“Now, Stafford, what is this madness regarding Lieutenant Harwood?” Sir Phillip resettled behind Darcy’s desk, poised to take the viscount’s official statement.
Adam Lawrence returned to the wing chair he had so recently vacated.“As usual, I do not know how to explain the situation.” He paused uncomfortably. “Mr. Darcy privately made me aware of the perfidy the lieutenant practiced regarding Miss de Bourgh. Darcy asked that I help him keep an eye on the man. Since his appearance at Pemberley, besides his approach to Her Ladyship’s daughter, Harwood had taken a liking to my cousin. Keep in mind, Sir Phillip, that other than Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, the rest of the household assumes that Miss Donnel is my cousin—my relative and the daughter of a nobleman. Harwood appeared to have identified Cathleen as his next pigeon. I found them in the middle of a tête-à-tête during breakfast this morning. When Miss Donnel departed the room, I warned the lieutenant from Cathleen. The man feigned innocence, but I know a rake when I meet one. He was already counting his money.”
“And what did you do, Lord Stafford, after this confrontation?”
Adam chuckled sarcastically.“Are you asking, Sir Phillip, if I followed the officer to his room and slit his throat?”
“Precisely,” the magistrate declared.
“Not likely, sir. As much as I disdain Harwood’s type, I am not of the temperament to grotesquely murder a man over a flirtation. I am a gentleman—if I chose to seek retribution, I would challenge the lieutenant and have him name his seconds. Instead of a bloody razor, I managed to quash Harwood’s plans by having a serious conversation with my cousin. I followed Cathleen to her room and warned her of the scoundrel’s manipulations.”
“And the lady will attest to this?” The baronet placed the pen in its holder.
“She would, Sir Phillip.”
“Edward!” Anne called as she rose to greet her cousin. She offered him a genuine welcome—the first he could remember receiving from her. As a young girl, Anne had never participated in their childhood roughhousing—Her Ladyship had always declared her daughter too sickly. Now, she glowed with a newfound independence, and he happily accepted her finally becoming a woman with a future.
“You look well, Cousin,” he affirmed as he lifted Anne’s chin and gazed into her eyes. “I cannot tell you how your countenance pleases me.”
“Thank you, Edward.”
The colonel released Anne and made his obeisance to his aunt. “Your Ladyship.” He bowed over her hand.“My father and mother send their kindest regards.”
“You appear well, Fitzwilliam,” Lady Catherine murmured. “Is my brother—your father—in health? How is the earl’s gout?”
“Somewhat better,Your Ladyship.”
“And the countess?”
The colonel smiled knowingly. Lady Catherine and his mother had had more than one disagreement over the years. “My mother works tirelessly in the name of her charities. She and the earl spent Christmas with my maternal aunt and uncle in Lincolnshire. The Attingboroughs welcomed a new addition to the family a fortnight before the holiday.”
Darcy motioned for Edward to have a seat and brought their conversation to a close. “Although Edward is always a welcome diversion at Pemberley, I specifically sent for him because he knew Lieutenant Harwood before the man’s arrival at Rosings Park,” Darcy announced.
“Where is the scoundrel?” Worth asked impatiently. “Did you not send your man for the lieutenant some time ago? If Harwood thinks this purposeful stall will help his negotiations—”
Darcy’s clearing of his throat cut the man short. “I have an announcement of sorts. Murray returned with news of the lieutenant’s absence. Stafford, Edward, Sir Phillip, and I entered Harwood’s room when he did not respond to our entreaties.We regret to tell you that Lieutenant Harwood has met an untimely death.”
Anne gasped and swayed and collapsed into Nigel Worth’s arms. Her sobs followed. “Poor Robert.”
“How?” Worth demanded as he tried to comfort the woman.
Edward glanced quickly at Darcy. “I do not believe we are at liberty to discuss it at this time. Sir Phillip will wish to speak to each of us as part of his investigation.”
“I have nothing to say on the matter,” Lady Catherine observed. “Although I wish no man an early death, I welcome the absence of the lieutenant’s malice.”
Edward moved to the settee shared by Worth and Anne.“I will see to my cousin, sir,” he whispered.“Sir Phillip wishes to speak to you.”
Anne’s head snapped up in disbelief. “Why must Sir Phillip question Nigel? Mr.Worth has done nothing wrong!”
