Page 86 of Till Death Us Do Part: Book 2
He found himself cut off by Caroline Baker. “Pray, stop there. I will be the very first to admit that you treated your wife horribly, your family was worse, her family even worse, and mine was not noticeably better—”
Darcy nodded. “You will get no argument from me.”
She nodded and made sure he was paying rapt attention. “Having said that, I have known you longer than anyone here, and my brother knew you even longer. I have never had any sign that you were dishonourable—never. If you give me your word, I will accept it, but—”
Darcy said, “You need not say the ‘but’ explicitly. You are fierce in your defence, and I know what can be done with rumours and innuendo. You have as much of a hold over me as I have over all you. Something as simple as telling the absolute full and unvarnished truth to one of the patronesses of Almack’s would taint the Darcy name for a generation or two.”
Caroline smiled. “We understand each other. May we just say that everyone in this room could make life miserable for everyone else, but none of us ever will, no matter theprovocation. We are all engaged in a sort of mutual defence pact.”
Amanda laughed. “Too many military history books, Caroline.”
The women laughed, and Darcy was happy to see the easy camaraderie. He curiously asked, “Forgive me if I speculate beyond the remit, Mrs Baker, but I think you found your calling.”
She blushed, looked at her husband, and took his hand. “I have. I am so glad I never managed to catch you back in Hertfordshire. It would have been the end of my soul.”
Nobody knew exactly how to answer that, so Molly reached her hand into the centre of the table. “Mutual defence! We are more like a family than anything else now. Will you join us, Mr Darcy?”
Darcy put his hand in on top of hers, and everyone else followed, saying, “Family,” like a toast.
Everyone leaned back, and some scraping of chairs and reshuffling of people on sofas resulted in all three couples sitting as close to their spouses as possible, and not entirely according to the rules of propriety, each taking hands or arms, and a bit of kissing of hands may have occurred.
After a few moments of contented silence, Amanda took a deep breath and looked around the room.
“I do hate to be macabre, but I believe we have to kill Amanda.”
Everyone sucked in a deep breath, so she continued, “I know, I know. We do not actually have to kill her dead-dead. We just need to remove her from England. Perhaps she could go to America, marry a frontiersman, conquer the frontier or something.”
Everyone had a good laugh at that, since it was clear Amanda Thorne could not actually exist without a good bookshop withinwalking distance, and that hardly seemed an accommodation the rugged west was likely to provide.
Caroline said, “It all makes sense, in a way. If you do not restore Elizabeth Darcy, you would be forever cut off from your sisters, whether they deserve to be contacted again or not, which is bad; or your parents, which I assume you can take or leave. It is one thing to voluntarily separate yourself, but quite another to forever remove thepossibilityof reconciliation. I can tell you from experience—”
Everyone gave her their full attention, unwilling to interrupt.
With a sigh, she continued, “No matter how angry you might get with your family, and no matter how much they may or may not deserve that anger—it is better to have at least the chance to make things, if not right, at least less wrong. Amanda Thorne cannot do that, but Elizabeth Darcy can. She has the power ofchoice.”
Darcy said, “I concur. It is difficult but possible to explain the years apart. We can just make up five different far-fetched stories and tell each one to a prolific gossip or two. They will cancel each other out.”
Elizabeth said, “Even if not, the penalty for a bad reputation would amount to being cut from theton. I should as likely consider that a benefit as a drawback.”
Everyone laughed, but nobody contradicted her. After some time in the wider world, none of them thought the artificial world of puffed-up dandies and cutthroat ladies that made up London society would be much of a loss. Of course, it was not an issue for two of the couples, since they would never be admitted anyway, unless Darcy got clever somehow. It was still at least fifteen years before any of them would have to worry about it with the next generation, and Elizabeth thought she could forego society entirely.
Darcy said, “We have much to discuss, but may I suggest the outline of a plan? As I understand it, all of you have shares in this store. I propose we form some sort of venture between the three families. I mentioned a new structure called a corporation that the Americans are mad for. It is a way to have an entity with limited liability that can have multiple owners. People buy and sell shares in them, so you are not locked together at the hip forever. The corporation can also borrow money, enter agreements and the like. We could form one that could own the store, but it might be better to make it far more ambitious.”
Everyone looked confused, so Darcy said, “Elizabeth and I discussed some ideas last night. The world is changing, and we want to be the leaders of the new world, not the last rats on the sinking ship of the old. I propose we combine our forces. We are all smart, resilient, and trustworthy. We have a good collection of skills, so let us form a venture that does somethingnew. I have no idea what it might be. Some say steam will revolutionise the world. It may be that, or new machines, or trade routes, or just about anything. Let us pick something and do it. Between my money and your brains, we will have a venture that can be available forallour descendants, not just the first sons. All our children and grandchildren will have the chance to be leaders, which they may take or leave according to their own ambitions.”
Everyone looked a bit stunned. To have a scion of one of the oldest and richest families in England proposing he seriously and voluntarilyenter tradeseemed impossible, but it made perfect logical sense if they were all willing to forego high society, or more likely, bend high society to their will.
Elizabeth said, “What about if we use this idea of the Americas, somehow. We may even want to invest there, though I have no idea if that concept is good, bad, or indifferent. Suppose I was rescued by a clipper ship and stuck in America or the Indies. The timing will not make any sense, but we can finessethat. If Fitzwilliam and I leave for America straightaway, and he rescues me there, it might explain everything. Maybe I got typhus from him at our wedding. It was a distinct possibility if we had not delayed our wedding night by five years.”
Darcy nodded. “The six months before you left would not make sense, but we can work something out.”
Elizabeth leaned forward. “Remember, the big lie is easier to believe than the small one. As much as I abhor deception, I have been practising it a long time, and for my family, I will do what is needed.”
Everyone said, “Hear, hear!” in clear agreement.
Amanda and Molly went to a sideboard, poured six small glasses of port (naturally), and returned to the group to toast the new scheme.
As they held their glasses aloft, Noah Hervey got a mischievous gleam in his eye. He held his glass aloft and proclaimed, “Amanda is dead. Long live Elizabeth.”
