In the opposite corner, Mr. William Elliot observed the room and its occupants. He wore merely a black armband in acknowledgment of Lady Elliot’s passing. The minimal display of mourning for so recent a death declared to the world that he considered his connexion to the deceased only a distant one—a far cry from his efforts just days ago to take custody of her newborn son.
Darcy returned with three glasses of lemonade. Elizabeth gratefully accepted the one he handed her.
“Mr. Elliot is here.” She nodded in the gentleman’s direction. “Given the scandalous nature of his relationship with Alfred’s mother, I am surprised Sir Walter invited him.”
“I am more surprised that he accepted,” Darcy replied. “The invitation was actually a shrewd move on Sir Walter’s part. His marriage to Mrs. Clay thwarted any legal claim Mr. Elliot could make to Alfred or the estate—Alfred was born into a legitimate marriage, however tardily that union was formed—yet socially, the question of the child’s paternity remains fuel for gossip. By boldly including Mr. Elliot in Alfred’s christening celebration, Sir Walter publicly rejects any speculation regarding the true paternity of his heir, and at the same time reminds his rival that he will now never inherit the baronetcy.”
“Meanwhile, the death of the child’s mother apparently means little to either Sir Walter or Mr. Elliot.” Elizabeth sipped her lemonade. It was tepid, which only dropped Sir Walter further in her esteem.
“I think I am glad not to have met this Mr. Elliot,” Georgiana said. “It sounds as if he would never have borne the title of ‘sir’ as honorably as another baronet in this room.”
“Sir Laurence is here?” Elizabeth had not spied him among the guests, but doubted Georgiana meant Sir Walter or Sir Basil.
“Yes, with his sister. They are over there, just behind that gentleman wearing the mourning band.” She squinted. “Why, I believe that is the man who brushed past me on the Cobb the morning of Lady Elliot’s accident.”
Elizabeth and Darcy followed Georgiana’s gaze. The only person near Sir Laurence who wore an armband was Mr. Elliot.
Darcy’s countenance reflected puzzlement. “When did Mr. Elliot pass us that morning? I did not meet him until after you had returned to our lodgings with Lily-Anne.”
“Is that man Mr. Elliot? I saw him before the accident.”
Upon this announcement, all of Elizabeth’s doubts about the nature of Lady Elliot’s fall resurfaced. “Georgiana, precisely where did you see Mr. Elliot on the Cobb, and what was he doing?”
“He was on the upper wall. We had just arrived and ascended the steps—you and my brother were distracted by Lily-Anne. He walked right past us, so absorbed by his own thoughts that he would have bumped into me had I not stepped aside. Even then, I do not think he noticed me.”
Sir Laurence and Miss Ashford, having spotted Georgiana, now approached. “Do you mind if I leave you for a while?” Georgiana asked Elizabeth and Darcy.
“Not at all,” Elizabeth said. “Doubtless you would rather discuss any number of subjects with a handsome baronet than Mr. Elliot’s presence on the Cobb with me.”
Georgiana’s smile held a hint of coyness. “Perhaps.” She happily went to meet her friends, leaving Darcy and Elizabeth to themselves.
“So,” Elizabeth said in a voice meant for only Darcy to hear, “Mr. Elliot was on the Cobb near the time of Lady Elliot’s accident—an accident that could well have taken Alfred’s life in addition to his mother’s.” She met Darcy’s gaze and knew she did not need to state the rest aloud. And that, if it had, would have secured Mr. Elliot the inheritance he has now lost. “When you met him, did he say anything to suggest he had been on the Cobb earlier that day?”
“On the contrary, he gave every indication that he had not, although one of the dockworkers thought he had seen him talking to Lady Elliot that morning. Georgiana’s account, however, suggests that he was leaving the seawall when he passed my sister—which was before we saw Lady Elliot still very much alive.”
“Then why should Mr. Elliot prevaricate about his presence on the Cobb before the accident? His conduct that day leaves much to be explained.”
Elizabeth studied Mr. Elliot. He had been very eager to take possession of Mrs. Clay’s baby after his birth—but what had been his feelings toward the child before it? He had not been attached enough to mother or child to marry Mrs. Clay and legitimize their relationship, as Sir Walter had done.
