Chapter 21
Charlotte’s Confession
That night, after dinner, Charlotte drew Elizabeth aside. She had that look in her eyes. The one that said she had just discovered something big.
“Is it true, Eliza?”
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows in question.
“Can you see…” Charlotte paused and looked behind them. The corridor was in no danger of suddenly hosting any more people other than them. She turned back to Elizabeth, but lowered her voice some more.
“Mr. Darcy’s spirit? Do you see him?”
Elizabeth froze. She could feel the blood draining from her face. But she tried to strike nonchalance as best as she could.
“What do you mean, Charlotte?”
It was Charlotte’s turn to raise her brows. And she did so quite decisively.
“Colonel Fitzwilliam told me.”
Of course!
Elizabeth grit her teeth as blood rushed back to her face.
“If I could, that would be a tale for the ages, would it not?” she said lightly, even as her hands clenched her skirts to compose herself. She huffed. “I cannot fathom why the Colonel would say such a thing!”
“Yes, it did sound odd to me at first,” Charlotte said. But there was that other look in her eyes that Elizabeth knew all too well. The two stared at each other for a long moment. Neither willing to back down.
And then—all of a sudden—Charlotte reached between them and took Elizabeth’s hands in hers. “I believe you.”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened in surprise.
But she quickly hid it behind her usual pleasantness.
“I truly do not know what you mean. Surely you do not believe such a thing!” She drew her hands out of Charlotte’s grasp, even as the latter fixed her with a look of exasperation.
“Eliza, I believe we have been friends long enough that I know when you are lying.”
“Well, I am not this time!” Elizabeth said. “Perhaps we should talk in the morning. It has been a tiring day.”
She started to walk away. And she was nearly at the foot of the staircase—when Charlotte spoke again.
“Would you tell me, then, why you sent a letter to Matlock House last week?”
Elizabeth stilled. And then she bit her lip, hard.
Of course nothing ever stayed a secret in country villages!
She turned around. Charlotte had that stubborn cast to her face. Elizabeth knew it mirrored her own.
“Why?” she asked.
Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest. The now-familiar ache, spreading through her bones. She did not wish to speak of this.
“Why would you believe such a thing?”
There was a pressure building behind her eyes.
Charlotte’s face softened. She closed the distance between them.
“Because I know you, Eliza, and you are not one for such fanciful notions.”
“Neither are you.”
A small smile appeared on Charlotte’s face.
“Yes, but I have caught you speaking to thin air a couple of times when you did not know,” she said. “And, to tell the truth, I was rather relieved when Colonel Fitzwilliam mentioned what he did to me.”
Her smile dimmed.
“I believed it was something entirely different. I was beginning to worry.”
Elizabeth stared at her. “He threatened to have me sent to Bedlam.”
A stricken look appeared on Charlotte’s face.
“Who?”
“Colonel Fitzwilliam.”
“Oh Eliza!”
Charlotte instantly drew Elizabeth into a hug.
Elizabeth stiffened. But then she leaned into Charlotte, placing her arms around her friend. The strain she had not realized she was feeling inside unravelled.
“I still do not understand why you believe such a thing,” Elizabeth whispered. “Nobody would.”
Twin tears rolled down her cheeks.
Charlotte tightened her hold around Elizabeth.
“I never told anyone this,” Charlotte said, her voice almost in Elizabeth’s hair. “But when I was twelve and Grandmother Lucas had just passed away, I saw her ghost twice at the top of the landing. Outside the room that used to be hers.”
“What?”
Elizabeth pulled back, clutching at Charlotte’s arms in disbelief. “Truly?”
Charlotte nodded. A wry smile appeared on her face. Then she laughed mirthlessly.
“The way I strayed far from that room. For months! And then Aunt Petunia visited us, and mother gave her that room, and nothing much happened. So I began to wonder if I had imagined the whole thing.”
A bubble of relieved laughter escaped Elizabeth.
“Oh Charlotte!”
She continued to laugh. And then wiped the tears from her face. “I cannot believe you saw Grandmother Lucas’ ghost.”
“I did,” Charlotte shrugged, grinning. But there was kindness on her face alongside that knowing look.
“Would you care to have some tea?”
The two of them simply held each other’s gaze for a moment. Then Elizabeth nodded.
“I would like that very much.”