Page 139 of Mr. Darcy’s Diamonds

“No! I never saw my beloved or my aunt and uncle. Lady Rowe talked a sweet talk, but the whole time, she and her husband were using me and Mr. Roberts to send back the orders to kill my family.”

“That must have been a terrible trial, Mrs. Jeune. How did you learn Lord Rowe was to blame?”

“His wife told me about their child, thinking to calm my fright while we were waiting for Mr. Roberts to take me to England. But in the next room, Lord Rowe and Mr. Roberts were talking. He must have been giving him the orders to kill my family.”

“But you did not hear him say anything?”

“No. But I had already taken my revenge. I had seen the diamonds and knew they would travel with Mr. Roberts and me, so I told my uncle’s people, the ones who brought me from France—they remained near me, you see, until then, to keep me safe. I told them to kill the family as soon as I left Antwerp. They also gave me a gun for my protection on my journey to England. I planned to take the treasure, and nobody would know.”

Darcy looked at Richard, unprepared for Mrs. Jeune to confess such a thing.

“Kill which family?” Richard asked slowly.

“Lord and Lady Rowe and their child. After my uncle’s men killed them, they came to London to collect payment, bringing proof. Over in that box you will find Lord Rowe’s pocket watch. I did have a miniature portrait and a baby blanket, as well, but they have been mislaid.”

They had known nothing of who had killed Lord Rowe or why. The girl could not have known yet that her family was under suspicion for treason. That reason had to have been added in hindsight. This woman had planned the murder of a family for nothing more than the diamonds. Lord and Lady Rowe would have identified her as the girl they had rescued.

“What about the diamonds? Did you take them from Mr. Roberts?” Richard brought the focus back to something they still had some control over, unlike the murder of an innocent family.

Darcy walked to the box she had indicated, though, and rummaged through sundries until he found a pocket watch with words engraved on the back: To Oliver, with all my love. SBR. He slipped the watch into his pocket.

“I know you have found the last of my diamonds. I had no one when I came to this country because Lord Rowe had all my family killed. I needed the diamonds to survive.”

“You will stay in this house under guard until Monday morning, at which time, you will be transported to London to face trial for crimes against the Crown.”

Richard ushered Darcy out of the house and to an inn before he could ask Mrs. Jeune why she had sent Wickham after Elizabeth. Almost certainly, it was as they thought: She had been trying to hurt Darcy. Mrs. Jeune’s decisions did not all seem rational.

Chapter Fifty-Eight

“Jane, please tell me you will not have Miss Eliza with you all the time now. It was always trying for those weeks in April when she would be with us. She will never be accepted by the ton, and she should realize that and not drag us down with her. I know I said I would be friendly to her, but I did not think I would have to see her so often.”

“When you marry Sir Abraham, you will leave London, will you not? Then you will not have to hear your friends ridiculing my cousin.”

“But Jane, think of your own standing, and that of my brother and sister. You are living in the Hursts’ home and should be mindful of the shame you bring here.”

Elizabeth was spending the day with Jane and Miss Bingley at the Hursts’ home and was coming back from choosing a book in the small library when she heard Miss Bingley’s true opinion of her. She appreciated Jane’s support, but she did not wish to harm her cousin or the Bingleys. It probably would be best if she saw Jane only at Gracechurch Street from now on. She entered the drawing room where Jane and Miss Bingley sat, smiled at her cousin, and took a chair in the far corner of the room to read.

Fitzwilliam was due back the next day, and she prayed he was safe and would find the answers he sought.

When he called the next afternoon, he seemed distracted or even disturbed. Although they sat with her aunt, he found her hand beneath the folds of her skirts and held it tightly. She shivered at the sensation of his thumb caressing her knuckles, but she was concerned about whatever was bothering him. Finally, her aunt moved to the other side of the room to write a letter, and Elizabeth turned to face Fitzwilliam more fully, keeping her hand in his.

“Are you well, Fitzwilliam? You seem agitated.”

“I am well. I missed you every moment we were apart, Elizabeth, and I have no wish to leave you again, but…”

“But you will leave again?”

“Our investigation is nearly complete. We have one more person to visit, and then I believe I may remain in London for some time.”

“Where will you go this time?” Her voice sounded small in her own ears. Each parting from him was painful, but he had written to her. She had not received his letter from Bath until a few hours before he arrived himself, but it was something.

“Yorkshire. Almost twice as far away as Bath. Our destination is only in southern Yorkshire, and we will not need to stay long. Still, we, will be gone for more than a week, perhaps ten days.” Fitzwilliam’s eyes, trained on hers, looked so dejected that she decided she must do her part to cheer him.

“That is not so bad, my love. We survived all of December, did we not?”

“Barely.” Fitzwilliam groaned, and Elizabeth could not help but laugh. “I wish I had a way to convince your uncle to allow us to marry. I would so like to take you with me tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? So soon?”