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sir,” Alderson said. He walked up to the horse in question, leaning against it and running a hand down its foreleg so it would lift its hoof. “Yup, thrown a shoe, sir. We’ll have to walk ‘um till we can come to a town with a smith.”
    “Fine,” Darcy said, ignoring the mild curse Richard muttered. The next town wasn’t near, nor was the previous. Darcy climbed back into the carriage, resigning himself to hours of listening to his own unproductive thoughts.
    “If you were traveling with your usual entourage, we could switch carriages,” Richard said, referring to Darcy’s typical cases, valet and other servants, usually allotted their own carriage for longer trips.
    “Stevens won’t be along for several days,” Darcy said, referring to his valet. He saw no reason to expound on that, ignoring Richard’s raised brow. The truth was, his valet’s wife had recently granted the man a son and Darcy had given him several days leave. Darcy was only to wear black, after all, and perfectly capable of dressing himself. The staff at Rosings could attend to his needs. Most gentlemen didn’t encourage their hired men to have families, often sacking them for doing so, but Darcy had always found that a man with a family was a more stable sort of person. For stability and loyalty, he was more than willing to put up with the occasional inconvenience to his person.
    By the time they found a blacksmith, he’d already let his coals cool for the day. Darcy had to pay extra to get him to rekindle the fire. He would have rented a team instead, but there weren’t any to be had.
    “At least we’ve plenty of time for dinner,” Richard said as they seated themselves in a private room at the only inn the town had to offer, to wait on the smith.
    His tone was light. Darcy suspected his cousin was perfectly aware of his dark mood. He sighed, deliberately forcing his mind away from Kent and the possibility of seeing Elizabeth. Richard was making every effort to be a pleasant travel companion, and it behooved Darcy to act in kind.
    It turned out they had excessive time for a leisurely dinner, which, Darcy had to admit, wasn’t bad. Hearty would be the most appropriate word for the fare, and it was better than was typical of the sort of establishment. Once the forge was fired up, Alderson checked all fifteen other shoes on the team, deeming that two more needed replacing. Darcy rather thought that was something his driver should have done before embarking on the trip, but he knew he’d been in a hurry to leave and hadn’t given the man time.
    Even with the long hours of May daylight, it was after dark when they arrived as Rosings. Darcy had rarely been so pleased to see the place and he knew it wasn’t only because the journey had been long. Rosings seemed somehow less grim than usual. He wasn’t sure if he should account the feeling to knowing his aunt wasn’t waiting to torment him, or to his memories of spending time there with Elizabeth.
    He and Richard both disembarked as soon as the carriage came near to a halt. Darcy suspected his cousin was as eager to leave the cramped interior as he. They jogged up the steps side by side, to be greeted by a footman.
    “Miss de Bourgh has already retired, sirs,” the man said.
    Darcy nodded and headed for the staircase.
    “Thank you,” he heard Richard say behind him. “I was wondering if you could have a nightcap sent up for me?”
    “Yes, Colonel,” the footman said. “I’ll see to it in a moment. If you’ll excuse me, I must . . .”
    Darcy lost whatever else the footman had to say. He was eager to gain the sanctuary of his room. It was a weakness, he knew, but hours spent in company wore on him like a slow torture. Even if the company was one of his closest companions, as Richard was. A flaw in his character, to be sure, but one he didn’t feel the need to rectify at that moment.
    Of course, there was one person whose company never seemed to tire him. Rather the opposite.