“Both of you, inside,” said Larilane, retreating into the carriage. “I’ve lingered in this spot too long, and I am too close to Neith Abbey. We shall drive the roads, instead of sitting here conspicuously. We shall talk. Then, when we are done, I shall drop you both back off here.”
Mr. Darcy helped Elizabeth into the carriage, and she spent too much time noticing the way her hand felt in his, how much larger his hand was than hers, the fact that there were fine, dark hairs on the backs of his fingers, and how she couldn’t help butnotice how, well, male that was, how male his hands were, how thick and large and strong and—
When she was inside, she snatched her hand out of his too quickly.
He clenched his very male hand into a fist.
Then, they sat next to each other, and her leg touched his leg through her skirts, through his trousers.
She bit down on the inside of her cheek, her heart stuttering in her chest. Why was this happening with him? Why now? Why not when he’d proposed, when he’d offered to marry her all those other times? Why had it taken her so long to feel these things in his presence when she could not have him?
“Did I know you were in touch with Matilda’s girl?” said Larilane, shaking his head. “If you mentioned it, I suppose I must not have paid it mind. But it makes sense, now, why you were pursuing it all so intensely. I suppose I must not even be too cross about what you’ve done, but truly…” He sighed. “I am going to Scotland.”
“What?” said Mr. Darcy. “Why are you going to Scotland?”
“My wife has land there—well, her family has… we are on our way. She is staying in an inn nearby, and I came here only because it doesn’t matter anymore. All is known, and I have no way to conceal it, and I rather imagine—however it is you’ve poked the Neithern nest—they won’t be forthcoming with any details to you. So, I wanted you to know.”
“What did you wish us to know?” said Elizabeth.
“Also,” mused Larilane, as if he hadn’t heard her, “I suppose that if more people know, it means that there’s no reason to silence me. It’s a bit of protection, I think.”
“Silence you?” said Mr. Darcy.
“At this point, I think they must do that. They cannot allow the real story to get out or it will destroy them, but it also mustrankle. That duchess, she is out for blood. I think she may simply want revenge,” said Larilane.
“Are you saying that the Duchess of Neithern is attempting to kill you?” said Mr. Darcy.
Larilane made a tent with his fingers and put them directly to his lips. He nodded.
“But why?” said Elizabeth. “Mr. Darcy said you had done something, something you didn’t want known, but what horrible thing could you have done that would make someone wish to kill you? Did you… that body of the woman that was reported to the duchess—”
“No,” Larilane, shaking his head. “No, I sought out a woman who had died. Anyone I could find with a boy child who’d been orphaned. I told myself I was doing a good thing for the babe, that no matter how miserable he was with the threat of Neithern as his father hanging over his head, he’d be worse off living as some foundling, shuffled about, likely only taken in to be an extra set of hands and the like, working his fingers to the bone.”
“What are you saying?” said Elizabeth.
“Well, I made an error,” said Larilane. “One your mother never forgave me for. I thought that if the duke’s family knew what had happened, that they would find some way to rein him in, to protect your mother and… to protect you.” He nodded at Elizabeth. “I contacted the duchess, and she and I worked out a plan. She said that she would have her son locked up, kept under guard, only let out for various functions. This was in return for the idea that she could have the heir. You. We didn’t know you were a girl at that point. Who knows what would have happened if it had all gone the way I wished, anyway? The duchess might not have been pleased with a girl child. She wanted the heir.”
“Of course she would want the heir,” said Mr. Darcy. “A duchess would be quite concerned with preserving the lines of succession.”
“Indeed,” said Larilane, “but it was more than that. She spoke to me of her late husband, who she said had treated her boys ill growing up. She said that this way, she could have her eldest son locked away and she would be the one in charge. She did not wish her other son in charge either, she said. Both of her boys had been warped, she said, but it wasn’t their fault. It was the fault of their father.”
Elizabeth felt as if every element of her life had fallen into these lines, as if the sins of each generation were visited with full force on the next. She thought of Wickham, of the way that the Darcy family had tried to make up for the sin of Mr. Darcy’s grandfather and yet had only created Wickham—not a gentleman, not a servant, stymied, spoiled, frustrated.
And now, her own father the duke, who had been ill-used by his father, and whose behavior had led to this tangle that was her own history.
“This new heir,” continued Larilane, “the boy I brought to her, she could raise him herself, fresh and clear, make him the best duke that Neithern had ever seen. So, I rather think that is exactly what she did. She must be quite proud of him, this boy she raised up in the mold she created. And to find out that he’s not her blood, that he’s the son of a strumpet who barely lived to hold him before her body gave out, that his father could have been anyone at all, and that the duchess has raised a bastard nobody to take over her dukedom? Well, she wants to kill me.”
“Oh, God,” said Mr. Darcy, shaking his head.
Elizabeth was stunned. “I’m the legitimate one. He’s an imposter?” And then, “Oh, God, the duchess knows. She looked at me and knew. And she stilldismissedme.” Tears were threatening.
“Wait a moment, go back,” said Darcy. “Why did you do this?”
“Well, I had told the duchess of your existence, hadn’t I? And I brought the proposition to Matilda. I said to her that she could be safe, that she could be a duchess, and that her child could be raised in luxury and ease. I said that she and I might not be able to continue as we were, but that duchesses can find ways to see their lovers if they wish. I also, not to my credit, thought she might have access to money that way, and I was ever so pathetic and penniless then. I…” He squirmed. “I was not used to living a difficult life. I felt as if I had been badly wronged by the revolutionaries. I…” He tangled a hand in his hair. “Your mother was furious. She broke with me and she never forgave me, no matter what I did.”
“Furious because…?” Elizabeth didn’t entirely understand.
“Because she said that it would not matter what promises the duchess made. She said that it must have been known what sort of man her husband was, that he must have done awful things to other women, and that a blind eye was turned to it for years. She said that if she were in the same household as that man, he would harm her and he would harm her child. She was terrified of him. She did not think the duchess could protect her.”
