Page 59 of To Love And To Cherish
“My dear cousin,” he said at last, with a half-smile, “I know your habits too well. You brood. You plan. You scheme and weigh and calculate, down to the last jot and tittle.”
Darcy arched a brow but said nothing.
Richard went on. “You will, I daresay, take another three months deciding how best to proceed, unless someone gives you a gentle shove in the right direction. Permit me to be that someone. Ask my mother to host the dinner by the end of this week.”
Darcy gave him a wary look. “So soon?”
“Yes. Meet the seven young ladies. Observe them, converse a little, just enough to form a notion. Then depart for Pemberley as planned. Over the summer and autumn, you may ponder at your leisure, let your impressions settle. Come winter, you will know which women to pursue, and which not to touch with a ten-foot pole.”
Darcy gave a quiet huff of amusement. “You make it sound so very efficient.”
Richard grinned. “It is efficient. And more to the point, it is necessary. You cannot remain in limbo forever, Will. Pemberley needs an heir, as you so solemnly declared not half an hour past.”
Darcy leaned back, eyes distant, then nodded once. “Very well. I shall speak to your mother in the morning.”
“Excellent,” Richard said, raising his glass. “To duty, then. And to not marry a harpy out of haste.”
Darcy smirked. “Or a diamond of the first water with a mind like porridge.”
“Precisely,” said Richard. “Let us hope the field is not entirely barren.”
Darcy smirked. “I shall count myself fortunate if I can but avoid women possessed of claws, horns, and teeth, all employed, it would seem, for the express purpose of tearing the spirit from a man.” He thought of Miss Bingley and gave an involuntary shudder.
Chapter 31: The Great North Road
It was a bright morning in May, the kind that carried the freshness of dew and the soft perfume of blossoms. The trees were dressed in tender new leaves, and the hedgerows were adorned with wildflowers in full bloom. Elizabeth settled into the travelling coach beside Ancilla and across from Mary, finding the day most agreeable for a long journey. The landscape, with its undulating green fields and flowering hedgerows, was beautiful to behold, though, alas, not every traveler was equally delighted.
Miss King, who had been uncommonly silent since they left the posting house at dawn, now pressed her gloved hands together in her lap and gave a tremulous sigh.
“I do not know what I shall do,” she said suddenly, her voice high and thin. “What if I do not like the man Uncle wishes me to marry?”
Elizabeth looked up from her book, eyeing her companion with a mixture of sympathy and curiosity. Mary’s fair features were drawn tight with worry, and her lips trembled as though she might cry. She had never been a girl given to deep reflection, but this, evidently, was different.
Miss Trent, ever calm, folded her hands atop her reticule. “Can you tell us about him? What is his name? His character?”
Mary blinked. “I’ve never met him. I’ve nothing to tell.”
Elizabeth, suppressing a smile, tried another tack. “Do you know his name at least? His age? What does he do for a living?”
Mary drew a deep breath, as though bracing herself to recite a particularly vexing piece of French grammar. “His name is Adam Frazier and he is nine-and-twenty.”
Her face crumpled in despair. “He is positively ancient.”
Elizabeth bit her tongue.Well,she thought wryly,at least he is not two-and-fifty, like the gentleman Mamma once considered for Jane.Out loud, she said gently, “And what does he do?”
Mary paused, fumbled in her reticule, and pulled forth a much-folded letter. “I cannot remember, but I believe Uncle Allistair wrote it here somewhere.”
She flattened the page across her skirts and scanned it. “Ah. He has, no, not a manor, a castle. He inherited it from his father four years ago, and now he must marry and produce an heir.”
Her lower lip wobbled. “What if he is very grave and sour? I do not think I could bear to speak to such a man, much less marry him and bear his children.”
Miss Trent reached across and took Mary’s hand. “Your uncle has said there is no engagement. You will meet Mr. Frazier and spend time getting to know one another. If at the end of six months you find no affection between you, the match may be refused.”
Elizabeth took Mary’s other hand. “It is only a meeting, Mary. An opportunity to make an acquaintance, not a binding contract.”
Mary sniffed and gave a faint nod.
“Do you know where in Scotland this castle is located?” Elizabeth asked.
