The Phantom of Pemberley (30 page)

He could not imagine why he tolerated James Withey. Of course, the man could be useful—useful with problems such as the one he carried over his shoulder, but truly the man was vile. James’s crude tastes—his rakehell manners—his depravity—left a foul taste in Peter’s mouth. His acquaintance with James was another of Peter’s sins to which his father would certainly object.

Hurrying through the room toward the passage’s entrance, he disappeared behind the screen. A commotion in the hallway gave him pause. When he heard Lady Catherine chastise her maid for doing her duty, Peter increased his pace, reaching for the lever and stepping back to allow the wall to swing toward him.The cold air gushed into the room, but he plunged into the icy darkness, knowing which way to turn to escape the danger of recognition. With another swoosh of air, the wall returned to its usual position—a wallpaper-trimmed panel sporting a light sconce and several brica-brac shelves holding miniature silver thimbles and ceramic pianofortes and horses—all Miss Darcy’s childhood remembrances—her virtue disguising his transgressions. Placing Lucinda’s body against one of the inside walls, he walked away toward his bedding.“Where did I leave that book I was reading? I am always losing things.”

 

Darcy returned to the ballroom to find his family and to lessen the effects of his aunt’s open censure. Mr. Worth stood speaking privately to Anne, who wept.

His partner noticed Darcy’s entrance, and her head snapped up in recognition. “My mother?” Anne’s bitterness masked her obvious tears.

“Her Ladyship decided to retire for the evening. She sends her regrets.” He tried to smile. His wife, he observed, looked like an embattled angel, her outrage barely hidden. There was a deceptive calmness about her, which worried him.

“Indeed,” Anne murmured, and Worth moved closer to her.

Darcy glanced about the room; they all waited for him to set the mood—to restore the levity of the performance. “I say we take this party to the rose sitting room. Let us celebrate your triumph tonight.We will send for tea and wine and brandy, along with some of Mrs. Jennings’s famous chocolate tarts.” He addressed a plea of cooperation to Elizabeth with his eyes.

Automatically, his wife fell into her role as the household’s mistress. “I, for one, have developed quite an appetite. Who knew the theater was such a demanding occupation?” she announced to their guests as she caught Georgiana and Lydia around their waists. “I believe I have a new respect for those who trip the boards.”

“The theater is a most demanding career.” Lord Stafford placed Miss Donnel’s arm on his own and followed Elizabeth Darcy’s group from the hall. “Come along,Worth,” he called.

Darcy moved to where he might speak to Anne privately. “I am sorry, my Dear, that I allowed Lady Catherine such latitude. I find it hard to break the habit of permitting Her Ladyship to vent. But I shall not fail you again. I have given my aunt an ultimatum—to either recognize the error of her ways or to leave Pemberley immediately. In either case, you will remain with us. I will not sanction your mother’s domination of you any longer. You are under my protection from this moment forward. I shall speak to our uncle, the earl, as soon as possible and secure his agreement.”

Anne’s fingers reached out to touch his face.“How might I ever repay you, Cousin?”

“Be happy.” He took Anne’s fingers and brought them to his lips. “Find the type of happiness I discovered as Elizabeth’s husband—know the gratification of something deeper and more meaningful than all the wealth of the land.”

“Mrs. Jenkinson said that you already loved Elizabeth that Easter when you came to Rosings and Mrs. Darcy visited the Collinses.” Anne turned to take Darcy’s proffered arm.

“Madly,” he whispered close to her ear. “Have Mrs. Darcy tell you how she refused my first proposal during that country sojourn.”

“She did not!” Anne gasped. “Elizabeth refused you?” She laughed. “The evening that Mrs. Collins begged my mother’s forgiveness for Miss Bennet’s absence—claiming the lady suffered from a headache—that is why you made an untimely departure yourself—Mother felt quite put upon by your desertion!”

