Page 33 of In Want of a Suspect

It seemed as though the entire room breathed a sigh of relief as they all stood and made their appropriate goodbyes. Josette reached out a hand to ring the bell to summon the butler, but Leticia stayed her hand. “I am happy to see our guests out,” she said, and led them to the foyer.

As soon as they were out of earshot of the drawing room, Leticia placed a hand on Darcy’s arm, stopping him. “Do you ride, Mr. Darcy?”

“Do I— I’m sorry?”

“Ride,” she said again. “I often go to Rotten Row in the early afternoons. I shall be there tomorrow. I don’t suppose there is any chance I might run into you? Or Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth?”

“I don’t—”

“We don’t normally ride,” Lizzie rushed to say, “but we are always open to new experiences.”

Leticia smiled lightly. “My cousin, unfortunately, has a prior engagement, and she doesn’t care to ride as much as I do. It is my favorite pastime in London. Don’t you find it refreshing, Miss Elizabeth, to ride in the open air?” She paused slightly, as if expecting Lizzie to respond, then added, “It is the perfect place to meet and be seen, and yet one can have all manner of conversations not appropriate for drawing rooms.”

Darcy found himself curious. Who was this strange cousin? “I am certain tomorrow will be a lovely day for a ride. Thank you for the suggestion, Miss Cavendish.”

They departed then, and Darcy helped Jane and Elizabeth into the waiting carriage, where Guy barked with excitement at the sight of them. Before Darcy stepped in, he cast a glance up and down the street. He didn’t know why, but he had the strangest sense that someone was watching him. Someone just outside of the corner of his vision. He shook his head, chalking up his unease to the strange encounter inside, and followed the ladies into the carriage. The door had barely closed before Lizzie said, “Well, that wasinteresting.”

“Goodness, I had no idea that questioning suspects would beso similar to an extremely awkward social call,” Jane observed. “Are they always like that?”

“Usually not so civilized, nor as peculiar,” Lizzie told her. She turned her gaze on Darcy. “You agree, don’t you, that it was peculiar?”

“I had no idea she had a cousin,” Darcy said.

“Yes!” Lizzie leaned forward. “She’s an odd one. And did you hear the way she made a point of telling us about Mr. Hughes’s office—twice!”

“Yes, that was strange. It’s almost as if she was trying to implicate him.”

“She knows something,” Lizzie agreed. “But... she’s also a tall, dark-haired young lady. Is she to be trusted?”

Jane gasped. “You mean to say that you think it’s Miss Cavendish and not Miss Beaufort who set fire to the storehouse?”

“Perhaps,” Lizzie said, but from the look on her face, Darcy knew that she thought it was more than likely.

“I suppose Miss Cavendish intends to shed some light on the subject tomorrow,” he said.

Suddenly, Lizzie looked stricken. “But riding? I hate riding. And I have no horse.”

“You can ride Georgiana’s,” Darcy said. “Father never sent her to the estate, so she’s been stabled here in London. The groom has been exercising her daily so she’ll be perfectly docile.”

“But we cannot simply ride down Rotten Row, just the two of us, without drawing all sorts of attention, and then it’s guaranteed to get back to my mother.”

“Oh.” Darcy hadn’t considered that. “But you could tell your father you’re meeting a witness?”

“Lizzie, I think—” Jane started to say.

“It won’t make a difference! Papa isn’t pleased I took this case, and I know what he’ll say—Why don’t you just conduct business in the office, where no one will ask questions?”

“Leticia Cavendish likely won’t consent to meet at Longbourn,” Darcy said. “At best, it would be ruinous for her reputation. At worst, it could scare her off, and she’s currently our only lead.”

“I know that! It’s bad enough that I have to climb atop a horse to get answers, now we have to find some sort of excuse so my mother doesn’t getideas.”

The ominous way Lizzie uttered the word made Darcy go still for a moment, and he glanced at Jane, who appeared uncharacteristically flustered.

“Excuse me!” Jane burst out. “If I may, I have an idea.”

Both Darcy and Lizzie started in surprise. Darcy didn’t think he’d ever heard the oldest Bennet sister raise her voice.

“You do?” Lizzie asked.