Page 18 of Pride, Prejudice, & Pretense

"That's a few lines of it, although not perhaps the most famous ones."

He stood silently, thinking. "I like that. A librarian with a ready quotation. Sandburg must be too American for us to be exposed to him in England. But I like that. '...Lifted head singing so proud…and coarse and strong and cunning.'"

Lizzy smiled, but the words about the gunman lingered with her. She needed to remember who she was facing. The danger.

Darcy reappeared then. She saw him halfway across the room, making his way to her, staring at her and Wickham.

"Oh, there's Ned!" She waved, and Darcy waved back.

Wickham took his leave of her and was gone before Darcy reached them. Once near enough to do so, Darcy took her hand as they watched Wickham move away. Then he steered them both into an empty corner of the room.

"So?"

"He's definitely interested. I think that conversation was testing, toe-in-the-water."

He nodded, his jaw clenched. "Lady Catherine cannot pace herself. She all but propositioned me when we stepped off the porch to see some of the garden."

"The garden?"

"Yes, she's very proud of her garden."

"I bet," she said, not intending to sound testy but doing so.

Darcy looked at her. "I was able to fend her off, basically by playing dumb, as if I didn't quite understand or quite believe what she wanted. Luckily, a tipsy, disheveled couple emerged from the very bushes Lady Catherine was walking me toward. I used the interruption as an excuse to escape, to come back to you."

"I met the gardener's priest." Lizzy offered.

"Priest?"

She craned her head and looked around. She was unsure if Father Robyn had left or if he was obscured by the crowd. "He was here. His name is Robyn Collingwood."

Darcy's eyes widened. "What?"

"Do you know him?"

"No, but there was a philosopher at Oxford, philosopher-famous, who was named R. G. Collingwood. Robin George."

"Odd. This man was an American Episcopal priest. And he's 'Robyn'…with a 'y.’"

He shook his head. "I knew she gave money to the church. I didn't know she hobnobbed with a priest. Do you think they…?"

"I doubt it. Wickham knew him, spoke to him. After he left, Wickham told me he’s gay."

"Do you agree?"

Lizzy pondered the question and then nodded. "Yes, I do. I also get the feeling that those two don't care for each other."

"Let's circulate a little more but as a couple," Darcy suggested. "Then, let's get out of here—before we get trapped into listening toIntimate Letters."

***

Later, the couple arrived back at Fanny's apartment building. The CIA employee at the security desk had a package for Fanny and gave it to her as she and Darcy crossed the lobby. When they were on the elevator, she held it up.

"From Bingley,” Darcy said. “It should be a computer and a phone for Fanny."

When they got into the apartment, Lizzy went into the bedroom and changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. She padded out barefoot to find Darcy with the computer set up on the marble counter and a phone beside it. He was seated on a stool and motioned for her to sit beside him.

After she did, he touched a button on the computer screen, and Charlie was looking at them from it. "Hey Lizzy, how was the party? Darcy said it went according to plan."

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