“Like Mrs. Jenkinson, Her Ladyship recognized what I tried gallantly to hide. I expected Elizabeth to be aware of my consideration, and I called on the cottage that evening to plead my case. Unfortunately, I did not anticipate Elizabeth’s stubbornness or her knowledge of my involvement in separating Mr. Bingley from Jane Bennet.”

Anne caught at his arm, forcing Darcy to pause. “Tell me, you did not!”

“In all my pomposity, I committed the ultimate of sins,” he confessed.

“And Mrs. Darcy turned you away?” Anne queried.

“She said I behaved in a most ungentlemanly manner,” he chuckled.“Quite astute—my wife. She declared most emphatically that I was the last man in the world upon whom she could ever be prevailed to marry. Gave me my comeuppance.”

Anne giggled, amused by the image of a distraught Darcy. “I would say the lady taught you humility, Cousin.”

“Humility and love,” he admitted “But do not breathe a word of this to anyone else,” he warned.

“I understand, Cousin.You have an image to maintain.”

“I only tell you now, my Dear, as a lesson in what life may hand you. Do not let a seeming defeat be the end of what you know is important—what you need to survive.The worst you will suffer is a bruised ego.”

“YOU WERE MAGNIFICENT,” Darcy murmured close to Elizabeth’s ear.

Worry still playing across her face, she glanced up at him. “Thank you, my Husband.”

“You are not to blame.” He placed Elizabeth’s hand on his arm. “I was never prouder of you,” he continued. “Georgiana’s eyes said it all, Elizabeth. She is alive again, willing to face censure, while taking the high road in each of her dealings. That is because of you.” She started to object, but he shook his head. “Yes, because of you, Elizabeth, Georgiana has a safe port. After the incident with Mr. Wickham, my sister clung to me with all her might for a time—like a small child afraid of the monsters under her bed. But with you, Georgiana has learned a resolve—a willingness to try new things.”

“Even when I insist on dressing her in male attire? You say such despite my poor behavior?” Elizabeth’s eyes remained downcast in embarrassment.

Darcy maneuvered her out of the earshot of the others. “Elizabeth Darcy, you are spontaneous and sometimes impulsive, but you are never without a heart. Anything you do is done with enthusiasm and with great generosity. Those are the characteristics you taught my sister—and your own—today. I can offer you no disapproval.” He leaned close again. “Besides, I found the sight of your buttocks, accentuated by the breeches you wore, quite fetching.”

“Mr. Darcy!” She blushed, but obviously pleased by his words. “You are a scoundrel.”

“Only where you are concerned, my Love.” He breathed the words into her hair, his lips barely moving as he exhaled his want.

Before Elizabeth could answer, Mr. Baldwin interrupted. “Mr. Darcy,” the butler spoke softly, “there is a gentleman who requests your attendance, sir.”

“At this hour?” Darcy wondered how anyone might travel the roads under the current conditions.

Mr. Baldwin edged a bit closer. “Shall I send the gentleman away, sir?”

“Do we know the man’s identity?” Darcy’s gaze took in the whole room, noting the gaiety of the participants after an invigorating performance. Even Lady Catherine’s verbal attack had not dampened their spirits. It pleased him to see the trials of the previous days set aside for camaraderie.

The butler slipped a calling card into Darcy’s palm.“I thought it best not to draw attention to the man’s presence under the circumstances, sir, by serving the card on a salver.” Baldwin’s eyes rested on Worth and Anne as they laughed comfortably with Lydia Wickham.

As unobtrusively as possible, Darcy read the card. “Mother Mary,” he groaned. He turned to block the others’ views while he passed the card to Elizabeth.

“Darcy!” she gasped.

He caught her hand in his before turning his attention to his servant. “Place the gentleman in my study, Mr. Baldwin.”

“Yes, Mr. Darcy.”

With the man’s exit, Elizabeth hissed, “What should we do?”

“See if you cannot convince everyone to retire for the night. I will see what our visitor wants.”

“Do you expect to keep the gentleman from seeing anyone this evening?” She touched his arm in concern.