Worth eased her out of his embrace. “It is nothing of consequence,” he assured her.“The magistrate simply performs his duty. I expected nothing less.”Worth stood and straightened his waistcoat. “I assume, Mr. Darcy, that the baronet occupies your study.”
“He does.” Darcy stood and reached for his aunt’s hand. “It seems most prudent that we discuss Harwood’s threats from a different perspective. I suggest we allow Edward time to freshen his clothes.” Lady Catherine placed her hand in his.“We shall all retire to the blue drawing room. I will send for refreshments and ask the others to join us. It will expedite Sir Phillip’s examination if we discuss everything we know as a group.”
His aunt stiffened with disdain. “You would openly consider your cousin’s failings before strangers?”
“You know my usual reticence, Aunt, but the ordinary does not currently operate at Pemberley. Four people have lost their lives under this roof in the past week. Somehow everything is connected, and we must clear the air if we are to stop the insanity. I cannot imagine that Anne would wish to hide the truth if it meant a murderer would go free.”
“Of course not, Fitzwilliam,” Anne said from somewhere behind him.
“It is time for some honesty,Your Ladyship.”
“And your relationship with Miss de Bourgh?” Sir Phillip questioned Mr.Worth after having dismissed Lord Stafford.
Worth, used to such interrogations, understood the necessity of Spurlock’s probe, but he did not appreciate the invasion of his privacy. “I would not say Miss de Bourgh and I have a relationship.We have known each other for only a few days. However, Mr. Darcy and I agreed that I might provide the lady with a reliable explanation for her attendance in Liverpool.”
“And why might you place yourself in a questionable position, Worth, if you and Her Ladyship’s daughter have no prior knowledge of each other?”
“I am a gentleman who will not stand idly by and allow a bounder to take advantage of an innocent. Miss de Bourgh made a grievous error by placing her trust in Harwood, but the lady should not face ruination for it. If I err, Sir Phillip, it is on the side of purity.”
The baronet smiled, hearing the unspoken words. “And what might you know of Mrs. Jenkinson?”
“The lady served Miss de Bourgh well, offering maternal care and love. I met her as one of Mr. Darcy’s guests, and we immediately took a liking to each other. I had fleeting thoughts of pursuing a connection, but the lady simply enjoyed my company. She had a vision of what she wanted for Miss de Bourgh’s future, and the lieutenant was not part of that conception. I flatter myself in thinking that Mrs. Jenkinson maneuvered her charge in my direction—the lady took an interest in me because she wanted a stable bond for Miss de Bourgh.”
“I thought you said you held no relationship with Anne de Bourgh, other than to serve as her man of business in this matter?”
“I do and I do not.” Worth considered all the complications involved in his affections for the lady before he answered. “I hold no acknowledged intimacy with Miss de Bourgh, but that does not mean I have no desire to develop one.When we leave Pemberley, it is my intention to request permission to call on the lady.”
“And as such, you warned Lieutenant Harwood away from Miss de Bourgh?”
“What you really wish to know is whether I killed the lieutenant.”
The baronet simply nodded: He and Worth had experienced the courtroom together on more than one occasion. Sir Phillip knew Worth’s reputation.
“As much as I abhorred the man’s public swagger, a crime such as you described earlier, Sir Phillip, is a crime of passion and an act of opportunity. You know me, Spurlock. I am a man of reason—spent a decade in the English public courtrooms. I might go a round of fisticuffs with the lieutenant, but cutting a man’s throat and letting him bleed to death is simply not my style.”
Spurlock agreed, although he made no mention of the fact to Worth. Something about this investigation bothered him—something he needed to clarify. “Might we join the others, Worth? Mr. Darcy sent word that he has gathered everyone in the blue drawing room. I would welcome your insights into this case.”
The household gathered at Darcy’s request. He told them nothing until Spurlock joined them, and then he said very little about the reason for their attendance. Sir Phillip would simply listen and observe, at least, initially.“I have asked Sir Phillip Spurlock as the local magistrate to join us,” Darcy announced at last. “Some of you met Sir Phillip earlier. As the weather has taken a positive turn, and we will soon be able to properly see to the deceased, we thought it best to address some facts before our parting—to find a resolution.” By silent agreement, no one mentioned Harwood directly. Several in the room still held no knowledge of the lieutenant’s death.
