The Phantom of Pemberley

by Regina Jeffers

  “Yes, Fitzwilliam.” Georgiana caught Elizabeth’s hand and squeezed it tenderly.

  He shot his wife a warning glare for good measure and then plunged into the crowd gathered outside Elizabeth’s room.

  “Mrs. Darcy is with child?”Anne touched his arm as she walked quickly to keep up with his long strides.

  Darcy stopped suddenly outside Lydia Wickham’s room. “She is.” He glanced down at his cousin. “And I will have my wife protected at all costs.”

  “Might we see her?” Anne whispered.

  Darcy took in the others clustered around. Thankfully, his aunt had chosen not to join them, or perhaps the noise had not disturbed her rest. He suspected the first. “Tomorrow…please allow Mrs. Darcy her rest this evening, and then I am sure my wife will happily receive your good wishes.” Motioning Worth and the viscount to follow him, Darcy reentered Lydia’s still-open doorway.

  “Elizabeth?” Georgiana whispered conspiratorially as Darcy drew the others away from his wife’s door.“Is it true? Are you with child?”

  Elizabeth giggled. “Yes, Georgiana. Is it not magnificent news?” Her smile could no longer be contained.

  “How long have you known? When will the babe arrive? Do you wish for a son or a daughter? Will I be allowed to hold the child?”

  Elizabeth laughed aloud. “Slow down, Georgiana. We have plenty of time—the babe will not come tonight…in early summer. Our child will grace this house in early June.”

  Mrs. Reynolds rushed into the room after a single knock on the door. “What seems to be the trouble, Mistress?” She displaced Georgiana on the bed’s edge and placed her hand on Elizabeth’s forehead to check for a fever.

  “It is really nothing, Mrs. Reynolds,” Elizabeth assured the woman, whose face appeared unusually pale and grim. “I simply stumbled over a rug and took a tumble.”The woman turned immediately to checking Elizabeth’s arms and legs for bruises and lacerations.

  “Elizabeth, it is more than that,” Georgiana protested. “Fitzwilliam was not simply concerned about a twisted ankle.”

  Elizabeth rolled her eyes in supplication. Only a quarter hour earlier, she had wished that she could tell everyone. The prayer the devil answers! With a sigh of exasperation, Elizabeth stopped Mrs. Reynolds’s ministrations short. “Mr. Darcy has summoned you because I fell and had my breath knocked from my lungs.”

  “And?” Georgiana prompted.

  “And I am with child.…I will deliver an heir for Pemberley in a few months.”

  Tears misted the housekeeper’s eyes. She had tended the Darcys for more than six and twenty years, and she had prayed for this moment more than once.“Oh, Mistress,” she said and caught at the bedpost. “You brought Mr. Darcy solace when no others would satisfy. Now, you bring all of Pemberley a future.” Impulsively, she moved to embrace Elizabeth. “You will remain in bed,” she ordered. “I will see to everything in your name.” She took Elizabeth’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Bless you, Mrs. Darcy.”

  Elizabeth knew she could not bear to stay in bed for even one full day, let alone six months. “I agree that I should remain abed for several hours to assure everyone of my health, but I will not become a lady of leisure. I have a household to run.” When Mrs. Reynolds began to object, Elizabeth silenced her with a tilt of her head. “However, I will promise to adjust my duties and allow you to shoulder some of them. Yet, how may I serve Pemberley and my husband if I am nothing more than an invalid?”

  Mrs. Reynolds listened carefully; she had admired Elizabeth Bennet Darcy from the first time she had laid eyes on her when Elizabeth was a Pemberley visitor.When she had realized the young master’s interest in the woman, she had intuited that Mr. Darcy might truly know happiness with Elizabeth. She had been proven correct: Elizabeth Darcy was exactly what the estate and the master needed to survive. “You are wise, Mistress,” she agreed. “At least, allow me to attend you for this night.”

  “To that, I will readily acquiesce.”

  Mrs. Reynolds sat about helping Elizabeth undress. Georgiana hustled about the room, finding dressing gowns and robes. “Why not simply send for Hannah,” Elizabeth suggested, thinking her maid could do the job in half the time.

  Mrs. Reynolds grumbled, “That girl will have a few of my words, I might tell you. Surely she knew and has said nothing of your condition. All the silly gossip, and she brings no word of such importance.”

