Chapter One

London

January, 1774

The two ladies froze as they met one another's eyes. They were both heiresses, both reputed beauties, and when they had left Mrs Willard's prestigious London seminary two years earlier, they had both been bitter rivals. They had not seen each other since then.

The silence was broken almost simultaneously as good breeding overwhelmed old hostility. Each dropped a curtsey.

"Lady Anne."

"Miss Darcy."

She had changed, Anne realised; no longer the haughty girl who flaunted her ancient name as if it were a splendid set of pearls, Helen Darcy looked pale, listless, and indifferent to all around her. They quickly separated, but Anne felt incapable of clinging to the cherished antipathy. It was an old childish quarrel, and even her resentful temper could not stand against the other girl's pitiful state.

When Miss Darcy had passed, Anne turned to her companion. "Why Clarissa, whatever has happened?"

"Did not you hear about Mrs Darcy?" Clarissa Napier, otherwise a very sweet, kind person (although not very clever), was an inveterate gossip. "They say she nearly died. Mr Darcy and Lady Alexandra are with her, that is why Miss Darcy came with Sir James instead of her brother."

Anne glanced over at the judge, who was talking quietly and earnestly to Lord Napier, Clarissa's brother. Sir James Darcy was a brilliant man who had risen rapidly through his profession, and not much more than ten years older than his nephew. Although nearly forty he was considered an excellent prospect, and on more than one occasion, Anne's sister had tried to influence her in that direction.

She sighed. For the last seven years, Catherine had been bent on getting herself married; that accomplished, all that remained was to marry off the rest of her acquaintance. She was, at twenty-four, well on her way to becoming the worst busybody that ever lived.

"I am sorry," Anne said sincerely. There was at present a détente in the quarrel between the Fitzwilliams and Darcys (who had been feuding off-and-on since, according to Fitzwilliam family legend, a Darcy had called the Fitzwilliams a lot of Irish upstarts, and was overheard by one of the upstarts in question), and in any case she had always liked Mrs Darcy. "I hope she is recovering?"

"Yes, Miss Darcy said so. Well, at her age, I suppose it is only to be expected, but it is sad all the same."

"Very. She is such an amiable woman." It was a tepid phrase, but in Mrs Darcy's case, perfectly accurate. Warm and lively without the smallest hint of ill-breeding, she was much loved by all who knew her, and it seemed impossible that she had once been the fiery girl who had thrown aside the disapprobation of her family and his, and married her Mr Darcy against the wishes of all concerned but themselves. She was nearly eighty and had outlived her husband and elder son.

"Oh," Clarissa said nervously, "Miss Darcy is talking to her uncle. I hope she did not think me impertinent? I was only worried about Mrs Darcy."

"She seems exhausted," Anne said, looking at her old rival sympathetically. "I am sure that is all, Clara."

---

Anne considered the Darcy matter over the next several weeks. It was really a very silly grudge to hold after all these years, and she had no interest in what some ancestor of Miss Darcy's had said about some ancestor of hers.

Anne's father and uncle had been estranged for years over something equally trivial -- in her opinion -- and, although intending to heal the breach at some time another, had never done so. Her uncle's death had made her Lady Anne and her father Lord Holbrook, but his grief continued almost unabated, although it had been eight months now. Anne herself had never known the previous earl, but her father's regret had forced her to reconsider the value of her quick and unforgiving temper.

What good had the hostility between herself and Miss Darcy accomplished? Their mutual friends, like Clarissa, were made uncomfortable. The Darcys were not only a powerful family in their own right, but also powerfully connected. The present Mr Darcy's aims were by no means opposed to her father's and brother's, and even a cease in hostility might win the cooperation of him and his. Every thing was in favour of some sort of reconciliation, if it could be accomplished.

When she attended the Napiers' ball, her friend's nervous but repeated injunctions against alienating the Darcys were unnecessary. As soon as good breeding allowed, Anne squared her shoulders and smiled as she approached Miss Darcy.

"Miss Darcy, good evening," she said. The other started, then turned to her.

"Lady Anne," she replied.

"Forgive me, I hope your grandmother's health has improved?"

Miss Darcy blinked. "Why, yes, it has," she said cautiously. "Are you much acquainted with her?"

"No, I do not know her well, but we have met several times and I like her very much. I do not think there are many women, or people, like her; the world would be a lesser place for her leaving it."