Darcy nodded his agreement.“I would ascertain the man’s motives. If possible, I will postpone his reunion until tomorrow, giving you and me time to discuss what we should choose to do next.”

He left her then, excusing himself to the others by saying that he would see to the house’s closure for the night. “It was a most
delightful evening. I wish to thank the talented actors and the appreciative audience.” He bowed to the room and made his way to his study. What must he do now? Just when he had thought the chaos of the past few days had turned to the positive, a man who could upset the apple cart had arrived on the doorstep. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hand upon the latch and opened the door to his next catastrophe.

 

James Withey found the woman’s body lying carelessly against the secret door to Georgiana Darcy’s room.“Another mess for my special touch,” he grumbled as he lifted the Pemberley maid to his shoulder. “His Lordship’s young vengeance is my dirty work.” He clasped the deadweight to him and picked up the lantern he had taken from the stable.

Then he made the descent to the tunnel leading to the open field south of the main house, along the turnpike road. The fertile Peak District land surrounding the Darcy holdings left the steps damp from seeping groundwater. He guarded his footfalls, the moisture and mold making each bricked landing and each set of wooden steps dangerously slippery, but he knew these tunnels like the back of his hand. As a child, he often hid here when he should have been attending to his studies. It was Pemberley’s maze that had taught him that he was a creature of the night. In these passageways, he played pirate and highwayman. He had seduced his first conquest in one of the lowest levels, a girl too afraid of spiders and the possibility of snakes to go more than a hundred feet into the tunnel.

Now, he traversed the area to rid Peter Whittington of his latest mistake.The man—a boy, really—pretended to have impeccable manners, but in James’s estimation, all the man-child truly possessed was a nasty temper and a skewed sense of morality. “Needs a good tumble in the sack,” he said aloud as he pushed aside the boarded-up opening, hidden quite effectively by a natural waterfall, now frozen solid, of course. He moved along the rock face and into the open.

A nearby copse of trees was his destination—the woman’s weight and the deep snow combined to slow his progress. He posed
Lucinda against a tree. Both he and MacIves had flirted with the girl when they had openly moved about Darcy’s house. James even thought about taking his pleasure with her. “His God Almighty Lordship should have lost himself in the heat of your sweetness, my pretty, instead of crushing your lovely neck.” He reached into his pocket, brought out the silk stocking left from Peter’s foray into Mrs.Wickham’s room, and tied it tightly around the woman’s neck. “Rest well, sweet Lucy,” he said as he kissed each of her eyelids. Slowly, he rose and returned to the passage. “A few more days,” he murmured, noticing the melting snow and the accumulating slush in the crevices and ditches.“A few more days and this will be over.”

 

“How might I serve you, sir?” Darcy swung the door to his study wide and strode confidently into the room.

The man scrambled to his feet and offered a bow. “Mr. Darcy, I am pleased to have your acquaintance at last.” He offered his hand in greeting.

Darcy took it briefly and then gestured for the man to return to his chair. “It is rather late for a social call, sir, and I am surprised to receive anyone under the current weather conditions. I was unaware that travel was possible.”

“You know of me, Mr. Darcy?” the visitor asked cautiously.

“You have presented your card, sir, so I am aware of your name. If you ask if I am familiar with your relationship with other members of my family, I assure you, Lieutenant, there is little that transpires in the Fitzwilliam family of which I am uninformed.” Darcy sat back in his chair and tried to appear relaxed and in control.

The lieutenant took pleasure in observing Mr. Darcy. The man held a reputation as a shrewd negotiator. Harwood had spent the better part of a week learning everything possible of Darcy before he had appeared on the man’s doorstep.“Then I am to assume, Mr. Darcy, that my intended has taken refuge at Pemberley?”

Darcy’s stomach tightened. “Your intended, Lieutenant? Am I to offer my good wishes?”

“Is Anne here?” Harwood ignored Darcy’s attempt at changing the subject. “I traced Her Ladyship’s carriage to the area before I recalled your connection to the de Bourghs. I prayed Anne sought safety from the storm in your home.”