Chapter Seven
Acting upon Mr. Darcy’s advice, Mr. Tilney had arranged a luncheon for everybody, so that they might discuss what was next to be done.
Elizabeth and her companions agreed to keep their investigation a secret, lest they make targets of themselves.
Sir Edward suggested that it would be entirely plausible to say that he and the ladies had spent time growing better acquainted, and Mr. Tilney teased that he and Darcy had been with them to woo the young ladies, causing Cathy to pinch Elizabeth when Mr. Darcy agreed.
In the dining room, an ample buffet had been laid out; no servants attended them, but they passed the dishes and served themselves as if it were a casual family meal. All the while, though, they eyed one another with suspicion, whispering amongst themselves.
When he was ready to address them, Mr. Tilney stood and clapped his hands to silence the nervous chatter at the table.
“Regrettably, we did not end last evening in any semblance of accord, but we are in crisis, and I believe we have much to discuss, which ought to be said openly and transparently. We must reach an agreement about what is to be done.”
“I think we can all agree that we wish to get out of here alive,” Mrs. Rushworth said, and her husband snorted with laughter.
“Regrettably, indeed,” Mr. Crawford hissed. “You hardly seem to regret the events of yesterday. I cannot imagine remaining so cavalier after the death of a father and brother.”
“I am sure he has been weeping today,” Cathy cried.
“Indeed,” Sir Edward agreed. “When we moved the captain’s body to the cellar with the others, Mr. Tilney was quite overcome.”
Their host offered his guests a wan smile. “I am aggrieved that my father was such a man, and my brother was growing very like him. I have been pained by the loss of my esteem for them for many years, but my grief is not like that of a man who has lost someone dearly beloved.”
“He did not much care for them, and it bothers him not that they are dead,” Lady Susan said with a mocking wave of her hand.
Sir Walter curled his lip at her. “And are you terribly distressed about it?”
“If I were related by blood, I should at least pretend to be,” Lady Susan quipped.
“It is interesting to me that some persons who may have more suspicion cast upon them than others are so quick to blame Mr. Tilney, who is such an obvious culprit that I am entirely convinced of his innocence,” Miss Denham said, grimacing at Lady Susan and Mr. Crawford.
Mrs. Rushworth bristled at this. “Why should some of us be guiltier than others?”
“Because, madam,” Mr. Tilney began to say, but Mrs. Rushworth waved her hand at him dismissively.
“I was not finished speaking, sir, and I hardly want to hear from you. This is all your fault! What did you expect, inviting us all here. It might have all been resolved through correspondence, if you wished to be of aid to us, without setting us all up for disaster.”
Mr. Bertram scowled at his sister. “Maria, if he had merely written to us claiming that the evidence of our misdeeds had been destroyed, who would have believed him? Who would not have had some doubt that it would resurface someday?”
“I never know when I shall be able to gain access to my father’s secret documents at all,” Mr. Tilney said.
“He often travels with his most valuable documents on his person. It seemed easier to catch him in a trap that would silence him, by bringing him to the royals. Besides, I imagined you all might enjoy witnessing his downfall, after what you endured. As I said the night before last, I expected it might be satisfying to watch him clapped in irons for his crimes against the Crown, which were far more devious than what he has done to you. I expected to be celebrating his arrest, not speculating about his murder.”
“Besides,” Emma said, “It was a chance for some of us to meet who really ought to – all of Sir Edward’s daughters.”
“And we shall all meet Princess Elizabeth and Prince Edward!” Cathy fairly bounced in her chair as she reminded them of this inducement.
Sir Walter sniffed. “How do we know they are coming? We have only your word on it, and you can be nothing to them, you are not even titled.”
“And why would I lie about it? I did not tell any of you about it until your arrival – or rather, Mrs. Clay and Mrs. Younge made some indiscreet comments. You can hardly say you were lured here under false pretenses. The letters you received from Mr. Butler told the absolute truth; I wished to help you resolve your unfortunate situations.”
“Then why the false name?” Mr. Crawford shot him a look of challenge.
“Because I feared that one amongst you might seek to gain some advantage by telling my father I meant to betray him! It was a great risk to take, but I only ever wanted to be helpful. Look, here is the letter I received from the royals.”
