The Second Mrs Darcy Read Online Free Page B

that, none at all.”
    Octavia smiled, and Mr. Gurney blinked. The tall young woman suddenly looked years younger, not that she could be so very old, and there was a colour in her cheeks; he had thought she looked sad and pale when he arrived, but now she was transformed.
    â€œMay I take it that you will go to London?” he asked, after several minutes’ silence.
    â€œYes. If I could have some money, that would be …” She hesitated, fearful of asking too much. “Perhaps fifty pounds.”
    â€œFifty? Let us say a hundred, or more if you wish it. I assure you, you can draw on us for a much larger sum than that.”
    â€œNo, no thank you, I shall need very little on the voyage, and I should not like to carry too large a sum on my person.”
    â€œVery wise, very wise. I shall send a clerk round with it this afternoon.”
    He rose, perspiring more than ever; however did he manage in the really hot weather?
    â€œOne thing, Mr. Gurney, I would request of you.”
    He looked enquiringly at her.
    â€œPray, can you keep the news of this inheritance to yourself? Calcutta is a small place, and until I have the details—well, I would prefer that no one knows about it.”
    â€œOf course, of course. No, I am as capable of discretion as the next man, more so, for in my profession one has to keep mumchance, you know. No danger of this getting out, I assure you.”
    He bowed himself out, the door closing behind him as Harriet, looking cool and neat in a pale green dress, came in through the other door.
    â€œWas that Mr. Dyer? What did he want?”
    â€œIt was a colleague of his, some papers that needed attending to.”
    â€œIs it something that Robert can help with?”
    â€œOh, no, it is nothing, nothing at all.”
    Why didn’t she want to tell Harriet, to spill out the good news that she knew would delight her friend? Was it caution, for after all, she had only Mr. Gurney’s word that there was any substantial inheritance? The house in Yorkshire might be a tumbledown cottage, and the fortune in the end a few hundred pounds. Or the will might be disputed, some natural child of her great-uncle might appear to make a claim on the estate; her great-uncle must have been a wild young man to be packed off to India in such a fashion.
    â€œDid you ever hear of a Mr. Worthington, Harriet? He lived in India, in Darjeeling, but died some years ago. He was survived by his wife.”
    Harriet shook her head. “We have only been here for six years, you know. I do remember someone talking of a Mrs. Worthington, perhaps that was his widow. I believe she was very rich, and went back to England. Why do you ask?”
    â€œOh, merely that Mr. Gurney wanted to know if I had been acquainted with either of the Worthingtons.”
    â€œHer money came from tea, I seem to remember.”
    Before Harriet could ask any more questions, Octavia told her that she had decided to go back to England on the Sir John Rokesby . “If Mr. Thurloe can arrange it for me.”
    â€œMy dear, of course he can. How I shall miss you! But it is for the best, I truly think so, you must go back before you lose your looks in this horrid climate, and then you may see if anything can be got out of Mr. Warren.” She paused. “I know you will accept nothing from us, but it did occur to Robert and me that perhaps the cost of your fare was a concern to you. We should be so happy if—”
    â€œNo, no, it is not a consideration, I have the money for that and a little more besides. Which reminds me, I shall need some clothes, some half-mourning for when I arrive back in England. Will you please send a servant to Madame Duhamel for me?”
    Madame Duhamel was a Frenchwoman who had come to Calcutta with her husband, only to be left a widow when he was carried off by the cholera. She had set to making her own living, andemployed several local derseys to make up the fashionable