“Am I to put on my riding boots?” he asked, unable to tear his eyes away from her.
“Oh, no, this is your costume.” She showed him a feathered Mardi Gras mask. He looked at it skeptically.
“This and...?” he asked.
“And nothing more,” she smirked. Well, if it turns her on... he stripped off his t-shirt and shorts and stood naked before her. She sat on the edge of the bed, legs spread, and handed him the mask. He obediently put the mask on and kneeled before her in submission. He did not meet her eyes; he knew how a proper servant was supposed to conduct himself. But he did not suppress his wicked smile when he said,
“I am at your service, Mistress.”
***
Despite Elizabeth’s worst fears, the transition back to Mr. Gardiner’s office went smoothly. Their conduct was beyond reproach; neither showed the slightest indication of interest in the other. Their hearings were conducted with civility and a little more humor than before. Their relationship was disclosed only on a need-to-know basis, which was surprisingly little. And yet, by the end of the month, nearly everyone knew of their relationship; in fact, only Darcy and Elizabeth believed their relationship to be little known. And surprisingly, everyone respected their privacy and their wishes to remain discreet.
“Now George, you understand that I have a personal relationship with the Judge, so I won’t be trying your case. However, Mary is an excellent attorney and I’ll be overseeing the trial, so there’s nothing to worry about,” Elizabeth assured her client as they sat in Judge Darcy’s courtroom.
“Whatever you say, Elizabeth,” said her client nonchalantly. It was just a marijuana rap, after all. He seemed confident that the prosecution would not succeed in their efforts to turn it into a felony count and invoke the three-strikes law. Elizabeth was less confident but intended to do her best.
It was the first situation where her opposing counsel had objected to Judge Clayton even after her conflict with Darcy was disclosed. She sat behind Mary King in the courtroom as the trial was called to order. Judge Darcy came out to the bench and looked up at the defense table. He dropped his gavel. Elizabeth saw his face grow still and then white. Her client began to laugh.
“I am removing myself from this case,” Darcy said tightly.
“Uh, no, Your Honor, I’ve objected to Judge Clayton and have waived the potential conflict,” Mr. Johnson said, standing. Elizabeth and Mary King also stood. Her client continued to chuckle behind his hand. She glanced at him disapprovingly.
“No, I am removing myself,” he said firmly.
“Your Honor, could we please have a private meeting?” Elizabeth said. Darcy appeared agitated and nodded curtly. She motioned Mary to stay with George and she and Mr. Johnson followed him to his chambers. He closed the door quickly behind him as they entered his office.
“I cannot,” he said curtly.
“Why not, if Mr. Johnson has waived the conflict?” Elizabeth asked, concerned.
“This has nothing to do with our relationship,” Darcy bit off roughly. Elizabeth looked at Mr. Johnson in confusion. He returned her concerned glance. Darcy was pacing in his office, fists on his hips. Elizabeth saw that he was trying to compose himself.
“I have a personal grievance with that... man,” he said after a moment. “I could not give him a fair trial.”
Mr. Johnson looked concerned. “Why not?”
“That is my personal business,” Darcy spat out. He struggled for composure again. “Elizabeth, considering our relationship, I think you should withdraw from the case entirely.”
“What? What are you talking about? I can’t do that,” she said, mystified at his behavior.
“Mr. Johnson, would you allow me a moment with Miss Bennet?” he asked. Mr. Johnson nodded and left.
“What is it, love?” she said, touching his arm.
“That thing out there raped Georgie when she was 15, got her pregnant and hooked on heroine. I thought he had fled the state long ago but apparently he’s back,” he said with quiet violence. He looked at her and said vehemently, “You cannot be on his case either.”
Elizabeth was shocked. She had known about Georgiana’s past but had no suspicion that it was her client, George Wickham, who was the culprit. He was a nice guy, charming, and seemed to be a little down on his luck. Nothing about him suggested that he was capable of this.
“I see,” she said quietly. She nodded. “Of course, I can’t be on it. I’ll advise Mr. Gardiner immediately. We will need to postpone the trial until we get it straightened out.”
