Beginning, Next Section

I - Louisa Receives An Offer

Posted on 2011-10-25

It is never easy coming face-to-face with one's past, especially when it is a past one would much rather forget. Louisa Bingley made just this experience when, upon walking in a fashionable London Park one morning, she encountered a man whom she had not seen in nearly a decade, and attempted to forget for almost as long. Nevertheless, upon his lifting his hat, her good manners dictated that she acknowledge the acquaintance, and she stiffly curtsied.

She had already passed him, and continued on her walk, when he cried out to her.

'Excuse me, madam!'

She turned around to face him.

'You appear to have dropped your handkerchief,' he said and bent down to pick up a handkerchief that Louisa knew perfectly well not to belong to her, for all that it looked just like one of hers.

He had pressed it into her hands and was gone before she could clear up the matter. When she pocketed the handkerchief, she noted that something stiff was enclosed in it and unfolding it, she saw a slip of paper on which a note was scribbled.

When you leave the park by its western exit and continue on the left, you shall find a small tea-room run by a Mrs Miggins. Sit down and order and I shall join you there in fifteen minutes. Lose your maid. C.

Why she did as she was bid, Louisa could not say, but she went to Mrs Miggins' tea-room as outlined in the note and, upon entering it, recalled that she was in dire need of some ornament for her new shoes, and sent her maid away with very precise instructions. True to his word, the gentleman arrived precisely a quarter of an hour after the encounter in the park and immediately found her table, which was situated in the darkest corner of the room.

'Lieutenant -' Louisa began, but he cut her short.

'Mr Hurst,' he said. 'Algernon Montgomery Hurst, Esq.'

Louisa raised her eyebrows and mustered him. He looked every bit the gentleman of leisure, from his recently cut hair to his polished riding boots. His clothes were cut after the latest fashion and had obviously been expensive. It was a marked difference from the young, carelessly dressed lieutenant she had known. His manner was curt and his tone betrayed confidence, and yet, Louisa could not help but notice a certain stiffness in his bearing that signalled tension. She wondered briefly if he maybe was as uneasy as she was, but dismissed that thought when her gaze fell on the stern, passionless lines of his face. It was difficult to find the lieutenant with his youthful awkwardness in those lines.

'Not quite what I recall,' she said.

'I am aware of that,' the gentleman calling himself Mr Hurst said. 'However, we all have our little secrets, have we not?'

'I fail to understand you,' Louisa said.

'Let me refresh your memory,' the gentleman said, helping himself to one of the scones she had ordered. 'You recall that you attended a Seminary for Young Ladies situated in Weymouth for a term or two?'

'Of course,' Louisa said. 'It was there that we met, if my memory does not fail me.'

'Quite,' the gentleman said. 'As a matter of fact, we were introduced to each other by a young man whose acquaintance you had but recently made. We need not mention his name, I dare say, for it has been widely publicised in the newspapers lately.'

Louisa only nodded.

'You may wonder what happened to our mutual friend after his, shall I say, share of the general attention,' the gentleman continued. 'I know it for a fact that he left England to begin a new life in an area he calls Indiana, which is, as I understand it, somewhere west of the former colonies.'

Louisa nodded again, more out of a necessity to indicate that she was listening than anything else.

'I suppose he did not apprise you of his plans,' the gentleman said, 'which strikes me as odd, considering how close your friendship once was. Tell me, though, did you ever introduce him to your family?'

Louisa weakly shook her head.

'I had guessed something of that kind, yes,' the gentleman said. 'How rude of you. But as I was saying, he left England earlier this year with the intention never to return. Unfortunately, he was not able to take all of what was left of his possessions, so he left some of it in my care to be seen to as I saw fit. It just so happens that among his possessions, I found a couple of very interesting items, among them letters of a rather delicate nature, shall we say -'

'How much?' Louisa whispered.

'I beg your pardon, Miss Bingley?'

'How much do you want for the letters?' Louisa asked.

'Oh, my dear Miss Bingley,' the gentleman said. 'The letters as well as the other tokens of affection were evidently given to our friend from the heart. The cost of a life may be thirty shekels, but who can put a price on love?'

Louisa was silent.

'Dear me,' the gentleman said, 'is that the time? I am afraid I must be going. It was very pleasant to chat about old times with you. With your permission, I shall call on you one of these days. You reside with your brother, I presume? If you wish to see me, you should instruct the butler to admit Algernon Montgomery Hurst, Esq. You could of course refuse to see me, but I flatter myself that you will love such an opportunity to talk about old times.'

'I find you alone,' the gentleman said, when he entered the parlour in Mr Bingley's house two days later. 'How disappointing. Not, of course, that I do not value your company, my dear Miss Bingley, but I had so hoped to make the acquaintance of your family soon.'

'You can talk freely, Lieutenant,' Louisa said when the door had closed behind the footman. 'There is no one overhearing us. What do you want?'

'First of all,' the gentleman said, and all the pleasantness had disappeared from his voice, 'it were better if you recalled that I am not, nor ever was, a Lieutenant in His Majesty's or any other Army. My name is, as I told you, Algernon Montgomery Hurst, Esq., son of Gilbert Hurst, late of Hurst Hall, near Thrompton in Warwickshire.'

'I cannot see why I should bother to remember that,' Louisa said coolly, with more bravado than she had thought she could muster.

'Because, my dear,' the gentleman said, 'you are soon going to be Mrs Hurst.'

The epithet that escaped Louisa's lips was wholly undignified for any lady, but seemed not to irritate the gentleman.

'Now that I have caught your attention,' he continued, 'will you allow me to explain?'

'Please do,' Louisa said steely.

'The facts as I see them are the following,' the gentleman said. 'First, that there are certain incidents in your past which you would rather not have referred to by anyone.'

Louisa agreed.

'Second, that currently, you and I are the only persons in this kingdom aware of these incidents having taken place and of your connection with a certain person.'

Louisa agreed again that unfortunately, that was the case.

'Third, that I am in possession of certain documents and other items which would prove that you were connected to that certain person and that the incidents I mentioned did indeed take place.'

'I was but fifteen!' Louisa exclaimed.

'A very unwise age to make such major decisions,' the gentleman agreed, 'and yet you made them, Louisa.'

'Miss Bingley to you,' Louisa hissed.

'If you insist,' the gentleman said, unmoved. 'Having thus established the facts between us, let me now come to what I propose we do.'

Louisa gesticulated for him to continue.

'It is now May,' the gentleman said. 'Am I correct in assuming that you plan to remain in London until August, at which time you and your siblings are invited to spend the rest of the summer at Pemberley, in Derbyshire, in the company of Mr and Miss Darcy?'

Louisa indicated that this was indeed the case.

'It would then be wise if we were married in July,' the gentleman said, 'retreat on our honeymoon for a couple of weeks - I leave the choice of place to you - and then join your family at Pemberley for the summer.'

'I will most certainly not -'

'Let me continue, please,' the gentleman said. 'If all goes as is intended, my association with you shall be over by November at the latest. At that time, a dreadful accident shall befall me and leave you my mourning widow. Amidst my things, you shall find the deeds to Hurst Hall in your name as well as a letter for my solicitor, signed by myself, in which I instruct him to deliver a certain locked box to you in the event of my death; the key for which you shall also find among my effects.'

