“Mr. Darcy wrote me a letter first.”
Mr. Darcy’s eyes widened in surprise.
“What?” Charles barked, facing his friend with a scowl. “Darcy!”
“And I wrote one back.” She had not delivered hers, but she did not say as much.
“Elizabeth!” Jane exclaimed.
“So you see,” Elizabeth rushed to finish, “if Mr. Darcy is to be forced to wed, he must wed me.”
Miss Bingley shook her head. “No, it is not possible. And even if he did write Eliza a letter, surely he has regretted it since. Why else would he write to me yesterday?”
Elizabeth was panting now. It was not the running up and down stairs that had done it. She was used to walking greatdistances. It was her fear making her weak. She set the little box down on the nearest table with a thud and used her key to open the lid, furious that her hands were shaking.
Mr. Darcy was watching her, an impossible tenderness in his expression. “Elizabeth,” he said softly, and she caught her breath at the sound of her name on his tongue.
She withdrew the letter, almost falling apart now. “Charles, it is a very private letter, but I shall allow you to see the date, its address to me, and the signature. I have had it since April.”
“It is the truth, Bingley,” Mr. Darcy said. “I did write a letter to Miss Bennet, and the letter in her hand is the one I referenced in this one.” He held it up. “I have never written one to Miss Bingley.”
Elizabeth watched Charles carefully, but he did not reach for the letter she held, merely shook his head. “I am shocked. I knew that Darcy had a tendre for you, Lizzy, though I admit his studied avoidance temporarily confused me until I realized it was Caroline from whom he was hiding and not you.”
Miss Bingley protested, but no one paid her any mind.
“Still, I had no idea you two were so far advanced in your courtship. Why did neither of you inform me?”
Elizabeth blinked.
Mr. Darcy’s brows pinched together.
“You knew?” they asked at the same time.
“Then why . . .”
“How . . .”
Charles sighed. He motioned at the letter that was now held by Mr. Darcy. “Caroline, this letter makes mention of the one in Lizzy’s possession. Unless you can produce another letter in Darcy’s hand, you must desist.”
“I would like to know how Miss Bingley came into possession of my property,” Mr. Darcy said in a low, menacing voice.
“Darcy recalled that his letter was in the pocket of his greatcoat,” Charles said. “I know not how it came into your hands, Caroline, but it refers to things Lizzy has that you do not and conversations you have had no opportunity to be a part of.” He lifted his eyebrows. “From what Darcy has only now told me of his meeting with Elizabeth in Kent, this letter only makes sense if it was written for her.”
“Charles,” Miss Bingley said, scandalized, “how could you possibly think that I would lie?”
“Sadly, sister, I find it is not at all difficult.”
Miss Bingley wept more noisily, as if an increase in sound could change her brother’s mind.
Jane placed both hands on her hips and glared, actually glared, at Miss Bingley. Elizabeth had only seen that look once before, when she had taken two-year-old Kitty to the mews to see the horses though she had been warned it was dangerous. Elizabeth had been extraordinarily careful to never be on the receiving end of that expression again. She bit her bottom lip and took a silent step back.
“That letter was in the pocket of Mr. Darcy’s greatcoat? The greatcoat that Mr. Carstairs was folding over his arm as we passed him in the hall yesterday?” Jane drew closer to Miss Bingley. “Is that why you lagged behind us, Caroline? Did you see the letter fall from Mr. Darcy’s pocket and pick it up? And once having retrieved it, rather than returning it to Mr. Carstairs so he could see it safely back to Mr. Darcy’s room, you kept it overnight andreadit?”
“She used it, too,” Charles added helpfully.
Jane’s gaze did not waver from Miss Bingley. “I have made every attempt to accommodate you, Caroline,” she said evenly. “I have not protested your presence here despite your disdain for your brother’s marriage and my sister’s presence, to say nothing of your general unpleasantness. As I am a lady, I shall not haveyou tossed out, no matter how sorely I am tempted. But you will steer clear of me while you remain in this house, and the instant the coaching inns are open again, you will be on your way.”
“Charles . . .” Miss Bingley said, as shocked as the rest of them that Jane was sending her away, “you cannot allow your wife to speak to me this way.”
