Elizabeth had no doubt she was lying. “Come along to my bedroom, and you can tell me all about it, without fear of being overheard.”
“No, ma’am,” the maid said. She hung her head. “That is no place for the likes of me. I am just a scullery maid.”
“Nonsense. Come along with me. I can call for your sister, if that would put you more at ease.”
“No, do not. She will be cross with me if she finds out I have made a nuisance of myself,” she said. She did not budge, so Elizabeth did not press her to follow to her private quarters. Instead, she had her sit down on the step beside her.
“What’s troubling you —?” Elizabeth sighed. “I know you are my Stephans’s younger sister, but I cannot remember your given name.”
The girl sniffed. “Eva. Eva Stephans,” she replied. Elizabeth pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to Eva. She blew her nose, and after only a little more gentle pressing, confessed her worries.
“I am terribly worried for my family, mistress. We are the tenants of Housley Farm, on the edge of Lambton.” She hesitated, giving her a sheepish look. “My father broke his leg last month, and he has not told Mr Darcy yet, for fear that he would make us leave. It’s the only home any of us have ever known.”
Elizabeth took that in. Her fear was not irrational. Elizabeth did know of landowners who would turn out a tenant family that could not work, who cared only for the rent they were owed. But surely Mr Darcy was not one of them. However little Elizabeth knew her husband, she felt confident of that. Mr Darcyhad never shown himself to be less than careful of his duty. Surely he would feel, as Elizabeth herself did, that Eva and her family were part of Pemberley. They could not be abandoned or left to suffer unaided.
Surely Mr Darcy would want to know what was happening with the Stephans family. “I am sure your father has nothing to worry about on that count. Is there no one else who can help him with the work?”
“Francis is only four years old, and he cannot help with anything but the simplest of chores that Mama gives him. The sheep still have to be tended, and the lambing will happen soon. Mama always helps, but she cannot do it all on her own. And then there is the wheat to be brought in and the hay to cut and gather for the winter, else the animals will starve. And so will Mama and Papa and my little brother. My sister and I work here to help our family as much as we can.” She hung her head again and softly wept. “If Papa does not get well soon, I do not know what will become of us.”
Elizabeth bit her lower lip. “Please do not worry. I promise to find a solution. And most assuredly, you will not have to leave your farm.” She hoped she wasn’t overstepping the bounds, but she could not bear to leave her in such distress.
Eva stood, looking guilty. “Thank you, Mrs Darcy. I’m sorry to have bothered you,” she said. “I had best get back to my work.” She bounded down the stairs, but then stopped a few steps down. She turned slowly.
“Yes, Eva?” Elizabeth prompted her gently.
“I — I should like to apologise for the way I acted when you first arrived,” Eva said hesitantly. “I had heard a rumour— well, it was quite wrong. And I should not have been so disrespectful, no matter what I thought I heard.”
“Thank you, Eva. I accept your apology,” Elizabeth said, a little ruefully. She could well imagine what kind of rumours a scullery maid might have heard about the master’s sudden and unexpected bride.
“Thank you, Mrs Darcy,” she said. Eva turned suddenly and departed toward the kitchens, leaving Elizabeth alone to contemplate the problem that had fallen into her lap.
She did not want to seem as if she were overstepping the boundaries, but she did not think Mr Darcy was the kind of man who would throw a family out of their home with winter fast approaching. If Eva’s father had refused to tell Mr Darcy what had happened, then there was no conceivable way for him to know that help was needed.
Yet what if she were wrong? Eva and her family had known Mr Darcy for years, while Elizabeth had met him only weeks ago. Did they know something she did not? What if she told Eva’s secret, only to find that Mr Darcy had no compunction against throwing out the Stephans?
Elizabeth chewed over the problem all the rest of the day. To judge by the confused glances Mr Darcy gave her at supper, she must have been uncharacteristically quiet. She did not wish to seem out of spirits, but could not conceal her distracted state. With the excuse of tiredness and wishing to go to bed early, Elizabeth did not spend long in the drawing room after supper. The privacy of her bedchamber was ideal for deep thought, and she spent the evening turning over the various possibilities in her mind. It was not until the end of the day that Elizabeth reached her decision.
When she went downstairs for breakfast the next day, Mr Darcy was already in the dining room. “Ah, good morning,” he said. “Are you feeling up for another round of bridal visits today?” he asked, nodding toward the window. “It is a beautiful day for it.”
Elizabeth drew in a quick breath. The remark presented an ideal opportunity, though she had yet to put Mr Darcy to the test. “Yes, I would like that.”
“Excellent. We shall do so.”
Elizabeth nodded. She paused for a long moment, thinking. “Mr Darcy, may I ask what would happen if one of your tenants was injured, and they weren’t able to work their farm?” She sipped her tea, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible.
He frowned as he thought for a moment. “I would go to see him at once and try to help him. Why?”
“I was thinking of a story my father told me once, of a neighbouring landowner whose tenant hurt his back and was unable to work the land one season,” Elizabeth replied. She hoped she would be forgiven the little white lie; protecting Eva’s confidence seemed to her to justify the small untruth. “As he could not pay the rent, he was made to leave.”
Mr Darcy shook his head, looking grave. “I am very sorry to hear it. We owe our people more than that, I think. Pemberley is rich from their work and their rents. It is not only cruel to put out someone who cannot work, it is foolish. The landowner ought to have aided them in finding a hired hand to bring in the harvest. Loyalty is far more precious than a season’s rents.”
Elizabeth smiled at him, her heart thudding with relief. “I am very glad to hear you say so, Mr Darcy. That is just what my father thought.”
“I am glad to hear we agree so well,” Mr Darcy told her courteously. “Even in our brief acquaintance, your father struck me as a most intelligent man.”
“He certainly is.” She waited for a few minutes as they ate, then brought up her next question. “I was wondering if we might visit a Mr and Mrs Stephans today while we are out on our bridal visits? As you know, Stephans is my lady’s maid. I think it would be a welcome courtesy to visit her parents.”
“A good thought,” Mr Darcy praised her. “It should not present any difficulties. They live to the east. It is a suitable direction for our visits today.”
