Chapter Nine #2
“That is absurd,” Mr. Crawford cried. “Even if she did harm Rushworth, which she did not, why should she hurt anyone else? You may attribute some motive there, for it is easier than discovering what actually happened, but she has no cause to do any of you any mischief.”
Elizabeth could feel Mrs. Rushworth staring at her, but this time she could not speak up.
She could think only of protecting the evidence they had in the parlor, and she hardly knew whether it was better for Mrs. Rushworth, who already knew that secret, anyhow, to keep the keys, or to give them to another. Who else could be trusted?
“I will share with her tonight, since she does not have her husband to share with,” Miss Denham said. Both Mr. Parker and Mr. Crawford bristled at this, and Lady Susan eyed them all sardonically. “Am I to be left alone, then, Miss Denham?”
“You may share with us, too, if it would give you any peace about the keys. I am far more worried about Miss Morland’s set of keys, since she is so well-disposed toward Mr. Tilney.”
All of Elizabeth’s friends and relations began clamoring in Cathy’s defense at once, until Mr. Tilney insisted that they cease their squabbling and move Mr. Rushworth to the cellar.
Mr. Bertram and Mr. Crawford offered to assist him, though before they set about their task, Mr. Tilney whispered something to Sir Edward, who nodded his agreement.
The party began to disperse. Elizabeth turned to Mr. Darcy, hardly knowing what to say, but wishing the comfort of some conversation with him. “I….”
“You ought to retire,” he said. “This has been a ghastly ordeal. You spoke up very bravely, Miss Bennet; I am shocked that none of our friends supported your clever theory.”
“But you believe it,” she said with a breathy smile. She still had his coat about her shoulders, and she ran her fingers up and down the thick wool, hardly wishing to relinquish it to him. It felt safer, somehow, to have it around her.
Sir Edward beckoned them over, and did the same to Cathy and Harriet. Lady Allen was already at his side, and Emma went wherever Harriet went. “Mr. Tilney has suggested we relocate ourselves.”
“We really should,” Elizabeth agreed. “Anybody might come into the parlor through the library passage.”
“He recommended a set of rooms on the second floor, the north side of the castle. We may have to take a few guesses with your set of keys, Cathy, and send for the servants to help us hastily make the rooms ready.”
They agreed and returned to their suite to prepare themselves to relocate. Mr. Darcy joined them, escorting Elizabeth in thoughtful silence; he offered to assist them in removing the evidence pinned to the wall.
In their shared room, the three sisters collected their bedclothes and a day dress each to don in the morning.
Elizabeth returned to the parlor with the bundle of her things tucked under her arm, and watched Mr. Darcy stack the last of the papers from the wall on the escritoire.
As Cathy went to retrieve them, he moved to the sideboard.
He poured himself a drink, downed it in a single gulp, and then took the empty glass to the fireplace, where he filled it with ashes that had not been swept away.
“Miss Bennet, where is the bookshelf that conceals the hidden passageway?”
She pointed to it and watched him move toward the place where Lady Susan had discovered the secret passage. He sprinkled the ashes on the stone floor in front of the bookshelf. “If anybody does come through this passage, I wish to know of it.”
“How clever!”
Mr. Darcy beamed at her compliment. “Thank you, Miss Bennet.”
“I ought to return your coat to you,” she said, still reluctant to part with it.
He held up a hand. “I fear I am rather dirty after rummaging in the fireplace. It is a favorite of mine, and I would rather not soil it.”
“Oh, very well,” she said playfully, hugging the coat tightly around her and relishing the warmth of it. Once again, she knew was speaking without thinking, but she was too weary to be entirely sensible.
When they were all ready to seek their new quarters, Mr. Darcy again escorted them, carrying the newspapers and Lady Allen’s rather large bag of necessities.
Cathy tried half a dozen keys before unlocking the door Mr. Tilney had told Sir Edward to look for, and when they stepped into the room, lit only by a thin sliver of moonlight, Mr. Darcy set down what he carried and began to make a fire.
By the time the room was lit, Mr. Tilney had come to join them. “Oh, good, Darcy, you are here. This suite is unique in the castle; it has three rooms connecting to the shared parlor. All eight of us might stay in here, and safely keep to ourselves until we have sorted it all out.”