  “You will do no such thing, Mrs. Reynolds. I swore Hannah to my secret, and you will not reward her loyalty as such.” Elizabeth tried to sound stern.

  Mrs. Reynolds flushed. “Oh, Mrs. Darcy, you surely know I would not judge Hannah poorly for doing her duty.”

  Georgiana helped Elizabeth out of the man’s shirt she still wore. As she did so, she said, “And you would not rob us of the pleasure of being of use to you.”

  “No, I suppose I would not,” Elizabeth said grudgingly, unaccustomed as she was to people fussing over her. Mrs. Reynolds unlaced Elizabeth’s corset. “Mr. Darcy believes that I should abandon the corset, thinking it not good for the child,” she offered.

  “Many fine women do not agree, but country babes know no such restrictions,” the housekeeper observed.“I would see no harm if you chose to do so in your own home, especially with your husband’s blessing.”

  Elizabeth smiled at Mrs. Reynolds’s attempt at diplomacy. “I want nothing to happen to this child.” She winked at Georgiana. “The clothes we sported this evening might serve me well. A woman could hide a great deal under a man’s shirt.”

  Georgiana barked out an embarrassed laugh. “I do not believe Fitzwilliam would give his blessing to such, Elizabeth.”

  “It is a shame. I find men’s clothing quite liberating,” Elizabeth teasingly asserted.

  “Elizabeth, Fitzwilliam warned me long ago that you love to say outrageous things simply to provoke a response.” Georgiana loosened her sister’s braid and prepared to brush her hair.

  “And so I do, my Sister.” Elizabeth gently touched Georgiana’s hand. “When the storm has released its hold on Derby, let us shop together for new spring clothes. I will need additional day dresses to carry me through my confinement, and you have an excellent eye for color and pattern.”

  Georgiana slid her arms around Elizabeth’s shoulders. “I am as blessed as Fitzwilliam is that you have entered our lives, Elizabeth. I have never known such acceptance.”

  “You are a precious jewel, Georgiana.When I left my sisters in Hertfordshire, I never expected to find a like devotion in my new home.We should celebrate that our dear Fitzwilliam recognized a need in both of us and brought us together.” Elizabeth kissed the girl’s cheek before she rested against the pillows Mrs. Reynolds had placed behind her head. “You will stay with me until Fitzwilliam returns?”

  “Certainly, Elizabeth.” Georgiana took a position in a nearby chair.

  “May I, Mistress?” Mrs. Reynolds gestured to Elizabeth’s body.

  Elizabeth nodded her agreement, allowing Mrs. Reynolds to carefully examine the slight bulge. “I neither see nor feel anything unusual. I will ask the midwife to call on you soon, Mrs. Darcy.”

  Caught by the significance of the housekeeper’s words and the sudden realization of what her delivery of a healthy child would mean to the hundreds of people who depended upon Pemberley for their existence, Elizabeth was uncharacteristically silent.“Thank you, Mrs. Reynolds,” she murmured.

  “I will send up some chamomile tea to help you rest, Mistress.” With that, the woman left the room, but Elizabeth noted that tears dampened the lady’s cheeks.

  “You will like being an aunt, Georgiana?” Elizabeth ventured, suddenly humbled by the earnestness of those who surrounded her.

  Georgiana flushed.“Next to knowing my own child, I can think of nothing that would please me more, Elizabeth.”

  Motioning Worth and Lord Stafford to follow him, Darcy reentered Lydia Wickham’s still-open doorway. Standing where Darcy had left her, the young woman sobbed uncon
trollably while leaning on a chair for support.

  Despite his anger minutes earlier, Darcy thought of Elizabeth and how she would want him to treat her sister. “Come, Mrs. Wickham,” he said softly as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Darcy motioned to the chair, and she plopped down, her energy gone. He knelt before her. “Now, please tell me what happened.”Worth and the viscount waited patiently in the background.

  Lydia choked and coughed and her shoulders shook from the force of stopping the flow of her tears. Drama, Darcy thought as he gazed at her. There is always drama surrounding Elizabeth’s sister. He slipped his handkerchief into her hand and encouraged her again to provide an explanation.

  “Lizzy?” Lydia moaned as she wiped her eyes.

  “Mrs. Darcy will recover,” he ventured.

