Page 43 of A Matter of Murder

“And those people have managed to get exceedingly close to you. To us,” Darcy added. “So it stands to reason that someone back home could have let it slip.”

“I think that’s the most likely answer,” Lizzie said grimly.

That was what worried Darcy. “Did the Dashwoods have any news?”

“None. Marianne has a few more leads, but...”

Darcy looked at the letter once more. “She might not even be in London anymore. She could be on her way here.”

“If she was ever in London to begin with,” Lizzie said.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just a thought I’ve had... she has so many people who’ve gotten close to us, perhaps she doesn’t need to be in London at all.”

That was an unpleasant thought.

“Either way, we have an advantage,” Lizzie said, taking his hand in hers. “Look at this place—an estate surrounded by acres of forest and field, where outsiders will stick out like a sore thumb. She can’t sneak up on us here, like in London.”

“Promise me you won’t do anything reckless,” he said. “No going off on your own.”

She didn’t roll her eyes. “I promise.”

As for what to do next... “It says she’ll send further instructions.”

“I know,” Lizzie said. “Which is why I think we keep this to ourselves and wait until we have something concrete to take action on. She hasn’t made good on any of her threats yet, but she might if we run again. She knows where we are, which means she must know my family is here. I want to wait and see what she says.”

Darcy didn’t like it, and he couldn’t pretend otherwise. But Lizzie had a point—they’d already antagonized Lady Catherine by leaving London, and he didn’t want to think what might happen if they continued to test her. At the same time, he shuddered to imagine what Mr. Bennet might say if he found out that they’d kept this information from him. He’d be disappointed, to be sure... but would he be angry?

Would he be angry enough to separate them?

“We could always go to Pemberley,” he said, almost hopefully.

Lizzie surprised him by smiling. “Looking for any excuse to whisk me away to your ancestral home?”

“Any excuse to keep you safe,” he said, reaching up to cup her cheek.

Lizzie turned into his touch, kissing his palm. “I don’t want to run, not yet.”

Darcy wanted to protest, but her question minutes earlier rang in his ears.Do you trust me?

“Fine,” he said. “We wait. But please, no wandering off alone, and you must tell me—or someone—if you leave the estate.”

“All right,” she said, and he was taken aback by how quickly she agreed—and then he saw her victorious little smile. This was what she’d wanted all along. Oh, Elizabeth Bennet would be the death of him.

“We should probably stay close to the estate then, just in case—”

“Actually,” Lizzie said. “I have something I need to tell you.”

Oh no. “What is it?”

“It’s about the case. And you have to promise you won’t be upset...”

The previous evening, Darcy and Bingley had spent two hours in Bingley’s study, going over the estate’s ledgers and familiarizing themselves with the property and its tenants so that Darcy could advise Bingley on how to best bring the estate into a new era. One aspect of their evening had included inspecting a map of the main property and surrounding farms, which included labels of all buildings. So when Lizzie had told him about how she’d taken Guy out the night before—alone—and had seen Sally in the window, and then explained the conversation she’d had with her lady’s maid, andthenexpressed her intent to find Sally’s grandparents, Darcy was fortunate enough to have a general sense of where their cottage was located.

It was a twenty-minute walk to said cottage, which wastucked into a small valley on the way to the village. Naturally, Lizzie had insisted they walk, and Darcy hadn’t argued. He was too busy berating himself for not thinking to ask whether Sally had any living relatives who also had access to Netherfield Park.

“Careless,” he muttered as they turned from the country lane to a smaller track leading toward the cottage. It was what his father would have said if he’d been there. It was what he always said when Darcy missed something important.