When Darcy located Anne and Richard, they were in the sitting room furthest from the one that Lady Catherine preferred, with Mrs. Jenkinson attending to Anne's needs. Mrs. Jenkinson seemed much more relaxed than she had on previous visits, likely due to Anne's asserting her rights over Rosings. Even in her weakened state, Anne was still able to stir her tea and shift her footstool without her companion's assistance. She was able to perform those tasks adequately on her own, despite what Lady Catherine might think.

After greeting those present and being served a cup of tea, Darcy took a seat next to Mrs. Jenkinson and asked her how she did. The lady seemed surprised at being addressed by him, but answered with alacrity that she was well and enjoying the fine weather. Richard and Anne were discussing an issue concerning one of the tenants, however Darcy had no knowledge of this particular family and thus made minimal contribution to the conversation.

"Mother was quite cross that you did not join us for breakfast," said Anne to Darcy after the conversation turned to their plans for the day.

"I breakfasted at the parsonage." Darcy's statement was greeted with looks of surprise and raised eyebrows.

"The parsonage?" asked Richard with some incredulity. "Have you a sudden desire to become better acquainted with the absurd Mr. Collins?"

"Not in particular, but I do have a previous acquaintance with his wife and his guests."

"Oh?" asked Anne, intrigued.

Mrs. Collins had mentioned something about meeting Mr. Darcy when he visited his friend, Mr. Bingley, in Hertfordshire, but the tone in Darcy's voice made her think that it was not Mrs. Collins that brought Darcy to the parsonage. Mrs. Collins' sister was barely more than a girl. She did not think her cousin's interests would lie there. Thus, it must be Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Miss Bennet was quite pretty and had the dark hair and eyes that Darcy often admired.

Anne narrowed her eyes at her cousin. "You like Miss Bennet."

"She has many fine qualities. Do you not admire her?" asked Darcy.

"That is not what I meant, and you know it."

"Why do you care, Anne? Have you suddenly developed a longing to accede to your mother's wishes and become Darcy's bride?"

"I do not care for myself, but I like Miss Bennet and I cannot imagine Darcy marrying so far beneath himself. I hope you will not trifle with her affections."

"Darcy does not trifle with ladies," said Richard. "He is far too honourable even to flirt innocently."

"There is no innocence in flirting if it can harm a lady's reputation," Darcy replied.

"Oh, not if you tell her at the outset," said Richard with a wave of his hand. "Miss Bennet is most charming. I would not mind engaging in a flirtation with her."

"You will do no such thing," said Darcy with a scowl.

Richard brought his tea to his lips and smirked as he drank. "You are so much fun to tease."

"Anyhow," said Darcy as he turned to Anne, "I came to thank you for bringing me the letters. It is truly wonderful to have my mother's last gift in my possession."

"I am only sorry that it was likely my mother who kept them from you."

"We are not yet certain of that," said Darcy. "While I agree that it is likely, I will not make accusations."

Anne looked at him dubiously. "Who else would have any interest in hiding the letters?"

"I do not know. I would prefer her to admit to it, once I have read the letters and had them removed to Pemberley or Darcy House."

"I hope you are taking care with them. My mother snoops through my things and I would not doubt that she would do the same with yours," answered Anne.

"Why exactly have you not confined your mother to the dower house?" asked Richard.

"I fear she is not well enough to be on her own like that, even with servants. She would probably descend even further into madness if I did not allow her the illusion of being mistress of Rosings."

"You are a better person than me," said Richard. "I would have found her a nice little cottage and sent her there with a handful of servants. Damn the consequences."

"I cannot do that. I have been ill all my life, and she has cared well for me, even if she is a little too much at times."

"A little?" asked Darcy sceptically. "And I had not thought that Lady Catherine would snoop through my things. I will find a better place for the letters."

"She snoops through everyone's things," said Anne. "Do not leave anything lying about that you do not wish for her to see."

Darcy and Richard agreed that they should be careful and put away anything they did not wish Lady Catherine to see. Darcy had known that Lady Catherine had gone through his things when he was young, but he had not imagined she would do the same to a grown man. He shuddered to think what she might find if she went through Richard's brother, Viscount Barlow's things.

After finishing his tea, Darcy went back to his room to ensure the letters were still there. He counted them to be certain, and they were all there. He picked up the letter labelled as "Fourteenth birthday" and broke the seal.

My dearest son, William,

I hope you are having a wonderful birthday, my dear boy. Fourteen years old. I would bet that you are nearly as tall as your father now. You did get your height from my side of the family, and your father is of a more moderate height than the Fitzwilliams. I hope you enjoyed your first year at Eton and that you are becoming ever more clever. You already were clever, of course, but I can only imagine what wonders you will discover while at school.

