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“May I have a copy of these provisions?”

“I shall have one made for you before you leave. And if you wish for money placed in your hands, we can begin without waiting for any decision about Ashbourne.”

They went over what she would need for immediate expenses. Gardiner would make a payment available on Monday from the income already held, and thereafter arrange disbursements according to her instructions within the settlement's terms. He explained which payments he would keep account of and why. She listened without pretending to understand before she did, a habit she found much easier with an uncle who did not treat a question as resistance.

At last he asked what had made the enquiry urgent.

“My marriage was not chosen as you suppose.” Her voice was steady until she saw her aunt's hand stop above the teapot. “There were circumstances at Hunsford. Mr. Darcy offered to protect us from them if I married him. I cannot tell you the whole of those circumstances today. Part of the account belongs to Charlotte.”

“Did your father know?” Gardiner asked.

“He knew enough to insist on a provision. I cannot answer for all he understood. I may need to live apart from my husband.”

Mrs. Gardiner put down the teapot and came to sit beside her. She did not embrace Elizabeth at once; she laid a hand over hers, leaving her room to continue. That nearly undid her. For weeks she had imagined that speaking would require a defence, an orderly account of what she had attempted and why she had failed. Now she could barely finish the simplest part.

“I am not asking you to settle everything,” she said. “Only to help me find out what I can do.”

* * *

“You can sleep here,” her aunt said.

The words were so practical that Elizabeth looked round as if the room itself might have changed. Her aunt continued before she could object to troubling them. The small bedroom was free. The nursery would be noisy, but the bedroom was available whenever she needed it. They would discuss longer arrangements when there was reason to do so.

“I don't yet know whether I shall come.”

“You need not know today. Shall I have the bed aired, or shall we require your husband to approve the blankets first?”

Elizabeth laughed with tears already in her eyes. Mrs. Gardiner drew her close then, and she allowed it, pressing her face briefly against the familiar muslin at her aunt's shoulder. When she sat back, she was ashamed of nothing except the damp patch she had left. Her aunt inspected it with exaggerated concern and asked whether a biscuit might prevent further damage.

Charlotte's situation required greater care. Elizabeth described the money paid through the household, the gentleman whose arrangements governed it and her friend's wish for advice before she left. She named Colonel Fitzwilliam as Darcy's cousin, but repeated no speculation about his motives and nothing about the fatal night.

“Charlotte wishes to be present before anything further is explained. Can you find someone who will advise us without consulting either gentleman?”

Gardiner considered before answering. “I know a solicitor whose business has brought him into contact with mine. I shall ask whether there is any connection which would prevent him undertaking it. If there is, we shall enquire elsewhere.”

He wrote a brief request which Elizabeth read before it went by messenger. It asked for a private appointment on Monday, at the house, for two women seeking advice concerning their separate circumstances. While they waited, Elizabeth wrote to Charlotte, telling her of the room offered and the enquiry made. Her aunt sent the note with a servant to Brook Street. Elizabeth watched the second folded sheet leave and ate another biscuit.

There was time for luncheon before the replies came. The solicitor could give them an hour at two on Monday and declared no conflicting engagement with Darcy or his cousin in the matter described. He asked Gardiner to make clear that he could undertake no course of action before hearing the women themselves. Charlotte accepted the joint call and would come to the Gardiners. Elizabeth held her friend's answer while her uncle read the professional one aloud.

Her aunt proposed that Jane should visit too, if Mr. and Mrs. Bennet could arrange her journey. Elizabeth wrote the invitation with sudden eagerness, asking for Tuesday if convenient. It went into the household's ordinary outgoing post. They could not promise themselves her arrival until an answer came, but Elizabeth allowed herself to imagine it.

Before she left, Gardiner gave her the promised copy of the relevant settlement provisions, checked against the papers he retained. She folded it into her reticule. The inelegant thickness of the folded copy was reassuring beneath her fingers.

* * *

At Grosvenor Square Darcy was in the drawing-room with an open letter beside him. He rose when she entered and asked whether her aunt and uncle were well. For a moment she wished she had nothing more consequential to report than the children and the biscuits.

“They are very well. My aunt sends her regards.” She took off her gloves. “I have been speaking to my uncle about the settlement. He has given me a copy.”

Darcy's attention went to her reticule. “May I see it?”

“You already know the terms.”

“What has your uncle told you?”

Elizabeth placed her reticule beside her chair and sat down. “He explained how the income is administered. I asked him because he is the trustee.”

Darcy glanced from her reticule to her face. “I might have explained it. You need not have waited until we came to London to enquire.”