Louisa said nothing.

'You will then, of course, never hear from me again,' the gentleman said. 'I will be dead to you as much as I am dead to the world.'

Louisa still said nothing.

'Moreover, I can assure you now that our marriage will only ever be a marriage in name. There need to be no sacrifices on your part other than taking my name and bearing my company over the summer. I will not force myself onto you or dishonour your wishes simply because it would be my right to do so.'

'And if I do not agree?' Louisa asked.

'Then, my dear, I am afraid, that certain box might accidentally make its way to one of London's larger newspapers,' the gentleman said.

'I know your real name,' Louisa said, 'and I know whose son you are. I could choose to make that public.'

'You could,' the gentleman conceded. 'But in what way would that help you? The very name to which you allude would protect me and the box would still be in my possession.'

'I do not understand, though,' Louisa insisted. 'Why me? Why do you want to marry me?'

'My dear,' the gentleman said. 'There can be no question of wanting. I am as averse to the idea as you are. However, it must be done, for reasons I cannot divulge to you, so you had better get used to it.'

'I - I am not sure -' Louisa began.

'Very well, let us settle it this way,' the gentleman suggested. 'I will begin calling on you, with the appearance of courting you. In due course, I will propose marriage to you. If you still think you would rather not marry me, you can always refuse me. In the meantime, until you refuse me, the letters are safe in the box where they are.'

'But that is blackmail!' Louisa cried.

'Of course it is,' the gentleman said pleasantly. 'Now, if you could let me know at which social occasions I would be most likely to meet you during the next two weeks, that would save me the trouble of having to bribe your servants.'

'I do not like him one bit,' Caroline Bingley said to her brother after Mr Hurst had called on them for the second time in as many days. 'I do not like him at all.'

'Louisa seems to encourage his attentions,' Charles Bingley said.

'Are you blind?' Caroline said. 'I would be prepared to bet a considerable sum of money that she detests him. Have you seen the way she looks at him?'

'Nevertheless,' Charles pointed out, 'she particularly asked me to be allowed to include him in the invitations for our dinner party next week.'

'Lord, that will be the most dreadful evening of my life,' Caroline said. 'I do not know what Louisa sees in him.'

'Have you tried asking her?' Charles suggested. 'Do you two not normally talk about everything?'

'I tried!' Caroline said. 'Several times, in fact, but she simply will not talk about it. Actually, that is what worries me most - she used to tell me everything.'

Caroline looked down and examined her hands.

'I feel as if the Louisa I thought I knew was slipping through my fingers,' she said. 'Sorry, that sounded stupid.'

'I know what you mean,' Charles said and patted her hand.

'If only she would tell me why she behaves that way,' Caroline said. 'Then maybe I could understand her.'

'I am sure she will tell you when she is ready,' Charles said reassuringly. 'And maybe Mr Hurst will turn out to have some hidden value.'

'I cannot believe it,' Caroline said. 'And he cannot be rich enough to make such a sacrifice on her part worth it. Have you any information regarding his finances?'

'Not yet,' Charles said, 'but I could ask Darcy if he knows anything, if you think it needs to be done.'

'I do think so,' Caroline said. 'I think Louisa is about to do something foolish, only I cannot tell why.'

'It is very sudden,' her brother agreed, 'especially considering I only ever met the fellow last week. Did you know him previously?'

'Not at all,' Caroline said. 'I never heard a word of him. Do you know how they met?'

'At a ball, was it?' Charles asked.

'That is what she said,' Caroline said, 'and it certainly looked like that at the Whittington's ball - but the whole affair was rather staged, if you ask me. Mrs Whittington told me she did not even know Mr Hurst, so I have no idea how he got there.'

Charles was silent, rubbing his chin, lost in thought.

'Do, please, ask Mr Darcy if he knows anything about this Mr Hurst,' Caroline insisted. 'I would feel better if I knew that at least he was not a fraud.'

'Your sister seems intent upon making a catch of Mr Darcy,' the gentleman known as Mr Hurst observed to Louisa on one of their by now customary walks in the park.

'That is hardly your business,' Louisa hissed.

'On the contrary, it is very much my business,' Mr Hurst said. 'I like this development immensely.'

'But Mr Darcy does not care one jot about Caroline,' Louisa cried, 'and I believe she is on a good way of seeing that as well.'

'Then, my dear,' Mr Hurst said, 'you will see to it that she does not.'
Louisa shook her head.

'You will make sure that she thinks she might succeed,' Mr Hurst insisted. 'You will encourage her in every possible way, and you will drop hints to your friends that you think she might be proposed to.'

'I will most certainly not do that!' Louisa cried.

'You will, dear, you will,' Mr Hurst said 'And now smile. Your brother is looking at us. I have just complimented you on your beautiful eyes, so you could also blush, if you like.'

'You have what?' Caroline asked her brother. 'You have what?'

Charles took great care in selecting an apple out of the fruit bowl before he answered.

'I have given Mr Hurst leave to marry Louisa,' Charles explained.

'Yes, I understood that,' Caroline said. 'But why? Did we not agree that they would not suit, and that he was a very shady character?'

'Yes, you might have said that,' Charles said through a bite of his apple. 'But Darcy reckoned there was nothing I could actually do.'

'But - but - but he is horrible!' Caroline said. 'He is a great bore! He thinks about nothing but food, and cards -'

'Then it is all for the better that you need not marry him,' Charles said, continuing to eat his apple.

'But Louisa hates him!'

'She accepted him, though,' Charles said.

'Charles, how could you give them your consent?'

'Well, as Darcy pointed out, Louisa is of age,' Charles said, 'and does not need my consent, so I could not give it. All I did was give them my blessing, and I dare say they would just as well get married without it.'

'But such a man!' Caroline exclaimed. 'He is vile!'

'I do not particularly like him either,' Charles said, 'but Darcy has made enquiries about him, and his finances and his reputation appear to be sound. Louisa is certainly old enough to make this decision, do you not think so, Caro?'

'Yes, but, Charles -' Caroline said. 'I think Louisa is doing something very stupid, and perhaps even dangerous!'

'She is old enough to decide that for herself!' Charles said hotly.

'I do not think she is acting out of her own free will,' Caroline snapped. 'What if he has some sort of hold over her and forced her into marriage?'

'That - that is very far-fetched,' Charles said. 'I mean - you do not think that possible, do you?'

'Lord, Charles, I do not know,' Caroline said. 'All I know is that I no longer know my sister.'

She sank onto the sofa next to him.

'I feel as if I lost her, Charles,' she said and tears rose into her eyes, 'as if I lost both my sister and my best friend.'

Charles carelessly tossed the half-eaten apple onto the table and placed his arm around Caroline's shoulders.

'There, now, there,' he muttered and allowed her to cry into his shoulder. 'I am sure it is not quite that bad.'

II - Louisa Adjusts To Married Life

Posted on 2011-11-01

Louisa was completely and utterly bored. It was the third day of her honeymoon and so far, she had only been allowed out of their rooms twice, for a quick stroll down at the beach and then back to their rooms. Even the food was sent up at regular intervals, just like in a prison.

'Can we please, please, go down to the beach?' she asked her husband and shuddered at the thought that he was her husband. 'Or the shops? Or anywhere?'

