Page 59 of Mr. Darcy’s Diamonds

Darcy sat up and looked at Richard for a moment, seeing the concern all over his face. He sighed heavily, tipped his head back and slumped lower in his soft leather chair.

“What is it?” his cousin asked gently.

“Nothing. I merely have no wish to be in London at present.”

“So, it is not only overwhelming responsibilities at Pemberley that have you so sullen?”

Darcy huffed out a bitter laugh. “Responsibilities never end, but I have them fairly well managed by now.”

“Then why do you avoid town? You seem almost like…do you remember the last time I saw you, last year, you were in the sulks over some girl?”

Darcy coughed on nothing and could not stop, sitting up straight to catch his breath. Richard brought him a drink.

“So, it is another woman.”

“No.”

“I am sure of it.”

“Well, you are wrong. It is not another woman.”

“No! Darce! It is the same woman? You told me nothing before—and we will discuss later why it is acceptable for you but not me to hold secrets—but now you must share. I have to know why my favorite cousin who is practically a brother must avoid the whole of London for one single woman…for years!”

“I have not avoided London for years. I have been here many times in the past few years. In case you did not notice, we are in London at this moment.”

“Come on, Darcy. Tell me about her. Who is she?”

He proceeded to tell his cousin of the almost-sixteen-year-old girl he had met more than two years earlier and how he had thought of her only as a child and Georgiana’s friend, though she was accomplished and intelligent even then and was now undeniably beautiful.

“Darcy, have you forgotten how old our own mothers were when they married?”

“Of course not, and that is the point,” he countered.

“What do you mean? Your mother was barely seventeen on her wedding day. Mine was eighteen, but she and my father had been betrothed for nearly two years.”

“And were those love matches? Did our mothers have a choice in the matter?” Darcy demanded.

“Hmm. So, it is not that you think this girl too young to marry but too young to know her own mind.”

Darcy's lips twitched. “She knows her own mind.”

“Then what is the issue?”

Darcy sighed. “It was her age at first, I concede. She has been eighteen for two months, however.”

“Old enough for you, then?” Richard asked drily.

“She was nearly old enough when I danced with her last year, but that is not the sole issue.”

Richard’s eyes widened. “It cannot be that she does not like you, so it must be a lack of fortune?”

“I have reconciled myself to that, as well. She has no fortune, no connections.”

“Unfortunate, but you have connections aplenty in my family.” Richard grinned.

“Indeed. But it is your family I worry about. Would your parents accept a niece who is not a diamond of the first order?”

“A dairymaid, then? No—a governess! No, too young…I have it, she is a tenant farmer's daughter. But then, how would you meet her in London?” Richard tapped his chin with his forefinger but looked at Darcy's expression and ceased his ribbing. “Oh no. Which is it?”