Page 50 of Such Low Connections

With a sigh, Darcy folded the letter back up and put it into his pocket for later reading. It seemed to be exactly what he had feared. It would take some time to devise a suitable response to his aunt, a task better left for after he had spoken to Georgiana. The only surprise was that it had taken Lady Catherine so long to hear what everyone else had been talking of for months.

As Ludlow was stowing the maps from the library into a leather bag at his shoulder, Darcy finally studied him more closely, noting for the first time that his frame looked even more spare than Darcy remembered. Worse still, his face was pale and worn.

“You seem to have grown thinner since I last saw you, Ludlow. Is Lord Matlock’s cook not feeding the two of you properly?”

“I’ve had a great deal on my mind,” his cousin admitted, fastening his bag, and his vague grey eyes not quite meeting Darcy’s. “The world is not always a pleasant place. Anyway, you are busy. I shall leave you to your correspondence and return to Matlock Castle.”

“Indeed it is not a pleasant place,” Darcy agreed. “Do give my regards to the Earl and tell your father I shall call on him this week. We can talk properly then.”

Ludlow nodded, looking less than enthusiastic at this prospect, though he explained himself in his next words.

“I should warn you that Father is far worse than the last time you saw him, Darcy. He may not recognise you. Sometimes I think he no longer knows me, although he asks for Richard often enough.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Darcy told his cousin. “I suppose there is little the physicians can do for old age.”

“No.”

The two men bowed to one another, and Darcy let his cousin take his leave without pressing him further. Life at Matlock Castle clearly was not easy at the present time.

It was possible, too, that Darcy’s own troubles were also weighing on Ludlow’s mind. The slowly swelling controversy would perhaps touch his wider relations, and Ludlow might be worried for his aging father as well as himself. There had been no hint in Ludlow’s letters to Darcy that he took the gossip so personally, but then, the two of them had never been close.

Well, there was little to be done about Ludlow’s sensitivities right now. Darcy put thoughts of his cousin aside and broke the seal on Mr Moreton’s letter. While this missive brought some fresh information, it hardly provided anything that might be classed as real news, or even insight.

Our watchers at the publisher of ‘Mrs Kettering’s London Letters’ report no entrance by persons matching your description, before or after their recent pieces which seemed to refer to your case. You may be interested to know, however, that the carriage of Lady Catherine de Bourgh was seen there on Tuesday, 4th of May, and the lady herself was witnessed entering and leaving the offices.

So, his aunt had gone to London to try and trace these rumours to their source herself, had she? That was all Darcy needed. Still, it cheered him to think of the slippery publishers of these scandal sheets on the receiving end of Lady Catherine’s wrath. Sighing, he slipped Moreton’s letter into his pocket along with the first letter and then bounded up the stairs to find Georgiana.

∞∞∞

“No, neither of us has received any letters from Hertfordshire,” Mrs Annesley confirmed, backing up what Georgiana had just told her brother at the luncheon table an hour later.

“Since you, Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst have all left Netherfield Park, there is no one in Hertfordshire to write to me,” Georgiana observed, pleased to see her older brother, as always, but puzzled by all the odd questions he had brought with him. “There is no family acquaintance in that county, is there?”

“No, only a few ancient connections of Father, whom you have never met,” Darcy confirmed.

Georgiana frowned, her brow creasing with anxiety.

“Whatever is troubling you, Fitzwilliam, it is now worrying me greatly. What letters could you possibly mean? What rumours are abroad? Has something happened, maybe with the bank, and you think to keep some crisis from me? I am sixteen years old now, Brother. Surely you might explain such things to me.”

“No, there is nothing of material concern that you should be worried about, Georgiana,” Darcy said as quickly and certainly as he could. “I only want to keep you safe.”

“Safe from what?” questioned Georgiana, bemused and unsettled despite Darcy’s attempts.

How could she not be unsettled? Darcy had been behaving oddly and mysteriously from Georgiana’s perspective for months. Telling her to ignore unspecified rumours, sending her from London to Pemberley, enquiring repeatedly after her correspondence… Even the most patient girl might eventually have enough and demand the truth.

“I think we will have to trust your brother for now,” Mrs Annesley interceded. “I am sure that Mr Darcy will tell us more when the time is right.”

“Oh, I do trust my brother, Mrs Annesley,” said Georgiana earnestly, before turning her dark head and deep blue eyes to Darcy. “You must never think that I don’t trust you, Fitzwilliam. It is only that I long to return to London. It makes me sad to miss so many of the season’s concerts. I would rather be near to you too, especially if anything is wrong.”

“I know,” Darcy acknowledged, his tone and heart heavy. “But for now, I believe you are safer at Pemberley, Georgiana. There is…a problem that I need to solve, somewhere between London and Hertfordshire. Once that is done, you may return to London, and I will be entirely at your disposal. At Pemberley, Ludlow is nearby if you need him.”

Swallowing a dejected sigh, Georgiana nodded and returned to her soup. She had always been an obedient child, and even now, usually respected Darcy’s decisions. Perhaps his fears of a challenge were premature.

Darcy was sorry to see his sister unhappy, but it could not be helped. She must be kept far beyond the reach of George Wickham, or whomever else might be targeting Darcy. He could not discount the possibility that Georgiana, or her fortune, might also be in their sights.

“I do hope Colonel Fitzwilliam is safe,” she commented. “I look forward to having him in England again. I write often, even though I know he might not get my letters or be able to answer them. I wish we had more news of his regiment.”

Darcy and Mrs Annesley both smiled and nodded their agreement with this.