'No,' he said curtly and turned a page of his book. It was the third he was reading since their arrival.

'But I am bored to death,' Louisa said. 'You said I could choose where we went, but for all that I have seen of the place, we might just as well have gone nowhere at all.'

'We are on our honeymoon, Louisa dearest,' her husband pointed out. 'We are supposed to stay in our rooms and entertain ourselves.'

'Lord, even that would be better than just sitting here doing nothing,' Louisa said.

'Well, it will not happen, so do not get excited,' Mr Hurst said. 'Read a book.'

'I do not have a book,' Louisa said. 'I had no idea we would be stuck indoors for days.'

'Help yourself,' her husband said and pointed at his suitcase full of books.

'I see you came prepared,' Louisa said through her teeth. 'You might have told me you planned to stay in our room and read.'

'Louisa, my dear, if I had known you did not read, I would never have married you,' Mr Hurst said pleasantly.

'Oh, yes, you would have,' Louisa said. 'You worthless son of -'

'Actually, Louisa, you had better call me Algernon, now that we are married.'

'Anything but that,' Louisa snorted. 'I am going down to the beach now and I do not care what you say.'

'Well, enjoy yourself, my love,' her husband said. 'Take your umbrella. I see that it has begun to rain.'

'Oh, very well, I will read a stupid book,' Louisa said. 'But you will take me down to the beach when the rain has stopped.'

The two weeks of her honeymoon passed agonisingly slow. Louisa read more about political philosophy than she ever cared to learn, and even made a foray into the one botanical work her husband had brought along. By the time they were sitting in the carriage that was to take them back to London and from there to Pemberley, Louisa would have given anything for a novel by Mrs Radcliffe.

They reached her brother's house in time for dinner. It was there that they would take up residence should they find themselves in London, Louisa had been informed. She did not know whether her husband had any property in the city; before their marriage, he had lived in a hotel. Louisa had expected to find the house deserted, her brother and sister already on their way to Pemberley, but instead she found them both sitting in the drawing-room, Charles writing letters and Caroline stitching listlessly at a sampler she had been working on for years.

'Dearest, you look tired,' Caroline said and embraced her sister. 'How was your journey?'

'Agreeable,' Mr Hurst said before Louisa could answer. 'We had cold meat for lunch.'

Caroline did not grace this with an answer.

'I shall ring for tea directly,' she said.

'Forgive me, sister,' Mr Hurst said, 'I was under the impression that we were to meet not here but at Pemberley.'

'Oh, yes,' Caroline said. 'There was a change in plans. There will be no trip to Pemberley in the near future. We will be stuck here all summer.'

'But it was all arranged,' Mr Hurst said.

'Oh, Mr Hurst, I am sure you will find someone with whom to play cards here as well,' Caroline said testily.

'Why did the plans change?' Louisa asked, trying to step between her husband and her sister.

'A family illness,' Charles interjected. 'Darcy wrote to tell me that his sister was taken quite ill at the sea and needed to recover at Pemberley, on doctor's orders. He was ever so sorry, but she needs absolute quiet and rest and he feared he had to postpone our party.'

'Are we to go then later this summer?' Mr Hurst asked.

'We do not know,' Caroline replied. 'It is an illness, not something you can plan. We will have to wait for Miss Darcy to improve.'

'In the meantime,' Charles said, 'I am going to take Caroline up to Scarborough. Would you and Louisa care to join us, Mr Hurst?'

'That would be nice, would it not?' Louisa said to her husband.

'No, I have seen enough of the sea to last me for a life-time,' Mr Hurst said gruffly. 'We will remain in London.'

'But my aunt lives in Scarborough,' Louisa said. 'I should love to see her again.'

'We will not discuss this here, Louisa,' Mr Hurst said.

'Am I allowed to discuss your horrid behaviour now?' Louisa asked when they were sitting before the fire in her bedroom later that evening, Mr Hurst having insisted on joining her for at least an hour before retreating to his own room.

'What horrid behaviour?' Mr Hurst asked, looking up from his book.

'That you forbade me to see my family, for instance,' Louisa said. 'You said I would not suffer from this marriage. Well, I am suffering now!'

Mr Hurst sighed, marked the page he was reading and closed the book.

'That was when I was under the impression that we would spend the summer at Pemberley,' he said. 'All promises I made regarding the length and conduct of our marriage depended on our spending the summer there. I have, I must admit, not calculated for this precise case.'

'You are still going to die in November, though, are you?' Louisa said.

'Well, Louisa -'

'If you have second thoughts about dying, I can help you there,' Louisa said. 'It would be my pleasure.'

'Thank you ever so much, that will not be necessary,' Mr Hurst said. 'Trust me, I will be as happy as can be to leave you for ever as soon as possible.'

'And when will that be?' Louisa insisted.

'I cannot say now,' Mr Hurst said. 'Pemberley was a crucial step in my plan.'

'Your plan, your plan,' Louisa mocked him. 'What plan if I may ask? After all, it is my marriage that this plan formed.'

'I cannot tell you, Louisa,' Mr Hurst said, 'as I have told you often enough before.'

'And still,' Louisa said, 'you expect me to do what you wish, without even telling me why. What if I simply left for Scarborough with Charles and Caroline? Would you come after me and cause a scandal when I refuse to come back to London with you?'

'You would not cause a scandal, Louisa,' Mr Hurst said. 'It would ruin your reputation for your second marriage.'

'Who says I will want to marry again?' Louisa snapped. 'I can tell you, so far, I cannot see why anyone should care to get married. It is not at all recommendable. Besides, by the time I am ready to marry again, all scandal will be forgotten in the face of the gruesome death you will have suffered!'

'At your hand, no doubt,' her husband suggested.

'If need be,' Louisa said.

'I offer you this compromise,' her husband said. 'We will stay in London for the time being. You are free to do whatever you like, visit whomever you like, go wherever you like in London, buy whatever you like. Deck yourself out with a complete new wardrobe, order furniture for Hurst Hall, buy yourself jewellery - I do not care. Tell them to send the bills to me and I will pay them.'

'But I have to stay in London?' Louisa asked.

'Yes,' Mr Hurst said. 'And you will write to Miss Darcy tomorrow, telling her how awfully sorry you are not to see her this summer, and informing her about your best wishes for her recovery. It will be a long, feeling, kind letter, directly from your heart. She will know she always has a friend in you, no matter what. Is that clear?'

He made to leave the room, muttering to himself, 'illness in the family - as if. I wish I knew what really happened at Ramsgate.'

'Oh, very well,' Louisa said. 'I will accept your compromise. But you are not going to sleep here.'

'Oh, heaven forbid,' her husband said. 'I could not tolerate another night with you. You snore.'

Louisa threw her shoe at him, but he had already closed the door.

