Chapter 2

Two

G eorge Darcy walked into the club, going directly towards the place where he knew he would find his friend. As expected, Viscount Saye was at his table, newspapers tossed about him.

"There he is!" Saye's voice was hearty, ringing out across the room as Darcy approached. "Come and sit. I had all but given you up for dead."

Darcy sat down, already feeling his melancholy begin to dissipate. "I might have wished for it once or twice in these days past, but no, here I am." He asked for a glass of port from one of the servants walking by the table.

"Wished for death and hid yourself away while Miss Parham is out driving in Hyde Park with that dandy Wrexley? He will serve her nothing but misery." Saye shook his head. "We have a story at hand and one I am eager to hear."

The port arrived, and the servant was wise enough to bring two. With no further delay, Darcy told all, from his enceinte mistress to his failed proposal to Miss Parham, the woman he had loved. Saye winced, much in charity with his despondent friend. Darcy was grateful to him for holding his censure.

"Let me begin with the difficult question," Saye said at last. "Regarding Juliet—are you certain the child is yours?"

From any other man, Darcy would have taken the question as an insult, but he knew Saye, as ever, sought only the practical sides of things.

"Of course not. Under the terms of our arrangement, she is not meant to…to befriend other men. That said, I would be an utter fool to think she has never dallied. When I am in the country, I do not see her for months. Still, how can one know? In any case, she is under my protection, and I will not turn my back on her."

Saye's eyes narrowed and he frowned. "Surely, you would not consider marrying her?"

"Lord, no! My father would disown me immediately! No, that did not cross my mind, I assure you."

Saye leant back. "So, what went amiss in your proposal then? I should have believed Miss Parham to be awaiting your addresses. You have not been hidden in your wishes."

"What went amiss in my proposal was my desire for candour." Darcy shook his head and wished he had more port. "How long have you known me, Saye? Disguise of every sort is my abhorrence. I could not make a vow of love to her with her unknowing of what has come before and what, or rather who, will come soon."

"Excuse me. You do not mean to say you told her about Juliet? "

"Yes, of course I did." Darcy hung his head. "She said I had humiliated her grievously and that she would never forgive me."

After a pause, Saye uttered a bark of laughter that sounded more disbelieving than mirthful. "For future reference, I would omit talk of mistresses when proposing to a lady. Nevertheless, that alone was sufficient for her to refuse you? Everyone has a mistress, or at least everyone who can afford one does. The ones who do not, frequent the brothels. Which is worse?"

"Everyone might have a mistress, but not everyone has a by-blow," Darcy replied gloomily. "Elizabeth Parham was positively enraged by the very idea and vowed to despise me for the rest of my days."

"‘Heav'n has no rage, like love to hatred turn'd nor Hell a fury like a woman scorn'd'." Saye quoted Congreve softly, then sat back, shaking his head. "It might seem all is lost now…and perhaps with Miss Parham, it is. You will meet another, and you will find happiness. All will work for good. I am certain of it."

He paused a moment as a servant came with more drinks. When the man had gone, Saye said with studied nonchalance, "Have I told you that someone has offered for Catherine?"

"Lady Catherine is engaged?" Darcy's eyebrows flew nearly to his hairline. Saye's sister was tolerably handsome and had the fortune one would expect from a daughter of Matlock, but she was certainly no one he would wish to marry. "Is it a good match?"

Saye shrugged. "With her temper, I would have said a man who lacks hearing would likely have been the ideal match, but he will do. Sir Lewis de Bourgh, a baronet, has a good fortune, several properties, and a family estate in Kent called Rosings Park, reportedly a very beautiful place."

"Kent? That is a long way from Derbyshire."

Saye failed to smother his grin. "So it is. We shall see her in London, I daresay, at least until Sir Lewis gets a few brats on her."

Darcy chuckled. "Well, good for her then…and Sir Lewis."

Saye raised his port. "To Sir Lewis and his very obliging nature."

Both men drank. When Saye lowered his glass onto the table again, he gave his friend a penetrating look. "Catherine's match may be good for you as well."

"For me? How can it affect me?"

"Catherine does not wish to wait to marry after the Season, so Sir Lewis is obtaining a special licence, and they will marry this month. And with her elder sister out of the way, Anne can come out."

" This Season?"

"The dressmakers are already furiously busy at work," Saye replied. He leant back, grinning at his friend. "I believe you enjoyed Anne's company the last time you visited us at Matlock, did you not?"

"I did," Darcy confessed, feeling his spirits lift just slightly. "Alas, my past will come with me. I wonder you would even wish to forward me to your sister."

Saye waved his hand as if to bat such a notion away. "Stop being such a methodist. What is done is done. I do not despise you for it, and neither will Anne. She is a reasonable girl, not inclined to undue emotion. I believe you will find in her an understanding spirit."

He then frowned and wagged his finger. "But I warn you now—I will not encourage your suit if you go about speaking of mistresses and by-blows! Honesty is one thing, shocking the feminine sensibility of my sister is quite another. Let this be the absolute end of the matter with Juliet. You can begin again with Anne—a fresh start, if you will. I insist upon it."

Darcy sat back, feeling the weight of dismay fall from his shoulders. To be married to a daughter of the Earl of Matlock would be an honour for the Darcy name. He was his parent's eldest son, the heir to Pemberley. It was to him to raise them up. In his recent dark hours, he had quite feared that disgrace would be his legacy. But now! Saye, his wonderful friend, had offered him a new path. Marriage to an earl's daughter, Juliet and her bastard child cared for…somewhere else. Anywhere else.

Yes, he would be all too glad to put the sins of his youth far, far behind him.