Page 110 of A Matter of Murder

“Thank you,” Darcy said to the ladies surrounding him. “If not for you...”

“You’re welcome,” Georgiana said.

“It’s the least I owe you and Miss Bennet,” Sally said stiffly.

“Please, call me Lizzie.”

“And we are sorry about accusing you of stealing,” Clara added.

Sally nodded. “Although we will need the diamonds back.”

“Diamonds?” Darcy asked.

“I’ll explain later,” Lizzie reassured him.

Just then, the door opened, revealing his father. Darcy was unsurprised to find his father’s expression pinched and disapproving. In the months he’d spent abroad, his once-black hair had turned mostly gray, and the lines in his face were deeper. Darcy could scarcely believe he was here.

“I’d like to speak with my son,” he said.

Mrs. Reynolds dipped a curtsy and hurried out of the room, and Sally, Clara, and Charlotte followed. Georgiana stood but she lingered. “Papa, I—”

“Not now, Georgiana.”

“No,” Darcy said, sitting up slowly. “Let her stay. She’s the one who’s been living with a criminal for nearly a year.”

His father didn’t have an answer to that, because Darcy’s movement had displaced Guy, who hopped to the floor and trotted over the older Mr. Darcy to sniff his feet. The man scowled and stepped back. “What is this creature doing inside the house?”

“That’s Guy,” Darcy said. “He’s my dog. Well, mine and Lizzie’s. We both take care of him.”

At the informal mention of Lizzie’s name, his father looked her up and down. Lizzie stood and made a proper curtsy. “Miss Elizabeth Bennet, sir. I am sorry to be meeting you under these less-than-ideal circumstances.”

“So you’re the lady who fancies herself a solicitor, then?”

“No,” Darcy said, clearing his throat. “Sheisa solicitor. With Longbourn and Sons.”

His father ignored that. “Miss Bennet, I should like to have a private word with my children.”

“No,” Darcy said, taking Lizzie’s hand in his once more and pulling her onto the settee next to him. “Whatever you say, you can say in front of Lizzie.” His father glared, but Darcy didn’t look away. “There are things you don’t know because you’ve been gone so long, and I intend to give you a full accounting of my behavior and decisions. Once you hear the truth from me, then you can decide whether you approve. But Lizzie must remain here to be a part of the telling.”

Beside him, Lizzie squeezed his hand. He clung to her.

“Fine.” His father sat down in the chair across from him. “Begin.”

It took nearly an hour for Darcy and Lizzie to reconstruct the entire tale, stretching all the way back to the day he and Lizzie met, working on Bingley’s case, and encompassing the case of the Mullins Brothers and Mr. Tomlinson’s deception. Some of this his father had known, thanks to the letters Darcy had sent abroad and the news his father had received from other solicitors at Pemberley & Associates, but there was a great deal of misinformation that Tomlinson had fed the senior Mr. Darcy over the past months. Darcy’s voice gained strength the longer he spoke, and at first Lizzie was deferential to his explanation of matters, stepping in only to clarify. But by the time they were halfway through, she was speaking as often as he. And the entire time, his father just stared.

Darcy couldn’t tell what his father thought—whether hebelieved him or thought him mad or was angry with him or disappointed. When they concluded, Darcy’s father regarded them for a long moment. Finally, he shifted his gaze to Lizzie, and to their tightly clasped hands. “It seems that I owe you a debt of gratitude today, Miss Bennet.”

“No,” Lizzie said. “I did what anyone would have done.”

“No, you did not. Clearly not everyone would have put their own lives at risk for two people not related to them.”

“Maybe not,” Lizzie allowed, “but I think that most people would risk their lives for someone they love.”

Love for Lizzie and all her bravery swelled within Darcy, and he squeezed her hand, scarcely willing to breathe in anticipation of his father’s response.

“Love? You profess to love my son?”

“I do, very much.” Lizzie’s head was held high. “And I love Georgiana like a sister.”