Charles and Caroline left for Scarborough a couple of days later and Louisa and her husband found themselves alone in Charles' house. They rarely saw each other during the day; Mr Hurst usually left the house before Louisa was up and returned only for dinner. He told the servants he was going to his club, and it was that which Louisa told anyone who asked, but she was not sure whether she believed him. Once or twice he had returned with his clothes in a dreadful state, and had blamed it on a fight in his club, but since he did not even name his club, Louisa guessed he did not want to be questioned about it. The evenings, they almost always spent together, much to Louisa's annoyance. Mr Hurst would make polite conversation about the weather or incidents of note in the newspapers until the servants retreated, then he would retrieve the book he was currently reading from somewhere and not speak a word to her until they retired to bed. Louisa had noted that it was only when no one else could observe him that he actually read; if someone else was with them, he would spend his evenings pretending to sleep in front of the fire, or bully people into playing cards with him. Occasionally, Mr Hurst would insist on spending an hour or two in her room before leaving for his own; at these times, Louisa would simply pretend he was not there and go about her night-time rituals as she pleased. She was not embarrassed by his presence. A fortnight of the closest possible proximity in Penzance had cured her of that.

'So, how did you spend your day, my love?' Mr Hurst asked over dinner, about three weeks after Charles and Caroline had left.

'I bought books,' Louisa announced. 'They were delivered just before dinner, if you wish to have a look at them.'

'You know I never read,' Mr Hurst said. 'Waste of time, if you ask me. Where did you put them?'

'They are in a box in the library,' Louisa said. 'They will be unpacked tomorrow.'

'Good, they will be in nobody's way there,' Mr Hurst said. 'Excellent lamb, this. What did the cook do with it?'

It was only after the servants had left that the subject of the books was picked up again.

'Why on earth did you buy books, Louisa?' Mr Hurst asked.

'They are expensive,' Louisa pointed out. 'I told them to pack a box with their dullest and most expensive books, and have them delivered here, all expenses to be paid by you.'

'Oh, I am sure I shall find something interesting among them,' Mr Hurst said. 'Did your sister write to you today?'

'You already seem to know she did,' Louisa said, 'so why do you ask?'

'Does she mention Mr Darcy in any way?' Mr Hurst enquired.

'No, not really,' Louisa recalled. 'She only mentioned Pemberley in passing, but most of the letter is used up by tales of what she and my aunt and cousins did.'

'That must be rectified,' Mr Hurst said. 'You will write to her and bring Mr Darcy back into her mind.'

'I will do no such thing!' Louisa exclaimed. 'Mr Darcy does not care about her at all. It is better she sees that now, than that she makes herself a laughing-stock.'

'Oh, people will forget about that in no time, do not you worry,' Mr Hurst said. 'But if she continues to pursue Mr Darcy, there is no better reason why we are associating with him.'

'I do not even see why you want to associate with him,' Louisa said. 'When you are in his company, you hardly exchange three words, and he thinks you a frightful bore. Maybe if you actually talked to him, you would not need to exploit my poor sister.'

'Ah, but he would notice me then, would he not?' Mr Hurst asked. 'And that would not do at all. No, Caroline should continue to pursue him. He would never tell her outright that she has no chance of succeeding, he thinks too much of his dignity for that. No, the only thing we have to worry about is him fancying himself in love with someone else and snubbing Caroline for the other lady's sake.'

'I will not use my sister as a pawn in your plays,' Louisa cried.

'Ah, Louisa, but think of the good things you will be able to do for your sister, once I am dead,' Mr Hurst said. 'You could offer her a home, for example, if she wishes to leave Charles. The profits from the estate are large enough to set up a house in town, too, if you like that better.'

'Then why do we not get our own home?' Louisa asked.

'Well, it would hardly be worth the effort, considering I am going to die in a couple of months, would it not?' Mr Hurst said, then returned to his book, which Louisa took as a signal that the conversation was ended.

'It is only the thought of that happy, happy day that makes me tolerate the sight of you,' she said through clenched teeth before she stomped out of the room and locked herself into her bedroom.

When Mr Hurst followed her up the stairs and heard the door to her room slam shut, he received a knowing look from the butler.

'We should have gone to Ramsgate,' Mr Hurst said after dinner a couple of days later. 'Why on earth did we go to Penzance?'

'I am sure the rooms in Ramsgate would have been much nicer than the ones in Penzance indeed,' Louisa said sourly.

'If only I had been at Ramsgate, I might have found out -' Mr Hurst began.

'You would have found nothing out from sitting in the room all day,' Louisa muttered.

'That reminds me,' Mr Hurst said, 'did Miss Darcy write?'

'She sent a short note, thanking for my letter,' Louisa said. 'She was sorry we could not see each other this summer, but she was still not feeling well at all.'

'Nothing else?' Mr Hurst asked. 'Nothing about her brother, or where he was?'

'He is still at Pemberley, I presume,' Louisa said. 'Why do you not write to him and ask where he is?'

'At Pemberley, you say,' Mr Hurst said. 'I could have sworn I saw him just the other -'

'Then maybe he is in town,' Louisa said testily. 'I do not care either way.'

At that moment, a footman entered bearing a note for Mr Hurst. It bore a magnificent seal and, upon seeing it, Mr Hurst ripped it open eagerly, frowned at reading its contents and then hastily left the room, muttering an excuse.

'Who did you say sent that note?' Louisa asked the footman when she went into the hall.

'I could not say, madam,' the footman replied. 'I did not look at it.'

'Well, who delivered it?' Louisa insisted.

'One of those urchins, madam,' the footman said. 'I gave him a penny and sent him away again.'

Just then, Mr Hurst came running back down the stairs.

'I have to be gone, dearest,' he said to Louisa.

'Now?' Louisa asked. 'It is practically night-time.'

'There appears to be an emergency at Hurst Hall,' Mr Hurst said. 'I must leave at once.'

Without further ado, he was out of the door and gone.

'Did he order the carriage?' Louisa asked the footman.

'No, madam,' the footman replied. 'I assume Mr Hurst will travel post, madam.'

'If indeed he travels,' Louisa muttered to herself as she went up to her room. 'I suppose he has never set foot into Hurst Hall at all.'

III - Louisa Is Under Suspicion

Posted on 2011-11-08

Mr Hurst was still gone when Charles and Caroline returned from the North a couple of days later. A week after that, they received a note from Georgiana Darcy, informing them that she and her brother were back in town. Louisa was inclined to ignore this message, knowing that her still-absent husband would have wanted her to answer it. She did not, however, tell Caroline about her reservations and so Caroline sent a very pretty reply asking about Georgiana's health. The very next day, Mr Darcy himself called on them. Louisa, still not in a mood to see him, claimed a headache and retired to her room, but Caroline received him. She asked about Georgiana's health again and Mr Darcy assured her that Georgiana was better, if still not in a state to go out much.

'The illness has made her very susceptible to certain frights and anxieties,' Mr Darcy explained. 'I think she needs to get away from everything and everyone for a while. I intend to send her to the North with my aunt.'

'I could imagine that might suit her,' Caroline said.

'I do hope so,' Mr Darcy said. 'My aunt is visiting family in a rather remote part of the country; I hope Georgiana will profit from such a small circle of people.'

'Please do give her my best wishes for a speedy recovery,' Caroline said. 'And if there is anything I can do for her -'

'You are very kind,' Mr Darcy said, 'but there is not much that can be done at the moment, I am afraid.'

They sat in silence for a moment until Mr Darcy asked after Louisa's health.

'Oh, she is well enough, apart from that headache,' Caroline said. 'Only -'

She broke off. Mr Darcy looked at her expectantly.

'You will keep this to yourself?' Caroline asked.

'Of course,' Mr Darcy said. 'You can trust me.'

