Chapter 27
Elizabeth
The two couples travelled to Haye-Park in Mr. Darcy’s comfortable carriage.
Mr. Darcy astonished everyone by entering the carriage as soon as he handed Elizabeth in, rather than, as was proper, allowing Jane to enter next.
He sat in the rear-facing seat and, since he had never relinquished Elizabeth’s hand, pulled her gently to join him on that bench.
Elizabeth gasped, but Mr. Darcy kept a calm expression on his face, as if the arrangement was everything proper.
Mr. Bingley handed Jane in, and she took the front-facing bench, of course. She blushed bright red as Mr. Bingley joined her on the bench. Mr. Bingley looked quite pleased, but also embarrassed. The two sat rather stiffly and—as Jane moved to make it so—as far apart as possible.
Mr. Darcy still held Elizabeth’s hand, gently ensuring that she sat quite close.
She could not help smiling at the idea of the reticent and highly respected master of Pemberley behaving rather like a besotted schoolboy who did not yet understand society’s rules, but she did not love making her sister so uncomfortable.
“Sir,” she whispered right into his ear, “are you not worried about gossip?”
Bending to her ear, he murmured, “Were you addressing me, Elizabeth?”
“Sir,” she almost hissed, but with laughter in her eyes, “we are not alone.”
“The curtains are drawn; nobody can see inside. Your very dear sister and my very dear friend will not tell, and my servants are very well paid and have ever been discreet about everything concerning the Darcy family.”
“Am I being courted by a rake?”
“Perhaps, but I am only a rake when it comes to you. I have been everything proper for seven and twenty years, and now that I find the woman I would wed, the obstacles thrust upon us are worthy of a novel: deranged plotting, blackmail, aborted kidnapping, and even accidental death. May I not be allowed a few minutes of supposed impropriety?”
Elizabeth was shocked to feel, not just an upwelling of affection for her suitor, but also an entirely physical reaction to his nearness, his tender cradling of her hand, his unexpected words.
She felt stirrings deep in her core, and although her brain skittered away from naming what she was feeling, she was very happy to cease her protests about the seating arrangements and just enjoy them.
As the carriage slowed, Mr. Darcy helped Elizabeth join Jane on the forward-facing bench, and Mr. Bingley moved to join Mr. Darcy. When a footman opened the door and lowered the step, the only unexpected sight was Jane’s still-blushing face.
The two men stepped down from the carriage and helped the ladies alight; Mr. Bingley escorted Jane to the door as Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth followed.
The butler indicated that the family was at home to callers, and he announced them before leading them into a rather gaudy drawing room where sat Mr. and Mrs. Goulding, along with their son, Mr. William Goulding, and their daughter, Miss Amanda Goulding.
Everyone bowed, curtsied, and exchanged greetings; they briefly spoke about the weather and the roads.
Of course, there were some hastily-covered shocked expressions at Mr. Bingley’s battered appearance.
That provided the opening they needed, and he said, “I wish this was merely a social call, but my household has suffered from a most disastrous month: an accidental fire that destroyed much of my kitchen and, soon after, a criminal attack. Darcy and I must beg you, Mr. Goulding and Mr. William Goulding, to consult in private on two sensitive matters.”
Again, astonishment raised the eyebrows of their hosts, and again, good breeding demanded that the Gouldings cover their surprise with bland expressions. The men all left for a more private talk, and Elizabeth and Jane used every bit of their charm to introduce less shocking topics of discussion.
Eventually, Elizabeth said, “My beloved sister was taken ill while visiting Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley, at Netherfield, and of course I went there to nurse her back to health. While we were there, we were very impressed by a housemaid named Molly. And Molly eventually shared with me that the maid I had known as Mademoiselle Bonaparte had come here to Haye-Park. I wished to briefly consult with that maid, if you still employ her. It is a matter of delicacy concerning her knowledge of the manor house at Netherfield.”
Mrs. Goulding opened and closed her mouth twice, as if wishing to emulate a goldfish. Miss Goulding said, “That ridiculous name! Mama and I do not let her use such a name, here; we call her Alice. Should I ring for her?”
Elizabeth swept a glance at Mrs. Goulding, who was nodding; she said, “That would be so kind of you. I thank you and apologise for the interruption to your household routine.”
However, Alice Pott did not appear. Instead, the middle-aged housekeeper appeared, looking incredibly worried as she whispered something to her mistress, then bobbed her head and left the room swiftly.
Elizabeth and Jane watched as their hostess wrung her hands, hesitating, as if she did not know what to do or say.
“Are you well, Mrs. Goulding?” Jane asked.
“Mama! What has happened?” Miss Goulding demanded.
“Elizabeth.” The last was Mr. Darcy, and she got up and turned towards the door; seeing him standing there, she hastened over. He took her hand and led her out to the hallway.
“What news?” she asked in a whisper.
“Apparently, two days ago, Alice Pott and Robert Patterson were seen together, conversing in the area between the manor house and the stables here at Haye-Park. No one from the household has seen them since, but when they did not return that night, the butler arranged for a quiet search yesterday morning. The only thing that the searchers turned up was that a servant from the neighbouring estate, who was approaching Haye-Park in order to return a borrowed horse, saw the two of them walking towards Meryton.”
“And nobody in Meryton saw them?”
“Apparently the searchers could not turn up any additional sightings of either of them that day or since.”
“So we have a maid, a footman, and one of the colonel’s watchers all missing? They cannot all have been killed, could they?”
Mr. Darcy cringed. “Good lord! I certainly hope not.”
