Shortly after her husband died, Mrs. Eleonor Sants met Lord Matlock. Since she didn't have money and the prospect of living with her serious and old-fashioned father was not to her liking, she agreed to become Lord Matlock's mistress. A few days later, he leased a house for her, and promised to pay the servants wages and give her £300 a year. Because Mrs. Sants' house had two main bedrooms and a smaller one, the Lord Matlock's eldest son's mistress, Miss Morrison, moved in with her.

During the four years, Mrs. Sants was Lord Matlock's mistress, she lived in luxury. He visited her quite often, and he always used protection to avoid an unwanted pregnancy.

A few days after Mrs. Sants' sister, Marianne, arrived in London, she met Frederick Darcy, and they began a passionate affair. Two weeks later, at Lord Matlock's insistence, his son began courting the daughter of an earl with whom he wanted to make an alliance. Due to his father's orders, he stopped visiting Miss Morrison, but Lord Matlock continued visiting Mrs. Sants and paying all her expenses for a few more months.

Needless to say, Mrs. Sants' life was to change quite drastically. Her sister was pregnant, and subsequently died in childbirth. Then Frederick Darcy died under mysterious circumstances. He had been shot to death, but no one knew who the killer was. Lord Matlock ended their relationship; he would no longer be giving her money or paying her expenses. In addition, her father accused her of being the cause of Marianne's death and had disinherited her.

She was surprised when the Darcys visited her and asked several personal questions about her relationship with Lord Matlock, Marianne and Frederick Darcy. At first, she refused to answer any questions, and she had tried to deny any association between her sister and Frederick Darcy.

At one point in the conversation, a frustrated Darcy stated, "Mrs. Sants, don't waste our time lying. We already know about your sister's affair with my brother." He looked her in the eye and added, "Your father, and even you, yourself, had many reasons to hate and even kill my brother."

Mrs. Sants paled slightly and shook her head. "Mr. Darcy, neither my father nor I are responsible for your brother's death. My father did not have the financial means to hire someone to kill your brother."

She sighed, and hesitated for a moment. She needed money to leave London immediately, so she decided to speak up, "There are many things you don't know about your brother's life and your family, Mr. Darcy. But I will only tell you if the incentives are lucrative enough for me to do so."

Darcy frowned and shook his head; but Elizabeth squeezed his hand gently, and she responded, "Mrs. Sants, would you please be more specific? An incentive can mean many things, including that justice be served."

Mrs. Sants frowned and replied, "You know very well what I mean, Mrs. Darcy."

"Forgive me, but I don't know you well, and therefore I don't want to make assumptions of what you might consider 'enough incentives' to be."

"£5000."

Annoyed, Darcy stood up, and said, "Elizabeth, let's go home. I don't want to continue speaking with this woman anymore and I'm not willing to give her any money."

Elizabeth nodded, and before she stood up, Mrs. Sants exclaimed, "Please don't leave; Perhaps my request was excessive, but we can still reach an agreement."

Elizabeth looked at her impassively, and Mrs. Sants added, "Before I tell you what I know, you have to promise me that you will give me between £1,500 and £2,000 so I can leave London in order to go to some place where no one knows me and my life will no longer be in danger."

Darcy met her eyes and nodded. "You have my word."

"When I learned my sister was pregnant, I had a serious conversation with Lord Matlock. I asked for his help to convince your brother to marry her or at least help her financially."

Darcy nodded slightly. "Sadly, my brother learned about your sister's situation when it was too late."

She sighed, and added, "I wouldn't be surprised if Lord Matlock never told him; to Lord Matlock, my sister was merely a courtesan who had entertained his nephew for a few weeks." She took a deep breath, "The last night Lord Matlock visited me before he ended our arrangement, he was quite tense. After being intimate, he told me he was upset with Frederick Darcy because he had an affair with Lord Malcolm's wife."

"The marquess' wife?" Darcy asked, really surprised.

Mrs. Sants nodded. "Yes, and she was pregnant; Lord Malcolm was furious as he was sure the child was Frederick's."

"Do you think Lord Malcolm is the person responsible for Frederick Darcy's death?" Elizabeth and Darcy asked in unison.

She looked them both in the eye and shook her head, "No, I am convinced it was Lord Matlock who killed him."