“You won’t fight me on this?” he asked, surprised. He had expected her to deny that there was a conflict for her, to assert that she had no knowledge of the events and could represent him fairly.
“Of course not. Your grudges are my grudges. I won’t represent anyone who’s done you any harm, surely you know that?” she said, holding his hand in hers. He was uncommonly touched by her immediate capitulation to his request. He knew she could be stubborn to a fault and even now they had professional differences. But this was something deeper, something very important to him, and she saw it immediately and made her choice without hesitation.
He kissed her temple gently.
“Thank you,” he whispered shakily. “I can’t go back out there and face him. I will kill him with my bare hands.”
“I’ll get Mr. Johnson,” she said and opened the door and beckoned him in.
“Dave, in light of what Will has just told me, I will have to remove myself from this case. It’s a matter of some significance and I could not in good conscious represent him even before Judge Clayton.”
Dave Johnson stroked his chin. “We may need to try to transfer this to another venue, then,” he mused. Elizabeth nodded.
“Oliver can do that now,” Darcy said. “You’ll have to talk to Milton about continued representation within the firm,” he said, looking at Elizabeth.
She nodded.
“Thank you, Mr. Johnson, for your understanding,” Darcy said, shaking his hand.
“It’s a shame, you’re a good judge. On the other hand, perhaps it will be easier for me to get a prosecution on him. We’re trying to get this as a third strike, life in prison.”
“I sincerely wish you luck. That man is an animal,” Darcy said gravely. He sat in the chair behind his desk and pressed his forehead on his fists. Mr. Johnson was taken aback by Darcy’s statement; he had never known Judge Darcy to make any personal comments about criminal defendants. This ‘personal grievance’ must have been something very significant indeed.
“Would you please go tell Mary what’s going on, Dave?” Elizabeth asked. “Don’t wait for me, go ahead and call Oliver to get the venue change. Mary can handle that.”
Mr. Johnson left, closing the door behind him. Elizabeth stood behind Darcy as he sat in his chair, put her arms around him and kissed the top of his head. He leaned back into her arms and closed his eyes.
“I’ll have to tell Georgiana,” he said quietly.
“Is it necessary? Is she likely to find out otherwise?” she asked.
“I won’t have her being surprised by him on the street if he gets out on bail or worse. I’ll need to tell her.” She nodded and pressed her cheek to his head.
“Thank you. You bring me great comfort,” he said at last. It was with great relief that they learned several weeks later that Mr. Johnson had succeeded and Wickham was sent to prison for life
Chapter 30
For each of her past ten birthdays, Lou and Elizabeth went to the desert in Nevada and they stargazed. Usually they slept in his van or in a tent on the ground. Since she was a little girl, Elizabeth had been fascinated by the stars and constellations. In high school, she and Lou had been in the astronomy club and had made their own telescopes.
“I suppose stud muffin has some elaborate birthday planned for you?” Lou said to her as he massaged her calves. She mumbled incoherently into the massage table. “What?” he said, squeezing her calf.
Lou rolled his eyes. From the tales he heard of Darcy’s romantic prowess, he highly doubted that Darcy would forget Elizabeth’s birthday - their first together.
“I’m sure he’s got the Concord lined up to jet you off to Paris,” he said.
“The Concord doesn’t fly anymore, you ninny.”
“Exactly.”
Elizabeth rolled over on the table.
“Lou, are you jealous?” she frowned at him. He scowled but did not answer. “You are! How can you be jealous?”
“Lizzy, come on! You’re my best friend. All I hear about is how magnificent the imposing Judge Darcy is. I’ve been reduced to your masseur.” He sounded excessively put-out.
“Come on, Lou, you’re my pretty girl, you know that,” Elizabeth said, stroking his arm. He laughed at her. She pulled him to sit on the table next to her.
“I want to go to Nevada with you for my birthday. It’s what we do every year and it’s my favorite thing to do.”
“What will he have to say about it?” Lou asked petulantly.