Miss Darcy's lips curved into a tentative smile. "I am in perfect agreement. We are all very fond of her, everyone who knows her is."

"I imagine so. Her illness -- it is not serious, I hope?--that is, she will recover fully, will she not?"

"Our physician says so. She has a strong constitution and the worst has passed."

A brief, awkward silence reigned. Anne briefly wondered why Miss Darcy's eyes seemed fixed on her neck; at first she assumed it was because the other girl was so much smaller, but then she realised that the necklace she wore was that necklace.

"Lady Anne," Miss Darcy said hurriedly, "I must apologise to you, about the matter of -- of the necklace." She nodded at it, then lifted her eyes to Anne's. "I should not have made such rash accusations, and I am sorry. I can only say in my defence, that Adela was my friend and I trusted her. I never dreamed she would have stolen anything from me, and when I saw you wearing it, I simply assumed . . . but I was very wrong, and I apologise."

Anne coloured slightly, both from embarrassment at the memory -- her own behaviour had been far from exemplary -- and from the knowledge of how far her own prejudices had misled her. She had assumed that Miss Darcy had fixed on her because Lady Adela was a duke's sister, and Anne only an Irish earl's niece. Miss Darcy's reserve and Lady Adela's insipidity had precluded her from suspecting any particular friendship between them.

"Oh! Miss Darcy," she said warmly, "your apologies are not necessary, but I accept them nonetheless. I was as wrong as you were -- you cannot know how wrong I was." She laughed a little. "I was far too sensitive. You could not know that as intractable and wild a girl as I would never do something like that, I loathe deceit. I have long since forgiven you."

To her surprise, a vibrant smile dimpled Miss Darcy's round cheeks at this, nothing like the weak passive smiles she had seen on her face before. "Oh, I feel very silly then," she said frankly. "I have longed to beg your forgiveness, almost since I realised the truth, but I did not dare; you always seemed very forbidding. I could not think you would hear above one word in ten."

"Well," Anne said, "I probably would not have, then. I have a dreadful temper. But I do hope that henceforth we will be able to meet on terms of cordiality, at least."

"I am certain we shall." Miss Darcy paused, her gaze turning quizzical. "I do not believe you are acquainted with my brother; I should like to introduce him to you. He heard a great deal of you when we are at school."

Anne said ingenuously, "Your brother? He is here? I thought he was with your grandmother." She did not know Mr Darcy, but she certainly knew of him. His family was one of the oldest and most respectable in England, their seat, Pemberley, was worth over eight thousand a-year, and the man himself had the best part of beauty, charisma, and good sense -- or so she had heard. Anne really was starting to think she was the only lady in town who had not set her cap for him. She had also heard that he was, or had been, a wild young man, and great catch though he was, had no intentions of being caught.

Miss Darcy's smile returned. Anne supposed that her favour was courted often in hopes of gaining her erstwhile brother's. Anne comforted herself that her motives were rather purer; she had no interest in Mr Darcy as a prospective husband, and she had hopes of Miss Darcy for her own sake. The other girl was intelligent, loyal, and determined; such people were few and far between.

"No, my uncle is with her -- Sir James."

"Yes, I know him, a little," Anne said unenthusiastically.

Miss Darcy turned to her in surprise. "You do not like him?"

"Oh no!" Anne hastily retraced her errant steps. "It is not him, it is . . . well, it is very embarrassing. My sister kept on throwing me at him." She bit her lip. "I am sure he is an excellent man, but . . ."

Miss Darcy's blue eyes widened. "My uncle? Why, you are younger than I am."

"I was seventeen in December," Anne replied, nodding. "But then, she married Sir Lewis de Bourgh, and he is fifty if he is a day. I love her dearly, but I will confess I am very glad she is fixed in Kent, for my sake and your uncle's."

---

Only three weeks passed before they met again, in Lady Cecil Duckworth's drawing room. Anne fled some family friends as quickly as she civilly could, and joined a group of clever young women. She was not a bluestocking, but their company was certainly preferable to insipid discussions of fashions and the latest indiscretions of this countess and that duchess.

There she found Miss Darcy next to a stately, severe-looking woman of perhaps fifty. "Why, Lady Anne," the former declared, "I am delighted to see you. Please, sit down with us -- if you would like."

