Page 25 of Fortuitous Encounters

He gave a slight grin, but his expression quickly sobered. “Things are progressing much faster than I hoped. I hate to rush, but needs must, and decisions need to be made.”

“Whatever the rush, you may slow down and explain it succinctly, I am certain.”

She took his shoulder and guided him to a chair to remove any sting, then sat down across from him. The room was tiny, so their knees practically touched, but she was in no mood to go to the parlour, order tea, or any other such nonsense.

“I have several items to discuss,” Darcy began. “I shall begin with good news. Bingley and Jane are engaged, the marriage contracts are signed, and he has procured a common license.”

Elizabeth jumped up, danced around his chair, and very boldly kissed him on the cheek.

“Oh, I am so happy! How did they get the contract signed amongst all the chaos of… this?”

“She is of age, so she did not need your father’s signature at all. She could have signed it herself, but given—”

“Given the chaos of the past month, she wanted to preserve appearances.”

He chuckled. “I believe so. He did not even read it, let alone negotiate. He just signed every place Bingley pointed to.”

One more disappointment in her father washed over her, but by then she had lost all respect anyway, so it hardly mattered.

“Jane is lucky,” she said, trying to hide her bitterness, especially since there was a better than even chance she would not be able to attend her sister’s wedding.

“So is Bingley,” Darcy said gently, which earned him a rueful smile.

“Were you present for all this?”

“Yes, I went with Bingley to get the papers signed. Obviously, there were other parts of an engagement where the less you know the better.”

Elizabeth burst out laughing. She was so happy! She fancied that Mr Darcy would set her up somewhere in a shop, and she would be perfectly content—especially if Jane came along to visit her occasionally. She suspected that, once she was out of her father’s authority when she turned one and twenty, Jane would no doubt offer to house her, but she did not like the idea of being a dependent hanger-on.

Such happy thoughts disappeared when Mr Darcy’s countenance turned grim.

“Give me the bad news, if you would.”

“Your father decided to force the issue. To my surprise, he hired some runners to look for you. They eventually concluded you never left Meryton, so he thinks you are hiding on one of the estates.”

“It was only a matter of time until he searched here, I suppose. I will just leave sooner rather than later. To be honest, the only reason I am still here is to see what is happening.”

“No other reason?”

A blush rose to her cheeks. “I enjoy your visits. I never had an intelligent male friend before; it is… nice… so very nice.”

She expected that to make him happy enough to reward her with one of his subtle grins, but it just made him look thoughtful.

“Mr Bennet has forced our hands. Mr Collins will arrive tomorrow, and he plans to call the banns without your presence on Sunday. Your father was more diligent than I gave him credit for. He has men on every route out of the area and is convinced you cannot escape the net.”

Elizabeth gasped but decided to put away her childish things and think.

“That must cost a fortune!”

“Not really. Old soldiers are two a penny, especially those that are invalided out but still have eyes and ears. With some menacing men, it is easy enough to look in every conveyance of any kind, and anyone who refuses the inspection will be very suspicious.”

She sighed. “Too late now, but I wish he had discovered industry earlier.”

Darcy grimaced but let it stand.

Elizabeth was still not overly worried. They could have ten men on each road, but they had no idea they were dealing with Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley, who did not like to be thwarted. She strongly suspected she would travel out of town in his coach, dressed as a maid or hidden in a large trunk within the week. She might even accompany the Herberts with none the wiser.

They were back sitting knee-to-knee, so Darcy reached across and took both hands. He was just offering comfort as any good friend should, and she had to ruefully admit it felt good—exceptionally good.