Free The Matters at Mansfield: (Or, the Crawford Affair) (Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mysteries) by Carrie Bebris Page A

viscount had called each day since the ball. Darcy had sent word to his aunt that Miss de Bourgh had now become Mrs. Henry Crawford, but her ladyship refused to accept the news. Until Mr. Crawford presented himself to stand trial in the court of Lady Catherine, she would not speak of the matter.
    Except to Elizabeth. In private, Lady Catherine harangued Elizabeth ceaselessly for her role in the elopement—a role Elizabeth herself yet struggled to comprehend. Culpability for the entire affair was deposited squarely on her shoulders, despite her protests of innocence. Not only did Elizabeth stand accused of all but personally conducting the couple to Gretna Green, she also bore responsibility for their ever having met in the first place. Had Lady Catherine not been forced to abandon Anne in Bath to aid the Darcys the previous autumn, her daughter would not have fallen prey to that fortune-hunting Mr. Crawford. Had Elizabeth not enticed Darcy to betray his duty, Anne would be safely married to her cousin by now. Had Elizabeth’s sister Lydia not eloped, the notion never would have entered Anne’s mind.
    Were Mrs. Jenkinson still at Riveton, Anne’s former attendant could have shared Elizabeth’s accommodations in the doghouse. But the longtime servant, after disclosing all she knew about Mr. Crawford (relatively little) and the elopement (nothing at all), was summarily dismissed without references or her final month’s pay. She was expelled from Riveton with instructions to inform Lady Catherine’s solicitor of her new direction so that her belongings at Rosings might be forwarded. The poor woman had been utterly bewildered as she departed for the cottage of a sister she had not seen in five-and-twenty years. Elizabeth had given her ten pounds and assigned one of her own footmen to escort her safely to Sussex. Why she felt responsible for Mrs. Jenkinson’s predicament, she could not say. Perhaps Lady Catherine’s reproaches were beginning to find root.
    Her ladyship’s prevarications with the viscount, however, clearly were not. What little information she had conveyed, Lord Sennex seemed unable to retain.
    “My daughter attends to wedding-related business.” It was the same equivocation Lady Catherine had used with Lord Sennex since Anne’s disappearance, but delivered with more defensiveness—and less patience—than previously. They anticipated the return of the newlyweds sometime this day, and her ladyship grew more impatient each hour. Though she had received Lord Sennex with civility, she wanted him gone before the Crawfords appeared. She did not want any outsiders, particularly Lord Sennex or his son, to witness the reunion. They were not to know of Anne’s clandestine marriage until Lady Catherine had satisfied herself that it was incontrovertible.
    Elizabeth saw little point in postponing the inevitable admission to Anne’s erstwhile fiancé. Darcy’s letter had affirmed that her marriage to Mr. Crawford was valid, and even were it not, Mr. Sennex could hardly be expected to accept Anne on the same terms as before the affair. If he accepted her at all.
    “Ah, yes—gone down to London to order her wedding clothes, I imagine.” Lord Sennex nodded knowingly. “Young ladies are always so excited about that aspect of the nuptials. But why did you not accompany her? Surely Miss de Bourgh would appreciate her mother’s counsel in selecting her trousseau.”
    “Anne knows my opinion of her arrangements. And if she does not, she should. Would your lordship care for more cake?”
    The viscount’s eyes brightened at the invitation. As he tasted his second slice with the unreserved delight of a five-year-old, Elizabeth reflected that perhaps senility had its advantages. While others dwelt on guilt and misery, Lord Sennex found joy in cake.
    A servant entered with a letter. “Mrs. Darcy, this just arrived.”
    Elizabeth recognized the hand at once. She rose. “Pray excuse me, my lord. This comes from my