"Thank you, I shall. Are you much acquainted with the Duckworths?"

"Yes, Lady Cecil's people, the Everills, have an estate about twelve miles from Pemberley. Oh! Mama, I do not think you have been introduced. This is Lady Anne Fitzwilliam, Lord Holbrook's younger daughter. Lady Anne, my mother, Lady Alexandra Darcy." Miss Darcy bit her lip and glanced from one to another.

So this was Lady Alexandra. Tall and dark, she looked nothing like her golden-haired daughter, more like Anne, as a matter of fact; but her mother had been a connection of the Fitzwilliams, which no doubt explained it. "Lady Anne," she said coolly. Anne inclined her head.

"Lady Alexandra, it is an honour. I will confess I never thought to be introduced to any of Miss Darcy's relations, but she has been generous enough to forget our old quarrels."

Lady Alexandra softened visibly at this. "Helen is a very sweet-natured girl," she allowed, with an approving look at her daughter.

"Mama!"

"Lady Anne, tell me how your father is," Lady Alexandra commanded. "I have not seen him since I was a girl."

Her manner rankled, but Anne swallowed her pride and said, "He enjoys excellent health, ma'am."

"He was created an English peer last year, I understand? Your family must have been very pleased."

Anne felt herself flushing a little and cursed her fair skin. "We were, although still in mourning for my uncle, of course."

"Oh, yes -- poor John. My mother was a relation of his -- quite distant, but we met at family gatherings and such."

"In Milton," Anne said wickedly.

"Yes, of course. I understand your father now has a large estate in Yorkshire?"

"Yes, ma'am, it is called Houghton."

"How very fortuitous for you all, they very rarely come up for sale."

"I think you misunderstand, Lady Alexandra," Anne said, meeting the older woman's eyes defiantly. "My mother inherited the land from a cousin, but the house had burnt down, so he had it rebuilt."

"I daresay he did so very thoroughly," Lady Alexandra replied, after a brief silence. "Edward was always very thorough."

"Yes, he is."

"Your mother, she was Lady Anne Leigh before her marriage, was she not? The Duke of Beswick's daughter?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Quite a good connection, for he must have married her long before he had any expectations of the title. The Leighs are a very new family, but still, a duke's daughter is always a good thing to have in the family. She is his second wife, is she not? And his first wife, she was very wealthy but the family was not quite respectable -- "

"I cannot say, Mrs Fitzwilliam died several years before I was born and I know nothing of her."

"And your mother was a companion of some sort to her, was she not? They were cousins?"

What an impertinent creature! Marquis' daughter or not, she had not half the good breeding of her mother-in-law, whose father had been only a spendthrift baronet. Anne felt herself colouring, with shame and anger, and said, "So I understand."

"Your brother and sister are only halfblood then?"

Anne lifted her chin. "My brother, ma'am, is as dear to me as any brother could be, and I am also very fond of my sister. She is Lady Catherine de Bourgh, I believe you may be acquainted with her husband?"

"Yes, very well acquainted," said Lady Alexandra. "The de Bourghs are an excellent family, ancient and honourable both. Your sister must be very pleased."

Anne thought of Sir Lewis, a colourless, obsequious man, and suppressed a grimace. "She is."

Lady Alexandra left to join her own friends shortly afterwards, and Anne breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh! Lady Anne," Miss Darcy said anxiously, "I hope you will forgive my mother. She has not been herself, ever since grandmama fell ill. She would not have bothered, I assure you, unless she actually liked you, or meant to like you."

Anne was still thoroughly annoyed, but not at Miss Darcy. She smiled at her. "Do not worry, Miss Darcy. I hope we are friendly enough not to be frightened away by one another's relatives. Your mother reminds me a little of my sister."

Miss Darcy suppressed a giggle. "I hope we will be friends, Lady Anne," she said. "I like you very much, and I am sorry we missed out on so many years because of something so silly as a quarrel we cannot even remember the reasons for -- at least, I do not."

Anne laughed. "Miss Darcy," she said warmly, "you must call me 'Anne.' I hope we are friends."

"I shall, if you will stop with that wretched 'Miss Darcy' and call me 'Helen.' "

They shook hands and, as quickly as that, the old feud was forgotten, and the two girls nearly inseparable friends.