Mr. Darcy, she decided, reserved his awe for more important matters than the king of Thurnia. He might feel genuine enthusiasm for a well–written lease, or a properly draining field, or a cravat that lay to his satisfaction at the first attempt.
“Pray be seated, Sir Reginald,” Mrs. Hobart said, moving a little aside so that he might approach the fire. Sir Reginald checked to be certain they were alone before he sat. When he then spoke in little more than a whisper of the king and of Their Majesties’ eagerness to receive their granddaughter, the gentleman’s gaze did not grow warmer. It grew keener.
“His Majesty is in residence at the capital at present?” Mr. Darcy asked.
“He is.” Sir Reginald lifted his glass. “The court returned there in December, and he has been unwell.”
Elizabeth felt her heart beat a little harder. Wasthisthe reason for her summons?
The envoy did not elaborate, but asked instead, “You know something of Thurnia, Mr. Darcy?”
“I have had the honour of knowing His Highness Prince Adrian for some years,” Darcy replied. “We were at Cambridge together.”
“Ah!” Sir Reginald seemed pleased. “Then you will understand that His Highness has no higher wish than to introduce his cousin to the kingdom that ought always to have known her.”
Elizabeth did not look at Mr. Darcy. She did not wish to see again the expression he wore whenever Thurnia was mentioned.
“And you have travelled from the capital alone?” Mr. Darcy asked, in the same even tone. “You have no Thurnian servants with you?”
“I have hired men along the way,” Sir Reginald answered lightly. “It is more convenient. Local fellows know the roads, and the inns. There is no need to drag half a palace staff across Europe merely to fetch one young lady, particularly when it was not clear she would accept.”
Elizabeth thought of the men in the hollow, their pistols, the way they had asked for a princess as if they expected her. A shiver ran the length of her spine.
Mr. Darcy’s hand curled into a fist at his side, but his voice remained level and coolly polite. “You have found such men trustworthy?”
“I have found them useful,” Sir Reginald said. “And should any prove otherwise, I am not without means to deal with them.”
Elizabeth could not tell whether that reassured or troubled her. She looked to Mr. Darcy. His face had not altered, yet she sensed a tension behind the composure, as if some inward knot was drawing itself tighter and tighter.
“I have been most excellently protected,” she declared, with a significant glance at Mr. Darcy.
“I did as much as I was able, but I could not protect you as well as Sir Reginald might have done,” Mrs. Hobart protested.
The woman had not yet accepted the fact that her own behaviour had almost certainly been the cause of their ambush. It was like speaking into the wind.
Mr. Darcy’s gaze moved to Mrs. Hobart for a moment, as though he was adding this remark to a list he had compiled, and then flicked back to Sir Reginald.
It was all most inconveniently intriguing.
The matter of who was to escort her to London did not arise at once. Sir Reginald must wash, Mrs. Hobart must express her feelings upon his journey in every possible combination of words, and the inn must produce such a supper as could be coaxed from a kitchen that had not expected to serve food to a guest who appeared so late.
Elizabeth did not eat much. Her head ached with the conflict simmering between everyone in the room. It was therefore a relief when Sir Reginald, having finished his wine, drew out his watch and spoke of the morrow.
“We must be upon the road as early as possible,” he said. “I shall give orders for my carriage at dawn. Mrs. Hobart, you and Miss Bennet will of course accompany me.”
He spoke across Elizabeth as if she were one of the trunks that would also, naturally, be carried along.
Mrs. Hobart glowed. “Of course, Sir Reginald. I shall see that we are prepared.”
Mr. Darcy set down his own glass with care. “You will find,” he said, “that my carriage and servants are already engaged for that purpose. We are bound for London as well. The roads are poor, and we have the advantage of a party already formed and accustomed to travelling together.”
Sir Reginald remained coolly polite. “I would not for the world deprive you of the pleasure of Miss Bennet’s company, sir, but you must see that now I am here, the charge is mine. My orders come from her grandfather, and it would be irregular to entrust her journey to any other.”
Elizabeth, who had been looking from one to the other, became aware of a familiar sensation: that of being a passenger whose destination was important, but whose opinions were not. The two gentlemen spoke with perfect civility and perfect determination, like two chess players who each insisted that the same piece already belonged to his side of the board.
Mr. Darcy remained imperturbable. “Irregular, perhaps, but hardly unsafe. Miss Bennet has already met with one attack upon the road. I should be unwilling to see her venture forth with a reduced escort. My men know the horses and the route. We are already engaged to see her into the care of her family. You may follow in your conveyance to be certain all is proper.”
Sir Reginald’s mouth thinned. “My dear Mr. Darcy, I assure you that I have every expectation that the king’s own people will meet us beyond the first stages. I have secured another carriage here to take us on. There is no need for you to further delay your own journey. You have done more than enough.”