Page 2 of Cousin Conundrum

Purple, the color of dowagers.

“I did not realize the Peacock had struck de Bourgh House,” Darcy murmured, turning over the card to find the back blank. He weighed the velum in his palm, judging the stock of the highest quality. But then, with what the Peacock stole, he could afford such luxuries. “It was not in the papers.”

“Nor will it be.” Lady Catherine snatched the card back with a sniff. “The de Bourgh name will not be bandied about for general amusement.”

“But you told the authorities who is behind the theft?” Darcy asked. “They cannot do their job if they do not know who they seek.”

“I told my brother. He spoke to the Runners and whoever else he decided should know.”

“Surely, a firsthand account—”

“Of what? We were at the modiste.”

“And your staff?” Darcy suggested. “Have they spoken to the Runners? To the parish constables? They may have—”

“If my staff had seen this Peacock, I would hardly have been robbed, would I?”

Reining in his temper at his aunt’s repeated interruptions, Darcy asked, “Why do you so urgently require my presence, Aunt?”

“London has obviously become too dangerous. Last month it was a window. This month a robbery. We simply cannot remain in Town.”

“A window?” Darcy was thankful he had not been called to rectify that as well.

“Yes, on the east side of the house.” Lady Catherine sniffed. “No one saw when or how. As I said, London has become quite dangerous, especially when my staff appear to be woefully unobservant.”

“You did not find London too dangerous when other widows were burgled,” Anne pointed out.

Lady Catherine cast her daughter a quelling look. “I assumed this Peacock knew where the lines are drawn. I am the sister of an earl, not some dowdy old dowager. A de Bourgh does not get burgled.”

Darcy met Anne’s gaze and gave a small shake of his head. Pointing out that de Bourghs obviously did get burgled would do no good. No one wanted Aunt Catherine more riled. “And what do you require from me?” he reiterated.

“As London has become too dangerous.” Aunt Catherine paused to angle a hard look at Anne before continuing, “We are departing for Rosings. You will follow within the week so that you may continue your courtship of Anne. You will reside with us for the autumn, and there will be a Yuletide wedding.”

Darcy sighed. If only he’d already departed to oversee the harvest, he would be in Derbyshire, not having this argument. Again. “I am not courting Anne, and I am certainly not marrying her this winter.”

“Nor do I wish for Darcy to court me or marry me,” Anne added staunchly.

Beside her, Mrs. Jenkinson stared down at her hands, likely as tired of Darcy arguing against marrying Anne as he, and as he knew Anne to be.

“Hush, both of you. Darcy, you will honor your mother’s wishes and the promise you made, and you will do so by spending this autumn in Rosings in preparation for a Yuletide wedding. By marrying Anne, you will remove her from the home of a widow, so she need not fear the Peacock any longer.”

“I am not afraid of the Peacock, Mother. He has never been known to cause harm, or even to be seen. Nor has he ever stolen from the same home twice. We are completely safe here.”

“Furthermore,” Lady Catherine continued to Darcy, as if Anne hadn’t spoken, “I wish you, before you depart London to join us, to set people to seeking this so-called Peacock. I do not care what resources you must employ, but you will see him found. He must hang.”

Deciding to ignore the first half of his aunt’s remarks, Darcy replied, “Are not the earl, Henry, and Richard already doing all they can to see the villain apprehended?”

Aunt Catherine met his gaze squarely. “They are. What of it?”

“I fail to see what I can accomplish that they cannot.”

“Are you refusing your assistance?” Lady Catherine asked stiffly. “Were your mother alive, you would not show me so little regard. My sister would see every resource expended to bring the man to justice.”

“I am not refusing to assist you,” Darcy said evenly. “I merely point out that the Bow Street Runners are already deployed, and the parish constables presumably notified, and both are quite invested in apprehending the Peacock.”

“More Runners can always be hired.”

Darcy nodded. He supposed they could, for what little good that would do. “A reward may be in order. The papers—”