Chapter 15
Anne
Anne de Bourgh was inclined to try to do something to offset her mother, to take some sort of action.
She decided it would be interesting to stroll to Darcy House.
Someone there, she was certain, had revealed the fact that Darcy was on his way to Oakhaven—and she was angry on her cousin’s behalf.
No one wished to pay servants who would be disloyal and speak to outsiders about their private concerns.
It was just two houses away, but Mrs Jenkinson trailed after her with some concern. “If neither of your cousins is at home, what shall we be doing there?” she bleated.
“I just wished to look in to make certain that all is running smoothly.”
“Oh! Well, yes, I suppose that is most genteel of you.”
Expecting to see the knocker still down, Anne nodded at the confirmation and then led Mrs Jenkinson to the stable area. “Hello,” she called out.
A young man stood from where he was crouching over a horse’s hoof. “Good morning,” he said. “Might I help you?”
“I am Anne de Bourgh, Mr Darcy’s cousin. I came to check to see if my mother made any difficulties here. If she caused a problem, I would love to rectify it, if I could, or at least to explain.”
Three men ranging in age from perhaps eighteen to five and forty had neared as she spoke and stood listening respectfully.
“There has been no trouble, madam,” the oldest man said. “Your mother came and spoke with us, but nobody here knew the Darcys’ itinerary, so we could not tell her anything.”
“Thank you for letting me know,” said Anne. “If you end up remembering something important, or if she comes back, do not hesitate to tell me.” She gave the man who had given the report her card with the Matlock’s direction written on the back.
Anne returned to the street and took a few steps towards Matlock House before she heard, “Excuse me, madam.” She stopped and turned back to see a maid hurrying towards her.
“Are you Miss de Bourgh?” the maid asked in a low voice.
Her facial expression was impassive, as servants were expected to be, but her voice sounded tense, and her fingers twisted her apron.
“I am.” Anne attempted to calm her with a kind smile and soft voice.
“Are you here on behalf of your mother?”
Picking her words carefully, Anne answered, “I am attempting to help her, yes.”
“As I told your mother, I put her trunk near the back door but hidden from sight, for the most part, but somehow someone spotted it and mistook it for one of the Darcys’ trunks. I am so sorry.”
The maid looked as if she was ready to dart back into the house, and Anne calmly interjected, “And can you tell me what was in the trunk?”
The maid took a step back. “Oh! You do not know?” Her mien was no longer completely unexpressive as her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“I apologise for my confusion, truly,” Anne said. “It is just that my mother had so many plans and came up with so many ideas, I seem to have forgotten which three or four ideas she has already enacted.”
That seemed to be the right thing to say. The maid’s face stilled again, and she bobbed her head. “Of course, ma’am. This one was the sheets.”
“Sheets.” Anne did not know what to make of that, and she dared to ask further—aware that the maid might bolt away at any moment. “Sheets for a bed…?”
“Well, it was supposed to be just one sheet. I already explained why it was four, and I apologised.”
“Thank you for the information. So, this was the scheme with the one sheet in a trunk, but there was a mix up. My mother had not told me what happened to the trunk. That must be a miscommunication….”
“Yes, ma’am. Well, I already told her, so I might as well let you know, too: evidence suggests that the trunk had been strapped to the Darcys’ new carriage. It seems to be on the bridal tour.”
“Thank you, that explains things very well,” Anne said.
She slipped the maid a coin, and she turned back towards Matlock House. Anne pondered what she had just learnt, concluding with the thought that her mother’s trunk was headed towards Oakhaven, or had already reached it, and her mother, likewise, was either on the way to or had arrived there.
A trunk.
With four bedsheets.
Anne certainly had no idea what to make of that!