Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
In Which Lizzie and Georgiana Encounter a Pair of Trespassers
Lizzie awoke the next morning with a rather embarrassing thought: She never wanted to leave Pemberley.
Of course, she wasn’t being serious. Mostly. She really did miss London and its bustling energy, and she’d always wanted the
chance to travel beyond the bounds of England. But if one had to be confined to one estate whilst figuring out how to avoid
being trapped in the clutches of a murderous criminal, there really were worse places to be.
Her room was sumptuously decorated in a calming green, and the four-poster bed was like a cloud.
The windows overlooked the river as it ran into the woods, and Lizzie imagined that view was as pretty at the height of summer as it was in the darkest depths of winter.
And beyond her own bedchamber, she noted that every room she had been shown was beautifully furnished with elegant pieces that seemed sophisticated and timeless, chosen for their quality, not because they happened to be the height of fashion.
Each room had a slightly different view of the grounds, none of which was anything less than astonishing.
But grandeur aside, Lizzie felt an immediate ease at Pemberley.
Guy, too, had seemed equally happy to traipse through halls the previous evening, finding new things to sniff and making friends with every servant.
In short, Pemberley was a dream. And Lizzie was intensely grateful that her mother was not here to see it, for if she were,
Lizzie would surely never hear the end of it.
It was not lost on her, of course, the implication of Darcy bringing her here, beyond the need to see to her immediate safety.
Darcy had made no attempts to disguise that he wanted to marry her—the only thing he hadn’t done was propose. But Lizzie knew
all he needed was some kind of signal from her, and he would. Then she could be mistress of this estate one day.
But probably not before Darcy was cast out of his father’s life.
Lizzie loved her family, despite their many eccentricities and embarrassments, and she could not imagine the idea of being
permanently cut off from them. And now that she had seen Pemberley, and spent more time with Georgiana, she wondered—how on
earth could she ask Darcy to give it all up, just to marry her?
A knock on the door startled her from her thoughts. “Come in,” she called, and the door opened and Georgiana peeked in. “Oh,
good, you’re awake.”
Guy let out a happy bark and ran up to her, and Georgiana laughed and picked him up. “Did you sleep well?”
“It was the best night of sleep I’ve ever had,” she answered honestly.
“Good. Now, it’s rather late morning—no, don’t look alarmed. You all needed your sleep. Charlotte came down for breakfast,
and I set her up in the library. She’s rather taken by my father’s collection of travel diaries of various explorers of the
New World, and I imagine she’ll be absorbed until at least teatime. I was wondering if you’d like a tour of the grounds? We
can sneak out through the kitchens and get you both something to eat, if you like.”
“That sounds marvelous,” Lizzie said. “But why do we have to sneak?”
Georgiana made a face. “Because if Mrs. Watts sees me, she won’t let us go unchaperoned lest we run into my brother—she’s
rather prudish that way—and she’ll insist we don’t go outside until afternoon, and she won’t let me take you to the woods,
and she’ll ask a whole series of boorish questions—”
Lizzie laughed. “All right, you don’t have to convince me. She sounds rather unpleasant. Lead the way.”
Georgiana kept up a steady stream of conversation as she led Lizzie through the back halls to the kitchens, which appeared
to be a merry sort of chaos. A jolly-looking woman with hundreds of freckles on her face turned when they entered the kitchen
and immediately tsked. “Miss Georgiana, what are you doing bringing a guest into the kitchens? You’ll scandalize the poor
lady!”
“This is Elizabeth Bennet, and she’s a lady solicitor. You can scarcely scandalize her.” To Lizzie, she said, “This is Mrs. Craig, and she is the best cook in all of Derbyshire.”
“Oh, hush now, child!” Mrs. Craig turned pink.
“I am delighted to make your acquaintance,” Lizzie said. “And I have to agree with Miss Darcy—the meal last night was excellent.”
“Well, sit, sit,” she said. “I’ll rustle something up for you both and the pup.”
Lizzie enjoyed watching the bustle of the kitchens and the warmness of Mrs. Craig’s smile as she served them a simple breakfast,
cooked to perfection. Guy got his own plate near the hearth, and everything felt . . . relaxing. Right. When they’d finished,
Mrs. Craig shooed them out, and Georgiana took Lizzie out the back.
“Where’s your brother this morning?” Lizzie asked as they rambled through the gardens.
“Oh, he’s around somewhere, I imagine,” Georgiana said. “He’s likely gone to visit Holmes—that’s our steward—or maybe into
Lambton. He always has a hundred things to do when he comes home, and he hasn’t been here much lately.”