The baronet stepped forward.“Mr. Darcy, his wife, and his sister have spent an inordinate amount of time defining this past week’s events, but I have some questions I wish to address to individuals in this room. As I explained to Mr. Darcy, allowing each of you to hear what the others say may lead to new clues—new facts to solve this dilemma.”
No one responded directly, but a nervous buzz spread to every corner of the room. Before the baronet began his interrogation, Darcy took the opportunity to finish the introductions. “Pardon my interruption, Sir Phillip, but I should complete our welcomes.”
“Of course, Mr. Darcy.”
“For those of you unfamiliar with the gentleman on my left, it is with great pleasure that I present my cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam. Edward, I believe you familiar with everyone except Miss Donnel, His Lordship’s cousin.” Darcy paused while Edward bowed over the lady’s hand. “Mrs. Williams.” Pause. “And Mrs. Darcy’s youngest sister.” So as to explain why his cousin might not already know Elizabeth’s sister, he quickly added,“I believe Mrs.Wickham was in Newcastle when Elizabeth and I wed.You would have had no opportunity for a prior acquaintance.”
“It is a pleasure, Mrs. Wickham.” Edward brought Lydia’s hand to his lips for the obligatory air kiss.
“Thank you, Colonel,” Lydia cooed.
When Edward turned his head, Darcy noted his cousin’s raised eyebrow. He did not know if it was because the colonel realized Lord Stafford possessed no “cousin” among those staying at Pemberley, or whether Edward saw the buffoonery of acknowledging George Wickham’s wife. After all, Edward shared the guardianship of Darcy’s sister and was well aware of Wickham’s attempted elopement with and seduction of the girl. Darcy imagined Edward’s sensibilities to be shocked by the irony of both women being Pemberley’s guests.
When the colonel settled himself beside Georgiana on one of the settees, the baronet recovered the group’s attention. “I understand from the Darcys how you each came to be at Pemberley,” he began, “and the events of those first few days. What concerns me first is the fateful afternoon when Mrs. Jenkinson lost her life. I have examined the body and the cup from which the lady drank, and I agree with Mr. Darcy’s assumption of arsenic being the method.” Sir Phillip took a nearby seat and removed some folded paper and the stub of a pencil from his inside pocket, so that he might make himself some notes.“I understand, Mrs. Wickham,” he said, quickly turning to Lydia,“that you were the one to make arrangements for the hot cider and tea after the sledding adventure.”
Lydia flushed with the notice.“I came into the house and asked Mrs. Jennings to provide us refreshments,” she admitted.
“Did you touch the service, ma’am?” the magistrate continued.
Lydia started to respond, but then she paused with a frown. “If you mean, did I pour the drinks, the answer is no, Sir Phillip.” She saw the viscount’s head snap up in surprise. “It is true,Your Lordship,” she avowed. “I have thought long and hard on your accusations regarding my opportunities for poisoning the lady’s drink, but I was not the first person in this room that day.”
Adam Lawrence demanded, “Then who was, pray tell? It was you, Mrs. Wickham, who ordered the drinks’ preparation from Darcy’s staff, and you were partaking of the hot liquid when the rest of us entered the room.”
Lydia bristled with the renewal of his accusatory tone, but she did not retreat from his charges. “Mrs. Williams was sitting by the hearth when I arrived in the room,” Lydia asserted.
“That is impossible,” Worth remarked. “Mrs. Williams entered with the rest of us.”
“Yes, and entered the storeroom off the kitchen with the rest of us so that we could rid ourselves of our snow-soaked outerwear,” Stafford clarified.
Anne sat forward, feeling a twinge of discomfort with her thoughts. “Yet, Mrs. Williams was the first in and the first out that afternoon. Mrs. Darcy left at the same time, but she stopped to give orders to her staff to tend to our wet clothes. Miss Darcy, Mildred, and I sought a withdrawing room before we came in here that day.”
“You are correct, Miss de Bourgh,” Elizabeth confirmed. “Mrs. Williams and I did walk this way together, but I tarried to speak to Mr. Baldwin.”
“Then I am now accused,” Mrs. Williams charged, “of a deed most foul?”
