morrow. “I am sure he is coming here to propose.”
“Nell, I have no wish to throw cold water on your celebration, but it is my understanding from Georgiana that Mr. Darcy intends to make an offer to Miss Bennet.”
“I can assure you that that will not happen. Miss Bennet told me that she would follow my advice and leave Mr. Darcy to marry one of his own. It was very foolish of him to think he could wed someone who is fully human. It is so rarely done. Besides, she has no understanding of what is involved in being a wolf and the precautions we must take.”
“For instance, not referring to Mr. Darcy as Alpha as you did in the receiving line. You are lucky I was the only one who heard you.”
“I agree that that was a mistake, but who would know what I was talking about if they did hear me?”
“Nell, you are not thinking like a lupine. Such terms are never used in public under any circumstance. Please understand that if Mr. Darcy’s purpose in coming here is to propose, I most certainly will wish you joy, but he would be very displeased if he thought you had grown careless.”
“But no one, other than Miss Bennet, heard me call Mr. Darcy Alpha,” Lady Helen insisted.
“For your sake, I hope you are right.”
Chapter 22
Lord Granyard went to the window and stared out at the terrace and the gardens beyond. His title, his estate, his rank meant nothing in the matter at hand. The fate of his daughter, his beloved Nell, now rested in the hands of Fitzwilliam Darcy, and he had not felt such an emptiness since the death of Nell’s mother.
“Darcy, will there be an official reprimand registered with the Council?”
“These are serious transgressions, milord. It was only because of Mr. Jackson’s quick thinking that none of the junior servants were abovestairs to hear Nell’s remarks. She actually said, ‘sleeping with Mr. Darcy.’ Although it has nothing to do with her being a lupine, if someone had heard such a statement, what conclusion would be drawn? That Nell is a loose woman, and that I am equally bereft of morals as I had seduced an unmarried lady of rank, a friend, and a neighbor.”
“I understand, Darcy. It is just that she got it in her head that you wanted to marry her.”
“I honestly do not know where she got such an idea as I have said time and time again that I think of her as a sister and as a member of my pack. I have not given her any encouragement because I am in love with another.”
“Miss de Bourgh’s friend?” Lord Granyard asked.
“Is that what Nell told you? That she was at Pemberley because she was a friend of Anne?” When Granyard nodded, Darcy shook his head. “This is truly distressing because she knows that is not true. Even so, Nell was able to convince Miss Bennet that it was not in her interest nor mine for us to become husband and wife. As distressing as that is, it is not the matter at hand. Without any thought that someone might overhear her, Nell referred to me as Alpha, and with her careless talk, she put me at risk, as well as my sister and your family.”
“This is all my fault,” Granyard said in a voice barely above a whisper. “I overindulged her, and as a result, she thinks that she should get everything she wants. I should have brought her up with a firmer hand, but when her mother died… Darcy, please do not reprimand her. If you do, for the rest of her life, she will be living under the sword of Damocles. One mistake and she will be exiled.”
“Lord Granyard, over the past three decades, the Council has worked hard to protect the werewolf population in Britain, not an easy task. But one of the reasons for its success is everyone knows what will happen if they betray their fellow lupines with their words or actions. Nell is no different from anyone else in that regard. Her rank does not matter in the wild. Now, if you will, please ask Nell to come in.”
While Darcy waited for Nell, he finished the port he had been nursing. If he were at Pemberley, he might have considered drinking the whole damn bottle. It was just a week earlier that he had had to deal with Rupert, and what a scene that had been. Rupert had got down on all fours and crawled toward Darcy before lying on his back to expose his belly, something he would have done in the wild. But the gesture had revolted him.
“Get up! For God’s sake, you are the son of a prince and a member of my pack. Stop this disgusting display,” Darcy had told him. “If you think that this will change anything, you are mistaken. You knew what the punishment would be for a second transgression, but you decided that since your father is the Prince of Wales you could get away with your slothful ways. You were on MacGregor’s property because you wanted his rabbits. Why bother hunting if you can steal someone else’s food? And in doing so, you came very close to being seen in your lupine form.
“If anyone had actually witnessed your transformation, do you know what would have happened? You would have been beaten to death, and after they had finished with you, they would have turned on Teddy. And then MacGregor’s neighbors and the villagers would have been alerted to the werewolf in their midst, and because they knew that you were a guest of Mr. Underhill, they would have marched over to his house, and only God knows what would have happened. This very thing occurred in France, and the mob burnt the house to the ground.”
But Darcy needed to get that horrible scene out of his head. Nell was not Rupert, and her transgression was serious, but nothing to compare to what Rupert had done. In all his years as a werewolf, other than Rupert, he had never personally known any lupine who had been subjected to Council discipline, and now it had been necessary for him to discipline a second member of his four-member pack. So what should he do? Nell’s father was right. If he registered an official reprimand with the Council, she would have to watch every step, weigh every word, and would forever be looking over her shoulder. Considering the gossip-obsessed society she moved in, that might be a good thing. It might actually protect her from herself.
When Nell came into the room, Darcy recognized that Lizzy had been right. Nell was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and because she thought he had come to ask for her hand in marriage, she was dressed in one of her loveliest dresses. But before he even said a word, she knew that was not going to happen. Her father had warned her of Darcy’s decision, and she had entered the room with head bowed.
“Mr. Darcy, I am so sorry,” she said, sniffling. “I know there is nothing I can say to make up for my careless remarks, but you know I would never do anything that could harm the members of the pack.”
“But you have already done such a thing.”
“But Papa said that Mr. Jackson made sure that none of the junior servants were about.”
“How fortunate for you—and me.”
“What will happen to me?” she asked, twisting her handkerchief.
“In one way, you are the beneficiary of Rupert’s stupidity because it allows me to compare the two situations. I have decided to reprimand you…”
Nell gasped. Short of committing a transgression so grievous that the wolf was immediately taken into custody and exiled, this was the worst thing that could happen for a first offense. Her sniveling gave way to copious weeping, but Darcy made no attempt to comfort her.
“Nell, allow me to finish,” he said loudly in order to be heard above the sound of her sobs. “I have decided to reprimand you, but I shall keep the written report of your error at Pemberley. It will only be revealed to the Council if you should commit a second transgression. I have known this to be done in at least one other instance.”
Nell came over and knelt in front of him and took his hand and put it against her forehead as a sign of her acceptance of his decision. “Thank you. I will not disappoint you. I promise.”
Darcy pulled his hand away. Such demonstrations were necessary in the wild, but he had never been comfortable with their use when he was in human form, and he helped her to rise.
“Please sit down because there is something else I want to talk to you about. It is the matter of your marriage. You are twenty-one years old, and the time has come to address this issue. Lord Angelsey is the only werewolf who is both British and your equal in rank, but you seem not to like him. I know of only four British werewolves who are members of the landed gentry, but, frankly, I cannot see you marrying any of them either.”
“Are you sure that there is not another who is suitable?”
Darcy knew that she was referring to him, but if there had even been so much as a spark of interest on his part, that ember had been extinguished with her selfish pursuit of what was beneficial to her and to her alone.
