“Did someone fall?” he said, looking alarmed. Then his eyes fell on her, clinging to the vase for dear life.
“What do we have here?”
Heat flooded into Elizabeth’s face. “I am sorry. I knocked it over. Fortunately, I was able to catch it in time. No harm done.”
His gaze began to soften.
“I would think it was quite clear what has happened,” intervened Miss Bingley, in a shrill voice. “This woman was attempting to make away with the vase, but she tripped and almost fell. She is a thief.”
“Really, Caroline—” objected Mr. Bingley.
Mr. Darcy’s gaze sharpened. He stared at her for a moment, considering the situation, weighing the possibilities. She knew the moment he had made up his mind, because his face hardened.
“How did you contrive to get away from Georgiana, Miss Bennet?” he asked. “It cannot be a coincidence that you were left completely alone in a houseful of expensive objects. Unfortunately for you, you have been caught red handed. That object you are holding is worth a great deal of money.”
His voice was as cold as an icicle, ruthless and terrifying. “You do realize that if I hand you over to the magistrate, you will be sent to the colonies or hanged?” He paused, his gaze boring into her. “Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”
“You have tried me and found me guilty. I plead not guilty. I am a gentleman’s daughter. I do not steal.”
Darcy’s gaze was dark and distant. It held no mercy.
“Very well, Miss Bennet. I will allow you to leave. But in return, you must promise never to come near my sister again.”
Chapter 3
As Miss Bennet hurried to the door to leave the house, Georgiana ran up to him. He held his breath. She had heard what had happened. It must be devastating for his sister to discover her friend was a thief.
“Did you just accuse Miss Bennet ofstealing, William?” Her anxious fingers touching the gold chain that had delayed her, she stared at her brother in shock. “What did I miss?”
Behind him, Bingley and his sister were standing, watching them. Could he have no privacy in his own house?
He turned to them. “Would you like to go to the dining room and sit down? We will join you in a minute. You, too, Mrs. Annesley. Georgiana, we will discuss this matter somewhere else.”
He strode to the parlor, closed the door, then turned back to his sister to answer her question.
“I did notaccuseher. She was making away with a priceless object from our house,” he said, grimly. Georgiana needed to know the truth, even if it hurt. “She was stealing from us, Georgiana.”
His sister frowned. “Are you not going to send a carriage after her? Do you want her to walk all the way to Lambton?”
“She does not deserve that courtesy.”
Miss Bennet had intruded on his family, taken advantage of Georgiana, and now he was to reward her by providing a comfortable carriage? Not very likely. “If she was capable of walking to Pemberley earlier, then she is capable of going back to Lambton.”
“I think you are being unreasonable, William,” she said, with unusual firmness. “I know you no longer trust me, and that I am a disappointment to you, but I am certain that Miss Bennet is not a thief.”
Darcy wished he did not have to disillusion his little sister, but really, had she learnt nothing from the debacle with Wickham?
“How can you be sure of that, Georgiana? Have you met anyone that can vouch for her? How do you determine whether to believe a word she said? She could say anything, and you have no way to confirm if it is the truth or not.”
He spoke more harshly than he normally would, and with more bluntness. For years he had tried to protect Georgiana from the harsh realities of the world, to maintain her innocence, but he realized he had been mistaken to do so. It was crucial for her to learn not to trust people. She would be encountering a huge number of fortune hunters, and she could not afford to be naïve.
“But how could she have known she was going to run into me?”
“She may have been observing your habits. Perhaps you are used to going to the same places every day, and she has been watching the house. When Mrs. Reynolds gave the tour, Miss Bennet picked out the piece that she was going to steal, and made a mental note of where it was to be found.”
“But Miss Bennet found me somewhere I do not usually go,” said Georgiana. “She could not possibly have predicted I would be there.”
“She may have followed you.”