“Blame is not this inquiry’s purpose, I assure you, ma’am; I simply wish to know the facts. For all I know, the late Mrs. Jenkinson may have willingly partaken of the arsenic as part of a beauty regime.”
The woman protested, “Well, I never!”
The baronet pressed the point. “Never what, madam? Never entered this room before the others? Never planned to hurt Mrs. Jenkinson? Never held knowledge of the potency of the powder? Never liked the lady?”
“How could anyone not like Mildred?” Anne disputed.
“The lady was of the first cut,”Worth added his evaluation.
“Never expected to face such censure,” Mrs. Williams snapped, not liking the implications.
Darcy glanced uneasily from Mrs. Williams to Sir Phillip. “Would you mind answering the baronet’s question, ma’am?”
The lady glowered at Darcy. “I thought I just did.”
“No, madam, you have not.” A shocked silence filled the room.
Mrs. Williams’s face looked thunderous. “I was the first one in the room,” she hissed.
“And when I accused Mrs. Wickham before of having the opportunity of performing a ‘deed most foul,’ as you so kindly put it, why did you not correct my misinformation?” Adam Lawrence charged. “Why did you not assume the truth then?”
“How was I to know whether Mrs. Wickham wanted to hurt Mrs. Jenkinson? She was the first to the house and the first to be around the refreshments that afternoon. Possibly the young lady might choose to place the culpability in my lap. Who might the Darcys believe? Their own sister or a complete stranger? I kept quiet to protect myself.Who could fault me for that?”
“And what do you know of arsenic?” Stafford continued.
The widow looked trapped. “No more than any other well-trained lady.”
Anne shivered, her mood somber as a tomb. “And Mildred—what did you think of my companion?” She brushed away the tears forming at the corner of her eyes.
Mrs. Williams choked back her anger. “I barely knew Mrs. Jenkinson ; I had no opinion one way or the other.”
She thought she might end the conversation there, but Lydia asked, a hint of betrayal playing through her voice,“Was it you, Mrs. Williams, who arranged the cups in the pattern on the serving tray?”
“Again, I am unaware of what you speak!”The woman’s expression grew mutinous.
Georgiana ventured a comment, encouraged by the close proximity of her cousin.“In rows—three, then two, then three, and one alone. The one alone was the one over which my sister and Mrs. Jenkinson dickered.”
Mrs.Williams rose to her feet. “I do not need to stay and listen to this!”
Sir Phillip’s calm voice stayed her. “I am afraid you do, madam. Please return to your chair.”
Her face grew cold. “As you wish.” The lady resentfully sat once more.
“Now tell us, Mrs. Williams, if you arranged the cups on the service tray.”
She gritted her teeth, tightening her jaw. “I did, sir.”
“For what purpose?”
“For no purpose, sir, except that I am the widow of a man who spent his life in the military—a man who preferred things orderly—in rows and perfectly spaced—an old habit.”
Lord Stafford appeared unconvinced. “Why did you not say so without the baronet’s prompting?”
“I am a very private woman,Your Lordship. I recognized how my perversion might appear to the rest of you.”
“Then the last cup—the one from which Mrs. Jenkinson drank—was purely a matter of Fate?” Sir Phillip inquired.
Mrs. Williams raised her chin in defiance. “Even I could have chosen that cup. It could have been any of us in this room, including me.”
A long silence followed as each of them considered what the lady had said. Finally, Mr. Worth broke the quiet. “I ask again: Did you disapprove of Mrs. Jenkinson?”
The widow looked uncomfortable—every eye in the room surveyed her demeanor. “I thought the lady could have shown more restraint,” she declared with some emphasis on the last word.
“Would you explain what you mean by ‘restraint,’ ma’am?” Sir Phillip asked quickly.
Mrs. Williams sat up straighter, throwing her shoulders back—stiff and proper—unbending in her righteousness. “Mrs. Jenkinson held a position where her actions should be of an exemplary nature, but she set a poor example.”
“Mildred Jenkinson was a woman of the first ilk,” Anne defensively charged. “When I was at my lowest, she tended to my needs in lieu of her own. Her last thoughts were of my well-being.”
“I agree, Miss de Bourgh,”Worth expressed wholeheartedly.
Mrs. Williams nearly snarled, “Of course, you would say so, sir. You shared intimacies with Mrs. Jenkinson.”
