Page 29 of A Matter of Murder

He began to withdraw his purse, and she added, “Each.”

He hesitated, astounded at the cost. Fifteen shillingsapiece? Why, they’d better be leatherbound and gilded. He’d bought two volumes of Plutarch’s biographies just beforeleaving London, and those had only been thirteen shillings for the two. But Miss Jeffries was watching him, and the expression on her face suggested she knew exactly what he was thinking.

“How many volumes?” he asked her.

“Three.”

Darcy counted out the coins, and Miss Jeffries swiped them up quickly. “I’ll just write you a receipt,” she said sweetly, and turned to disappear into the back of the shop.

Charlotte leaned in and whispered to Lizzie and Darcy, “Printing an entire bound book must be an expensive endeavor—but the cost does seem rather steep.”

“Miss Jeffries is a keen businesswoman,” Darcy muttered in a low tone.

“Printing is costly,” Lizzie said. “She might have made the original offer to lend credence to her business. It’s difficult to be taken seriously as a woman.”

Before they could speculate further, Miss Jeffries returned with a slip of paper in her hand and presented it to Darcy. “I’ll work on finishing them up as soon as possible,” she promised.

“When might that be?” Darcy asked.

“Another day or two at least. I’m not a binder, but if you want them covered it’ll be another day or so—”

“No need! We’ll take them unbound.”

“We so appreciate the amount of work you must put into this project,” Lizzie added.

“Of course,” she said. “I’ll bring them around to NetherfieldPark when they’re complete. How are you enjoying your stay there?”

The way she asked the question made the back of Darcy’s neck prickle.

“Last night’s excitement notwithstanding, we are liking it very much,” Lizzie said.

“You three are braver than I,” Miss Jeffries said.

“Oh, do you believe in the so-called curse as well?” Darcy asked.

“I do, sir.”

Lizzie stepped on his foot. “Please disregard Mr. Darcy,” Lizzie said. “He’s naturally a skeptic.”

“Hmph. If that’s the case, perhaps you ought to ask more questions before being too quick to judge.”

Touché. “My apologies, Miss Jeffries. I meant no offense.”

“If I may,” Lizzie said. “Perhaps you could tell us about the origins of the curse? We’ve only heard snippets here and there.”

Miss Jeffries looked uncertain for a moment, and Darcy found himself thinking that after all the coin he’d just handed out, the very least she could do was throw in a story for free. He tried to school his features into a politely neutral expression as she studied the three of them. Something seemed to war within her. “Well, it’s said that if you spend a night in Netherfield Park, you’re destined to never leave.”

When she didn’t continue, he said, “No offense intended, Miss Jeffries, but clearly that is not true. The three of us spent the night at Netherfield just last night, and we’re here now. Mr.and Mrs. Bingley have been there a month, and they were just in the village with us.”

Miss Jeffries merely rolled her eyes. “Aye, and are you going back to Netherfield tonight?”

“Yes,” Darcy responded.

“Well then.” Miss Jeffries said this as if it made sense. It did not.

“But what exactly does it mean?” Lizzie pressed. “If you stay too many nights under that roof, you’ll be trapped there forever, like some kind of very well-appointed and luxurious prison?”

“There’s no special force that holds anyone there,” Miss Jeffries was quick to point out. “More like... bad things happen to anyone who does leave. And if you do leave, then death follows shortly after.”