, I don’t tell you everything.”

“What do you know about my sister?” Darcy turned again to Fletcher.

“I know that I’ve had a mad crush on her for over six months,” Fletcher said around a pretzel stick.

“That’s what you know about yourself; what do you know about her?” Darcy countered.

“She has an overprotective brother. She grew up in England. She plays beautifully but she’s not much of a cook,” Fletcher looked briefly to Georgiana, “sorry, sweetie.” Darcy began an interrogation of Fletcher.

“When is her birthday?”

“Ummm”

“What’s her middle name?”

“Francesca?”

“Wrong. What color are her eyes?” Georgiana quickly put her hands over her eyes, laughing.

“Green?”

“Wrong again.”

“Let’s see you pass that test!” Fletcher exclaimed. Darcy rose to the challenge and said, confidently and without looking at Elizabeth,

“Elizabeth’s eyes are brown, her birthday is November 12, and her middle name is Claire.”

“Wrong!” Elizabeth laughed. “Claire is
Jane’s
middle name.
Mine
is Anne.”

“Your middle name is Anne?” he frowned, looking at her. She nodded. His shoulders slumped a little. Fletcher and Georgiana burst out laughing.

“Do I have permission to date your sister?” Fletcher asked teasingly. “I am the father of her puppy, you know.” Darcy gave a dramatic sigh and put his drink down.

“Well, I guess I don’t have much choice, the scandal will ruin her,” Darcy replied. “Is Moopy a family name or is he the first?”

“His real name is Sir Moopford of Rothingham. We come from a noble line, sadly ruined by gambling and drink,” Fletcher said, shaking his head in sorrow. Darcy and Elizabeth laughed. The conversation turned to next week’s show until Fletcher excused himself to the restroom. Darcy immediately turned to Georgiana.

“How much does he know about you?” he said quietly. Georgiana looked at Elizabeth, who studied her menu as if preparing for a test. Not trusting Elizabeth, Georgiana replied in perfect French,

“He knows a lot about me but nothing about our money. He thinks I rely on you for extra money.”

Darcy continued in French,

“Does he know about your trust fund?”

“No.”

“Does he know about George?”

“No.”

“Are you going to tell him?”

“Why would I tell him about George? No. About the money? We’ll see. Do you approve otherwise?”

“Georgie, you don’t need my approval,” he said, taken aback. “You can see whomever you want; I just want you to be careful, that’s all.”

“All the same, I’d like it,” Georgie replied.

Darcy shrugged. “Fletch is a good guy, I like him. I see no reason you shouldn’t date him.”

“Thanks,” she said, reverting to English. She smiled at him and kissed his cheek.

Elizabeth did not understand much French and she felt her exclusion acutely. Georgiana obviously didn’t trust her. It made her both ashamed and angry. She would be agreeable but she would not pander for Georgiana’s approval, no matter what. The only approval she sought was Darcy’s. She resolved to be polite to Georgiana but not go out of her way to impress her.

The dinner conversation stayed on safe topics such as the weather, recent popular science articles and the like. Georgiana felt herself warm up to Elizabeth slightly despite her solid reservations about her. Will was clearly
-
clearly
-
taken with Elizabeth. She did have a talent for teasing him and making him laugh, which relieved Georgiana. She was tired of seeing him miserable. He certainly hadn’t looked miserable when they arrived, in any event. But she would reserve judgment until she got to know her better.

After they had finished their meals, Darcy sat back and looked at Elizabeth, satisfied in his chest and his belly. The last six hours had been complete chaos, with her call, the rush to the airport, the tryst at his place, the concert, and now dinner. He wanted to go home and savor her. He put his hand on the back of the booth and played with a lock of her hair. It took a good deal of
self-control
not to pull her to him and shower her with kisses. She leaned forward for something and he dropped his hand to her low back. She leaned her head on her fist and looked at him.

“Ready?” he asked. She nodded. “Fletcher, Georgie, it’s been a pleasure,” he said as he stood. He dropped some bills on the table to pay for dinner.

“Shall I call you tomorrow?” Georgie asked.

“No! Er, no. Elizabeth is only in town until Sunday, I’ll be busy.” He slipped his hand into Elizabeth’s and twined their fingers together and they said goodnight.

“I like your brother,” Fletcher said as he savored a sip of wine. “He’s a good guy.”

“He’s an exceptional man,” Georgiana corrected him as she watched Darcy and Elizabeth exit.

“He’s got it bad,” Fletcher comment
ed, watching Georgiana closely.

She continued to watch Elizabeth’s retreating figure when she replied,
“If she hurts him, I will kill her myself.”