  The tears remained, but the sobs ceased. “Lizzy is to have a child?”

  “She is.” Darcy took Lydia’s hand in his and tried to calm her. “Mrs. Darcy is concerned for her sister. When I return to her, I would like to allay her fears.Tell me what frightened you.”

  Lydia’s lip began to tremble, but she took a deep breath and began. “Lizzy and I returned to our rooms. We said our good nights, and I came in here. I rang for Lucinda, and then I went to my chamber.” She gestured toward the adjoining bedroom. “Everything!” she wailed. Worth and Stafford slipped into the room to investigate. Sobbing, she said, “Everything is ruined!”

  Moments later, Worth appeared in the adjoining doorway and held up a shredded gown in each hand. Darcy nodded his understanding and turned to Lydia again. “The gowns, you mean?”

  “The gowns-—the stockings-—everything.” A gasp of frustration escaped.

  Darcy fought his contempt. His wife had taken a terrible fall because of a torn gown. “And this caused you to scream as if the world had come to an end?”

  Indignation entered her tone. “I screamed, Mr. Darcy, because I felt a sudden gush of cold air from behind me and heard a loud clank of some kind that made me think that your intruder invaded my room. I screamed because I feared for my life.”

  “And my wife?” Darcy prompted.

  Lydia looked away for a moment, trying to visualize what had happened. “I am unsure. Someone grabbed me, and I fought to discover the depth of the crime practiced upon me.The next thing I knew, Lizzy was on the floor, and you were angrily charging into my room.”

  Drama. “I am still angry, Mrs. Wickham; at least, where my wife is concerned,” he cautioned.

  “I see nothing in the lady’s bedchamber to lead us to whomever did this.”The viscount returned to the room. “Someone ransacked Mrs. Wickham’s belongings. The room is in disarray, and many of your sister’s personal items have been destroyed. I found this on the floor.” He handed Darcy the miniature.

  Darcy barely looked at the portrait. He knew it well—had seen it displayed daily in his father’s study—his own study now. He had placed it in a memory box along with several of Elizabeth’s mementos shortly after they had married. “I apologize, Mr. Darcy,” Lydia began.“I found it at the bottom of the wardrobe in my room. I did not think you would mind if I borrowed it while I was at Pemberley.”

  Darcy spoke through clenched teeth, “You are welcome to your husband’s likeness, Mrs. Wickham.” Bitterly, he wondered if he would ever be free of Wickham’s shadow.

  Worth joined them in the narrow dressing room. “Are we sure your intruder did this? It seems a petty act of revenge, especially for a man who devises sophisticated murders.”

  “Then who else?”The strain on Darcy’s nerves showed in his tone.

  “Lucinda,” Lydia asserted. “I threatened to speak to Elizabeth about her poor service.”

  Darcy’s head snapped up in response.“Did you not say you rang for Lucinda when you entered the room?”

  “I did, Mr. Darcy.”

  Lord Stafford voiced what they all thought, “And the maid has failed to report?”

  “Might you address this issue to Mr. Baldwin and Mrs. Reynolds for me,Your Lordship?”

  “Certainly, Darcy.” The viscount quickly disappeared through the passageway.

  “I will send another of my staff to attend you, Mrs. Wickham,” Darcy said stiffly and rose to go.

  Lydia caught at his hand. “Tell Lizzy I am sorry. Please, Mr. Darcy—tell her I meant her no harm.”

  “You may tell my wife yourself, Mrs. Wickham—in the morning.” With that, he and Worth departed the lady’s chamber. Outside the now-closed door, he pulled the solicitor aside. “Mr. Worth,” he whispered, “I have news of interest to you.”

  “I am all ears, Mr. Darcy.”

  “I had a visitor a while ago—a gentleman whom I have placed on the second level, away from my other guests.” Worth raised an eyebrow. “My cousin’s intended, Lieutenant Harwood, has come to save Anne’s reputation by offering the protection of his name.”

  “Bloody hell!”Worth cursed.“Her intended? What is the meaning of this?”

  “Mr.Worth, I have no desire to see my cousin with the lieutenant, but it may take me a few days to dislodge his claim on Anne without a loss of significant fortune. I need you to offer Miss de Bourgh comfort and not to betray my hand. If you hear me support the lieutenant’s suit, it will be a ploy.” Darcy glanced quickly about to assure their privacy. “I will require your cooperation, Mr.Worth, if I am to rid this family of Harwood and his scheme. I confide in you because I know you to be a man of reason in your daily life. You must practice that reason in this situation, even if your emotions tell you otherwise.”