“The lady and I spoke of her late husband—a man renowned for his diplomacy.”
The starchily virtuous woman straightened an imaginary seam on her dress. “A man’s greatness does not define his wife. Mr. Jenkinson’s reputation does not expunge that of Mrs. Jenkinson’s.”
Darcy’s cold voice penetrated the tension filling the room. He blamed himself for not asking the obvious questions and for allowing this creature to enter his household. “Beware, Mrs. Williams. The same might be said of you and the admiral.”
At first, the lady appeared to want to offer a protest, but then a smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “For once, Mr. Darcy, we are in accord.”
“Might we leave Mrs. Jenkinson’s case for a few minutes?” Sir Phillip interrupted.“Do any of you have insights into the deaths of either Mr. Darcy’s footman or the maid?”When a silence ensued, he clarified, “Even if you believe your thoughts without merit, please do not withhold them. Often, a minor detail is the one which turns the screw.”
Lady Catherine cleared her throat. “Darcy, far be it of me to speak poorly of my niece, but I thought it odd that the footman’s death followed the disclosure of someone having invaded Georgiana’s room.”
“I am aware of Miss Darcy’s nightmare,” Sir Phillip noted, “but do you believe,Your Ladyship, that there was more to the story?”
Lady Catherine shifted to face him.“My niece cried out in fear; my daughter and I rushed to her side, but my nephew and his wife assured us it was no more than a nightmare. Then later my niece disclosed to this group in a similar meeting what she believed she heard a voice repeat in her room.”
“Then you consider the possibility the voice belonged to Lawson, the footman,” the baronet said, looking very ill at ease. He realized the implications would infuriate Darcy.
As expected, Darcy intervened, refusing to allow his sister to be portrayed in a poor light. He looked positively murderous, and several of the others automatically shrank back in response. “Miss Darcy has admitted what she heard, and she has addressed how she met secretly with the young man, teaching him to read. I do not believe there is a connection between the two, despite my aunt’s suspicions.” He thought he could easily strangle his mother’s sister at the moment and enjoy every second of it.The woman purposely tried to deflect the attention from Anne, a culprit in this mess, and send the attention toward Georgiana. Well, she would pay for this betrayal. His good opinion once lost was lost for good.
“Why not?” Worth ventured, ignoring Darcy’s look of contempt. “I mean, none of us are beyond scrutiny.”
“Might I, Fitzwilliam?” Georgiana ventured, her lower lip trembling. The colonel lightly touched her arm, and the girl sucked in a deep breath. “It could not have been Lawson because the night the intruder entered my room, Lawson was in Dove Dale for his sister’s wedding. Do you not remember, Elizabeth? You gave Lawson permission to borrow one of the horses so he could ride to the neighboring village; otherwise, he might have missed the ceremony. He attended the wedding and then returned the next day, after spending the night with his mother. It was the family’s first time together following his father’s passing.”
“Yes, he brought us both a piece of the bridal cake from the breakfast. I remember now that you say it. His mother insisted because of our kindness to her son.” Elizabeth looked at the group, silently daring any of them to dispute what she said. “Like my husband, I am assured the ‘ghost’ my sister heard in her room was not Lawson.The boy’s death resulted from his coming upon our intruder at an inopportune time. No one will convince me otherwise.”
“Mrs. Darcy holds the theory that the boy’s death was staged to appear a suicide.We are aware that Lawson could not have written the note left behind and how the windows did not lend themselves well to such a use. My wife has expressed her opinions previously to that behalf,” Darcy said, summing up the discussion in his authoritative tone.
Sir Phillip judiciously moved on to another topic.“The maid—Lucinda Dodd—she had a confrontation with Mrs. Darcy’s sister. We assumed she was the one to destroy Mrs. Wickham’s belongings. The question remains, why did someone kill Miss Dodd?”
“It seems logical to me, Sir Phillip,” Elizabeth spoke first, “that, like Lawson, Lucinda must have surprised the intruder.”
Lady Catherine snarled, “Is it not possible that Mrs. Wickham exacted her revenge on the maid? She was overheard reprimanding your servant, Darcy.”
