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Fitz nodded at him. “They all recognize you. You may as well explain what we know.”
Miss Bennet met Fitz’s eye, and his cousin froze. When Miss Bennet broke her gaze and returned her attention to Darcy, he thought she appeared a bit dazed. Soon, though, she was watching him expectantly.
Darcy nodded at Fitz and addressed Miss Bennet and her father. “First, I have a message for you.” He removed Elizabeth’s note and handed it to Mr. Bennet. She had only written to assure them she was safe, but she had told Darcy that it would be enough.
Mr. Bennet read the message and handed it to Miss Bennet.
“Next, my cousin and I are trying to understand what has happened. It would be a great help were you to relate your actions on the morning Miss Elizabeth disappeared,” Darcy said.
Mr. Bennet nodded. “The morning after the ball, I was awakened by your valet, who brought your first message. I learned little that was new, for Lizzy had already explained what had happened. When I noted her pelisse was gone, I waited for her to return.” Miss Bennet handed the note back, and Mr. Bennet tucked it away. “When she did not, I sought her out along her usual walking paths. I found a handkerchief I knew belonged to her, but nothing else.” He met Darcy’s eye. “When I returned home, I found your second letter. Jane had risen by then, and I asked whether she knew where her sister had gone.”
“I wished to ask the servants, but my father requested that I wait,” said Miss Bennet.
“Given what had occurred at the ball and Lizzy’s concerns—well, I was nearly certain this was not happenstance,” Mr. Bennet said. “I rode out to Meryton on a contrived errand to see whether I might discover anything. It was there I received a summons. Sir William had a bonnet he wished me to see. It had been left in town by a man who said he found it by chance near the river—his carriage had broken its wheel nearby, and he had returned to have it repaired. He had been in a hurry to get to town and left before Sir William could speak with him. It was Mr. Wickham,” he said as his expression soured, “who suggested to Sir William that it was similar to a bonnet he had seen Elizabeth wear.” Mr. Bennet sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I could not deny it. Fortunately, the most troublesome members of my family slept late and kept to their chambers most of the day. It offered us time to consider what was best to be done. Jane was of great use there.” He looked at his eldest daughter, and she picked up where he had paused.
“Our housekeeper’s daughter had been taken to bed with her first child,” Miss Bennet said. “Lizzy might have accompanied Mrs. Hill to tend her had she thought she could be of use, but I knew Mrs. Hill would never allow it.” She wound and unwound her shawl’s fringe around her fingers as she spoke. “Papa was certain something dreadful had happened, and I walked to the church to ask Mr. Tompkins whether he might ride out to the river to see the scene himself. I knew we ought not send anyone connected to our family.”
“Mr. Tompkins was given the living in the village six months ago,” Sir William said. “Entirely trustworthy, but beyond the appointment, not believed to have a particular connection to the Bennet family.”
Miss Bennet nodded. “Mr. Tompkins saw two men searching the blackberry bushes on the side of the road.”
Did they believe Elizabeth was in the river, or that she had escaped? And if they believed she was alive, would they attempt to track her down or hide themselves?
“How well did your Mr. Tompkins see those men?” Fitz asked.
“Well enough,” Mr. Bennet replied. “One rather average-looking man, one with very fair looks.”
Sir William was surprised. Mr. Bennet must not have shared this information with him. It had been a wise decision. The fewer who knew the details, the better.
Fitz offered a description of the two men, and Miss Bennet sighed.
“The same men,” she said quietly. “How did Lizzy escape?”
Darcy glanced at his cousin beseechingly. He could not bear to tell this part of the tale, and was grateful when Fitz explained it for him.
The room was silent for a time until Darcy asked Miss Bennet to continue. “While we awaited our carriage after the ball,” she said, “Mr. Bingley mentioned that Lizzy was in some sort of trouble with Mr. Darcy. Mr. Bingley was very kind, very concerned, and he hoped to call at Longbourn to discuss it discreetly once his friends had departed for London.” She lifted her gaze to Darcy’s. “I do not know Mr. Darcy very well, but I know my sister. I told Mr. Bingley he must have misunderstood. He behaved as though I was too naïve to accept my sister’s duplicity.” Her jaw tightened. “It annoyed me.”
“Jane’s temper is something of a legend—rarely seen, but a sight to behold,” Mr. Bennet said fondly. “The surest way to light the fuse is to patronize her. Between that and Lizzy's story, she had heard enough. By the time I returned from Meryton, she had already penned a note declining Mr. Bingley’s visit.”
Sir William smiled. Darcy glanced at Fitz. He had a smile on his face, too. A small one. But it was definitely a smile.
“I attempted to dissuade him at the ball but he would not desist,” Miss Bennet said slowly. “It began to anger me. It was the first time we had disagreed, and his unwillingness to admit that my understanding of Lizzy was better than his showed me the man he is beneath the charming façade.”
“He did not know you, my dear,” Sir William said reassuringly.
“I am not certain he wished to,” Miss Bennet replied. “I pondered it for hours before I could sleep that night, wondering whether I was being too unforgiving. But in the morning, when Papa related Lizzy’s story and she did not return, I did wonder whether Mr. Bingley was involved.” She swallowed and gave Darcy a remorseful look. “I might have believed you involved, sir, but Lizzy would not invent such a tale, not even about a person she disliked. And she liked Mr. Bingley. As did I.” Her hands stopped their work. “My sister walks to find peace, to think. If only I had spoken with her before we retired, perhaps she would not have felt the need to walk out.”
With a good deal of sympathy, Darcy recounted his actions, beginning with Elizabeth’s response when she awoke in the secret room off his study. He did not tell them about the room but did mention how it had ended with him wearing the remains of his dinner.
As intended, this made Sir William and the Bennets laugh a little. His description of Elizabeth’s spirit, more than anything else, reassured them that she was well. As well as could be expected, in any case. Darcy mentioned her illness, her recovery, and how relieved she had been to hear the story that had been devised to keep her family safe.
“She was more concerned for her sisters than herself,” Fitz added.
“That is very like her,” Miss Bennet replied. “There is no one more loyal to those she loves than Lizzy.”
Fitz cast a quick glance at Darcy. Except you, his eyes said. Darcy ignored him.
“When shall we retrieve her, Mr. Darcy?” Mr. Bennet asked. “I appreciate the need for secrecy, but she cannot remain with you. We really should move her to the Gardiners’ home for a time before bringing her back to Longbourn. It will give truth to the story of her visit and allow us time to find her a husband.”
