Chapter 25
As de Riquer disappearedinto the mirror, Elizabeth was suddenly struck by what Darcy had said when he first walked in.
“Why did you say that Matlock advised you not to tell me? What does that mean?”
“It is a long explanation, my love. We will talk further about this, Elizabeth, I promise you, but first I must sound the alarm. I do not know what de Riquer is up to, but if he intends any harm, we have to prepare to defend ourselves from within.
“I do not think he will attack.”
“You cannot be sure.”
“I cannot.” She was willing to acknowledge she may be wrong. “But I think it unlikely.”
“I will tell you what happened with the duel if you walk with me.” Darcy stepped out of the cellar, leaving the door open. Elizabeth followed behind him on the narrow stairs. She had to wait until they reached the top and lifted the cellar door before he said anything.
“The sum of it is that Matlock and I enlisted Devereux’s help to discover the identity of those working against you and me. It was a shot in the dark. We did not think it would work, but luckily it paid off. But now I must go. We do not know what de Riquer is planning.”
He set off, without even looking to see if she was following, while Elizabeth stayed frozen in place.
The duel had been nothing but a ruse? They let her believe that Darcy was in danger, when he was not? All that worry and uncertainty she had suffered, while all the time it had been aploy?
He and Matlock and Devereux had plotted together, and they had not seen fit to tell her. Incredibly, they had not even considered asking for her assistance in catching the culprit. Even if they had no consideration of her as Darcy’s wife, they should have considered they might need her as Darcy’s Janus Mage and his Twin.
And he thought an apology was enough to mollify her.
She sprinted up the stairs and caught up with him before he had even left the servant’s quarters.
She put a hand on his arm and forced him to stop and face her.
“How could you keep such a thing from me? I was beside myself with worry.”
“Not now, Elizabeth. We will talk about it soon, once we have sorted out de Riquer.”
“Who is ‘we’, Darcy? How is it that ‘we’ never seems to include me?”
He was looking impatient.
“This is no time for philosophical discussions.”
“Philosophical discussions?Listen to yourself. You do not even know what you have done.”
