“Do you know who I am?”
Elizabeth hesitated, then said, “I believe you must be Lady Catherine. Lady Anne’s sister… and Mr. Darcy’s aunt.”
Lady Catherine gave a small nod. “Yes, I am she. But I am also more than that.”
A flicker of unease welled in the pit of Elizabeth’s stomach. “I… I do not understand.”
“I am your mother.”
For a moment, Elizabeth simply stared at her.
The words did not seem to make sense.
“I beg your pardon—what?”
Lady Catherine did not look away.
“You are my daughter.”
Elizabeth gave a short, incredulous shake of her head. “That is impossible.”
“It is the truth.”
“No,” Elizabeth said, more firmly now, though her pulse had begun to race. “My mother is Mrs. Bennet of Longbourn. I have lived there my entire life.”
Lady Catherine’s expression did not change. “You have lived there,” she said. “But that does not make it the place of your birth.”
Elizabeth’s hands tightened in the bedclothes. “This is absurd.”
“Is it?” Lady Catherine asked quietly.
“Of course it is! I am Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn!”
“Indeed, you are Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn—but your father is notThomasBennet.”
“What?”
Lady Catherine’s gaze did not waver. “He was Frederick Bennet—your father’s younger brother, and the man who carried you away to keep you safe.”
Silence stretched between them.
Elizabeth’s voice came quieter now. “If this… if what you say is true—then why?”
Lady Catherine leaned back slightly in her chair, her fingers tightening almost imperceptibly on the head of her walking stick.
“Because my father would not allow me to marry your father.”
Elizabeth’s breath caught.
“My father?” she repeated faintly.
“Frederick,” Lady Catherine said. “Freddy, as I called him.”
Something in her voice changed at the name—something softer, older. “We loved one another. Deeply. Foolishly, perhaps—but entirely.”
Elizabeth shook her head slightly, trying to follow. “That is not possible,” she said. “You are—Lady Catherine. And he—whoever he was—”
“He was not suitable,” Lady Catherine said sharply. “Not in my father’s eyes. Not in my brother’s. And so, we were forbidden.”
