Elizabeth Bennet has made no promise of silence.
But she has not told Mr. Darcy the whole truth either.
Georgiana Darcy is receiving letters from Lieutenant Edmund Vale, a charming officer who speaks to every wound her brother’s caution has left behind.
He tells her she is not a child. That one mistake should not define her forever.
That courage means trusting him when everyone else would keep her safe by keeping her small.
Elizabeth hears the danger in every word.
She has known a man like this before.
But Georgiana is not Elizabeth’s sister. Pemberley is not Elizabeth’s house. And Darcy, for all his love, has not yet learned that protection can feel like a cage to the person being protected.
When Elizabeth finds one of Vale’s letters, the pattern becomes impossible to ignore. He is not merely courting Georgiana. He is teaching her to distrust everyone who might save her.
Then a final note arrives.
A storm gathers over Pemberley.
And Georgiana disappears.