“The dockworker said Mr. Elliot and Mrs. Clay argued,” Elizabeth continued. “I wonder whether she told him she had married Sir Walter.”
“He appeared surprised by the news when we told him at the Harvilles’ house.”
“Yes—appeared. What if he already knew? What if the subject occupying his thoughts when he brushed past Georgiana was the revelation that Mrs. Clay was now Lady Elliot, and the child she carried was now Sir Walter’s heir? Mrs. Clay’s final words were ‘Elliot’ and ‘pushed.’ It is possible—perhaps not probable, but possible—that after Georgiana saw him, he circled back on the lower Cobb, ascended Granny’s Teeth, and finished the argument in a manner meant to ensure the child did not live to usurp Mr. Elliot’s claim to the baronetcy.”
It was almost incomprehensible to Elizabeth that anybody could be so cold-blooded as to deliberately take the life of a child who stood in the way of succession. Yet history had proven otherwise; one had only to recall the two princes in the Tower to understand that childhood and innocence offer no protection from adult greed and ambition. And to realize that, though Alfred survived his mother’s fall, he might not yet survive the circumstances of his birth. So long as he lived, he was the sole obstacle—presently an utterly helpless obstacle—to an inheritance somebody else had been anticipating for three decades.
“We cannot level accusations against a respectable member of society based solely upon conjecture we have drawn from the utterances of a barely coherent woman on her deathbed and a barely articulate child at play—however pitiable the former, and however intelligent we might believe our daughter to be,” Darcy said. “I am more disturbed by his potential motives for trying to seize custody of Alfred after the accident than I am convinced that Mr. Elliot caused it. If he did circle back on the lower Cobb, as you suggest, would not someone have seen him?”
Elizabeth glanced toward the main doors of the room. A sedan chair had just arrived; Sir Walter was directing its bearers to deposit its occupant in an out-of-the-way corner.
“Perhaps someone did.”
Twenty
“I have known a good deal of the profession; and besides their liberality, they are so neat and careful in all their ways!”
—Mrs. Clay, speaking of naval officers, Persuasion
Much to her father’s obvious displeasure, Mrs. Wentworth abandoned her receiving line duties, transferring Alfred to her younger sister and following the sedan chair to the unpopulated corner to which Sir Walter had sent it. As Mrs. Wentworth assisted its emerging passenger, Elizabeth turned to Darcy.
“I am going to retrieve more lemonade.”
“We have not yet finished these,” Darcy said, “and the quality hardly inspires a yearning for more.”
“It is not for us. It is for Mrs. Smith.”
“I see.” He, too, looked toward the corner. The sedan chair and its bearers had departed; Mrs. Wentworth was now helping Mrs. Smith toward a seat beside a large, round table. “Would you like me to come with you?”
Elizabeth considered a moment. Women talk very differently amongst themselves than when gentlemen are present, and she had already established a rapport with the widow. It might be easier to guide the conversation toward the accident without Darcy’s company.
“I will introduce you, then perhaps you could go seek the Harvilles’ conversation.”
She fetched two glasses of lemonade and led Darcy to the ladies. Mrs. Smith greeted Elizabeth’s arrival with the delight of encountering an old friend. “Mrs. Darcy! What a pleasure to see you here! I told Anne about the k
indness you and Miss Darcy rendered me.”
“It is a pleasure to see you again, too.” Elizabeth introduced Darcy, whose acquaintance Mrs. Smith entered with equal happiness.
Elizabeth set the lemonade on the table and helped Mrs. Wentworth settle Mrs. Smith into her seat. Darcy, after determining his assistance was not needed, and exchanging a few pleasantries with Mrs. Smith on the subject of the fineness of the day and the beauty of Lyme, excused himself on the pretext of checking on his sister.
Elizabeth chose a chair beside Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Wentworth took another, but perched on its edge in the manner of someone not entirely committed to remaining seated. Her attention was divided between their party and the receiving line, where Sir Walter was casting glances at her that proclaimed his desire for her to return to her greeting duties. That he was neglecting his own obligations as a host by ignoring Mrs. Smith did not seem to trouble him.