“Eight people in three rooms?” Emma furrowed her brow skeptically. “And you gentlemen, in her with us?”
“It shall make me feel much safer,” Cathy said with a blushing glance at Mr. Tilney.
“If Darcy will help me fetch the mattress from the room across the hall, we can place it in one of the rooms, and the four young ladies can all share. Darcy and I shall share a room, and…”
He trailed off, but nodded in the direction of Lady Allen and Sir Edward.
Cathy peered into one of the bedrooms. “This one is rather small.”
“So is this one,” Lady Allen said, looking into another.
“Aye,” Sir Edward agreed. “I have a better notion. Lady Allen can share with two of the girls, and the other two in another room, you and Darcy in the third. I will sleep on the sofa here in the parlor.” He gave the two gentlemen a stern look, as if warning them that he should know of any shenanigans, if the gentlemen tried to meddle with his girls.
“Let them at least bring a mattress for you, Edward,” Lady Allen tutted. The two gentlemen agreed and left the room to oblige her at once.
Elizabeth peered around the small parlor they had all assembled in; they would have to disperse in order for a mattress to fit, and she surveyed her companions, hoping they would decide for her where she ought to go. She was exhausted, and cared not where she laid her head, so long as it was soon.
“Cathy, Miss Bennet – may I call you Lizzy? You two share with me, and Emma can go with Harriet,” Lady Allen said.
Harriet and Emma agreed at once, and were the first to retreat after bidding the others goodnight.
Emma lit a candle from the fireplace, and Lady Allen did the same before leading her two charges into the middle bedroom.
“I suppose we shall not bother the servants; I think Mr. Tilney wishes it to be a secret that we are here,” she said, and so they helped one another dress for bed.
When they heard the sounds of the gentlemen returning with the mattress for Sir Edward, Lady Allen looked at their bed and frowned. “Oh dear, we shall be very snug indeed. I wonder if we shall all fit!”
“Should one of us go join Emma and Harriet?” Cathy looked skeptically at Elizabeth.
“Oh, I daresay their bed is just as small. Two people is quite enough for any mattress….” Lady Allen glanced at the door, and Elizabeth could tell what the woman was thinking.
She nodded. “I suppose you know best. I would not argue with a little more space to sleep.”
Lady Allen smiled and opened the door. Mr. Tilney was retreating to the third bedroom as Sir Edward settled himself on the mattress not far from the fireplace.
Mr. Darcy was still in the parlor, and looked toward the doorway as Lady Allen crept out.
He raised an eyebrow as he understood her intentions and then met Elizabeth’s eye.
Perhaps she was too tired to be modest, for she did not draw her dressing gown about herself as she had done last time he had seen her in her bed clothes that very morning, though it felt like an age since then.
Instead she stepped toward the doorway, and he did the same.
They were some distance from the firelight, and he came to stand before her.
“Good night, Mr. Darcy,” she said softly.
He took her hand in his and brought it up to his lips for the second time that day. This time, her hand was bare, and the touch of his lips lingered on her skin. “Good night, Elizabeth,” he whispered.
She smiled up at him, not sure whether or not to be relieved that in the darkness he might not see the broad smile on her face.
She tightened her fingers around his for a moment, savoring the feel of her name spoken in his husky voice, though she ought to reproach him for it.
“I shall feel very safe indeed, with so many gentlemen at hand to protect us.”
He silently placed her hand against his heart, his own hand resting atop hers for a moment before he moved away. When he had gone, Elizabeth closed the door and turned around to lean against it. Across the room, Cathy was sitting up in the bed, grinning at her.
Elizabeth blew out the candle at once. “Tease me tomorrow, Cathy; I am exhausted.”
Cathy hummed an ominous tune and laughed, but began to make herself cozy in the bed.
There was no window in this room, and Elizabeth was obliged to feel her way in the darkness.
When her hand brushed over the now-familiar wool of Mr. Darcy’s coat, she impulsively picked it up and carried it to the bed with her.
Positioning herself with her back to her sister, Elizabeth clung to the coat, nestling herself against it and letting out a sigh at the soft pillow that cradled her muddled head.
She could not make sense of anything at all, but she did indeed feel utterly safe.