Chapter Fifteen
It was a long way from Derbyshire to Cornwall, Darcy thought with a sigh for what must have been the twentieth time during the journey.
In recent years, when the family travelled any great distance, they had taken three carriages.
One for himself and Elizabeth, another for the girls and a companion or governess and a third for the servants and luggage.
It was an extravagance, certainly, but one Darcy was more than willing to pay for.
As their daughters had grown older and no longer needed to travel under their parents' immediate supervision, he had revelled in having his wife entirely to himself once more on long journeys.
Over the years, they had become increasingly inventive in how they passed the time.
He glanced towards Elizabeth now and found her watching him with an expression that suggested her thoughts had travelled in the same direction.
Her lips twitched and her eyes flashed in a manner that even two decades after their meeting still managed to undo him.
Darcy cleared his throat and looked pointedly through the window.
Unfortunately, with Bella's flight still so horribly fresh in both their minds, neither he nor Elizabeth had been comfortable allowing either of their remaining daughters out of their sight for more than a few minutes.
It meant that instead of having his wife delightfully to himself, Darcy had spent day after day pressed into one perfectly comfortable but overstuffed carriage with Elizabeth, Kate and Mina.
He did not think there had been a break in the conversation for more than two or three minutes at a time and the novelty had worn off somewhere around Birmingham.
Mina had just completed a lengthy diatribe on the superiority of female artists and was now explaining her latest project, a study of Pemberley’s waterways in excruciating detail.
Darcy's head had begun to pound somewhere during her discussion of composition and was now keeping time with the steady clatter of the carriage wheels.
He looked towards his wife and Elizabeth gave him an indulgent smile and placed her hand upon his thigh, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
They were now only half a day from Falmouth.
Soon he would hold Bella in his arms and know for a certainty that she was safe.
He was still angry, and he knew Elizabeth had several stern words of her own to exchange with their eldest daughter, but much of his anger had faded in the face of the all-encompassing relief of knowing she was well and being cared for.
"Papa?" Kate's soft voice broke him from his thoughts.
"Yes, darling?"
"Now that Bella has made such a long journey on her own, I have been thinking that perhaps I could travel next summer.
There is a site of great scientific interest near Rosings that I should very much like to visit, and afterwards I could stay with Aunt Anne and Uncle Richard and Bertie.
You need not trouble yourself. I could travel with a maid, like Bella. "
Darcy rubbed a hand across his jaw where stubble had already begun to form.
He took a deep breath and tried for a gentle tone.
"Kate, darling girl, although Bella is safe and well, she still took an extremely foolish risk.
If you wish to go to Rosings, I will of course accompany you.
I know your aunt and uncle would be delighted to see you.
" He paused and looked meaningfully at Mina, who was watching the exchange with a worrying spark in her eye.
"But no one is to go gallivanting across the country without a proper escort or without our knowledge. "
"Quite right, love," said Elizabeth cheerfully. "Absolutely no gallivanting in this family. Unless it is under the express supervision of your aged parents. I have acquired more grey hairs in the past fortnight than in the previous twenty years."
Darcy turned towards his wife, his expression soft. "You have not had a grey hair during our entire marriage, Elizabeth. You look no different than you did when we first met."
"You are very kind, William," she said, blushing most becomingly. "Although there has been the odd silver intruder."
"Mama disguises them," Mina said with a giggle." Her maid calls them ‘feminine contrivances’."
Elizabeth turned towards her, an exasperated smile on her face. "Betrayed by my own flesh and blood."
"What?" Mina said, her blue eyes wide and innocent, although her smirk suggested otherwise. "I thought Papa knew."
"I most certainly did not," said Darcy, frowning.
Kate glanced up from her book. "There are not very many. Ten, perhaps. Twenty at most."
Darcy reached across and took one of Elizabeth's curls between his fingers. "You need not colour a single one on my account."
Mina gave a groan and turned towards the window. "Please do not say anything romantic. We have been trapped in this carriage for days and I do not think I can bear it."
Darcy looked affronted. "I was merely going to tell your mother that she remains the most handsome woman of my acquaintance. It is hardly romantic when it is an honest observation." He smiled softly at Elizabeth. "I am the luckiest man in the world."
"It is extremely romantic," said Mina. "And therefore disgusting." She made a retching sound which earned her a hard stare from her father.
Elizabeth laughed and patted Darcy's hand before he could defend himself further. "There now, William. You have been told. Try to contain your devotion until we reach Falmouth."
???
The Darcys reached Falmouth in a fine drizzle.
The sea was little more than a grey blur pushing up against the land, and the white-painted houses they passed were obscured by the rivulets of water running down the carriage windows.
When they finally pulled up outside Lydia Bennet's fine but modest house, Mina was bouncing up and down on the seat.
"Oh, I am ever so excited to meet Aunt Lydia. I am the only one who has never met her, you know. And to see Bella. And to paint the sea. Imagine being able to paint the sea."
Darcy tried to keep his own emotions in check.
He had been thinking about this moment ever since he found the note beneath Bella's pillow.
Sometimes, in his mind, he scolded her roundly for what she had done, but most of the time he simply held her close.
He could not wait to have his daughter in his arms and tell her that everything would be well.
He imagined she would cry. He worried that he might.
Elizabeth almost certainly would. But their family would be united again, and all would be as it was.
He stepped down from the carriage and handed out his wife and daughters just as the front door opened wide and a small freckle-faced maid came hurrying towards them.
