As soon as his carriage pulled up in the front of the Darcy townhouse, Georgiana was out the door. She had not seen her brother in weeks. While he was in Hertfordshire with Bingley, she had been in the country staying with friends. Georgiana quickly brought Will up to date on what was happening in London. Some of the families who had spent the summer at their country estates had returned to town, among them Sir John Montford and his daughter.

“Miss Montford is truly lovely and has a most pleasant disposition,” Georgiana began. “I twice invited her here for tea, and in return, I was invited to dinner. She is very accomplished. Her sketches are so well executed that they are prominently displayed in their drawing room, and she has a gift for painting tables which to my mind is unmatched. And did you know she speaks French and Italian?”

“I see you have decided that Miss Montford is to become my wife.”

“I would never be so presumptuous as to tell you whom you should marry, but of all the ladies who earned your notice during the season, Miss Montford was clearly superior to all of them. If you were to ask my opinion on the subject, I would not hesitate to name Letitia.”

“We shall see,” Darcy said in an attempt to tamp down her enthusiasm. If he gave any indication that he agreed with her choice, Letitia Montford would be their only topic of conversation. “I will be in town for at least a week seeing to my business affairs before returning to the country to go shooting with Bingley, and I most certainly will call on Miss Montford. I assume your plans are unchanged and that your preference is to remain in town?”