There had been more traffic on the road from Meryton to town than they had expected, and Darcy was relieved that they had not taken the carriage as Bennet had urged them to do. Otherwise, they might still be stuck behind the three large wagons filled with root vegetables on their way into London at a glacial pace. Instead, they were able to take a smaller back road one of the stableboys at Longbourn had mentioned.
Mrs. Yardley was surprised to see them; there had been no time to send word ahead of their coming. Darcy was pleased that several of the bedchambers were nonetheless prepared. Repairs on the master’s chamber and several other large jobs were nearing an end.
“No matter, Mrs. Yardley,” he assured the housekeeper when she offered her apologies for not having the master’s chambers completed. “This was a very sudden decision. I am grateful there are rooms ready at all.”
The older woman curtsied and strode off to direct the workers and her staff whilst Darcy and Fitzwilliam dragged themselves up to their rooms.
“It is a good job we left some of those new clothes here,” Fitzwilliam said as he stretched his arms out over his head and twisted one way, then the other. “You wanting to leave the carriage for the Bennets’ use and all.”
“Do not pretend you were not glad of it,” Darcy retorted. “We would be traveling still were we not on horseback, and London streets are easier to manage without having to queue in the carriage at every turn in the road.”
“Shall we go to Connors directly?”
Darcy nodded. He gestured to their clothes. “We should refresh ourselves and change first. Come downstairs as soon as you are ready. I have sent a man on to inform Connors we are on our way.”
Just as he was about to take the stairs, the butler appeared. He was a thin, middle-aged man of middling height and a proud mien. Darcy searched his memory for the man’s name.
“Lewis,” he said, perhaps just a touch late.
“You had a visitor yesterday, sir,” Lewis said, and Darcy could swear the man’s nose rose two inches in the air. Lewis’s lips twisted in distaste. “A Corporal Vaughan, who resides near the church at St. Giles.”
This was a surprise. “Vaughan is in London? Did he leave his direction?”
The butler’s nose wrinkled. “He is, sir, and he did.” Lewis held up a tray with a scrap of paper on it.
Darcy took it, read it, and tucked it into his pocket. “I shall visit if there is time. Did he leave any message?”
“Only that it was urgent that he meet with you,” Lewis said disdainfully.
“That will be all.” Darcy had a feeling that finding a new butler would soon be on his list of things to accomplish. This would be a respectable house, but it would not be an aristocratic one. Lewis ought to find a position better suited to his ambitions.
Fitzwilliam was waiting when he finally arrived in the front hall refreshed and in clean clothes. They made their way out to the front of the house where a groom was waiting with new mounts.
“I had forgotten about your stable,” Fitzwilliam said, shaking his head and grinning. “Right in town. I could easily become used to this.”
Darcy rolled his eyes as he swung up into the saddle. “The stable is yours as well, you dunderpoll.”
“Truly?” Fitzwilliam inquired once he was seated. “Then you will not mind if I take every horse racing so we can wager on the winners?”
“They are bred for riding, not racing. You would lose your money. I know you are not so foolish.”
Fitzwilliam shrugged as they headed back into the increasingly more crowded streets of London in the late autumn. “Perhaps wealth will change me. I have never had access to an entire stable of horses before.”
“It is six horses, Fitzwilliam,” Darcy responded, rolling his eyes. “Your father’s stable holds three times as many.”
“Well,” Fitzwilliam responded airily, “an earl must be seen to live like an earl.”
“Then it is my good fortune I am not a peer. Did you see how Lewis looked down his nose at me? Quite a feat, as I must be nearly a foot taller.”
Fitzwilliam laughed aloud, startling a few nearby riders. “Trouble with the staff already? You do need me.”
“I will not say you are wrong, but I do not believe there is any help for Lewis.” He explained the interaction between them.
“Vaughan is in London?” Fitzwilliam exclaimed.
Darcy grinned. “My response exactly. Shall we go see him when we are done with Connors?”
“If there is time, of course we should.”