Page 61 of Cousin Conundrum

Worry quaked through him. He’d kept the truth from her for so long. Had deliberately not revealed his family shame to her before marrying her. She would be livid. What would her anger mean for their marriage? “Should we not be with the guests? Bingley and Darcy are both absent already.”

“I am certain Caroline has all in hand. She is an excellent hostess and very competent, traits of which Mr. Darcy seems sadly unappreciative.”

Steven tried to swallow, but his throat bore a sudden similarity to the inside of a dustbin.

“I cannot promise I will grant you another chance,” Louisa said softly, her voice touched with sorrow.

He nodded, drew in a deep breath, and began, “In truth, it started long ago with my father and brother. They thought they had fallen upon a marvelous way to make our family some money.”

Tentatively, he caught back one of her hands. He wanted desperately to wrap his arms about her. To have her hold him and tell him all would be well. That she loved him and would forever.

For now, though, while he made his confession, he would settle for the warmth of her delicate fingers in his.

Chapter Seventeen

Kitty woke curled up in a plush armchair, roused by the low murmur of voices emanating from the bed and a second chair, which they’d dragged over beside Elizabeth. Grimacing at the crick in her neck, Kitty blinked rapidly, clearing grit from her eyes to take in a room made lovely by morning light. Cream and sage walls and bedding, with hints of pink in the plush carpet and the heavy coverlet, all appeared quite cheerful now that Elizabeth was awake.

Not only awake, but sitting up in bed talking with Jane, which filled Kitty with relief. Yesterday when she wouldn’t wake, Mr. Jones said that if she remained unchanged for too long, a specialist from London would have to be summoned to drill a hole in her head. Kitty didn’t care for the idea of anyone drilling a hole in any part of her sister, let alone her head.

“We did not mean to wake you,” Elizabeth said as Kitty stretched.

She shook her head. “You did not.” Her mind still muddled with sleep, Kitty looked around the room again. “Did our cases arrive?”

Jane nodded. “Yours is in your room, which is two doors down from this one, right after mine.” She turned back to Elizabeth. “Miss Bingley has been very accommodating.”

“How unexpected,” Elizabeth murmured.

Jane pursed her lips. “You should not be so contrary. Miss Bingley deserves our gratitude.”

“She also kept the Archers out of the house.” Kitty rubbed at her eyes, then yawned.

“The Archers.” Gingerly, Elizabeth touched the top of her head, and winced. “I do not recall much of what happened. I remember Miss Archer and Mr. Darcy going into the trees?”

Her tone made a question of her words and Kitty exchanged a worried look with Jane. Mr. Jones said Elizabeth may not recall everything and not to worry, but Kitty found her sister’s confusion disturbing.

“You went into the woods to help find a shuttlecock.” As she spoke, Jane glanced at Kitty for reassurance, for she repeated what Kitty told her the previous evening. A tale Jane heard twice as Kitty had been made to retell it when Mama and Lydia arrived. “It seems, well, according to Mr. Darcy, Miss Archer had placed one on that half-fallen tree above the pool the creek forms. I believe you went into the forest to ensure she did not manage to trap him into a union. You ended up climbing out on that tree, which broke and dropped you in the water.” Jane’s voice grew softer as she spoke, her eyes widening with worry. “And you hit your head.”

Elizabeth’s forehead crinkled. “Did I? That explains why it hurts so much.”

“I cannot imagine what you were thinking,” Jane said with a whisper of anger in her voice.

“I was likely thinking about saving Mr. Darcy, but I cannot fathom why I would want to.”

Jane looked away. “I do not know. Perhaps because trapping someone is wrong?” Her voice caught and she cleared her throat. “I also wonder how you knew what Miss Archer was about, and how you found them. As I recall, they went into the trees long before you did.”

Worry jolted through Kitty. They could hardly tell Jane they’d eavesdropped on the Archers. Not only wouldn’t Jane approve, she would be terribly hurt if she knew they’d overheard the Archers’ plans for Mr. Bingley and then left her alone to defend him without even warning her. Panic welling through her, Kitty held her breath, uncertain what Elizabeth would say.

But Elizabeth’s expression didn’t change. After a few moments thought, she merely shrugged. “I cannot recall deciding to follow them, so I cannot say why I did. As to how I found them, I must have guessed they would be at that pool. Having walked there a great deal, I am quite familiar with that stretch of forest.” She offered Jane another shrug.

Kitty let out her breath, uncertain if Elizabeth was a skilled liar or truly had lost her memory of eavesdropping on the Archers and hearing them scheme about luring Mr. Darcy into the forest and a wet gown. Kitty also didn’t know which explanation she wanted to be true.

Jane twisted her hands together in her lap. “It is terrible of me to say, but I am not certain the Archers are entirely kind.”

Kitty snorted. “They are horrible. Only you would feel badly about saying so after all that they did yesterday.”

“All that they did?” Elizabeth repeated, looking from Kitty to Jane and back. “They did more than somehow help me to end up hitting my head?”

“It is nothing,” Jane said quickly. “Are you hungry at all? You should eat.”