“If we accused every man or woman of murder who has spoken harshly to the help, most of English aristocracy would stand accused, including you, Aunt.” Darcy defended Elizabeth more than he did Lydia Wickham. His aunt still clung to her old ways, and he feared he would once again have to sever ties with her. Besides, her defection from Georgiana brought his own personal censure.
Her Ladyship snorted her disgust, but she refused to force Darcy’s hand any further.
“As Mrs.Wickham is nearly a head shorter and more than two stone lighter than the maid, it is not likely that she could first, overpower the woman, or, second, carry the body so far away from the house,” Stafford pointed out.
Cathleen Donnel asked, “Is not Lucinda the maid who claimed to have had several flirtatious conversations with your unknown footman, Mr. Darcy?”
Darcy observed her evenly. “You are correct, Miss Donnel. I do not believe any of us had made that connection before now.”
“Then if I understand what we have said here today,” Sir Phillip made some quick scratches on the paper, “Mrs. Jenkinson’s passing appears more calculated than the other two, which seem more opportunistic.”
“And Harwood?” the colonel asked into the silent room.
Cathleen Donnel glanced furtively about the room. “Where is Lieutenant Harwood? I expected him to be here.”
“There are a few facts about the lieutenant of which I would like each of you to be aware,” Darcy took up the tale; yet, he did not answer Miss Donnel’s question.“The lieutenant has misrepresented himself to my family and to me.”
“How so, Mr. Darcy?” Cathleen asked innocently. Despite Adam’s warning, she saw the man’s goodness.
“Initially, when Harwood called at Pemberley, I expressed my surprise at his being able to travel in such inclement weather. The lieutenant assured me that Derby had received the storm’s force. In reality, it was the reverse: Cheshire took the hardest hit. I am positive of my words’ truth because the colonel came from Matlock today, and although the roads were muddy—”
“And miserable,” Edward interjected.
“And miserable,” Darcy continued, “traffic to the east has resumed. Roads headed north or west are still impassable.”
Anne found her voice. “Why would Lieutenant Harwood lie?”
“Why the lieutenant offered a prevarication I will explain momentarily,” he assured everyone. “When the viscount and I began our investigation, we found an unusual muddy pattern on the tree trunk closest to the tenant cottages, where my sister had seen the phantom stranger.”
Lord Stafford stood to fill his glass with brandy. “It was a heel print,” he said casually as he poured the golden brown liquid. “The heel’s shape was irregular—not curved like those most of us wear. We discovered a similarly shaped track near Lucinda’s body and again today.” He returned to his seat. “When Colonel Fitzwilliam tracked in mud and snow on Pemberley’s tiled foyer, we quickly noticed that the mark from the tree and from Mr. Darcy’s floor compared favorably. They both came from a military-issued boot.”
“That does not prove the lieutenant created the mark.” Mrs. Williams appeared shaken, but she raised her chin defiantly.
Darcy smiled in perverted amusement. “You are correct, Mrs. Williams; however, Miss Darcy identified Lieutenant Harwood as being the man she had observed.”
Georgiana explained, “I thought from the beginning that the lieutenant held a familiarity. He did: He wore the same style of dark cloak and hat that I have seen the colonel wear with his uniform, but there was something else. It was his blond hair tied back with the leather string that caused me to make the connection. I am sure you all noticed the lieutenant’s straight blonde hair.”
“The point I wish to make is that Harwood could know nothing of Cheshire’s roads because he dwelled in Derby before we were beset by the storm. He has been in the area all along,” said Darcy. “I checked with my groomsmen and the gatekeeper, and they report that the lieutenant has been asking questions about this household for several days. He was most interested in the Rosings Park equipage, for example.”
“That scoundrel!” Lady Catherine declared.
“I imagine, Aunt, the lieutenant arrived before your journey to Pemberley. Harwood likely escaped Liverpool when you arrived to claim Anne—it is very likely the man paralleled your journey on horseback.”
Mrs. Williams sniffed in disgust. “You accuse a man when he can make no defense.”
“That is where you are in error, madam.” Lady Catherine’s autocratic tone brooked no debate.“The lieutenant practiced a deceit upon my daughter—opening my poor, dear Anne to a possible ruination—and then demanded payment for his silence.” Her Ladyship’s desire to keep her family’s good name had gone by the way-side in her need to have the final word.