Darcy and Elizabeth's eyes widened in surprise, and for several seconds they were silent. Mrs. Sants continued, "Frederick Darcy's reckless behavior was a serious problem for Lord Matlock; he was a womanizer and did not consider the consequences of his actions."

"You are wrong, Mrs. Sants. I am sure my uncle did not kill my brother."

"You don't know him as well as I do, Mr. Darcy." She sighed, "your uncle is a powerful man, a great politician and strategist. But he is ruthless and he is not a good man. He has no problem using underhanded tactics to get what he wants."

Darcy shook his head again; he could not believe Mrs. Sants' accusation. So, he insisted, "But my uncle was the one who hired the investigator."

"You don't have to believe what I am telling you, Mr. Darcy," she sighed and took a deep breath, "You are a good man, and I advise you to leave the past in the past. Your brother was a reckless man who did not measure the consequences of his actions. However, Lord Matlock is a dangerous man and one that you do not want to have as an enemy." She looked him in the eye, "If you go ahead with your investigation and continue asking too many questions of the wrong people, your life and even your wife's life might be in danger."

PPP

That night, Darcy couldn't sleep, thinking about so many things from the past.

Since he was born, his father had always shown clear favoritism for Frederick, and even though he felt that his father didn't love him, he still wanted to please him. His childhood and youth at Pemberley had been marked by sadness and loneliness; he had no friends his own age, and the only person who had ever paid attention to him besides his governess and tutors was Mrs. Reynolds.

Everything changed for the better when he went to Cambridge and met Charles Bingley, and later when he moved to Hertfordshire and met Elizabeth.

After Frederick's murder, his peaceful and happy life changed. Lady Catherine and Lord Matlock – before he was the master of Pemberley, he cared little if he was dead or alive – tried to convince him to break off his engagement to the woman he loved more than anything in the world.

He wondered what would have happened if he had been in Frederick's situation: handsome, wealthy, heir and later master of an estate worth more than £10,000 a year, with dozens of women fawning at him who wanted to be Mrs. Darcy. Would he possibly have been able to be a close friend of a merchant's son? Had the chance presented itself, would he have fallen in love with Elizabeth and married her, or would he have considered her beneath him? Would he have turned out like his sibling?

And the most difficult question, for which he had not been able to find an answer, had Lord Matlock really ordered his brother's murder? How well did he know his uncle?

His uncle was the one who sent him the express with the news of what had happened to his brother. And he seemed genuinely concerned for his brother's health. Lord Matlock immediately hired investigators and closely followed the investigation.

If Lord Matlock was responsible for his brother's death, would he be capable of killing him as well, or worse, Elizabeth? The idea that something terrible would happen to her was inconceivable. He couldn't continue living without her by his side.

PPP

Elizabeth could also not sleep because she knew her husband was highly agitated. Around midnight, she decided the best thing to do was to talk to him and share some good news. She hoped to help him forget the conversation with Mrs. Sants, at least for a few hours.

Tenderly, she caressed his cheek, "My love, I can't sleep. Would you like to tell me what you are thinking?"

Darcy kissed her hand and shook his head. "My thoughts are not pretty, quite the opposite."

"I know, my love. I know all the expressions on your face and the gestures you make when you are happy, sad, worried or just thoughtful. You have no way of hiding anything from me."

Darcy sighed. "I wish our life was how it used to be, Lizzy. I wish I could return to being the parson at Netherfield Park, surrounded by honest and hard-working people." He softly kissed her lips. "For the first time in my life, I don't know what to do. I am very afraid that if I continue with this investigation something terrible might happen to you."

Elizabeth hugged him tightly. "I confess, I am also quite afraid, but I am not afraid that something might happen to me, but that something bad might happen to you."

They began caressing and kissing, and made love with tenderness and passion.

Then, as Elizabeth lay with her head on Darcy's chest, and while he caressed her hair, she said, "There is something important that I want to tell you, and now is a very good time." She paused to ensure Darcy was listening, "Since we got married, I haven't had my menses. A few weeks ago, I had slight dizziness and nausea. So, I consulted with Mrs. Gardiner and she told me that due to my symptoms, it is likely that I am pregnant."

Darcy hugged her even tighter. Due to such an important announcement, he resolved that he would not, under any circumstances, put the lives of his wife and future child at risk. After going to Longbourn, they would return to Pemberley. Then he would contact her niece's adoptive parents. He didn't want to return to London for a very long time, nor did he want to have any kind of relationship with the Matlocks.