Mr. Tilney produced a folded piece of paper from his coat pocket, displaying the Hanover seal for all to see before passing the note around the table.
“See for yourselves. They are coming as soon as the weather permits. At any rate, can you not think how preposterous your accusations are? If I washed to kill my father and brother, I might have done it a hundred ways without inviting so many witnesses!”
“Witnesses, or suspects you could blame it on?” Lady Susan leveled a glare before leaning into her niece and examining the royal letter, and then flippantly handing it off to Mr. Willoughby, who scowled at it.
“I must echo my uncle’s question, sir. Why would the royals accept an invitation from you?”
“For two reasons. The first is that my father worked for them in a sensitive capacity, and had first come to their notice more than twenty years ago, by performing a great service. Another amongst us, who is titled, was involved at the time, and has a more significant connection.”
The party all glanced between the four titled people at the table, who all wore inscrutable expressions. Mr. Tilney continued. “There is also the matter of the castle. It once belonged to the royal family, and Princess Elizabeth is of a mind to buy it back and make herself a personal retreat.”
Mr. Rushworth snapped his fingers as if struck by an idea, which seemed unlikely. “And you wish to sell, because you knew you would inherit Northanger Abbey!”
Mr. Tilney gazed heavenward as if unable to bear the stupidity. “I did imagine she would pay me for the castle, allowing me to purchase something more modern, and in England.”
Elizabeth shared a look of wary humor with Cathy before having her share of the conversation. “I am astonished to say that I agree with Miss Denham. Mr. Tilney is a very obvious culprit, and surely some have greater motives than others, and are hiding behind him.”
Miss Denham curled her lip at Elizabeth. “And I suppose you and your spirited little friend – forgive me, sister – mean to do something about it? You have been secreted away all day!”
“Yes, how very strange that we should keep to our rooms the day after three murders,” Elizabeth drawled.
Sir Walter tittered with contempt. “This squabbling is so unseemly. But these lovely ladies have a point; we ought to do something. What of these dossiers, Mr. Tilney, all the documents and evidence your father possessed? I say we recover them, if we can. Then we shall know who is hiding something worse than bastards and bad politics.”
Those he had alluded to all grimaced at Sir Walter, but Mr. Tilney held his hand up. “If we can put aside the foul language, I might tell you that I searched my father’s things, and I found nothing. I will look at Northanger, when we get out of here, and destroy it all.”
Sir Walter raised an eyebrow at Mr. Tilney as if not believing him, and several others looked doubtful as well. Lady Susan rolled her eyes. “You said he travelled with his important documents.”
“There have been occasions when he did not – that is how I managed to discover them in the first place,” Mr. Tilney said, perfectly convincing. Elizabeth agreed that it was safest to keep the dossiers a secret, but it was unnerving how smoothly the man lied.
Lady Susan gestured to Mrs. Clay and Mrs. Younge. “We have other ways of finding out what you all are hiding. Let us question these creatures who stole our secrets. I say we tie them up and have the truth out of them!”
Emma gasped. “Aunt, you cannot want that!”
Elizabeth was sure Lady Susan must be bluffing, for her secret was among the worst; alongside Mr. Crawford and Miss Denham, Lady Susan was the most suspicious person on their wall of clues.
Since Emma had already confessed that she had some misgivings about her aunt, Elizabeth found a sly way to mention her own distrust. “There is a room in the castle filled with junk and relics and old newspapers, and we have looked at some of them. One scandal sheet from years ago had such interesting things to say about you after you were widowed twice at such a young age. Do you really wish us to know what the general was blackmailing you about?”
“What an insolent friend you have made, Emma,” Lady Susan admonished. “Yes, he was blackmailing me for the murder of my second husband, but I did not kill him!”
Emma breathed a sigh of relief before asking, “Then why were you paying him for his silence?”
Lady Susan glanced coolly around the room. “I did not wish to make a scandal. My second husband was a deranged lunatic! Just before his death we had an argument, and he threatened me with some harm in public.”
Mr. Rushworth gasped. “But why would he harm you in public?”
His wife leaned in and explained, “I believe she means that he threatened, in public, to harm her.” To Lady Susan she said flatly, “I suppose he did not like you very much.”
“Yet he is the one who took a fall down some stairs,” Mr. Tilney said with a smirk. “Pray, what sort of man was he?”