Chapter 4 Runaway
On their arrival at Longbourn, the first thing Viscount Rand noticed was that Bennet greeted them in the first parlor, the room nearest the front door, instead of his study, which was at the far back of the house.
The second unusual thing was that he wore the brace binding his injured left arm close to his body, which meant he intended to do something more active than sit in a parlor and talk.
"Is there a problem, Bennet?" he asked after he and Richard had made their greetings. "You do not normally wear the brace unless you must."
"No, I do not. You have heard me complain about it often enough, but it does help prevent even more pain when I must walk long distances or be extremely active.
I was on my way out to search for Lizzy when they told me you had arrived.
She and her mother had quite a tiff this morning and I am afraid she may have gone off into hiding or gotten herself into more trouble. "
"Would that have anything to do with the state of the rose bushes in the side garden? I noticed it looked like a wild animal had gone through there."
"That was certainly a part of it," Bennet said wearily.
Richard spoke up. "I will go find her, Mr. Bennet, while you visit with my father and tell him all about it. My tracking skills should be up to locating a seven-year-old girl."
Bennet's relief was obvious. "You are good lad, Richard.
I accept your offer with gratitude. She was last seen heading southwest, in the direction of Oakham Mount, although I doubt that she will have made it that far.
She has a number of hiding spots along the hedges, as well as in that coppice of ash trees between here and the Mount. "
"Have no fear. I will find her and bring her back." The fourteen-year-old boy clearly looked on his self-appointed assignment as an adventure, but the two men also knew from experience he could be trusted to carry it out successfully.
Bennet offered his hand as he said, "Thank you, Richard. I put my faith in you."
Richard shook hands with his godfather, gave his father a nod, then quickly left the room. Both men smiled as they watched him go.
"Shall we take his advice and head for the study, Rand?" Bennet asked, beginning to work at the first of the buckles on the brace in preparation for removing it, even as he gestured in the direction of the hall with a slight jerk of the head.
"Good idea, Bennet. We can play a game of chess while you tell me what drove Lizzy out into the countryside today."
~o~
Richard first stopped in the rose garden. He wanted to take a closer look at the damage there to see if there were any clues to help him track down Lizzy.
As his father had said, it looked like a wild beast had charged through, scattering blossoms and leaves in its wake.
Up close, the damage was less than it appeared from a distance.
None of the bushes were truly harmed, although a bit of judicious trimming was probably in order.
The litter on the ground seemed composed primarily of petals dropped from fully blown roses, along with their nearly bare stems and older, drying leaves that probably fell when the bushes were disturbed, although there were a few fresher stems and full blossoms among the litter.
Picking up one of the larger stems that still had blooms, Richard examined it. The fraying tip indicated that it had probably been pulled from the bush, not cut or pinched off. Dark stains on the stem suggested the culprit had already paid in blood for the crime.
Nothing here indicated the direction or destination of his quarry, but Richard now knew it was likely she was sporting a pair of sore and possibly bloody hands. Dropping the battered rose, he left the garden, heading around the house to the southwest.
~o~
The search took time and Richard was glad he had been able to spare his godfather the trouble.
The path to Oakham Mount was littered with places an inventive seven-year-old could hide.
As he went, he kept his eyes open for signs Lizzy had passed by.
On the path through the ash coppice, his vigilance was rewarded when he found a smear of drying blood on a tree trunk.
The spot was one where someone with shorter legs would have to steady herself as she stepped over some brush that had fallen across the path.
Armed with proof he was on the correct trail, Richard continued to scan for likely hiding spots as he left the trees and followed the hedge between two fields of ripening grain.
At the point where the two fields he walked between met with two others was a large pile of stones that had been gathered over the years when the fields were tilled.
The sections of hedge did not quite meet at the corner of the four fields but formed a scraggly circle around the stones.
As Richard approached the pile, a pebble flew over one of the low bushes in the circle and a girl's voice said, "Stupid Lady Catherine!"