Anne felt the embarrassment of her mother’s announcing her daughter’s weakness to the whole room, but the shame of the incident lessened with each retelling; and in a strange way, Anne gloried in her own mistakes. They meant she had taken control of her life.
Colonel Fitzwilliam sat forward to draw the room’s attention to him. “I suppose it is time that I share what I know of the lieutenant.” Even Darcy turned to listen. He had his suspicions, but only his cousin knew the truth. “Lieutenant Robert Harwood accompanied me to Kent three months ago. We were to set up an exchange of information post with the British Navy. Being at Dover, it seemed only appropriate that I call upon my aunt, and I often requested Harwood’s company.
“It took me little time to note the lieutenant’s interest in my cousin. Thinking it but a simple flirtation, I saw nothing of which to object. In fact, observing my cousin’s change of demeanor and her newfound confidence, I purposely looked the other way. Yet, something about Harwood and Anne’s relationship disturbed me, and after my cousin’s trusted companion, Mrs. Jenkinson, sought me out to express similar concerns, I took it upon myself to find out more of the lieutenant’s background.”
“And what did you discover, Colonel?” Elizabeth encouraged him.
Mrs. Williams rose quickly to her feet. “I must object, Sir Phillip, to this line of questioning. The officer is not present to defend himself against these acrid accusations. I will not allow anyone to soil the good name of an honorable officer.”
She made to depart, but Sir Phillip’s words stayed her leaving. “You will remain where you are, madam, or I shall have you detained by my magisterial powers.”
Evelyn Williams bristled with indignation. “Am I to be another of the innocents accused without provocation?”
“You will be treated with the same civility as you treat others, madam,” the baronet retorted.
After a moment’s silent battle of wills, Mrs. Williams took a seat away from the others.
“Might you continue, Colonel?” Sir Phillip gestured as he accepted the lady’s act of noncompliance.
“I left the lieutenant in Kent to assist Colonel Cavendish, and I returned to our unit. There, I pulled the lieutenant’s official record. What I discovered nearly set me on the road again. However, when news came of Harwood’s removal from Kent, I assumed all would be well. I planned to speak to Her Ladyship and Anne if the lieutenant showed himself to be my cousin’s ardent pursuer.”
Elizabeth slid her hand into Darcy’s, sensing what they were about to hear might change everything, and she needed to hold onto the only solid thing in her life: Darcy’s love. “What did you discover of the man, Colonel?”
“Lieutenant Robert Harwood’s file showed the man to already be in possession of a wife.” A rumble of disbelief filled the room. “A wife whom he had married some five years earlier—a woman several years his senior—a woman whose first husband had lost his life at San Domingo—a woman from Cumbria—Angel Harwood.”
Lydia gasped, “Oh, my goodness!” Nearly everyone else in the room gasped also.
Cathleen looked amusedly at Adam. “Angel? It sounds like a stage name.”
“I am sure it is a shortened version of Angelica, a name quite common on the Continent,” the Colonel noted.
“So the miscreant already had a wife?”Worth growled.“I should have known.”
Anne stammered, “Rob-Robert? Had-Had a wife? How could he offer himself to me, knowing he had given away what he so intimately professed to need?”
Elizabeth observed, “I do not understand such duplicity. His poor wife…how she must suffer.”
Mrs. Williams flinched, but she again came to the officer’s defense. “One can only suppose that the lieutenant had his reasons.”
“But the man practiced a deceit of a most personal nature,” Stafford declared.
“Exactly,” Worth stated. “A proposal of marriage should not be anything less than personal.”
Anne whispered, “It certainly felt personal to me.”
“To you?” Mrs. Williams’s composure snapped. “To you? Nothing is personal to you, Miss de Bourgh.You change your affections as easily as you change your gown—first your cousin Mr. Darcy—then the lieutenant—and now Mr. Worth. Do you not think that an inordinate number of lovers in so short a span of time, Miss de Bourgh?” Her tone slivered with contempt. “Your companion’s body had not lost its heat before you turned your attention to Mr. Worth, a man whose name means nothing; for one day, he spent time with Mrs. Jenkinson and the next with Miss de Bourgh.”
Worth came to Anne’s defense. He worried not for his own reputation; society expected men to have an inconstant nature. “Mrs. Jenkinson spoke of Miss de Bourgh’s fine qualities—the lady led me to what she saw in her charge. My true affection for Mrs. Jenkinson awakened me to the excellence of Miss de Bourgh’s character.”
