Pride and Prescience

to possess them?”

“I didn’t have the money to buy them. I had just been dismissed from my most recent academic post and was seeking a new position. I had been keeping my eye on the rings for about a month when I encountered Mr. Parrish one day in the pawnbroker’s shop. He noted my interest in the rings. I, taking him to be a gentleman of means, explained my professional curiosity about them in hopes that he might be prevailed upon to patronize my studies.”

Randolph cast one of the candles into the hearth. The wax quickly softened and caught fire, brightening the dim room. “Mr. Parrish agreed to purchase the rings and keep them for me until I had the wherewithal to pay for them myself. He said, however, that he was leaving the country the next day and did not expect to return for some time. To my surprise and delight, he invited me to accompany him to England. He said he was intrigued by my studies and wanted to learn more about them. Perhaps, he suggested, he might consider financing my next expedition, or could introduce me to others who would.

“I could scarcely believe my good fortune! Indeed, I was so excited I didn’t realize until later that I hadn’t even learned the name of my new benefactor. Having no other prospects or connections, I packed my belongings and met him at the docks the next morning. It was then that he introduced himself to me as Frederick Parrish, owner of a sugar plantation.”

The first candle having liquefied, he tossed the other into the blaze. It, too, was quickly consumed. “During the voyage, Mr. Parrish displayed insatiable curiosity about the rings — their history, what they did, how they worked. His enquiries then expanded to encompass other artifacts and enchantments. He proved a quick student, absorbing even the tiniest details. After so many years of having my work mocked and unappreciated, I was gratified by his abundant interest. I never realized that I was unwittingly helping him develop a most despicable plot.”

“Would it have made a difference, Randolph?” Parrish snickered. “When we met, you didn’t have a pot to piss in. You were at that pawnbroker’s shop to sell one of your other pieces of junk just to pay your rent.”

“That’s true — I was,” he told the Darcys. “Perhaps I didn’t realize what was happening because I didn’t want to. Once we reached London, Parrish established himself in the townhouse while I took a small room in Fleet Street. Concerned about the safety of my artifacts, I arranged for them to be displayed at the British Museum rather than store them in my room or accept Mr. Parrish’s offer to keep them at the townhouse. He seemed quite put out by my decision, to the point where I feared losing his patronage.

“Mr. Parrish soon became the toast of the ton, and I benefited from his popularity. While he courted marriageable young ladies, I courted potential patrons. And so when he came to me with a lock of Miss Kendall’s hair and asked me to teach him how to create a charm I’d told him about, to my shame, I complied rather than risk losing his favor.”

Elizabeth recalled Parrish asking for a lock of her own hair. “What did the charm do?”

“If the lock is freely given, the charm blinds the giver to the wearer’s faults,” Randolph said. “It’s not as powerful as the rings; it doesn’t dominate another’s will, merely discourages one from considering the wearer’s statements and actions too critically. I believe Mr. Parrish fashioned a second charm — the medallion your husband just removed — from locks given by members of this household.”

That explained the lack of resistance Parrish had encountered when he suggested institutionalizing Caroline, Elizabeth realized. He must have invoked the medallion that night, as he had with Bingley just now.

At Randolph’s invitation, Darcy, still holding the medallion, cast it into the flames. The unpleasant odor of burning hair wafted through the room, but all were too interested in learning more from Randolph to leave.

“Did you not wonder why Parrish wanted to create such an item?” Darcy asked.

“I thought he only wanted to aid his suit and secure Miss Kendall’s hand more quickly. By then, I had started to suspect that his financial resources were running low — he hosted fewer parties, spent more conservatively. He still talked about financing my expedition but never advanced any capital. I believed him simply strapped until the sale of his plantation was complete. Selfishly, I thought his marrying an heiress might restore his generosity, and I yet hoped some of it would fall my way.”

