“Of course, we are sisters,” Harriet cried.
“Lizzy?”
“Yes, I will help you, Cathy, but I wish to help find the key, as well.” Elizabeth fidgeted into a comfortable position between them. “But what if… what if you are wrong?”
“But I am not,” Cathy sighed. “I would stake my life on it! I believe the key to the mystery must be to discover everybody’s secrets. Perhaps we should search anything the general brought along with him. Whoever’s secret is the worst must be the culprit. I wonder what some people have done, that Mr. Tilney would say they deserved to be given over to the magistrate.”
“Do you think he would really do it? When we find the key and get out of here,” Harriet mused.
“If they have done something illegal and not just immoral, I should hope so,” Elizabeth said, her thoughts drifting back to Mr. Darcy, and his soured friendship with one of the dead men.
Harriet let out a shaky breath. “I must tell you all something. My secret. I am afraid you will despise me.”
Cathy rolled over onto her side. “You have a secret, Harriet? I did not expect you to be one of the people being blackmailed.”
“I am not. It is Emma who has been paying for the general’s silence, though it is our shared secret.”
Elizabeth braced herself for another great shock, but tried to respond gently. “Of course you can tell us.”
“And you will still wish to come to know me, as a sister?”
“You cannot have done anything terrible,” Cathy said.
“And whatever it is, it cannot be as bad as some among us,” Elizabeth added.
Harriet took a deep breath. “Emma and I… our friendship is of a particular kind. We… we are fond of one another, as you are of Mr. Tilney, Cathy. We love one another, and wish to spend our lives in companionship rather than seek marriages where no romance is possible.”
“The men this evening have hardly presented themselves to advantage,” Elizabeth said bitterly.
“Hmm,” Cathy sighed. “I supposemostmen are rather foul. The only man who has ever fancied me is some repellent friend of my brother’s we met in Bath, and he is not a sterling specimen of the male species.”
Harriet giggled. “Was he very odious?”
“He cursed, and leered at me, and drove his gig entirely too fast! And he seemed quite interested in what Lady Allen might do for me, when I never thought she really would leave me anything.”
“He sounds beastly,” Elizabeth laughed. “No wonder you fancy Mr. Tilney.”
“Mr. Martin was never so unpleasant,” Harriet mused. “Not until he persisted in proposing to me, and sought aid from Emma’s friend Mr. Knightley. They had a horrible row about it, but they have made up since Mr. Woodhouse died.”
“How sad for Emma,” Cathy said.
“Oh, it was ghastly! Emma and I were… well, we were alone in her room, for I had been invited to stay the night after dinner as always, and her sister Isabella came in and saw… something we wished to conceal. Emma was sure her sister would keep our secret, but she cried out like anything, and Mr. Woodhouse came and saw, and had a fit of apoplexy right there in Emma’s room!”
Elizabeth nestled comfortingly against Harriet. “She must feel so awful, poor Emma!”
“You do not now despise me? Or her?”
“I cannot say I entirely comprehend your feelings, but you are more fortunate than countless women trapped in unhappy marriages. I should think a little gossip easier to bear than what often comes of loveless unions.” Elizabeth considered her parents – or rather, the Bennets.
“I do not despise you, and I am still delighted that we are sisters,” Cathy said. “It is shocking, but rather fascinating. And I need not worry that you will also fancy Mr. Tilney! Besides, I should be glad to have someone to speak of romance with, since Lizzy quite despises the man who fancies her!”
Elizabeth nudged Cathy. “What are you talking about? Nobody fancies me.”
“That is pure dreck, Lizzy. You looked very cozy walking together with Mr. Darcy this morning; Mr. Tilney and I had quite a laugh about it! And then he rushed to comfort you in the parlor, and looked as if he would throttle Sir Edward for upsetting you. He has been lingering at your side since dinner last night, and when he is not near to you, he is staring at you.”
“Even I must own that he is handsome,” Harriet agreed. “Although, it is in rather a frightening way. But it was kind of him to have his valet act as a guard outside our apartments.”
“Are you afraid?” Cathy sounded almost excited, but she trembled.
