Page 82 of Ashes and Understanding
Elizabeth’s mind reeled. “And you believed her?”
“She had proof,” he said simply. “Letters. A locket. Things I recognized from briefings I had received. I took her in. Helpedher reach London and set her up in a discreet flat, away from the eyes of the public.”
“She was Meg’s neighbor,” Elizabeth whispered. “Deena was an alias for Denisse, then.”
He nodded. “When news of the fire’s location reached me, I made my way through the burned streets of Cheapside until I found where I had hidden her. The building was burned to the ground, and I found her body a few streets away, but no sign of the infant.”
“Because Meg had rescued him.”
“Precisely, but it took quite some time to figure it out. As you can imagine, gathering information is difficult in the best of circumstances. When you add in the chaos of the fire, it took months to even discover that Meg was the one who had taken him, and even longer to discover that she had given him to a young woman from Hertfordshire.”
Elizabeth turned accusing eyes to Darcy. “And that is when you chose to come with your friend to reside at Netherfield? Did you remember me from Hyde Park, see me with Benjamin, and make the connection? Is your friendship with me nothing more than a façade to reach him yourself?”
∞∞∞
Darcy stared at her, speechless.
She thinks…?
His mind struggled to make sense of it. That he had orchestrated this—come to Hertfordshire, befriended Bingley, inserted himself into her life—all with the intent of retrieving a royal infant?
The very notion was absurd. And yet… as her eyes narrowed in suspicion, he felt a sharp stab of something dangerously close to pain.
Does she truly believe me so calculating?
But the moment passed. Logic, ever his companion, surged forward to temper the sting. Of course she did. From her perspective, every detail lined up in dreadful precision: his sudden appearance, his interest in her family, his strange connection to the man who had terrified her. It all added up to incriminate him.
Only it was not true.
“I had no idea,” he said at last, his voice firm with conviction. “I swear to you, Miss Elizabeth—I knew nothing of any of this until this very morning. My presence here… it was entirely coincidental.”
She gave a skeptical scoff, crossing her arms again. “How convenient.”
“It is the truth,” he said desperately. “Disguise—deception inanyform—is abhorrent to me.”
That, at least, made her blink.
Behind him, his cousin let out a laugh, loud and unguarded. “It is true,” he said with a grin. “Darcy could not lie to save his life. When we were children, if he so much as broke a wood paneling in the stables, he would march straight into the house and confess—without anyone asking! Took the punishment likea martyr. I remember once—he cut down the willow switch himself before my father ever got there.”
Darcy groaned softly. “Fitzwilliam—”
“No, let me finish. The point is: subtlety has never been my cousin’s strength. If he had known about the situation, you would have seen his deception the moment you met him.”
Elizabeth’s expression faltered. Her brow furrowed as she looked at Darcy, uncertainty replacing suspicion. He held her gaze.
“You did see through Smithson, after all,” the colonel added, “and he was a trained professional.”
“Colonel Fitzwilliam only told me everything this morning,” Darcy said, his tone softer now. “And when he did, I told him you needed to know as well.”
Her eyes flicked to the colonel in confirmation, then back to Darcy. Her shoulders relaxed just slightly.
But it was all that he needed to know that she once again trusted him, and that filled him with hope.
“I let my cousin speak first only because he was the one entrusted with the matter. And—” he cast a glance at the colonel “—because he did not believe me when I said you would see straight through him.”
“Clearly,” the colonel muttered. “I fell flat on my face.”
Darcy’s lips twitched, but his gaze did not leave Elizabeth’s. “To be fair, it is not entirely my cousin’s fault. This does involve national security, and my cousin has sworn a vow to his country. There were legitimate concerns about how much to reveal. Butonce I understood the situation, I knew you would only be an asset with the full truth, and I insisted you be told.”