  “And I am not to confide this to Miss de Bourgh? Am I correct, Mr. Darcy?”

  “Despite Anne’s venture into the performing arts earlier this evening, my cousin has not the talent to dissemble—to perform such a farce.”

  Worth’s crooked smile turned up the corners of his mouth. “And I do, sir?”

  “Precisely,Worth.You practice law.”

  CHAPTER 15

  DARCY CHECKED ON Elizabeth before he joined the viscount and the Pemberley staff members. Finding his wife enjoying a cup of tea, he kissed her and then rushed downstairs to address yet another mystery unfolding under his roof.

  “I have instructed the butler and housekeeper to ask about the missing maid and report any details they discover,” Adam Lawrence informed Darcy when Pemberley’s master suddenly appeared in the main foyer.

  “Thank you, Your Lordship.” Darcy gestured toward the main drawing room, the one Darcy used when he first welcomed his guests to Pemberley. “Let us see if there is any brandy left in the decanter.”

  “I thought this madness had taken a vacation.” Stafford fell in beside Darcy.

  Darcy shook his head in disbelief.“I had hoped. I cannot imagine how I will explain all this to the local magistrate. I have taken to making notes daily so I do not omit anything.”

  They took up chairs before the dying embers of the hearth. Neither of them bothered with stoking the fire—they would not stay long. “Do you think the maid committed the destruction we witnessed in Mrs.Wickham’s room?”

  “I no longer know what I should believe.” Darcy raked his fingers through his hair. “I pray it is simply a matter of a rogue servant taking out her lack of patience with a difficult mistress.As appalling as it would be to have such a person in my employ, the alternative is not something I wish to consider.” Darcy paused before adding, “I should tell you, we have a new guest on the second level. He is one Lieutenant Harwood, a compatriot of Colonel Fitzwilliam’s and an avowed suitor of my cousin Anne.”

  Lord Stafford weighed his words carefully. “Your tone says you do not approve of the lieutenant. Is there something else of which I should be made aware?”

  Darcy would not mention Anne’s possible ruination. “The lieutenant reports this part of Derbyshire suffered the most in the storm. He claims that he rode here from Cheshire. Carriage travel, he says, is not yet fully available. I imagine that it should only be a matter of a few days.”

  St
afford’s quick analysis brought an ironic retort. “Are you telling me that if Cathleen and I had continued on our journey that we might have outrun the storm?”

  Darcy chose his words carefully. “If the lieutenant is to be believed, then the answer is in the affirmative.”

  Stafford sat forward in interest. “If? What are not saying, Darcy? The lieutenant is not to be trusted?”

  “I have no knowledge of the man’s true character, Stafford, but I have learned not to accept anything at face value.When you hear the lieutenant speak, listen carefully.”

  Stafford did not respond; they understood each other. “You will seek my aid if you need it, Darcy.”The viscount stood to take his leave.

  “Should I apply to your chamber or that of your cousin?”

  “If you ask the question, I must assume you already know the answer.”The viscount strolled casually toward the open door. “My cousin has chosen to no longer accept my protection when this is over.” Stafford’s voice did not betray his own ambivalence about the situation.

  Darcy paused momentarily before adding,“I am sorry to hear it; as cousins go, the young lady offers a touch of true class.”

  “I believe she does.”

  By the time Darcy climbed the stairs, Elizabeth slept. He joined his men as they searched the house for the errant maid. He really did not expect to find Lucinda Dodd; she had disappeared, just as the Pemberley phantom did every time they had an opportunity to capture him. Frustration filled him as he undressed for the evening. He wanted this over—Darcy wanted to go back to his life before the siege on his household.

  He struggled out of his jacket before addressing his waistcoat and cravat. He could not even remember the last time he had depended on his valet to help him disrobe at night. “Yes, you do, you fool. It was your wedding night,” he murmured. “The night this goddess gave herself to you.” He knew he should let Elizabeth sleep alone—exhaustion plagued her—but he did not believe he could ever again sleep without her next to him.Without Elizabeth in his arms, he felt bereft of life—she had imprinted herself on his soul.