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Darcy sat in the chair beside the hearth. Fitzwilliam took the other and allowed the child to grow accustomed to him.

Anna pressed the ring against Darcy’s waistcoat and leaned forward to examine a button upon the Colonel’s sleeve. Fitzwilliam moved his arm within her reach.

“She has Georgiana’s way of considering a stranger,” he said quietly.

Darcy looked at his niece. Her brows had drawn together with the effort of understanding the button.

“Georgiana once hid behind a curtain until you sent your fellow officers away,” Darcy said. “You had promised to bring her a book, not company.”

Fitzwilliam laughed. Anna looked up at the sound and smiled cautiously, as though he had at last supplied a recommendation she understood.

“There,” the Colonel said. “We shall do very well.”

After a little while Ruth lifted her from Darcy’s knee and settled her on the blanket with the ring. The gentlemen remained until she grew tired of being admired. When she rubbed her eyes, Darcy rose without requiring the nurse to send him away.

In the passage Fitzwilliam put a hand upon his arm.

“I am glad you brought her here.”

“So am I.”

“I know the Hargreaves loved her.”

“They still do. Martha comes often. We visit the cottage when the weather permits.”

“Good.”

Darcy stopped beside the window overlooking the courtyard. A cart stood below while two men unloaded parcels for the kitchen. He watched them for a moment, uncertain how to begin the conversation he owed his cousin.

“I should have asked you to come sooner.”

Fitzwilliam leaned one shoulder against the wall. “I should have come without waiting to be asked.”

“You had duties.”

“So did you. We have both found that a useful answer.”

Darcy looked at him. His cousin’s expression had lost its easy amusement.

“I was concerned about you,” Fitzwilliam said. “After Georgiana died, every letter told me the business of the estate was proceeding properly. I knew very well that it would. I wanted to know whether you were eating your dinner.”

“I did not know what to tell you.”

“You might have told me that.”

Darcy nodded slowly.

He remembered the Colonel’s letter confirming Wickham’s death, and his own answer: a few lines acknowledging the particulars, followed by a question about business which had seemed more bearable than anything he actually felt. Fitzwilliam had known what the news meant. Darcy had thanked him as though he had completed an errand.

“I missed you,” he said.

His cousin looked away first.

“Well. I am here now.”

“Yes.”

“And I expect to be entertained. I have already been promised your future father-in-law, three more Miss Bennets, and a dog with no respect for rank. You must not retreat into your study and leave me to manage them alone.”