“Did Mr. Wickham have a history of violence?”
“I have never even heard of him hitting another, let alone killing anyone; when I knew him in university, it was all silver-tongued charm, claims of victimhood, seduction, and wheedling for more time to repay loans.” Mr. Darcy shook his head and added, “However, he brought a pistol—a loaded one!—to Netherfield, so that tells me that he has changed in regards to violence.”
“I see. So, have we run into a dead end in our investigations? Or will we continue to search for the individuals and perhaps recently-dug graves?”
“I think it is clear that Bingley’s current staff was not involved with blackmail nor kidnapping schemes. From my friend’s standpoint, I suppose he could turn over the information to Sir William and let it go.”
Elizabeth considered, then nodded. “I agree.”
“As for me, my father’s godson is now gone; he cannot do anyone any further harm.
I do not know if I can let it go, however; what if Wickham killed one or more of these folks?
What if he has locked them up somewhere?
Should I not seek to know the truth, seek for the people or their graves, seek out their families, to make things as much right as I can? ”
Elizabeth studied him for several seconds.
She said, “You being you, I suppose you will, whether or not you should. But I am struck by the idea that the people could be locked up somewhere rather than dead. I should hate for anyone to slowly starve to death, if we can find them and prevent such torturous deaths. Can you rally men and horses and hounds? And perhaps get some items of clothing from Miss Pott and Mr. Patterson so that the dogs have their scent. While you do that, I can create maps of the lands around Netherfield and Longbourn, marking all the places where people might be locked up.”
The two separated; Elizabeth asked Miss Goulding for paper, pen, and ink and sat down to make two maps, one for each estate.
She marked the half-burnt hunter’s lodge on Longbourn’s land and the hunting box in the forest near Netherfield, the ice houses for each estate, the potting shed of Longbourn, and the still-room lodge of Netherfield, which was located near the herb garden rather than within the manor house.
Between the two estates, there were several tool sheds, root cellars, and a storm cellar separated from Longbourn’s manor house.
The old almshouse on Netherfield land was now abandoned, and the ruins of an older coach house was located near Longbourn.
A few workshops were seldom used, and the windmill located on Netherfield land was only inspected by workers when it broke down.
The milking parlour and granaries of Longbourn’s home farm were no longer used, and Netherfield boasted a hermitage that was once a hunting tower.
Elizabeth wondered if she would be able to find Mr. Darcy near the stables, and indeed she did.
Mr. Bingley was there, as well, and she quickly explained her maps, showing how they could orient the searchers using the marked river and brook, the millpond, and the roads.
Each of the structures dotting the maps was labelled, and a few were described briefly as well.
“We will gather more searchers when we arrive at Longbourn and Netherfield,” Mr. Darcy assured her. “Can you and Jane be ready to leave in the carriage within a quarter hour?”
“Certainly.”
Soon they all left. Elizabeth and Jane had the carriage driver leave them at Longbourn, and the men went on to lead searches. They all hoped that the people they sought would soon be discovered—alive.
Hours later, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley arrived at Longbourn. Elizabeth could see that the men had attempted to clean up after the search, but Mr. Bingley looked, not just battered, but exhausted. Mr. Darcy looked less tired, but his serious expression told her nothing.
The two men asked to speak to Mr. Bennet and were whisked to the bookroom.
Elizabeth felt vexed to be left out, especially when she had worked so hard on making those maps and longed to know if her efforts had paid off.
But in less than a minute, Hill came to the parlour to ask her and Jane to come to the bookroom.
Once again, Elizabeth asked, “What news?”
Mr. Darcy smiled and said, “We found them in the hermitage. They are alive; there was a source of water although no food. They were very thankful to be found.”
“Did you even know you had a hermitage?” Mr. Bennet asked Mr. Bingley. The latter shook his head, and Elizabeth’s father said, “It is probably a good idea to inspect all of your lease holdings, while walking or riding.” Mr. Bingley looked quite blank but then nodded.
Mr. Darcy took over to give a full report.
Elizabeth loved how he moved through the news with a matter-of-fact attitude and precision.
James Clinton, it seemed, had not been promised riches for his part of the scheme, but was rather threatened with the exposure of a murder he had committed; he was promised a way to start over somewhere far away with a new name.
Alice Pott had been paid handsomely to teach Mr. Wickham about the back stairs, service corridors, and underground tunnel with which he could escape.
She denied knowing his intent to kidnap a guest of Netherfield and was horrified at the idea of helping “such a despicable wretch.” Robert Patterson had accepted money from Miss Bingley to carry messages and documents to and from a forger who was, he admitted, a distant cousin.
Again, he had had no idea of the sort of “miscreant” Miss Bingley was working with.
“And where are these three people now?” Elizabeth asked.
Mr. Darcy explained that Sir William had arranged for them to be held in a sort of locked-down recovery area in the unused coach house of Lucas Lodge.
“The apothecary was just arriving as we were leaving, and I left two of my own most trusted footmen to ensure that they stay put until they are moved somewhere else. Of course, Sir William’s family is making certain that the three have plenty of food and water. ”
“And the colonel…?”
“I sent an express to my cousin Richard—Colonel Fitzwilliam,” he explained as he flicked a glance at Mr. Bennet. “And of course William Goulding and several Goulding servants were there to see that Alice Pott and Robert Patterson had been found but are in considerable trouble.”
“I think, then, that this is all behind us. Finally,” Elizabeth said.
“Forward, from now on,” Mr. Darcy promised.