Darcy squeezed Elizabeth’s hand, then released her to approach Parrish. “When Mr. Kendall investigated you and ended the courtship, you had to find another heiress. And you had to act quickly, before Kendall exposed you to all of society.”

Parrish looked at his wife in disgust. “Why else would I have settled for Caroline Bingley? She was an easy mark — licking her wounds over your engagement and unprotected by her brother’s distraction over his. She would have given herself to anyone in breeches.”

“Swine.” Caroline pushed herself to her feet and went to stand before him. “I can’t fathom how I ever believed your lies.”

“Because you wanted to. Just like I tolerated your company because I wanted to — and because I didn’t think I would have to endure it for long. But you just wouldn’t die. You were too damned lucky! I send you out on Bow Street at midnight with a bulging reticule, and instead of a cutthroat, the Darcys find you. I send you down to the kitchen for some late-night slicing, and you take so long to bleed out that the cook discovers you in time. I couldn’t get rid of you! So when Mrs. Bennet let slip how much money your brother really had, I figured I’d kill off your family first to gain a larger inheritance for my trouble — and do it before Bingley went and tied it all up in land.” His lips curved into a smug grin. “Or rather, I’d have you do it.”

“Monster! You directed me to loosen the bolt on that wheel.” Caroline’s voice shook. “You had me don servants’ clothes and sneak into my brother’s chamber to set the fire.”

“And you couldn’t even do those things right, you dumb—”

She slapped him. “And you!” She spun round to accost Randolph. “You stood by and watched him do it!”

“Indeed I did not, madam! I assure you, I had no idea he planned to use those rings until he produced them at the wedding ceremony. And even then, I didn’t realize he intended to kill you. When you were found in the kitchen, I thought your spirit was acting toward its own destruction rather than allow itself to be subverted to Parrish’s will.” He turned to Elizabeth. “Mr. Parrish asked me to suggest taking his wife back to America, saying he thought her family would be more disposed to agree if the recommendation came from me. But the idea of consulting Dr. Lancaster was mine. I truly did want to help her! Later, I tried to use my amulet to weaken the ring’s hold on her. That’s what I was doing the day you walked in on our session.”

“The day of the winter solstice?”

“A coincidence, that.”

“I remember now,” Caroline said vaguely, as if recalling a dream. “All along I could see what was happening to me, but as if I were witnessing it happen to someone else. At first, I didn’t realize what was making me act so strangely. Frederick would suggest things, and I would just do them. After I went riding with Miss Kendall, I started to suspect something strange was afoot — Hecate shied from my touch all morning, and spooked when I laid my hand on her neck. The animal knew before I did that I wore an evil ring! But I was powerless to act in my own defense.

“Then Frederick’s commands became more direct, and I noticed him manipulating his own ring when he gave them. I understood then. But the more I attempted to resist, the more mad I appeared to all of you. And the more time I spent in his proximity, the more the ring overpowered my will.” She met Bingley’s sorrowful gaze. “I am sorry, brother, for the injuries I did you.”

He crossed to her and took her hands. “You could not help yourself.”

“I tried! I tried to draw attention to the ring, but my efforts failed. Only once since my wedding day did I feel I had any control at all — after my last meeting with Professor Randolph. When I left, I felt strong enough to confront Frederick. I told him I knew what he was doing, and that I would reveal his treachery if he didn’t remove my ring. He refused, and we fought. Then he drugged me, and when I awoke, I was weak again.”

“Why didn’t you simply remove the ring?” Elizabeth asked.

“I could not. I even burned my hand intentionally, hoping someone else would take off the cursed thing.”

“I was also unable to slide it off,” said Randolph. “It was magically bound to her. That’s why I had to return to London for this rod — to break the bond.”

Elizabeth frowned. “But I removed the ring myself, this morning.”

Randolph regarded her in amazement. “You did? That’s — why, that’s extraordinary, Mrs. Darcy! In the long history of that ring, only the wearer of its companion band has been able to remove it without supernatural aid. You