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Elizabeth scarcely dared to look about her, her face burning with embarrassment. Beside her, Darcy struggled to contain his fury. He had never imagined that Lady Catherine would go to such lengths.

When the service ended, the congregation remained, waiting for Mr Darcy’s answer.

“Mr Walters,” Darcy said, his voice firm with anger, “I shall ask my solicitor, Mr Bentham, to speak on my behalf.”

Everyone turned towards the young man, who appeared both pleased and daunted by the attention.

“Your Ladyship, Mr Walters, ladies and gentlemen,” he began, “Mr Darcy entrusted me with examining the codicil to Lady Anne Darcy’s will presented by Lady Catherine de Bourgh. It bears the name of a solicitor and those of two witnesses, and purports to bear Lady Anne Darcy’s signature.”

“Purports, sir? How dare you speak so?” Lady Catherine demanded.

“Pray be seated, Lady Catherine,” the vicar said firmly. “You have stated your objection. Mr Darcy is entitled to answer it. Continue, Mr Bentham.”

“Thank you, Mr Walters. The codicil expresses Lady Anne Darcy’s wish that her son should marry his cousin, Miss Anne de Bourgh.

“It does not establish a legally binding engagement. Whether Mr Darcy believes himself morally obliged to fulfil his mother’s wishes is another question. But before that question can arise, we must know whether those wishes were hers. My task was to discover whether the codicil was genuine.”

He paused to arrange the papers in his hands. His listeners waited impatiently, though they understood that he must explain his findings carefully.

“First, I sought the solicitor said to have drawn up the document in London. He was already elderly at the date given on the codicil and has since died. His practice closed after his death, but I traced his surviving papers to his executors.

“With their permission, I spent two days looking through the papers. I found no draft or copy of the codicil, nor any record that the solicitor had acted for Lady Anne Darcy. His executors have signed a statement confirming that nothing was found.”

A murmur passed through the church, and several people began speaking at once. Mr Walters called for silence until order was restored.

“Pray continue, Mr Bentham.”

“I then tried to find the two named witnesses. Neither could be traced at the addresses given, and no one I questioned there knew of them.”

Again, the congregation murmured.

The people of Meryton had never held Lydia in much esteem, and her misconduct had provided plenty of gossip. Elizabeth, however, was loved by nearly everyone present, and the threat to her happiness distressed them. Their sympathy had been with her from the beginning.

“What do these discoveries establish, sir?” the vicar asked hopefully.

“They give us reason to doubt the document, but they do not alone prove it false. Papers may be lost, and witnesses may move away. I therefore continued my enquiries at Pemberley.”

Lady Catherine rose abruptly. “You have no right to cast doubt upon my sister’s wishes!”

Mr Bentham remained firm.

“I have every reason to question whether this document expresses them, your ladyship. At Pemberley, Miss Darcy helped me find those who attended her mother during her last illness, along with the papers relating to that time.

“Lady Anne Darcy fell ill at Pemberley in April 1802. She grew steadily worse until her death in October. She never left Pemberley during those months and spent much of that time in bed.”

Elizabeth ceased to care what anyone might think. Darcy needed her. She took his arm before the whole congregation, seeing the tears in his eyes as he remembered his mother’s suffering and death. Surprised by her touch, he smiled and kissed her hand. He was no longer alone.

Mr Bentham paused respectfully.

“Pray continue, Mr Bentham,” Elizabeth said at last.

“I have brought the papers for Mr Walters to examine.

“Besides the statement concerning the solicitor’s papers, I have written declarations from Lady Anne’s physician and from Mr Robertson, the vicar who attended her. He still holds the living and remembers her illness clearly. Both confirm that she remained at Pemberley from April until her death.”

The congregation listened in astonishment, though not everyone yet understood the importance of these discoveries.

“The codicil, however,” Mr Bentham continued, “states that Lady Anne Darcy signed it in London in July 1802. She could not have been there. The physician’s account of his visits and Mr Robertson’s recollections confirm that she was ill at Pemberley at that very time.”