“Did you have a comfortable ride here?” Mrs. Wentworth asked Mrs. Smith.
“I did—quite smooth. Sometimes the chair men do not take as much care, and one gets jostled or slides forward going down the steep hills.”
“You have shown such steady improvement in the two months you have been with us in Lyme, that eventually I hope to see you walk anywhere you wish entirely under your own power, with no need of a chair to transport you.”
A smile spread across Mrs. Smith’s face. “I look forward to that day, as well.”
The receiving line once more drew Mrs. Wentworth’s attention. Alfred had recommenced crying, and though Mary appeared to have no patience for him, she rejected an apparent offer of assistance from Captain Wentworth. Mrs. Wentworth’s gaze shuttled between the baby and Mrs. Smith, and Elizabeth could read in her expression how divided was her sense of obligation. Even were Alfred in more sympathetic arms, Mrs. Wentworth nonetheless ought to return to her receiving line duties, and even were Mrs. Smith in perfect health, Anne’s already slighted friend ought not be abandoned.
“Mrs. Smith, would you care for some lemonade?” Elizabeth handed one glass to the widow and offered the other to Mrs. Wentworth.
“Oh,” Mrs. Smith said, “how very thoughtful! It is quite warm in here.”
Mrs. Wentworth looked at the glass as if she very much wanted to accept it, then glanced back at the receiving line. Alfred’s cries increased.
“Anne,” Mrs. Smith said, “if you need to return to your duties, I will be quite all right here.”
“Are you certain?”
“I have a comfortable chair and lemonade. Go attend your new godson.”
“She also has my company,” Elizabeth said. “I would enjoy the opportunity for us to become better acquainted.”
Elizabeth’s assurance decided Mrs. Wentworth. She returned to her place in the receiving line, where her sister Mary lost no time in delivering the fussing Alfred back to her. Captain Wentworth helped her adjust the child’s long christening robe, which had become twisted round his legs during the transfer. Before long, Mrs. Wentworth had soothed the baby back into silence.
Elizabeth turned to Mrs. Smith. “After we parted the other day, I realized that I might have seen you before—taking the air, as you said—on the Cobb.”
“It is one of my favorite spots,” Mrs. Smith replied. “Soon after arriving in Lyme, I expressed a desire to go out upon it—an idle desire, not one I imagined would be realized anytime soon. Due to my difficulties walking, I expected to enjoy the seawall for some while only as a sight from shore. Captain Wentworth, however, immediately ordered a chair to take me out on the lower wall. Once there, he borrowed a barrel from one of the quay warehouses so that I could leave the confining cabinet of the chair and sit in the open air. I cannot tell you how invigorating it was to feel the sea breeze upon me—it blows onshore, of course, but not like it does on the Cobb. When he saw the pleasure that first outing occasioned, and the strength it restored to my spirits, he engaged the chair to collect me daily, and secured the harbormaster’s permission for a bench to be left along the wall for me and Nurse Rooke to sit upon.”
“Indeed, then, I believe it was you I saw seated on the bench last week, the morning of the storm that caused the ship explosion.”
“What a dreadful morning that was, for so many people! The ship and its crew lost, not to mention poor Mrs. Clay’s accident.”
Elizabeth was pleased that Mrs. Smith had introduced the very subject she most wanted to discuss. “Did you witness her fall?” Perhaps the widow would be able to put her doubts to rest—or provide information to confirm them.
“We did not stay as long as usual that day,” Mrs. Smith replied. “We left when the atmosphere turned unpleasant. I understand from Anne, however, that you and your husband are the couple who found Mrs. Clay. You poor dear—what a start that must have given you, seeing her lying on the pavement like that! Did you witness her fall?”
“No, we came upon her afterward. We did not even know who she was until Mr. Elliot identified her later.”
“Ah, yes—Mr. Elliot.” Mrs. Smith cast a disdainful gaze across the room, to where Mr. Elliot engaged in conversation with Lieutenant St. Clair. “I should be amazed that he has the effrontery to show himself here today, having carried on such a public affair with Mrs. Clay. But I have known him so long that his behavior has lost the power to astonish me. So did hers.”