You have not fallen in with any arrogant lordlings, have you? I have no doubt they will seek you out when they learn what sort of estate you are heir to. Do not let them fool you. They are not your friends if they only wish for your company because of your name and fortune. You would do much better to have few friends who care for you as a person than dozens who give not a wit for you as a person. I never could impress as much on your Aunt Catherine. She always has given more merit to rank than character. I beg you not to listen to her when she goes on about 'remaining in one's own sphere' and other such nonsense.

Oh, and pray, William, do not let the boys at school take you out to 'become a man' so soon. You are so young, still. While I do not expect that you will remain chaste forever, pray wait until you are at least old enough to have a woman who only is with you, be that a wife or a mistress. I do not like to think of you in such a manner, of course, but the lordlings — particularly those in their fourth year or so — might wish for you to accompany them as you get older. My brother was often asked to do so when he was at Eton, for he was mocked for declining and rumours were spread, saying that he preferred men. While that was unpleasant for him, his fellow students who ended up with the pox got far worse.

Do not begin gambling too much either. If you do gamble, do not drink. The two mixed together is how fortunes are lost.

While I do not want you to engage in those types of entertainment, I imagine that you are, by now, out of mourning. Thus, I hope you shall have some enjoyment over your break from school. If you have made friends with any respectable boys, you might even see if they could visit you while you are away. Ask your father, of course, but assuming they are of good character, it would prove good for you to have boys around besides young George.

I shall not write much more, for I am quite tired, my dear son. I shall only say Happy birthday and that I hope Cook makes all your favourite foods and that you get whatever you wish for.

I love you so very much,

Mamma

This letter did not tear Darcy up so much as the others. Perhaps it was the fact that he had already followed most of the advice contained within, and he felt his mother would have approved of his actions with regard to women and friends. He was no innocent, but he had not frequented the places that his classmates had been so fond of. He had a couple of brief affairs with widows: one while he was in university and the other shortly afterwards, when the first had gone to Devon to be near her ailing parents.

The ladies had not exactly been his mistresses, but nor were they the type to welcome just anyone into their bed. He had even debated proposing to one of them, but she had no wish to have a husband again. He had not been in love with her, but his body certainly was. He now was quite glad that she had kindly put him off of proposing.

As for his friends, Darcy had found Bingley and his set after several lonely years. He, at first, had assumed that Bingley was like all the others, but he later learned that Bingley thought that Darcy needed cheering up. The kind man had therefore taken it upon himself to be an absolute nuisance to Darcy, inviting him everywhere and teasing him into better humours. Bingley's close friends, Viscount Harrowby and Mr. Erasmus Poole, had not been so cheerful as Bingley, but they accepted Darcy readily enough. They all had fortunes enough to not be after his. All had relations in trade or worse, even Harrowby, which limited their acceptance among the rest of the students. Harrowby was the heir of an Earl who had married his former mistress, so he held a deep resentment towards any students who dared to mock his mother. Unfortunately for him, this included many of the students; they thought themselves above the son of a woman they deemed less than respectable. Harrowby had visited Pemberley for three consecutive summers, and Bingley had spent the majority of his summers there. Bingley's sisters were unpleasant sorts who he did not like to spend three months together with. Poole always went home to his family in Bedfordshire, but they always reunited at school.

Darcy recalled that it had been a long time since he had seen or heard from either Harrowby or Poole, and wondered why their correspondence had stopped. He hoped their direction was still the same, or else that Bingley did not hate him for not telling him about Miss Bennet and would give Darcy their direction.

Unfortunately, the more that Darcy considered it, the more he realised it had very likely been him to had stopped their correspondence. Poole's ties to trade had strengthened of late when he bought a mill and the related factories. Darcy remembered thinking that was a poor choice, but now he regretted allowing their friendship to cool for such a paltry reason. It is not as if his buying a mill affected Darcy in any way. When had he become so pontifical?

He tried to remember the last time he had seen or written to Poole. Two years ago, perhaps? It was even longer for Harrowby, but that was because Harrowby travelled so much. He ought to still have written, as he would have received his letters upon his return.

If Darcy had wished to be generous with himself, he could have said that he had simply become too busy with all his responsibilities with the various estates and Georgiana, but he knew that was not true. He had enough time to send a letter once a month or so.

For the second day in a row, he was motivated by his mother's letters to take out a sheet of paper and begin a letter to a friend.