'I know,' Caroline said. 'To tell you the truth, I am a bit worried about Louisa. This whole business with Mr Hurst - it is really odd.'

'This is indeed something that worries me myself. Before they got married, your brother did ask me if I could find out anything worrisome about Mr Hurst,' Mr Darcy said. 'But I could not find anything.'

'Good,' Caroline said, relieved. 'So that means there is nothing wrong with him other than that he is a bore? I did wonder that you had advised Charles to sanction the match, but if you think that there is nothing to worry about - '

'No, I meant, I could not find out anything about him,' Mr Darcy said. 'There are bank accounts in his name, he is a member of the clubs of which he said he was a member and he appears to have been telling the truth about the house he owns as well, but that is that.'

'That is what?' Caroline asked.

'That is all,' Mr Darcy said. 'Nobody in his clubs can recall ever meeting him. Nobody from either Oxford or Cambridge has ever heard his name in connection with one of the universities, and as far as I can tell, he has never been seen at one. Nobody to whom I spoke has ever seen him before the spring of this year, and no hostess can recall being introduced to him, nobody could recall ever having conducted business with him.'

Caroline was stunned at the extent of the research Mr Darcy had taken.

'What can that mean?' she asked.

'It could mean nothing,' Mr Darcy said. 'It could mean that he simply spent all his life in a remote place, was educated privately or educated himself, maybe came into some money and decided to remove to London, where he met your sister and married her.'

'Or -' Caroline said.

'Or, that there is a more sinister reason why a man of about thirty years who claims to be of good society has no connections whatsoever to it, and has never moved in it before,' Mr Darcy finished for her. 'At first I thought that he had maybe been in either the Navy or the Army and for some reason - maybe a slight irregularity - decided not to disclose this information, but nobody in either institution knows him, and I am fairly certain he has never worn those uniforms.'

'He might have been in the Colonies and made his fortune there,' Caroline suggested.

'That is a possibility, of course,' Mr Darcy agreed. 'We cannot rule that out. It is entirely possible that he is keeping that quiet, because his background is not quite as good as he wishes us to believe and there is nothing worse.'

'You seem to doubt it, though,' Caroline said.

'I do,' Mr Darcy said. 'For one thing, there would be no reason to keep something like that even from his closest connections. Also - and this is a feeling that some others with whom I spoke had as well - I feel I have seen him before, years ago - but if I did, his name was most definitely not Hurst.'

'What was it then?' Caroline asked eagerly.

'If only I could say,' Mr Darcy sighed. 'Maybe I am not even right, maybe I only saw someone of whom he now reminds me. This is rather fanciful, but do you not think that in his face, there is a certain similarity to -'

He broke off.

'No, I will not speculate,' he said. 'It may well be he has indeed a connection to that family, however distant, without there being anything wrong about that.'

'I think I know to whom you are referring,' Caroline said. 'I had thought so too for a fleeting moment. But if he was related to them, certainly that would not be anything to keep quiet? Quite the contrary, in fact.'

Mr Darcy shrugged.

'There are simply too many suspicious circumstances,' he said. 'One or two can always be explained, but these many must raise questions. I can assure you, if I hear anything further, I will let Charles and you know. In the meantime, you had perhaps keep an eye on your sister. Mr Hurst is not in town, I gather?'

'I could not say,' Caroline said. 'All Louisa said was that he had been called away on business reasons, but she would not say where or when he would return. Do you think she is in any danger, Mr Darcy?'

'I do not think so, not at the moment,' Mr Darcy said. 'However, just in case - you would not happen to know if Mr Hurst stood to expect anything if Louisa suddenly died?'

'That is the oddest thing,' Caroline said. 'I do not know all the technical details, but I do know that in that case, Mr Hurst would get nothing apart from a very small interest. All Louisa's money is tied up in some way or other that would make it impossible for him to access it.'

'That is odd,' Mr Darcy agreed.

'Particularly because, when Mr Hurst dies,' Caroline continued, 'Louisa will inherit more or less everything.'

'That is even odder,' Mr Darcy said.

'I have been worrying about her doing something rash, Mr Darcy,' Caroline confessed. 'She has been ordering mourning clothes in the finest materials, and when I asked her why, she said one never knew when one would need them. That is not normal behaviour, is it?'

'No, not entirely,' Mr Darcy said. 'Do not worry, Miss Bingley, I will try to find out as much as I can, and I will let you know what I find.'

'Mr Darcy,' Caroline cried out when he was about to leave, 'why did you tell Charles to give them his blessing?'

'Because,' Mr Darcy said, 'there was nothing Charles could have done about it all, as I told him, and I thought it unwise to risk an estrangement in your family.'

Mr Hurst returned three days later. He interrupted the Bingleys at the breakfast table. When asked about his trip, he would not say where he had been, apart from that he had been called away on urgent business somewhere in the North, and that it would be far too boring to trouble them with the details. As soon as possible, he excused himself in order to retreat to his rooms and change out of his travelling clothes, which were rather crumpled and stained. Louisa followed him upstairs and soon after, Caroline excused herself as well, leaving her brother to read his post with a rather bemused expression.

'Actually, Caroline, this one is from Darcy, saying -' he began, but Caroline was already out of the room.

Caroline tried to climb the stairs as noiselessly as possible and arrived in front of Mr Hurst's door without alerting anybody to her presence. From the voices within the room, she gathered that Louisa had joined her husband. Checking that nobody was in the corridor, Caroline ripped a couple of pins out of her hair and threw them onto the floor, so that she could pretend to be looking for them if she was found out, then knelt on the carpet and pressed her ear to the keyhole.

' - not as if I was interested in the slightest in your doings,' Louisa was just now saying, 'but consider how embarrassing the situation was for me. You could at least have -'

'For heaven's sake, Louisa,' Mr Hurst said shortly. 'Are you not clever enough to make something up?'

'I told them you were away on business, as you said,' Louisa said. 'I could not supply any details because you did not give me any.'

'But did anybody get suspicious about my absence?' Mr Hurst asked.

'Oh, please,' Louisa scoffed. 'As if anybody, including myself, could care that much about where you were. Frankly, I am counting the days until somebody accidentally runs you over with his carriage, or whatever way else you see fit to remove yourself from my life.'

'Yes, yes,' Mr Hurst said. 'What about Mr Darcy? Have you made any progress there?'

Caroline raised an eyebrow.

'Have I made any progress there?' Louisa asked. 'Why, you should have said that you wanted me to throw myself at Mr Darcy. Shall I sneak into his bedroom this night or tomorrow?'

Caroline blushed.

'I dare say it might be a nice change,' Louisa now continued, 'he would certainly be far livelier company than you are.'

'Forget it, Louisa,' Mr Hurst was now saying, 'your offer is, as I have told you before, not tempting to me.'

Caroline was blushing even more fervently.

'Oh, pah,' Louisa said. 'As if I would agree to anything like that.'

'Why, I had that impression just now,' Mr Hurst said. 'But enough of those pleasant nothings - what about Mr Darcy?'

'What about him?' Louisa snapped.

'Is he still on as good a footing with your family as before?' Mr Hurst asked.

'Why should I care?' Louisa exclaimed.