“You knew them both?” Although Elizabeth was disappointed by Mrs. Smith’s lack of information about the accident itself, the mention of Mr. Elliot gave Elizabeth hope that the widow might prove a source of intelligence after all.
“These twelve years. Mr. Elliot was a particular friend of my husband when we married, and he introduced us to Mr. and Mrs. Clay. When Mr. Elliot wed not long after, we three couples became intimate companions, as comfortable in each other’s houses as our own. Together we enjoyed all London had to offer the young, carefree, and affluent.” She sighed. “I have been none of those things since becoming widowed, and as a result have had little recent intercourse with Mr. Elliot and Mrs. Clay.”
“I am sorry to hear it,” Elizabeth said. “It must have been painful to lose such close friends due to circumstances you could not control.”
“In ways you cannot guess. It is in fact Mr. Elliot who is responsible for a great many of my present difficulties. When my husband died, his affairs were out of order—a terribly complex business, property in the West Indies enmeshed in legal tangles—and Mr. Elliot, his designated executor, would not trouble himself to straighten out the matter. Fortunately, Captain Wentworth is now acting on my behalf. He has only just initiated his enquiries, but I trust that in time he will resolve everything. He is a veritable knight gallant.”
“How long ago did you lose your husband?”
“It is approaching three years. I have a miniature of him in this locket—would you like to see it?”
Elizabeth indulged her. Mr. Smith had been a pleasant-looking man, with a kind face, though his hair was rather red for Elizabeth’s taste. “He was very handsome.”
“His Jamaican plantation proved the death of him—he traveled there on business that he thought best handled in person, and returned so ill and weak that he died within a se’nnight of coming home. It is a source of deep regret to me that his last months were spent in the company of his erstwhile friend Mr. Elliot, and not the wife who doted on him till the end.”
“Your husband traveled to the West Indies?” Elizabeth repeated. “And Mr. Elliot accompanied him?” Elizabeth would not allow herself to become too hopeful about what she was hearing. Smith was a common name—as common as they came. Surely it was mere coincidence that this woman’s late husband shared that name with the plantation owner who had been a passenger on one of the merchant ships under escort by the Magna Carta.
The plantation owner who had been traveling with a future baronet.
She now wished she had not sent Darcy off, so that he could hear this intelligence himself. She looked for him in the room, and saw that the re
ceiving line had finally dispersed. He was now in conversation with Captain Wentworth, while Mrs. Wentworth, Alfred still in arms, was headed back toward Elizabeth and Mrs. Smith. Apparently, neither Sir Walter nor any of the other dignitaries had demonstrated any interest in relieving Anne Wentworth of her tiny charge.
Sir Walter, in fact, along with Miss Elliot, was presently engaged in conversation with Georgiana and the Ashfords. Elizabeth could not imagine what had drawn such an unlikely party together, until she observed that Miss Elliot paid particular notice to Sir Laurence, attending the baronet’s discourse with keen interest, and smiling more than Elizabeth had witnessed in all the time spent in Miss Elliot’s company heretofore.
Aha.
She recognized what Miss Elliot was about, but could do nothing for Georgiana at the moment. She needed to give Mrs. Smith her full concentration.
“Yes, my husband and Mr. Elliot traveled to Jamaica together,” Mrs. Smith replied. “Mr. Smith was not in heart or mind a man of business, and lived too long under the notion that money came as easily as it was spent. Though he never said as much to me, I suspect the financial difficulties that now sequester the plantation had already begun, and Mr. Elliot accompanied him as an advisor. Mr. Elliot studied law at Oxford, and my husband was often guided by him—to our misfortune, as Mr. Elliot encouraged us to live as extravagantly as he. Mr. Clay, too, followed Mr. Elliot’s lead. I believe he possessed even less business acumen than my husband did.”
“Is the West Indian property a sugar plantation?”
“It is, indeed, and it produces the finest sugar you can imagine. Oh, how spoiled I was! We had a French pastry cook who made the most exquisite cakes and confections—our dinner parties were worth attending for the dessert alone. Now I consider it a luxury to have sugar in my tea.”
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