Compulsively Mr. Darcy (11 page)

Mr. Darcy was not in a good mood, Mrs. Ching concluded, closing the CEO's office door. He was anxious about something. As his secretary for a few years now, she'd become adept at reading his mood.

Something had happened with a certain Miss Bennet. The day he arrived back at work three weeks ago, he had given her very specific instructions: he was to be available, interrupted or transferred, at any time whenever a certain Miss Elizabeth Bennet called. On a whim, Mrs. Ching Googled the name. Too many results came up. No matter. Though Miss Bennet had not called the office phone yet, Mrs. Ching suspected she'd meet the lady eventually.

***

After dinner that evening, Darcy asked to talk to his sister. She'd just arrived home from England earlier that day. “How was your time at Pemberley?”

Her fingers pulled at a napkin's corner. “Fine.”

He sighed and wished for Elizabeth's presence. A chuckle escaped him. He was pathetic. Already, he depended on his girlfriend to help him handle the awkwardness with his sister.

Eyes guarded, Georgiana cast him a glance.

“I'm sorry, I wasn't laughing at you. I was thinking about someone.” On impulse, he reached for his sister's hand and squeezed it gently.

After an initial stiffening, she gave his fingers a tiny squeeze in response. “Who?”

“Elizabeth Bennet. I met her in Vietnam. My girlfriend.”

“No! Really?”

He smiled at his sister's opened mouth. “Yes, really.”

“You have a girlfriend? You never have girlfriends.” The napkin now carelessly discarded, she leaned forward. “Tell me about her.”

Encouraged by his sister's eagerness, he began to tell her about Elizabeth.

“You sound like you really like her,” his sister said when he finally stopped.

“I do like her, a lot.”

“I've never heard you say that about a woman before. Does she like you?” As if realizing how that might have sounded, she hurriedly added, “I mean lots of women like you, but does she truly like you, in the same way?”

He felt his cheeks redden. “Even better, she loves me… and I love her.”

She raised her hand to her mouth. “Who are you and what have you done with my brother?” She lunged at him and hugged him tight.

He hugged her back just as tightly. “And I love you, Georgiana.”

“I love you too, Will,” she cried into his shirt. “I'm so sorry for everything last year. I made you depressed because of my stupidity.”

“I should have taken better care of you and not neglected you when you went off to college. I've been down lately because… because of my failure, not because of you or what you did. And you are not stupid.”

“I was stupid. I trusted George and I shouldn't have,” she said. “Do you remember how Father was at the end?” She pulled back and wiped her eyes. “He hardly wanted to see anyone, but he always looked forward to George's visits. He made Father laugh. I remember that.”

“You had good memories of George, of course you'd trust him when you saw him again.”

“I should have been suspicious when he didn't want me to tell you about us dating,” she said. “He explained you had cut him off after Father died because you were jealous of his relationship with our father. I should have known you had good reasons.”

“I was jealous of his relationship with our father,” he admitted, “and I did have good reasons to cut George off.”

“I should not have given him money. He convinced me our father supported his spiritual quest for a meaningful life and had planned to leave him money to study theology. He also claimed Father was going to give him a position on the DDF board, but you denied his rights to it. I was stupid to believe him.”

“Georgiana”—he shook his head—“you're not stupid. I don't want to hear you say that again.”

“Yes, I was.” She nodded. “I should have realized it was all lies. Even if Father did promise money, he would never give away any part of DDF to someone who isn't a family member. Richard's a part-owner and he can't even run the board meetings without your presence.”

“Or yours, don't forget; you're a Darcy,” he reminded her. “I don't want you to blame yourself any longer. It's my fault. I didn't take George's threat seriously and I didn't warn you. Can you forgive me?”

She accepted his apology and again tried to apologize to him; he interrupted and insisted it was his fault. Finally, they agreed to stop apologizing to each other. She wanted to hear more about his girlfriend, and he wanted to talk more about his girlfriend.

When his sister heard his suggestion about her joining him on his return trip to Vietnam, her face lit up. “I'm not ready to go back to school yet. If you're sure I won't be in your way.”