'Because, Louisa,' Mr Hurst said, 'I have told you, the sooner I succeed, the sooner you will be rid of me. And I told you before, Mr Darcy is essential to my success -'

'Oh, very well,' Louisa said, 'I'll see what I can do - but I do not like it.'

'Nobody said you had to,' Mr Hurst said. 'Now, I am going to take a bath. You are of course welcome to stay, but remember, no untoward behaviour -'

'No, thank you,' Louisa said and Caroline could hear footsteps.

Foregoing her hairpins, she hastily slipped into her own room across the hall.

The next morning, Caroline received a note from Georgiana Darcy over breakfast.

'Her brother and her cousin are taking her out for a drive today,' she told her siblings, 'and she wonders whether I might like to join them. Her new companion, a Mrs Annesley, is coming as well. She is a very charming lady, or so Georgiana writes.'

'Georgiana Darcy has a new companion?' Mr Hurst, looking up from his bacon, asked.

'Did you know her old one?' Caroline asked back.

'Oh, I was only wondering,' Mr Hurst said. 'Seems a very sudden step -'

'I am sure the Darcys had their reasons,' Caroline snapped. 'None of which are any business of ours.'

'Be that as it may,' Mr Hurst said, finishing his bacon. 'I have got to go now, I have important business waiting for me.'

As soon as he had left the room, Louisa stood up as well.

'Yes, I have to leave too,' she said. 'There are so many things I need to do today.'

'Oh,' Caroline said. 'I thought you might join Georgiana and me for our ride -'

'I would love to,' Louisa said, 'but I simply cannot spare the time. I shall see you later.'

With that, she was gone.

'What is it she needs to do?' Charles asked his sister.

'I can tell you I have no idea,' Caroline said. 'I hope she is not in any sort of trouble.'

'Do you think that likely?' Charles asked.

'Honestly, I have no idea,' Caroline said. 'Anything I can think of, sounds completely far-fetched to me, but then, Louisa is behaving so very oddly -'

'She seems a bit distant,' Charles agreed. 'I mean, she and I were never that close, but -'

'Yes, I know,' Caroline said. 'It is as if we were living together with a stranger.'

'Maybe she is just adjusting to being married,' Charles suggested.

'She had enough time to adjust,' Caroline said. 'I had hoped she would be her old self when we returned from Scarborough, but she is just as she was before we went.'

'Speaking of Scarborough,' Charles said, 'did you answer that letter from our aunt?'

'Yes, I wrote it last night,' Caroline said. 'I left it on your desk so you can scrawl a few words underneath it - try to write legibly, will you?'

When the Darcys arrived, it was with two carriages. In one, driven by Mr Darcy, Georgiana and a middle-aged lady with a pleasant smile were seated; the other was driven by Mr Darcy's cousin, a Colonel Fitzwilliam, whom Caroline knew slightly.

'Oh, dear, I am afraid we shall be very tight in my carriage if you join us, Miss Bingley,' Mr Darcy said after the usual greetings.

'Would you care to drive with me, Miss Bingley?' the Colonel said. 'I promise I am a safe driver.'

'He is, you know,' Miss Darcy said softly.

Caroline had the feeling that all this had been painfully orchestrated and offered no resistance to being helped into Colonel Fitzwilliam's carriage.

'I must apologise, Miss Bingley,' the Colonel said when they were on their way to the park, 'I specifically asked my cousin to arrange this little meeting with you.'

Caroline mustered him, but did not speak.

'Do not fear, it is for no match-making purpose,' the Colonel assured her. 'No, it is far more pleasant - it is a matter of espionage.'

'Espionage?' Caroline repeated.

'Indeed,' the Colonel said. 'Exciting, is it not?'

'I beg your pardon?'

'You may have thought, Miss Bingley, that I am simply one of countless Colonels in His Majesty's Army -'

Caroline silently agreed.

'- However, I assure you that that is not the case,' the Colonel said. 'I am, rather, involved in a much more secret organisation - well, I will not bother you with the particulars. Suffice it to say that my cousin told me all you told him about Mr Hurst's unusual behaviour and I found it interesting enough to warrant further research. And that, Miss Bingley, is where you come into play.'

'I?'

'Do you not realise, Miss Bingley, that nobody is as well suited to further this research on the person calling himself Hurst as you are?' the Colonel asked.

'I had not given it much thought,' Caroline admitted, still very much surprised. 'But there is perhaps something else you should know. A new development, so to speak.'

She thought she was getting the hang of this espionage business. It certainly was more interesting than covering screens. She informed the Colonel about the discussion between Louisa and Mr Hurst which she had overheard the previous morning.

'Suspicious, very suspicious indeed,' the Colonel agreed.

'But what could they want from your cousin?' Caroline asked.

'I have no idea,' the Colonel said. 'But we are going to find that out.'

'How so?' Caroline asked.

'Elementary, my dear,' the Colonel said. 'It appears that your sister will try to get close to my cousin, so you will do the same.'

'I will do what?' Caroline asked.

'You will appear to be trying to secure the hand of my cousin,' the Colonel explained. 'To have an excuse to be constantly around him, so as to avoid your sister to succeed in her plans.'

'But -'

'Do not worry, if the worst should happen, my cousin shall be prepared to do the honourable thing and marry you.'

'But I do not want to -' Caroline began, then reconsidered making these admissions. Instead, she asked, 'But would it not make more sense to let Louisa try whatever she wants to do and observe her secretly?'

'It would,' the Colonel agreed, 'if we had any clue what they are planning. Unfortunately, we do not know. We must force them into the open. Therefore, Louisa must fail.'

'And you really think that this matter is important enough to warrant all this?' Caroline asked.

'I do,' the Colonel said. 'I am sorry, I cannot explain, but believe me, it is important enough.'

'I understand,' Caroline said. 'Very well. I will do what I can.'

'Good girl,' the Colonel said and grinned. 'You can contact me via Georgiana any time you need.'

Louisa, meanwhile, was following her husband through the streets of London. He had walked all the way from Grosvenor Square to the old city; thankfully, not too fast, so Louisa could not lose him. They were now in a narrow lane somewhere near Cheapside - Louisa had long lost her way - and Mr Hurst was entering a rather dingy-looking house through a back-door. Louisa waited for a moment to see whether he would return immediately. When it became clear he would not, she quickly crossed the street and inspected the house. There was nothing about it that would indicate its purpose; the curtains in the narrow windows were drawn and there was no name given. Louisa wondered whether she should try to find the house's front entrance and see if she could find out more, but then, she noticed that the door through which her husband had entered was not properly closed and it was easy to follow him. She hesitated for a moment, then her curiousity got the better of her and, making sure nobody in the street was paying her any attention, she went inside.

The door opened into a long, narrow corridor, with doors opening left and right. Everything was quiet and she could not tell who or what was in any of the rooms. Thus, she followed the corridor, to see if she could find any trace of her husband. At the end of the corridor, about half a dozen of stairs led into another, grander, corridor, at the end of which she could see the door which she presumed to be the front entrance. A flight of stairs led upstairs and at both her sides, there were doors, probably to the salons. The establishment seemed rather comfortable, judging by the quality of the wall-paper and the carpets, and she wondered that no servant, male or female, was in sight or could be heard. Carefully, she looked around and was just about to listen at one of the keyholes when she heard a man laughing upstairs. She had never heard her husband laugh, but she presumed it would sound similar, so she made her way up the carpeted stairs. More closed doors were leading from the upstairs corridor, but one stood ajar, and the laughter seemed to come from there. Louisa braced herself and walked towards it. There was still no servant in sight so she risked a peek through the gap.

