Page 46 of The Secret Diary of Anne de Bourgh

“From my father. Forgive me, Annie. What were you saying?”

He broke the seal as he spoke, and I was considering whether I dared begin again when his attention suddenly fixed upon the page.

I watched the pleasant expression leave his face.

“Damnation…”

He stopped himself, but the anger in that single word frightened me.

“Richard? What is wrong?”

He read to the bottom of the page before answering, and his voice was almost a growl. He looked angry, almost as angry as he had looked at Rosings that day when I finally gathered the courage to beg for his help.

“James does not know when he should stay out of things!” he snapped.

“James?” I was all confusion. “I thought he was to remain in Scotland for the summer?”

Richard reached for his cane and rose. He did so rather too quickly, for I saw him pause and settle his weight carefully before moving towards the door.

“I must speak to Darcy.”

I followed him, quite alarmed. My first thought had been that something was wrong with my uncle, but this plainly concerned James, and I could not imagine what he might have done in Scotland to provoke such a reaction.

Darcy was in his study. He looked up as Richard entered, then at me coming behind him, and the expression on Richard’s face evidently spoke for itself.

“What has happened?” Darcy asked, coming to his feet.

Richard held out the letter. “James has been to see our aunt.”

For a moment I did not understand. Then I felt cold.

Darcy took the letter and began to read. Richard did not ask me to leave. He drew a chair away from the desk so that I might sit, then remained standing beside it while Darcy examined the page.

“Lady Catherine?” I asked, though there could be no doubt whom he meant.

“Yes,” Richard said.

“Why?”

“Apparently he wished to judge her circumstances for himself.”

There was something in Richard’s voice which made me reluctant to ask another question. I sat down and waited.

Darcy finished reading, then went back to the beginning. “He has written to your father demanding that the arrangements be reconsidered.” Darcy sounded quite incredulous.

“Precisely.”

“But my uncle will not…” I stopped. I could not quite bring myself to ask whether Lady Catherine might be allowed to return to Rosings.

“No,” Richard said at once. “My father has not agreed to anything of the sort. And will not, I assure you.”

Darcy put the letter down on the desk, reaching up and pinching the bridge of his nose between finger and thumb.

“James writes that she speaks reasonably, understands her situation and complains of having been treated unjustly. He appears to consider this sufficient reason to question the necessity of her confinement.”

“She always could speak reasonably when it suited her,” I said.

Both gentlemen looked at me.