"Are you bein' Mr Darcy, sir?" she asked, dropping into a sloppy attempt at a curtsey. Her eyes were wild and strands of vivid red hair had escaped from beneath her cap.
Darcy nodded, somewhat nonplussed, as Elizabeth came to stand beside him.
"I am so glad you are here, sir. It has been such a bad business, and I did not know what to do. I tried my best to help 'em. I truly did."
Darcy held up a hand to silence her as the first tendrils of panic began to snake up his spine.
Before he could demand an explanation, a familiar face appeared in the doorway behind the girl.
He recognised Lydia Bennet immediately. She was still pretty and fair-haired and, although time had traced a few lines across her face, she remained a very handsome woman.
Now, however, her hands were clasped tightly in front of her and her wide grey eyes were sober in a way he had rarely seen before.
Darcy began to panic in earnest. Elizabeth hurried forwards and grasped her sister's hands. "Liddy, we are so glad to be here. Where is Bella?"
"Lizzy. Darcy. Girls." Lydia looked from one to the other and her face crumpled. "I am so very sorry. Please come inside and I will explain everything."
"What do you mean, you are sorry?" Darcy ground out, fighting the sudden, overwhelming urge to seize somebody and shake them until they told him exactly what had happened to his daughter.
Lydia gave a broken sob. "Bella is gone."
Elizabeth's hand closed around Darcy's arm.
Lydia pressed a hand to her mouth before forcing herself to continue. "Her and Captain Harwood both. They have been taken. I am so sorry. I did not even know she had left the house, but she is gone."
For some moments, Darcy could make no sense of the words.
He heard the rain pattering softly around him and the restless shifting of the horses, but everything else seemed to have receded.
Bella had been safe. She had been safe with Lydia, and all he had to do was reach Falmouth, hold her in his arms and bring her home.
Now the reassurance he had clung to so desperately had evaporated and he felt hollowed out.
Elizabeth's hand tightened around his arm. "Taken by whom, Liddy? What has happened? Who is Captain Harwood?"
Lydia drew in an unsteady breath and looked towards the red-haired maid. "Clara was with them. She knows more than I do."
Every eye turned towards the girl, who looked increasingly distressed beneath their attention.
"Miss Bella followed Captain Harwood, missus.
A local gentleman. She thought he might be mixed up in somethin' untoward and wanted to see what he was about.
I told her we oughtn't, truly I did, but she'd made up her mind and there weren't much I could do to stop her.
" Clara wiped quickly at her cheeks with the heel of her hand.
"There were men waitin' down by the harbour.
Four of 'em, maybe more. Captain Harwood tried to fight 'em and told us to run.
I got away, but Miss Bella didn't. He shouted at me to fetch help, so I went straight to the Customs men and brought 'em back as quick as I could. By then they were all gone."
Darcy closed his eyes briefly. Of course Bella had followed a man she barely knew out into the night.
It seemed that in recent weeks his daughter had become capable only of making decisions that placed her in extreme danger.
And she must be so frightened. That was the worst of it.
The thought of his little girl frightened and trapped somewhere with only a man she scarcely knew for company nearly caused him to crumble completely.
He bunched his fists at his sides and forced himself to breathe.
Giving in to fear would do her no good. He had to find her.
"You did exactly the right thing," Elizabeth said gently to Clara. Her voice trembled, but she reached out and took the girl's hand. "You brought help. And now we have some notion of where she is. No one could ask more of you than that."
Clara gave a small, miserable nod. "I should've stayed with her. But Captain Harwood is a good, brave man, he fought somethin’ fierce he did."
"And then there might have been three of you missing instead of two," Lydia said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You have been a good friend to your mistress and the captain, Clara."
Darcy forced himself to concentrate on what mattered. "Who were these men?"
Lydia shook her head. "Sly Trevethan's men, or at least that is what the Customs officers told me.
Apparently Captain Harwood has been working with them for months, trying to catch Trevethan smuggling goods through Falmouth.
I knew there was something odd going on with him, but I had no idea it was anything like this.
" She caught Darcy's hand between both of hers.
"And Bella is a good girl, Darcy. A clever girl.
I shall have a few words for her myself when we get her back, but she has sense and she is not alone. " She began to usher everyone inside.
Darcy felt Elizabeth move closer beside him. "And the Customs officers? What are they doing now?"
"They have been searching since Clara raised the alarm," Lydia said. "The magistrate has been informed as well, and men have been sent to the harbour, the roads out of town and several properties connected with Trevethan. So far there has been no sign of either of them."
Behind Darcy, Mina gave a frightened little sob.
He turned and saw Kate standing rigidly beside her, one arm wrapped tightly around her younger sister.
Both girls had gone pale. Darcy stepped towards them and drew both girls into his arms. "We are going to find her," he said, keeping his voice as steady as he could.
"Bella is clever, and Captain Harwood is with her.
From everything I have heard, he is a capable man. We will find them both."
Mina buried her face against his coat. "You promise?"
Darcy's throat tightened. He had always tried never to make promises to his daughters that he could not keep, but there were moments when a father had no choice but to lie with conviction. "I promise."
He kissed the top of her head before releasing both girls and turning back towards Lydia.
The fear had not lessened. "Take me to the Customs officers," he said.
"I want to know everything Captain Harwood discovered about this man and every property connected with him.
If Trevethan has taken Bella, then somebody in this town knows where he is. "
Lydia nodded at once. "Of course. I will take you there now." She turned to Clara. "See the girls settled, will you? I am going with my sister and brother to the docks."