“As a matter of fact, Lady Edwina knows secrets of this house that we do not know,” Darcy said, looking at her with a surprisingly mischievous expression on his face.
“He is as naughty as he has always been.” Lady Edwina smiled, not offended, and then she continued, looking at Elizabeth. “Take care, my dear. He can be a rather spoiled boy.”
In no more than half an hour, Elizabeth was charmed by this friend and godmother with the vitality of a young woman.
By the time breakfast was over, the informal atmosphere around the table had begun to change into agitation, particularly visible in Darcy. Abruptly, he helped Lady Edwina from her chair, inviting the party to the parlour. Once seated on the sofa and chairs around the elegant low table, they had to face the real motive for their meeting: the two letters and the key, all displayed as an invitation. Edwina read the papers one by one, first the codicil, nodding in a clear sign of approval and thenthe letter Lady Anne Darcy wrote to her son. As she took off her pince-nez, they could see the tears she did not try to hide.
Lost in her thoughts, she took the key from the table and began playing with it, gaining time to order her feelings and ideas, but nobody was in a hurry. Darcy and Georgiana wanted to know their mother’s secret but still thought they were entering forbidden territory. They needed a parental figure to assure them they did not lack reverence towards their mother. More than ever, the sister and brother seemed to be two children caught in an awkward situation.
“I must confess to you, my dears,” Lady Edwina began, her voice tinged with a slight hesitation, “that I disagreed with your dear mother when she decided to reveal her secret. First, it was not entirely her secret as Fitzroy was also involved.”
And as all three were looking at her with questioning faces, she smiled. “I call the duke ‘Fitzroy’ as we have been friends since childhood.”
She was silent for a moment, alone with memories from a past she was unsure if it was wise to unveil.
“It is a secret that could ruin their reputations even now,” she said.
They started to protest, but Lady Edwina stopped them with a vigorous wave. “Let me finish, please! Just months before her death, Anne decided that Darcy must know the truth. Nothing was said about Georgiana. She was a little girl at the time. I think Anne scarcely imagined her daughter as the splendid young woman Georgie is now.”
“I understand,” Georgiana said, “but my brother has decided that I am mature enough to be part of this secret, and in the present, the decision is only his.”
“I know, dear, and I admire your brother for his role in your education and, now, for his trust in you.”
They kept silent, not exactly knowing how to go on. They did not want to rush, but at the same time, all of them were alert and curious.
“Do you know what this key unlocks?” Darcy asked finally.
“Yes, I do. Your mother told me the time would come when I would have to show you the secret cabinet. But I do not know what you will find inside.”
“I must tell you, Edwina,” Darcy said, “that we…suspect the secret.”
Elizabeth was astonished by their relationship. Lady Edwina seemed so close to them, and Darcy calling her ‘Edwina’ was a sign of intimacy accepted only in the family. It was so lovely to see them together, and she was convinced Lady Edwina had an essential role in comforting them when their dear mother died.
“Was it Fitzroy, I mean the duke, who told you…there was a secret? Jane related your encounter with him.”
“No!” Darcy was still hesitating, yet he continued, “But meeting the duke offered me a clue about an old story. I think it is better to go into my mother’s apartment.”
“Yes,” Edwina agreed, “after all, the secret cabinet is in your mother’s bedroom.”
They left the room, Darcy leading Lady Edwina. At the same time, Elizabeth and Georgiana closely followed arm in arm, hearing every word said. Darcy explained to his godmother that Elizabeth was staying in his mother’s rooms. Although Elizabeth liked the apartment, she wished, at that moment, that she stayed in another part of the house. Her gowns were in Lady Anne’s cabinet, and with all her personal belongings scattered around the dressing room and bedchamber, it might seem that she was being disrespectful. However, Lady Edwina turned toher with a broad smile in total accord with her staying in those rooms.
Lady Edwina, the first to enter Lady Anne’s parlour, considered herself a strong woman. Still, the sight of the dear décor that seemed unchanged made her stop. She turned to Darcy, who took her into his arms, a touching scene.
“It is unchanged!” Lady Edwina said. As often as she had visited Darcy and Georgiana in the past, she had never dared to see that apartment again. By George Darcy’s order, the rooms were locked at Lady Anne’s death, and the interdiction remained until Georgiana decided to open the apartment for Elizabeth.
“You opened the rooms for me?” Elizabeth whispered to Georgiana in disbelief.
“Yes, I thought it was time to unlock them to life. If Mama had ever returned from heaven, I am sure she would have been sad to see her rooms with no flowers and the curtains obscuring the daylight or the night sky. Mama adored reading in the bow window; it was her preferred place.”
The shock of seeing the two portraits facing one another was a day old. Lady Edwina placed herself between the images but looked at Darcy, Georgiana, and the beautiful young woman who was her godson's promise.
Lady Edwina was not shocked by the portraits; she knew the secret very well. But she let the past overwhelm her and spoke in a mild and tender voice. “It was the greatest love I had ever seen.
“Do you know the ballroom in the duke’s palace?” she asked without waiting for an answer, already plunging into history, her eyes seeing other times. “Fitzroy’s ancestor Louis Fitzroy, first Duke of Blandford, was an illegitimate son of James I by his mistress Mary, Duchess of Grafton. Fitzroy means “son of the king.” It is said that he rebuilt that palace, especially for Mary, with an impressive staircase in greenish marble thatdescends directly into the ballroom. The king liked to see his mistress descending the stairs like a queen.
“It was Anne's second Season in London. She was perhaps eighteen years old. Was she beautiful? I really do not know, but she was resplendent. She exuded an energy that other girls and young women did not have then.
“Their meeting was one of those happenings that destiny knows how to match. The night of the Season’s grand ball preceded the presentation of young ladies at the Queen’s court.
