Beside her, Darcy said nothing. She was aware of him without looking, the way she had always been aware of him.
“As you may have guessed, as the two closest family members to the deceased, I wanted you to be informed about what they left behind. Given that Mia will still be mourning her parents, I thought it best not to ask you to bring her to this meeting.”
He paused for a moment, as if gauging their faces.
“My reason for calling you here is to discuss what the Fitzwilliams left for their daughter and their wishes for how she should be raised.”
Mr Kellman moved through the estate first. The apartment. The accounts. The portfolio. The trust. All of it held for Mia until eighteen.
Elizabeth nodded where required.
Then he turned a page.
“Now,” he said, “with regard to Mia’s guardianship.”
Elizabeth looked up.
Mr Kellman adjusted the document slightly and read.
“In the event of the deaths of both parents prior to Mia reaching the age of eighteen, guardianship is to be assumed jointly by Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. The arrangement is to operate under one roof—”
“No,” Elizabeth exclaimed.
At the same time, Darcy said, “That’s not workable.”
Mr Kellman paused, studying their faces with an expression that suggested he found them both faintly rude, then continued anyway when they stopped talking.
“—for the duration of Mia’s minority. Should either party marry, the child is to remain in her parents’ Brooklyn residence with the married couple. The unmarried guardian will have equal access to the child and will continue to visit and guide her within that household.”
“That’s not a reasonable clause,” Darcy said.
Elizabeth turned to him. “It’s not possible.”
Mr Kellman folded his hands. “Is there a specific reason it would not be possible?”
Darcy let out a short breath. “Why would anyone include a clause like that?”
Mr Kellman met his gaze calmly. “Because no one plans to die, Mr Darcy. But people with foresight understand that life is not guaranteed. So, they make arrangements. And in this case, they made what they believed was the best one.”
A beat of silence followed.
“What better plan,” he added, “than to place their child with the two people they trusted most?”
Silence.
Darcy’s jaw tightened slightly. “Mia is my cousin.”
Elizabeth turned fully toward him now. “She’s my goddaughter.”
Darcy glanced at her. “A goddaughter you didn’t know until she was five.”
Elizabeth’s voice sharpened. “I knew her. I just wasn’t in New York then to see her daily. But we spoke on the phone. Constantly.”
“That is not the same—”
“It was enough.”
“It clearly wasn’t—”
