“Oh, my girls, together at last!” Lady Allen clasped her hands in front of herself in a pose of high emotion. “I never thought I would see it! And dear Elizabeth, I see the resemblance in you, too.”
“You knew of me?”
Lady Allen smiled warmly at Elizabeth. “He spoke constantly about you when first we met. His sister was a faithful correspondent, and he was always demanding details of you, or finding some little doll in a shop to give you at his next visit.”
Elizabeth could not but be softened a little toward her uncle, and she offered him a reluctant smile. “I am sorry I have not likewise heard of you. Perhaps we shall speak more about it.”
Harriet looked anxiously between the other ladies. “Oh dear, perhaps we should retire. May I… may I embrace you, ma’am?”
Lady Allen stood with a teary smile and outstretched arms. “I am happy that you wish to! Oh, my dear girl, all these years you have been away from me! Like Edward, I have had only letters of my darling child, and once or twice a little sketch.”
Harriet smiled brightly as she was enfolded in her mother’s arms. “I cannot wait to wake up in the morning! Can I spend the day with you? Oh, and Emma must come, too!”
“Emma, yes, but not her aunt,” Cathy said. “There is something about her I do not trust!”
“Oh, very well,” Harriet said. “I will ask Emma about it.”
As Lady Allen released Harriet, Sir Edward approached her. They seemed uncertain of an embrace, and finally he took Harriet’s hand in his. “You are a delight to me as much as a surprise. I hope I may be included in your getting acquainted tomorrow, for I am sure your mother and I have much to say.”
Cathy gaped at them, aghast. “But tomorrow we must find the key, and endeavor to discover who the killer is amongst us.”
“Certainly we shall, though the others must do their share,” Elizabeth said, standing up and then hauling Cathy to her feet. “You need your rest, Inspector Morland.”
“Very well, Constable Lizzy,” Cathy said with a rueful laugh. She also embraced Lady Allen, and then Sir Edward gave each of them a kiss on the forehead, his eyes glistening as he looked at them.
They made their way to the room that had been Elizabeth’s. She followed behind them, and her uncle caught her gently by the hand as she passed him. “We will speak about it tomorrow, but I will say at least that I am sorry for the very great shock I have given you.”
“It was not the greatest shock of the day, nor even the second most,” Elizabeth said with a sigh. “I would have been surprised no matter the circumstances, but I might have done without the audience.” She trembled a little as she recalled how Mr. Darcy had comforted her. And even after that, she had been intent on quarreling with him about Mr. Wickham.
Sir Edward hung his head. “I am sorry about that, too, but after Margaret spoke up, I suppose I felt the need to step up and show the same bravery, to cover her shame with my own. I ought to have considered your feelings, and I am sorry for it. I hope you will not hold it against her.” He kissed Elizabeth on the forehead and patted her cheek.
Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder at Lady Allen, who stood outside the door to the room that had been Cathy’s the night before. “I am retiring; will you sleep on the sofa here, Edward, or….?
Sir Edward smiled at Lady Allen. “I will leave it to you.” He turned to Elizabeth with an apologetic look. “I have loved her for eighteen years,” he murmured.
Elizabeth shook her head, feeling a swell of misery at the memory of her late aunt Gardiner, and hastened after her sisters. The ladies had all brought their things into Elizabeth’s room, and the maid Sarah came up to help them dress for bed.
“What are the servants saying about all this?” Cathy asked with a sniffle.
“Well, it does dim all the chatter we had about royals coming,” Sarah muttered nervously. “We’re all frightened, of course, and shocked, and a few that knew the general are pretending to be sad, when just this morning they had complained of him mistreating them.”
“I had not thought it could be a servant!” Cathy looked at the maid wide eyed.
“Surely it weren’t. We’ve been asked to perform a few extra duties while we’re here. The two ladies Mr. Tilney has helping him said we would be compensated extra, on account of him not bringing the castle up to staff before we came. We were all about our work when it happened. Is it true that we’re all locked in?”
“It is,” Elizabeth said. “But you are perfectly welcome to bring a cot in here, if you are afraid.”
“Oh, no, thank you. A few of the other maids who are young like me thought to bunk together like you three, and it seems almost fun – er, if that’s right to say.”
Elizabeth chuckled indulgently. “You have every right to find it merry, when the alternative is being so frightened.”
The maid took her leave, and the three ladies got into Elizabeth’s large bed. They were not to be as merry as the maids,for they had all had their shock after the murders compounded by the discovery of being sisters. Cathy was still lamenting for poor Mr. Tilney, who had only wanted to help his guests.
“I am determined to find out who really did the murders, for I know it was not Mr. Tilney!”
“But how can you be sure? We have only known him for two days,” Harriet said.
“Yes, but there was innocence in all his looks! You must both help me,” Cathy insisted.
