Page 43 of Cousin Conundrum

Elizabeth put on a smile. “I will accompany you, Kitty.”

“Oh, but you need not, Lizzy. It is terribly warm out for September. I will ask one of the maids.”

“It is no trouble at all.”

“I will go as well,” Lydia called from where she filled her plate. “I will pick for you. You have atrocious taste.”

Kitty’s visage didn’t change but Elizabeth felt sure of her sister’s aggravation. Then Kitty smiled. “Certainly. Perhaps all five of us ought to go. Who can say but we might encounter Mr. Bingley there.”

“Yes, you must all go,” Mrs. Bennet agreed.

Elizabeth frowned at her plate. She’d been certain Kitty wanted to go off on her own.

Elizabeth worried at that quandary for the remainder of breakfast, and on the walk to Meryton with all four of her sisters. Her confusion continued as they spilled into the jumble of the general store. Kitty made her way directly to the far wall, saying she wished to look at teacups. Not until she circled back to the front of the shop and slipped out did Elizabeth realize that her younger sister meant for the chaos of having all of them in the shop at once to serve as a distraction from her whereabouts. Hurriedly, she followed Kitty onto the street.

In time to see her disappear around a corner.

Putting her love of walking to good use, Elizabeth employed long strides to reach the corner in time to see Kitty’s next turn. It didn’t take Elizabeth long to realize her sister made her way to the Longs’ rented house.

Was Kitty secretly meeting with the Archers? But why? And arranged how? When she took that ride with them and Mr. Collins?

But when they reached the Longs’, a fine, multi-story home that would look more correct surrounded by farmland rather than in the village, Kitty didn’t go up the drive. She skirted the low wall along one side, came to a garden gate, and slipped through.

Intrigued beyond measure, Elizabeth followed. Would she finally learn the secret of Kitty’s strange behavior?

Elizabeth eased the gate open, wincing at the slight creak, then started up the path. Well-tended shrubs hemmed her in, hiding Kitty from view, but no turns or branches in the walkway tormented Elizabeth’s resolve. She carried on, certain she still followed her sister.

She came out of the sculpted garden to the sight of Kitty pressed to the side of the house beside a set of tall windows. Settling on her, Kitty’s eyes flew wide with alarm. Frantically, she gestured for Elizabeth to join her. Spurred by her sister’s panic, Elizabeth darted across the open space between the house and the manicured grounds. She reached her sister and Kitty yanked her to her side. Releasing Elizabeth, she pressed a finger to her lips for silence, and her back to the house.

“…someone out the window?”

Elizabeth struggled to make out Miss Edith’s words over the pound of blood in her ears.

“I saw no one,” a French accented voice replied.

“I truly thought I did.” Footfalls could be heard through the cracked open windows. “I do not see anyone now.”

“Likely one of the maids,” Miss Archer said. “They employ the garden gate to go into the village.”

“Edith, do sit. This is no time for gawking at trees,” the French woman said.

“Oui, Mère,” Miss Edith replied.

The French woman was Mrs. Archer? That was what her odd way of speaking hid? An accent?

Elizabeth turned a shocked look on Kitty, but Kitty remained focused on the window beside them, her brow furrowed.

“Now,” Mrs. Archer continued. “May I assume by her walking with Mr. Collins this morning that you convinced Mabel it must be she who secures Longbourn?”

Secures Longbourn? Anger shot through Elizabeth.

“Yes. She will take on the task,” Miss Catherine’s voice replied.

“However did you manage that?” Miss Archer asked.

“We rolled for it. The loser got Collins.”

“Poor Mabel,” Miss Edith chuckled. “But the real question is, which of us gets Mr. Darcy?”