Cathleen Donnel put into words what many others were thinking, “You defend Lieutenant Harwood’s actions? His attempted seduction and ruination of a lady?”Adam took note of how her bottom lip trembled, and he realized he needed to let her go—she deserved better—deserved to return to her family a lady, not his mistress. He wondered if he felt the guilt that Harwood would never know.
“It would seem to me that the lady participated willingly. By her mother’s own words, Miss de Bourgh followed Lieutenant Harwood to Liverpool. If she misjudged the man—if she knew so little of the world as to not see the man’s true nature—then perhaps Miss de Bourgh learned a valuable lesson at the lieutenant’s hands.”
“A lesson the vulgarian hoped to make profitable,” Lady Catherine hissed.
Darcy cleared his throat, silencing them all. He had been carefully observing their interactions, doing what Sir Phillip had instructed him to do—be a good listener. “Did you know Harwood previously, Mrs.Williams?”
“Why would you make such an assumption, Mr. Darcy?” She turned quickly away.
“When he first arrived, you slipped from the room before I could introduce you,” Darcy thought aloud.
Mrs. Williams stood slowly, pressing her skirt’s wrinkles. “As I am assured that my opinions are no longer welcome at Pemberley, I shall beg Mr. Darcy for the comfort of a coach into the village. Perhaps the lieutenant might serve as my escort. His presence, I assume, is no longer required. If the gentleman’s scheme has failed, he will likely be most eager to take his leave. As I am not as naïve as many of my present company, I will have no qualms in sharing a coach for the five miles into Lambton.”
“Surely, Sir Phillip, you have no intention of allowing Mrs.Williams to leave Pemberley until she truthfully answers my nephew’s question,” Lady Catherine declared.
“Never fear, Your Ladyship. No one will leave until both Mr. Darcy and I have the answers to many questions.”
“I know my rights, Sir Phillip.You may not detain the lieutenant or me, as no crime has been committed. Intention is not action, sir,” Mrs.Williams asserted.
“And what of my dear Mildred’s death?” Mrs. Williams’s frame overshadowed Anne’s, but Darcy’s cousin demanded an answer as she shot to her feet.
Mrs.Williams made a move toward the door, but Stafford blocked her retreat.“Am I accused once more?” she asked incredulously.
Worth took up the cause.“By your own words, you disapproved of Miss de Bourgh’s companion and of Her Ladyship’s daughter. You arranged the cups of hot cider, and I venture to say if we searched your room, we would find arsenic among your cosmetics, although I recall your most vehement denial of the traditional use of arsenic as part of a lady’s beauty secrets.”
Darcy noted how the lady recoiled when Worth mentioned searching her room. He instantly regretted not having searched specifically for that beauty item after Mrs. Jenkinson’s death. Now, he clearly saw the fault in his helter-skelter efforts. Thankfully, Sir Phillip understood the intricacies of searching for the truth.
“I will allow no one access to my private quarters,” the lady declared.
Darcy countered, “As this is my house, madam, I doubt you could keep me out.”
“When we finish here, Darcy,” the baronet summarized,“you and I will do just that. We will also search the other rooms—under my supervision, of course.” His businesslike tone instilled confidence.
“Of course, Sir Phillip.”
“Might we return to the issue of Robert Harwood?” Edward interjected.
Mrs.Williams’s composure slipped. “What of the lieutenant?”
Sir Phillip sat straighter, aware of the importance of his announcement. “The lieutenant has lost his life.”
“Oh, no!” Elizabeth gasped, turning her face into Darcy’s shoulder, seeking his immediate comfort.
Every other eye in the room drifted to a discomposed Mrs. Williams. “That is impossible!” she asserted. “I spoke to him only last night.”
Her admission silenced the room. “When might that have been?” Darcy’s eyes eagerly assessed the crumbling aplomb of the defiant naval widow. “As I assumed last evening’s meal to be the first of your acquaintance with Harwood, I would be most interested to know when you might have had the time for a private conversation.”
“As would I,” Sir Phillip moved up beside Mrs. Williams. “You will have a private conversation with me, madam.” He took the lady’s arm to lead her from the room.