"Traitor."
"Entirely."
"Very well," Elizabeth said. "Though I reserve the right to an opinion."
"You may have one," Lady Ashford assured her, "provided it agrees with ours."
The fortnight before the wedding passed more quickly than Elizabeth would have thought possible. There were visits to solicitors, settlements to be drawn, licences to be obtained, and a hundred lesser arrangements which appeared to multiply whenever one was resolved. Lord Matlock attended to most of them with such efficiency that Elizabeth soon suspected half the business of society could be accomplished merely by placing him in a room and allowing him sufficient time.
The Trevelyan accounts arrived from Ashcombe promptly and in good order. The figures themselves surprised no one so much as Elizabeth. The estate reserves stood at fifty thousand pounds. Her father's original provision of five thousand pounds had grown to twenty thousand under her grandfather's careful management. The estate itself remained substantial despite fifteen years under Lord Ashcombe's care, though it became increasingly clear from the accounts that much of its income had been diverted to support his expensive habits and a successionof ill-judged investments. Even so, Stephen had structured the estate in a manner that made it difficult for any one man to squander entirely.
Darcy set down the final sheet and looked across at Lord Matlock.
"Trevelyan was a prudent man."
"A fortunate thing for his descendants," Lord Matlock replied. "Had he been less cautious, there might have been very little left to discuss."
"There is still the question of what ought to be done now," Darcy said.
Elizabeth considered.
"His father wronged me," she said at last. "I am not persuaded the son did."
The matter of Ashcombe was therefore settled with very little difficulty. The question of pursuing Mr. Bennet for the quarterly payments was raised and set aside almost as quickly, for Elizabeth had no wish to spend further energy upon a man who had already consumed too much of it. Darcy, who had spent some time examining the accounts, agreed with her decision.
"The expense of pursuing him would likely exceed anything recovered," he observed.
"And the aggravation certainly would," Elizabeth replied.
Lord Matlock laughed.
"You are remarkably forgiving."
"No," she said. "Merely tired."
"That may be the more sensible quality."
Elizabeth called at Gracechurch Street and found Mrs. Gardiner in the small parlour. Eddie was on the settee with his healing leg extended before him while Bethany sat beside him reading aloud from a book. On the floor, Grace was happily occupied playing with Freddie, who, being nearly two, was far more interested in toddling determinedly from one adventure to the next than remaining where anyone had put him. Every few moments Grace intercepted him before he could investigate something unsuitable, which he accepted with good humour before dissolving into giggles and setting off again.
Mrs. Gardiner rose at once and hugged Elizabeth tightly.
"I wish I had been there," she said softly.
Elizabeth returned the embrace.
"So do I," she admitted. "Though I understand why you could not."
As she looked around the room, the reason was plain enough. The house was full of demands upon Mrs. Gardiner's attention. Mr. Gardiner was occupied with business, autumn shipments keeping him from home for much of the day, and Eddie still needed his mother close while he recovered. Watching her cousins together, Elizabeth felt only gratitude that they were all exactly where they ought to be.
Mrs. Gardiner followed her glance and smiled. "And now you have acquired an alarming number of relations besides."
Elizabeth laughed and admitted that she loved them all more than she could quite account for, given how recently she had known them.
"They are your family," Mrs. Gardiner said.
"Yes." Elizabeth was quiet a moment. "But you and my uncle were first. Long before any of them. You chose me when nobodyrequired you to. That does not change because I now have more."
Mrs. Gardiner reached across and covered her hand briefly.
