Page 138 of Mr. Darcy’s Diamonds

Still, she reminded herself to be grateful Uncle Bennet had not forbidden her from seeing Fitzwilliam at all. She told her beloved that she would write to her uncle about how Fitzwilliam was so obviously innocent of any harm to her, but he had reminded her that he was present once again and had helped to protect her. He did not think the incident would strengthen their cause.

Elizabeth was thinking of Fitzwilliam as she absently played the pianoforte when guests arrived.

“Jane!”

Elizabeth had not known her cousin had returned from her wedding trip. Her timing could not have been better. In addition to her visits to Georgiana, Jane and Mr. Bingley would provide an excellent distraction from her thoughts these next few days.

Darcy had not realized his cousin had sent so many men to Bath. By the time Darcy’s carriage stopped on Saturday morning and he and the colonel stepped out, Mrs. Younge’s house was already surrounded. They had been watching the house from a distance until they saw the colonel, and then they closed in. They stood out of sight of the door until after Darcy and Richard entered the house.

“What do you want with me, Mr. Darcy? You have already cast me out of your homes. I owe you nothing.”

“You do, however, owe the Crown something, Mrs. Younge.” His cousin was menacing in his uniform, and the woman’s bravado faltered.

“I do not understand your meaning.”

“Hand over the diamonds, and the Crown may allow leniency for your other crimes.”

She forced a laugh. “Diamonds, you say? George has taken my best jewelry. He is off on another of his schemes, you see. I do not know where he is.”

“We did not ask you about Wickham, Mrs. Jeune. We asked you about the diamonds you stole from Solomon Roberts nineteen years ago this month.”

She fainted, and the men searched her home. When one of the colonel’s men had located her safe in a small back room and another man disengaged the locks, Richard told the others to stand guard while he and Darcy opened the door to view the contents alone.

They found letters, a marriage certificate, and other documents, as well as a bag of diamonds. Richard pulled one out to hold between his thumb and forefinger in the light of the sun streaming in the second-floor window. The diamond glimmered and cast rainbow colors on the walls around them. It was bigger than those Darcy had found in Ramsgate. Richard dropped the gem back into the bag, pulled tight the drawstring, and handed the bag to Darcy. Army uniforms were inconveniently without pockets.

“Keep these safe, will you? Until we can deliver them to the Exchequer, protect them as though they were yours.”

When Richard returned to the documents in the safe, Darcy opened the pouch and twirled his forefinger around in what must be hundreds of diamonds. He quickly closed the bag, which was about the size of an egg but the weight of an apple, and hid it deep in his coat pocket.

“She has an awful lot of money in the four percents.” Richard handed him a piece of paper, and he read the pertinent details.

“Minny Bowden opened this account in June of 1795 with more than twenty-five thousand pounds. Four percent per annum is more than a thousand pounds. She has had a steady income for years.”

Richard handed him another document. This was a deed to the house they stood in, purchased in 1794.

“It seems she has converted most of the diamonds into cash and spent the money, but the Crown can seize her investments and the house, I assume?”

“You assume correctly, Darcy. Except that I see no records of the diamonds themselves. Aside from the stash of stones in your pocket, I do not see any proof to tie her to Lord Rowe’s diamonds.”

“So, we need a confession?”

“That would be ideal.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Take her back to London and frighten her.”

“What if we start by appealing to her romantic side?”

Richard looked at him doubtfully. “I know you miss your lady, but do not get carried away.”

Darcy laughed and left the room.

“Guillemine Baudains Jeune, I understand you met your Amice when you were only fourteen,” Darcy began. “It must have been difficult to have been separated from him when he went to England years before you.”

“Hmph.”

“Did you have a chance to see him one last time before he was arrested?”