The first thing she saw was her husband's back, covered only by a shirt, stepping towards a four-poster bed. Louisa could not help grinning; all this to-do, then, was because of another woman, probably married. She wondered if Mr Darcy too had had an interest in the lady; it would certainly explain her husband's obsession with the gentleman.

IV - Louisa Makes A Discovery

Posted on 2011-11-15

Louisa was about to make her way downstairs again when there was more laughter behind the door and a man said, 'Christian, love, will you close the door? There is a nastily cold draught coming in.'

Louisa froze in shock. She could not move even though she knew her husband would be at that door in mere seconds. She hoped he would not see her because she had no idea how to react. Her first instinct was to scream, but she could not make any sound, and she was not sure who would hear her.

It was too late, she heard bare feet traipsing over the carpet, more laughter inside the room, someone behind the door and -

'Louisa?'

She still could not move. She simply stood there, staring at her shirt-sleeved, barefooted husband and the equally undressed man on the bed beyond.

'Louisa, what on earth - what are you - oh, come on in then, or somebody might see you.'

He grabbed her roughly by the wrist and pulled her inside the room, placing her on a chair and then assembling his strewn clothing, trying to dress again. The other man followed his suit. Finally, Louisa found her voice again.

'I followed you here,' she said tonelessly.

'That was rather naughty of you, was it not?' her husband said, standing in front of the mirror tying his cravat.

The other man was attempting to put on his waistcoat, but his fingers were shaking so much he could not close the buttons.

'It is - it is against the law,' Louisa muttered.

'Yes, I fear so,' her husband said. 'That was why I was hoping for some privacy.'

'But it is a crime,' Louisa said. 'How could you?'

'I could now say it was love,' her husband said, 'but that would sound rather trite, would it not, and be hardly to the point. Will you let me finish my cravat before you call the magistrate?'

'Love?' Louisa muttered.

'If I am going to the gallows for it,' her husband said, 'I might just as well be honest about it.'

'I think I am going to faint,' Louisa mumbled.

Then everything turned black.

When she came to again, her husband was waving a burnt feather under her nose.

'Pour her a glass, Matthew, will you,' he said and the other man pressed a glass into her hand.

She took a sip and found that it was brandy, burning in her throat.

'Take another sip, Louisa, there is a good girl,' her husband said. 'I thought we had lost you for a moment.'

'That would have solved your problems, would it not?' Louisa said weakly.

'Some of them, yes,' her husband admitted, 'but it might have created others. I assure you though we were sorely tempted, but then we decided to do the honourable thing and call you back to life.'

Glass shattered and both Louisa and her husband turned their eyes towards the young man called Matthew, who had dropped one of the brandy glasses with which he had been fumbling.

'Everything alright?' Mr Hurst asked. Then, upon seeing the expression on the other man's face, he said, 'Matthew, love, what is it?'

'How can you quip in such a situation?' Matthew cried, collapsing on a chair.

'How can I not quip in such a situation?' Mr Hurst said lightly, but he walked over to the other man and pressed his shoulder. 'If Louisa is determined to go to the magistrate, she will do so regardless of what I do.'

Matthew said nothing and Louisa thought that he looked rather green in the face by now. Mr Hurst seemed to have noticed that as well for he pressed another glass of brandy into his hands.

'There, drink that,' he said. 'Better yet, drink the whole bottle, then you will not notice when they come to get us.'

With his hand still on Matthew's shoulder, he turned to Louisa again.

'Well, then, my dear,' he said, 'what are you going to do? Are you going to go straight to the magistrate or will you offer us an honourable way out? There should be a case of duelling pistols downstairs, if I remember correctly.'

Matthew reached for Mr Hurst's hand on his shoulder and Mr Hurst covered his hand with his other.

'I - I would not do that,' Louisa spluttered.

'Of course, of course,' Mr Hurst said. 'The scandal. Of course, there will probably be a scandal either way, but still, it is a crime -'

'Oh, do not be silly,' Louisa snapped, not knowing where precisely this came from. 'I am not going to rat you out, so can we please talk about this like normal people?'

'You are not going to go to the magistrate?' Matthew asked, looking a bit less green.

'No, I am not, Mr - eh -' Louisa said. 'I am sorry, we have not been introduced yet.'

'I thought you wanted to talk about this without flippancy,' Mr Hurst said. 'So, then, let us be frank. What do you want, Louisa?'

'It is simple, really,' Louisa said, as lightly as her husband before. 'The plan.'

'The plan?' Mr Hurst asked, confused.

'The plan,' Louisa repeated. 'The plan which you are following for reasons I cannot understand. The plan which has you behave so ridiculously about Mr Darcy.'

'What about it?' Mr Hurst asked.

'I want to know it,' Louisa said. 'Every detail, every tiny bit, every backstory. I want to know everything.'

'And then?'

'And then I will decide whether I want to be part of it or not,' Louisa said firmly and got up.

Still shaking slightly, Matthew stood up.

'Very well, I think I will go back home now,' Louisa said. 'Are you coming, Christian?'

'I - yes, of course, I am coming,' Mr Hurst said.

He pressed Matthew's shoulder a last time and followed his wife out of the room.

'Oh, before I forget, sir,' Louisa said, turning back on the doorstep, 'please do call upon me or my husband whenever suits you, I would love to meet you properly.'

The cab had almost left Fleet Street by the time Mr Hurst finally spoke.

'Thank you, Louisa,' he said softly. 'Thank you.'

'How long?' Louisa asked.

'About six, maybe seven years,' Mr Hurst said.

'Only him?' Louisa asked.

'Only ever him,' Mr Hurst said.

'All this -' Louisa said, 'all this risk, the secrecy, all the - was it worth that?'

'Worth every single damn thing,' Mr Hurst said.

'Did you marry me because of this?' Louisa asked.

'My dear Louisa,' Mr Hurst said, 'lovely as you are, I would have never married had it not been necessary for the plan.'

'The plan,' Louisa repeated.

'The plan,' Mr Hurst said, 'about which I will tell you all once we are home.'

Caroline received another note from Miss Darcy in the evening. Miss Darcy, it appeared, had enjoyed their driving out together, briefly though she had seen Caroline. She asked Caroline to accompany them again the next morning. Inside Miss Darcy's letter, a small note was tucked.

Miss Bingley - it read - forgive me for contacting you in this manner, but be assured of my cousin's discretion. I am writing to you because I need further information from you about any place that you think your brother (that is, Mr Hurst) could be frequenting. I just feel that there is something obvious of which we have not thought, something so trivial you possibly did not think would have any relevance.

Your servant, etc.

Caroline read the note again and frowned. If the Colonel could not give her any hint just what he was looking for, she had no idea how she was to know. She would not be able to tell the Colonel anything new when she saw him on the morrow. She only hoped it did not mean she was a failure at being a spy, but even though she had closely observed Louisa and her husband all evening, she had not noted anything. Unless, perhaps, one counted that Mr Hurst had been in Louisa's room now for over two hours, which was rather longer than usual. But no, she could not tell the Colonel that, she mused, and anyway, it could not have any significance. The Colonel would have to wait a little longer until he found out more.