“He doesn’t have any say, Lou. He’s my boyfriend; he’s not my keeper. I can do whatever I want. And what I want is to spend my birthday with you.”
Lou said nothing for a few minutes while Elizabeth kneeled on the table behind him and kneaded his shoulders.
“He’s just so, you know, perfect in every possible way,” Lou groused.
“I know. Believe me, it’s quite annoying. I’ve yet to discover something that he truly, truly sucks at,” Elizabeth sighed.
“I need to feel superior to him in some way,” he grumbled.
“You’ve seen my boobies way more times than he has,” she said encouragingly. She wasn’t sure if that was exactly true but they were probably neck-and-neck. “And you have much better taste in clothes; he’s got no fashion creativity at all.”
“Really? Tell me more about how much better I am than him,” Lou said as he reclined on the massage table, hands behind his head, ankles crossed. Elizabeth stood and began to massage his thigh.
“Well, let’s see... you are interested in astronomy. I have no idea whether he is or not. You’re the one I tell all my dirty secrets to; he’d run away screaming if he knew half the stuff about me that you do.” She made chopping motions on his leg. “You don’t take yourself half so seriously as he does. He’d never do karaoke, that’s for sure.”
“Go on,” Lou grinned.
“Well, I’m sure it would drive him crazy to know that I wasted my virginity on a gay man,” she continued. He laughed.
“That wasn’t wasted! It wasn’t like I didn’t enjoy it.”
“Do not tell him that. Ummm... ” She tried to think of something else to make Lou feel better.
“What about penis size?” he asked.
“I’m sorry, Lou, but my loyalties lie elsewhere in that department,” she laughed.
“Ow! God, Lizzy, you’re terrible at this. I’m not tipping you,” he said as he sat up. She sat next to him on the table.
“So, we’re on for my birthday?” she asked, putting her head on his shoulder.
“Of course.” He paused. “If you want, you can invite him along.”
“No, I think I’d like to spend my birthday with you.” Lou put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek.
***
“We don’t have any plans this weekend, do we?” Elizabeth asked Darcy as she snuggled under his arm. She trailed a finger lazily over his chest; his heartbeat was returning to normal. He ran a hand slowly over her arm.
“It’s your birthday,” he answered. “I thought we would do something.” He didn’t tell her that he had in fact planned to take her to Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey to teach her to race her Mini. He remembered their ride in the Enzo and their conversation in London and thought she’d enjoy it. A weekend in Monterey at a bed and breakfast would be lovely, he thought.
“I sort of have plans,” she said hesitantly. His hand stopped its motion on her arm.
“Plans?” he asked.
“Every year I go to Nevada with Lou,” she said. She did not look up at him.
“With Lou?” he repeated. “What do you do in Nevada with Lou?”
“We go to the desert, light a fire, and look through our telescopes for a weekend.” She omitted smoke pot and/or get drunk.
He looked down at her.
“Look through your telescopes?”
“Yeah, we made our own telescopes a long time ago and we go out and stargaze. Mostly we goof off and sometimes we never unpack the telescopes. But it’s like a tradition.”
He said nothing. He was disappointed but supposed he was monopolizing her time.
“For both nights?” he asked and resumed stroking her arm. She relaxed a little; he wouldn’t ask her not to go.
“We usually go on Friday afternoon and come back Sunday. Maybe we don’t have to go for both days, though.”
“I did have some plans for Saturday for us; do you think we could share you for the weekend? I didn’t know that you would have plans.” She nodded; she would make it work and Lou would have to be satisfied.
That weekend, Elizabeth and Darcy drove to Monterey on Friday afternoon and checked into a bed-and-breakfast. They spent a cold evening on the beach and retired to the warmth of their room early. On Saturday, he taught Elizabeth how to handle the Mini and they drove around the track with other Minis. She thoroughly enjoyed it, thrilled at the speed and the controlled skids, loved watching him handle the car and then trying it herself.
They left the track early and returned to the bed and breakfast and Lou called to say he was on his way. She packed her bag and Darcy walked out to the van with her, carrying her things. Lou got out of the van and shook Darcy’s hand.