“I’m sorry,” Lizzie said. “I feel as if I am partially to blame for that.”
“What do you mean?” Georgiana asked, eyes wide.
“Just that . . . we’ve had so many cases as of late, and he’s been an invaluable consultant. I worry he thought he couldn’t
leave London because of the work. But I know he’s missed you terribly.”
“Oh, no. I know he’s been busy. And I’m glad you’ve been putting him to work with so many cases. Will you tell me about them? I only know what I read in the papers, and my brother is terribly reluctant to share the details in his letters.”
“He probably worries I’ll be a negative influence on you,” Lizzie said, laughing. If Darcy were here, she could imagine his
eye roll. “But all right. Which one do you want to hear about first?”
“The Pandemonium at the Pantheon! Did that man really try to stab a woman in front of an audience of a hundred people?”
Lizzie laughed. “Well, first I must go to the beginning of that case . . .”
Lizzie and Georgiana spent a pleasant morning walking through the grounds, swapping stories about Lizzie and Darcy’s recent
cases and tales from Darcy and Georgiana’s childhood. Georgiana pointed out her favorite horses, and Lizzie told her about
her ill-fated ride in Hyde Park upon Georgiana’s borrowed mount, and then Georgiana led her on the walking path, which followed
the river and led into the woods. Lizzie let Guy off his leash and the little dog romped through the tall grasses and chased
squirrels and birds in the brush, always looping back to check in on Lizzie and Georgiana. It was the most pleasant morning
Lizzie could remember, and the only thing that would have made it sweeter was if Darcy had joined them.
They had just rounded the bend in the wooded path when they came upon two men dressed in simple workwear standing at the path, speaking urgently between themselves.
When they spotted Georgiana and Lizzie, Lizzie could read the alarm on their faces as plain as day.
She called for Guy immediately, and the dog came bounding up to her.
“Miss Darcy,” said one of the men. “You ought to go back on up to the house.”
“What is it?” Georgiana asked.
“It might be nothing, but we’ve found two trespassers climbing the wall up ahead,” he said. “The rest of the grooms have rounded
them up and called Travers to come collect them. We’ll keep them at the gatehouse until Mr. Darcy can question them.”
Lizzie went cold, and the airy, happy feeling of the morning vanished. “Who?”
“Please, Miss Darcy,” said the man, looking apprehensive. “Your brother wouldn’t like it.”
“Do you think it could be her?” Georgiana asked. “Lady Catherine?”
“Or her emissaries,” Lizzie said, pushing forward. “Please, let us at least see who they are.”
The man looked reluctant, but he wasn’t given much of a choice—because Lizzie and Georgiana heard the sound of footsteps cutting
through the underbrush, and two men appeared, walking what appeared to be two young ladies, their hands restrained behind
their backs. Lizzie’s heart nearly stopped just then. Could it be . . . could it be that simple? Would Lady Catherine really
try to scale the walls at Pemberley? Had they caught her once and for all?
But then one of the ladies turned, and Lizzie got a good look at her face and her jaw dropped.
“Clara Jeffries?”
The men stopped, surprised at Lizzie and Georgiana’s presence. Georgiana looked at Lizzie. “Do you know these ladies?”
The other young lady turned, and beneath her simple straw bonnet Lizzie saw another familiar face: Sally Burton. And she did
not look pleased to see Lizzie.
“Yes,” Lizzie said in shock.
“We found them climbing the wall back there,” said the man holding on to Sally. “And they tried to run.”
“Well, they wouldn’t let us through the front gate, so we had to get creative,” Sally said.
Lizzie set Guy down, no longer alarmed. “What on earth are you two doing here?”
Sally glared at Lizzie. “We’ve unfinished business.”
“Miss, I think we really ought to take these ladies to the gatehouse now,” said one man to Georgiana.
“Lizzie, do you think they are dangerous?” she asked.
“Dangerous? Us? That’s rich!” Miss Jeffries looked affronted. Sally was still glaring.
“I don’t think so,” Lizzie said. “I’d prefer if you brought them back to the house so we can have a proper chat.”
“But Mr. Darcy said—”
“We’ll fetch my brother. But Miss Bennet knows these ladies, and she doesn’t think they mean us any harm.”
“Neither of them is the lady we are on the lookout for,” Lizzie assured them.
In the end, Mr. Travers himself came to escort Miss Jeffries and Sally to the house, where they were brought into the library,
disturbing Charlotte as she pored over an open book. She looked up in surprise when Lizzie and Georgiana entered, and surprise
turned to shock when she saw Sally and Miss Jeffries follow after, their hands restrained. Lizzie quickly explained what had