“You won't,” he said firmly. “Elizabeth will love you. If you want something to do, Jane will appreciate your help at the orphanage. She's a sweet lady. You'll like her.”

“Is Elizabeth a sweet lady too?”

He laughed, glad to hear the teasing in her voice. “Actually, no. She's a mischievous devil.”

“Could we call them now and tell them I'm coming?”

“I'll tell her the next time I talk to her.”

“Call her now. I'll leave you alone.” She disappeared before he could respond.

Surprised by her eagerness, he smiled and stared after her. He called Elizabeth's cell phone. No answer. He sagged against the couch. Cell phone service and Internet connections in Vietnam were sketchy in spots, but he didn't expect her to be this out of touch. He hadn't been able to get through to her in the last few days.

“When can we leave?” Georgiana came back into the room ten minutes later. “What did she say?”

“I couldn't get ahold of her. She's traveling, giving medical lectures at various hospitals in Vietnam.”

“Couldn't we get there and surprise her?”

“Hold on.” He held up his hand. “We'll leave as soon as I can arrange to be away for another extended period. Anne's having some difficulty and she needs me for some tricky negotiations during the next few weeks.”

“Let Richard or Charles handle them.”

“It's not Richard's area of expertise and Charles left for Africa.”

“All right. I'll wait,” she said, disappointment in her voice. “But I'm really anxious to meet Elizabeth.”

“I'm anxious to see her too,” he agreed, looking down at his hands.

***

Unable to contact Elizabeth, Darcy's hands became more red and cracked over the next few days. He even tried to call the orphanage's office; some woman answered each time and refused to give him any personal information about Elizabeth or Jane. The sisters must be traveling together. He even called the hospital, but all he got each time was: “Dr. E li sa bet go home!”

“William, we're ready to start looking at the figures for Abbate Inc.,” Anne said from behind him one day as he stood staring out of the window of the conference room.

For the next few hours, he dealt with graphs and figures until the meeting finally ended. Except for his two vice presidents, everyone else exited speedily when he dismissed them. He was in a bad mood and it showed. Wearily, he returned to his previous spot by the window.

Anne said, “William, the Frick Museum Board dinner meeting is tomorrow night before the reception. They acquired that painting you recommended and want your approval for the next one.”

“It would be great for you to relax a bit, Cuz,” Richard said. “You always enjoyed beautiful women and beautiful art. I hear Helena is organizing the reception. Give her a call.”

“I've already told them you would probably be coming with me, William,” Anne said. “I thought it would be more convenient to attend together.”

“All right. Thanks, Anne.” He didn't want to do anything except sit by the phone, but he still had obligations. Anne had been shouldering a lot of them and it was time he did his share. If he didn't hear from Elizabeth soon, the DDF jet would be on its way to Vietnam and more work would be dumped on Anne. He owed it to her to escort her tomorrow night.

Through the reflection of the window, he saw Anne glaring at a smirking Richard, who raised his middle finger. Anne quickly left the room.

“Very mature, Richard,” Darcy said.

“She deserves it. She—”

“I don't want to hear it.” Darcy held up his hand, not up to hearing the usual litany of complaints about Anne. He left the room, automatically checking his cell phone.

He had missed a call from Vietnam!

Jane's orphanage number. He had, out of habit, put it on silent mode during the meeting. He stopped in the hallway and listened.

Jane apologized for missing his calls. Her sister Mary—sister Mary? What happened to Elizabeth? Darcy held his breath—had not realized it was a personal call and not one related to orphanage business. Jane had bad news—Darcy's heart stopped—Wickham had been released from prison early. He reportedly had bribed his way out.

Elizabeth!
Darcy's head screamed inside. He should never have left her there! The message ended with Jane telling him she was trying to get ahold of Elizabeth to inform her also. He replayed the message again. He called Jane back. No answer.

“Darce, say Darce, are you all right?” Richard appeared next to him. “You look white. Is it bad news? Georgiana? Mrs. R.?”