“Sorry to ruin your weekend,” Lou smiled smugly to Darcy.
Darcy shook his head and returned the smile. “Not at all. We had a great time today.”
Elizabeth looked from one to the other and smiled.
“Really, guys, are you going to get out the dueling pistols?” she laughed. Lou and Darcy did not laugh but continued to stare each other down.
“C’mon, Lizzy, we need to get on the road if we want to get there at a decent hour,” Lou said. He walked toward the van and opened the passenger door for her. She looked up at Darcy.
“I’ll see you tomorrow night,” she said. He nodded and she stood on tiptoe to kiss him. He put one hand to the back of her neck and kissed her with open mouth, tasting her for one last time before she left. He knew he was making a childish statement, that she was his, dammit, but he couldn’t help himself. He broke off and let her go. She ran to the van and climbed in, waving to him as they drove away.
Lou and Elizabeth got to Nevada at dinnertime and ate at a greasy spoon diner. They then drove the van to a deserted spot in the desert, bundled in blankets, and sat in lawn chairs, looking into the night sky.
“I think I’m in love,” Lou sighed as he looked up.
Elizabeth turned her head to look at him pensively. “Really?” she asked quietly.
“Really.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes.
“I didn’t know it would be so scary,” he said a moment later. “To just put your heart completely at someone else’s mercy.” He laughed shortly. “If I had known this was what it felt like, I’d have had more sympathy for you and Darcy!”
“Let me see him again?” Elizabeth asked. Lou pulled out his wallet and handed a picture to her; she held the flashlight over the photo. Denny was wearing his RCMP uniform and tall riding boots in the photo.
“I love the red coat,” Lou grinned.
“I admit I have a thing for riding boots myself,” Elizabeth smiled and pulled her own wallet out. “Here.” She handed Lou the picture Darcy had emailed her; she had loved it so much that she had printed it out and tucked it into her wallet.
“He
really is pretty sexy,” Lou laughed. “You know, he’s such an uptight guy, I bet he’s an animal in bed.”
Elizabeth laughed and took the picture back. They sat in silence for a few moments more.
“Lizzy, I’m really glad we stayed friends after you turned me gay,” he said quietly. She laughed and hugged him.
“Me too.”
“I’ve made a resolution to try to like Will more, since it looks like we’re stuck with him.”
“That’s very generous of you.”
“I like to think of myself as a charitable person,” he smiled.
She mused for a moment. “Then as a charitable man, you can answer some questions for me,” she said slowly.
He looked at her. They spent the rest of the night talking about the mysteries of what men want, how they want it, and when to give it to them. By the next morning, Elizabeth was very enlightened.
Chapter 31
“Lizzy, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your handling Thanksgiving this year. What with Jane’s wedding, my nerves are nearly torn to shreds!” came Mrs. Bennet’s shrill voice over the phone.
“It’s no problem, Mom. Put dad on, would you?” Elizabeth said warmly.
“Yes, dear?” came her father’s voice.
“Dad, I’ve invited a date to Thanksgiving dinner. You know how mom is; I’m begging you to handle her. I can’t bear the humiliation,” she said desperately.
“A date?” Mr. Bennet said quietly. Elizabeth could picture him looking over his shoulder to ensure Mrs. Bennet was out of earshot. “A date, Lizzy? Who is this mysterious man? Why haven’t we heard anything of him?”
“Dad! Don’t you start! Just keep her in hand. And while you’re at it, put a leash on Lydia too.”
Mr. Bennet laughed and assured Elizabeth that he would do his best. Elizabeth wondered if she should tell Darcy not to come at all. Twice she dialed his number but hung up.
Her cell phone rang. The picture ID showed a pair of riding boots and a crop.
“Why do you keep calling me and hanging up?” Darcy asked her.
“Will, I don’t know if I want you to come to Thanksgiving dinner. I don’t think I can stand the embarrassment that my family will put me through,” she said.
The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy Page 33
