Opening Lines from Chapter 1

Darcy brushed the sweat trickling down his cheek, the folded messages sliding against the lining in his waistcoat pocket propelling him to Matlock House.
It was a rare occurrence for Darcy to receive correspondence from his relatives when they lived walking distance from his own residence. They preferred simply to call.
One note on any day was unusual. Two notes on the same day was disconcerting. To receive one from his aunt, followed by another summons a quarter of an hour later from his uncle, was alarming.
Picking up his pace, Darcy ran down the damp sidewalk, his boots slapping against the wet pavement and marring their polish.
A long string of grand houses lined one side of the street facing the park, the grass vibrant green against the dull gray sky. His uncle’s house was on the corner, five bays wide, the whitewashed stucco overwhelmed by the gloomy weather threatening to break yet again.
The first drops pelted against Darcy’s hat just as he reached the bottom step.
The butler flung open the painted black door, taking Darcy’s hat and gloves. “His Lordship is expecting you, sir.” Despite Perkins’ decades of experience repressing emotion into a tone of bland indifference, Darcy heard his relief and felt it with the efficiency with which the butler relieved him of his damp hat and greatcoat.
Apprehension rippled through Darcy. The situation must be dreadful if the servants were uneasy.
A shadow fell over the marble from behind him, and the squeak of wet boots slipping on the slick floor and the subsequent, “Thunder ‘an turf!” identified the newcomer before Darcy turned to see Charles Bingley, arms flailing to catch his balance.
“You got the summons as well?” No sooner had Bingley uttered his question than the obvious answer struck him. He grimaced. “Of course you did. The colonel must be in a proper fit of the blue devils.”
Darcy grimaced. He had warned Richard, but his cousin had refused to listen. And now, here they were….

What trouble has Colonel Fitzwilliam gotten into? Curious to know more?

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