Page 40 of An Accidental Meeting
“Thank you, Mrs. Reynolds,” he said. “Have one of the senior footmen carry the other pieces to my study. I shall put them in the larger safe for now.” He picked up the piece he had already broken apart. “I will take this one with me. And please, not aword to anyone, no more than they already know. I would not like there to be gossip about hidden gold in Pemberley’s halls.”
The housekeeper nodded. “I shall not have anyone damaging the house on a treasure hunt, sir. You may depend on me.”
“Well do I know it,” Darcy replied. “That is why you must rest and heal. Light duty only tomorrow, and only if Mr. Hammond allows it.”
Mrs. Reynolds nodded placatingly. “I promise that he will allow it, sir.”
Darcy shook his head, resigned. “Very well.”
Chapter Eleven
Elizabeth stood, hands on her hips, as she surveyed the small bouquet that had appeared on the table near her bed sometime during the day. She tipped her head to one side, but that did not improve the view. The collection was oddly formed, the leaves had not been picked off below the water line, and when she lifted them from their small vase, she found that the stems had been cut straight across the bottom rather than diagonally.
It put her in mind of a handful of flowers her Gardiner cousins might have brought in from the garden.
“My goodness,” Aunt Gardiner said from behind her and placed a hand on Elizabeth’s arm. “What are these?”
“The funniest little bunch of flowers I think I have ever seen,” Elizabeth replied. “Even Emily does better. Do you suppose there is a little girl in the house?”
“Little boy, more like,” Aunt Gardiner said teasingly.
Elizabeth pondered that for a moment and then gasped. Had Mr. Darcy—who Elizabeth expected was as little accustomed tocutting flowers as her young cousins were, possibly less—had he cut these for her?
That put rather a different light on things. Elizabeth touched the blossoms. Perhaps she might request a pair of shears and recut the stems so they lasted longer. She caught her lower lip between her teeth. No, perhaps not. She would not wish word to reach Mr. Darcy about it. He would think she did not appreciate his gift.
If it was him. “Do you really think . . .?”
“I should hope it was not one of the gardeners or maids, for if it was, they ought to be placed in another position.”
Elizabeth held the flowers close to her chest for just a moment before placing them back in the water as she imagined Mr. Darcy walking out to the garden with a basket and a pair of shears. She laughed to herself. Surely he would have left the basket behind.
Ah, well. She could always press the flowers as a keepsake when they began to drop their petals. She touched the red rose at the centre of the blooms and the yellow ribbon that held them together.
“The colours are pretty,” she said. In fact, the entire bouquet was rather more charming than she had at first believed.
Aunt Gardiner kissed her cheek. “They are indeed, but we must be wanted downstairs by now.”
Elizabeth had dressed earlier and then lost track of time. She glanced at a half-written letter to Jane that remained on her desk and felt guilty for not completing it. But what was she to say? Would it pain her eldest sister to know that Mr. Bingley was here and asking after her?
“Yes, of course.” She hurried to the glass to check her appearance and saw her aunt in its reflection, smiling.
They met Uncle Gardiner in the hall, where he offered and the other to Elizabeth. “I shall be the envy of all, entering with two such visions of beauty.”
Elizabeth laughed. “I never knew you were such a flatterer, Uncle.”
“Perhaps my surroundings have inspired me,” he said, and lifted his wife’s hand to his lips for a brief kiss.
“My goodness,” Aunt Gardiner said. “I shall have to be sure you find time to fish more often.”
He only smiled and shook his head. “Mr. Darcy’s trout stream is outstanding. I doubt I should have the same luck elsewhere.”
“Did anyone else catch as many fish, sir?” Elizabeth inquired.
“No, I do not believe so.”
“Then your luck, as you call it, must owe itself at least partly to your superior skill.”
“I believe you must be right, Lizzy,” he told her with a grin. “You have become a flatterer too. The difference is that I do not mind it.”