“I should never have left her there. I can't believe I came back for some business deals while she was still in danger from him.” Heart pounding now, he walked rapidly toward his office. “I have to go back to Vietnam right now.”

“What? Vietnam? Who, who are you talking about?” Richard followed and furiously whispered, “Is it the paid escort?”

Richard's assistant appeared around the corner. “Mr. Fitzwilliam, the people from Tgruy are waiting for you in your office.”

Richard held out a hand. “Wait, Darce. Let me deal with this quick.”

Darcy ignored him and kept walking. He gave Mrs. Ching the orphanage number and asked her to try to reach Jane to find out where, exactly, her sister Elizabeth was in Vietnam and for the DDF jet to be prepared to leave. He went into his inner office and started planning what he needed to do.

Richard ran in and shut the door. “Darce, man. Don't go back. Don't go crazy on me here. If I knew you were going to go this apeshit over some casual vacation hook-up, I would never have pushed you to get involved with one.”

“Be quiet. I have to think,” Darcy snapped, his mind was already on the next item in his list. By the time he finished his mental list, Richard had disappeared. Darcy picked up the phone. “Mrs. Ching, get me Colonel Brandon.”

***

A few short hours later, three cars pulled up to the tarmac where the DDF jet waited. The first car had Darcy with a team of people with him, listening as he deluged them with rapid-fire instructions. The second car had the DDF security team traveling with him to Vietnam. The third car had his cousin Richard, chasing after him, still frantically trying to convince him not to go. Darcy ignored him while he talked to Colonel Brandon, his chief of security.

A fourth car pulled up. At the sight of it, Darcy stopped talking.

Carrying a bag, Georgiana ran up to him. “If you're going to Vietnam, I'm coming with you. You promised.”

His cell phone buzzed with an incoming text message:
Elizabeth
Bennet
found. Call office
.

“Mr. Darcy, I have a Miss Jane Bennet on the phone holding for you. I'll transfer you,” Mrs. Ching said in her usual quiet efficient manner after one ring.

“William, this is Jane.” Amidst the background hum of the crowd around him, her calm voice was a welcome relief. “Your secretary said you're about to board a plane to be on your way back here to Vietnam.”

“Elizabeth?”

“Elizabeth is fine. She isn't here. I told her she should have told you what she was doing,” Jane said. “I'm a bit frustrated with my impulsive sister for causing this panic.”

“Where?” Darcy said, his heart racing too fast for him to manage more words.

“She's in New York,” Jane replied.

“New York?” Darcy was shocked.

“New York?” repeated Richard.

“New York?” chorused the crowd.

“Yes, New York City. Are you anywhere near there?” Jane's raised voice could be heard clearly.

The crowd laughed, then stopped abruptly at Darcy's glare.

“Where exactly in New York City?” He ignored his staff's mumblings about their near miss of a frantic trip halfway around the world to find a woman already here in New York. He stepped away from the crowd to better hear Jane.

She answered his question, and the next, and the many more he asked. As he listened, his hands shook. Standing apart from the crowd and next to Richard, Georgiana looked worried. Darcy gave his sister a reassuring smile as he said to Elizabeth's sister, “Thank you, Jane. Let me assure you I have enough to take care of your sister and her great-great-grandchildren's grandchildren, if I can convince that crazy, impulsive, maddening sister of yours to marry me.”

He rang off after assuring Jane he would get in touch with her once he found Elizabeth. He tried the numbers of Elizabeth's new cell phone. It went to her voice mail. He closed his eyes and exhaled in relief. At least he had a working number now.

He shook his head. In a small way—a very small way—he was exasperated with her obstinate obtuseness. A large part of his heart—an overwhelming large part—however, was now filled with an unbelievable warmth. He was astounded, touched, and very humbled by the miracle of her selfless love.

It totally fit with his Elizabeth's tendency to champion the underdog. And he was the lucky dog.

He sent the security team home, canceled the flight, and gave the rest of the staff instructions. His employees began placing calls. He walked over to Georgiana and Richard.