The next morning, Caroline was again driving out with Miss Darcy and her guardians and Louisa was alone at home when the butler brought her a visitor's card.

'Yes, I am at home,' Louisa told him and was not sure why she suddenly felt nervous.

Hastily, she cleared away a few things until her visitor was announced.

'The Hon. Matthew Aldridge, B.D.,' she said when they were alone. 'So that is your name.'

'I am afraid it is,' he said. 'Thank you for seeing me, err -'

'Mrs Hurst,' Louisa aided him. 'Do sit down, Mr Aldridge.'

Mr Aldridge sat down and Louisa had now time to look at him properly. The day before, all she had noticed was the fact that he was a man, and she could not even have described him afterwards, but now she took care to memorise his features. He was about her husband's age, perhaps a few years his junior, and had an open and pleasing countenance. His hair was flaxen and carefully unkempt after the latest fashion and his clothes were clearly expensive, highly fashionable and very well cut. Louisa was particularly impressed by his neck-cloth, which was tied in a style she had never before seen carried out so well.

'Impressive, is it not?' Mr Aldridge asked, noticing her gaze. 'It took me the best part of an hour to achieve it, and I believe I ruined half a dozen of them in the process, but I desperately wanted to make a good impression on you.'

He laughed rather forcedly, then clapped his hands together and looked at Louisa again.

'This is rather awkward, is it not?' he said.

'Very,' Louisa agreed.

'I thought I had better come as soon as possible,' Mr Aldridge explained, 'so that we could get it over with at once.'

'Over with what?' Louisa asked.

She liked Mr Aldridge much better than the previous day, when he had appeared rather colourless and nervous.

'I thought you might want to ask me things,' Mr Aldridge said. 'I figured I - we - owed you some answers.'

'I - I do not think I have any questions,' Louisa said. 'Not at the moment. Is there anything you might like to ask me?'

'Oh, no,' Mr Aldridge said, 'Christian has told me so much about you.'

'I think,' Louisa said slowly, 'we are supposed to refer to him as Algernon.'

'Right,' Mr Aldridge said and grinned. 'Algernon. Dear old Algie. He is not here at the moment, is he?'

'No, he went to his club,' Louisa replied automatically. 'That is to say, he went out early this morning, I am not sure where, but he said he would be back by late afternoon.'

Mr Aldridge grinned again. 'His club, eh?'

Louisa shrugged. 'That is what he used to tell me before yesterday.'

'I do not know that Algie ever set so much as a foot inside a club,' Mr Aldridge said.

'He is very fond of his club,' Louisa said earnestly. 'At least, people there know to value a good game of cards.'

'Quite so, Louisa,' Mr Aldridge said just as earnestly. 'I am sorry, Mrs Hurst, I mean. It is only - he always talks about Louisa -'

'In view of the fact that Mrs Hurst is a complete fraud,' Louisa said, 'you could just as well say Louisa, Mr Aldridge.'

'Matthew,' Mr Aldridge said and held out his hand, shaking hers when she gave it to him. 'I cannot say this is not weird, but it is definitely a pleasure to finally meet you.'

'Actually, I am almost relieved I met you,' Louisa said. 'At least, this shows that Christian has a human side too. Algernon, I mean.'

'Yes, he does his utmost to hide that, does he not?' Mr Aldridge said. 'All those books about political philosophy, for one thing -'

'Tell me about it,' Louisa said. 'Two weeks in Penzance and all he had packed were those books! I cannot tell you how happy I was when I found a botanical guide to Southern England per chance.'

'That would have been mine,' Mr Aldridge said. 'I believe it must have landed amongst his books by accident.'

'Does he never read novels?' Louisa asked.

'Never,' Mr Aldridge said. 'He thinks them a waste of time and space. I say, Louisa, I know an awfully nice teashop - would you care to take an excursion there?'

'Mrs Miggins' tea-room,' Louisa groaned when they had got there. 'I should have known.'

'Oh, you were here before?' Mr Aldridge said, obviously slightly disappointed.

'Algernon took me here once,' Louisa said. 'When he proposed to me, or rather, when he blackmailed me into marrying him.'

'Dear old Algie,' Mr Aldridge said. 'Always the complete romantic.'

'So, the teashop, it is good?' Louisa asked. 'I must say the last time I was here, I hardly noticed anything of the food.'

'It is divine,' Mr Aldridge said. 'And Mrs Miggins is an old friend. She is very discreet. Algie and I used to come here almost every week, until you snatched him away from me.'

Mrs Miggins indeed greeted Mr Aldridge like an old friend and showed them both to a table in a corner in the room.

'Just bring whatever is best today,' Mr Aldridge said, 'and a large pot of tea, unless you had rather have something else, Louisa?'

'No, I will have what you have,' Louisa said.

The tea came promptly, together with a selection of scones, muffins, crumpets and cakes, all of them looking delicious.

'You must try those,' Mr Aldridge said, helping himself to a cupcake. 'I could die for Mrs Miggins' cupcakes.'

'Oh! Delightful!' Louisa said with a full mouth when she had taken a bite. 'Oh, what is in there?'

'I have no idea,' Mr Aldridge said. 'And I probably do not want to know. It will be something completely disgusting.'

'Probably,' Louisa agreed and took another cupcake.

'There is one other thing I wanted to say,' Mr Aldridge said, suddenly serious.

'Yes?'

'I want you to know,' Mr Aldridge said. 'This thing with Christian and me - it is not just a thing, you know. It is meant to be forever.'

'Really?' Louisa asked, surprised.

'I have never been more certain of anything in my life,' Mr Aldridge said, 'and neither, I think, has Christian. Darling Algie, I should say.'

'How can you be so certain?' Louisa asked. 'I am sorry, I do not mean to pry - only -'

'I have no idea,' Mr Aldridge shrugged. 'I just know it. There are no guarantees of course, but -'

'How did you meet?' Louisa asked.

'I literally just ran into him one day in Bond Street,' Mr Aldridge said, 'and somehow, I have not been able to get rid of him since.'

'Did you know back then that you were - I mean, that you were a -'

'A molly?' Mr Aldridge said. 'Goodness, no. And neither did Algernon. It took us quite by surprise, I can tell you.'

He looked Louisa straight into the eye.

'It was horrible,' he said. 'It almost destroyed both of us. At one time I was close to letting myself get arrested and shipped to New South Wales just to be out of this country and away from him.'

Louisa knew not what to say.

'I knew it was wrong,' Mr Aldridge continued. 'Everything I knew, everything I had learnt told me what I felt was wrong. I thought that I was undergoing a bizarre twist on the trials of Job - that I would be weighed in the balances and found wanting - I was afraid, terribly afraid of what would happen if I gave in to temptation - and yet, I could not - I would not, perhaps -'

He broke off and Louisa still did not know what to say.

'You know, if you do not want to have that cupcake, I am going to claim it,' Mr Aldridge said.

Louisa, relieved he had changed the topic, hastily grabbed the cupcake and placed it on her plate.

'Only over my dead body,' she said.

'I see we are going to get along famously,' Mr Aldridge said. 'Splendid.'