Smiling, Richard replied, "I agree with the sentiment in general, but what has the old cat done this time to deserve your anger?"
He heard a scrambling noise among the rocks and other litter before a head popped up over the bushes. Lizzy stared at him in surprise, her eyes wide in a dirt and tear-smeared face framed by the tangled wisps of brown curls that had escaped from her braids.
"Richard?" she asked incredulously.
"In the flesh," he answered with a grin and an exaggerated bow. "May I enter your sanctuary?"
Lizzy nodded as she pointed to a break in the circle of bushes that provided a convenient entrance. Still grinning, Richard stepped through, finding a spot where several stones had been arranged to provide a bench of sorts. He took a seat and Lizzy joined him.
"How are your hands?" he asked, spotting a smear of blood on the edge of the bench.
"You know?" she asked.
"I know you had an argument with a rose bush. Or was it with your mother?" he asked lightly.
She grimaced and held out her hands for inspection. "It was both."
He took her hands and examined the multiple bloody scratches on the fingers and palms. "Who were you making the bouquet for?"
"My new aunt. Uncle Edward married a few weeks ago and he is bringing her here to meet us tomorrow. We couldn't go to the wedding because we don't travel, as you know, and it was in Derbyshire."
"In Derbyshire? Why?"
"Aunt Madeline's family estate is near a village called Lambton in Derbyshire. They had the wedding there so her family and friends could all attend more easily."
Richard gently released her hands. "Hmm, it looks like you will live, although these scratches need to be cleaned up.
Some of the tears look pretty nasty and they will be sore for quite a while as they heal.
My Uncle George Darcy's estate, Pemberley, is near Lambton as well. The families probably know each other."
Lizzy nodded her understanding of his comment before continuing her story.
"I wanted to make a bouquet of the prettiest of the roses to welcome Aunt Madeline to Longbourn.
Her name used to be Madeline Damask, so I was using the damask roses.
I pulled some of the ones that were the most open, but the petals all fell off and some of the leaves as well.
I tried to pull some others, but their stems were thicker, and the bush just shook instead of releasing the flowers.
More petals came off other flowers on the bush.
So, I decided to try a different bush. I had just gotten a good grip on a stem with several flowers on it, when Mama came up behind me and yanked me away from the rose bush, yelling all the while.
That was when my hands got so badly scratched and only part of the stem came free.
Mama grabbed it away from me and threw it on the ground and then yelled at me some more.
How was I supposed to know you have to cut the roses instead of being able to pick them like the other flowers? "
"Good question," Richard agreed. "I have not thought about it much because I do not usually pick flowers.
If I need them for some reason, I ask the gardener to collect them.
So, what does my Aunt Catherine have to do with your misadventures today?
Or was that just general frustration with her that had you throwing rocks? "
Lizzy looked down at her battered hands as she kicked at a few of the pebbles on the ground in front of her.
"Mama would not have been so very angry if it had not been for Lady Catherine and that sneaking spy that she sent to be my governess.
Miss Stanton tells Lady Catherine about everything I do wrong, whether it is using the wrong utensil at meals or not practicing the pianoforte for a full hour every day.
After every report, Lady Catherine sends nasty letters to Mama telling her what a failure she is as a mother and how much of a disgrace I am, despite the advantages of her gracious patronage.
Mama received another letter in the post today and when she pulled me away from the roses, she was upset at how I was exposing her to the scorn of our noble patroness, as she calls Lady Catherine.
I wish she were not my godmother! None of my sisters ever get into as much trouble as I do. "
Richard nodded. "I understand. I often wish she were not my aunt.
So far, I do not think she has placed a spy in my father's household, although I would not put it past her.
She still has plenty to say to my father about everything he, my brother and I do wrong in her eyes.
She does the same thing to my cousin, Will Darcy. "
"Why does she have to complain about everyone? I hope Aunt Madeline will not be like that."
"My father says Aunt Catherine has been unhappy and has complained about other people for as long as he can remember.
The only time she seemed even partially happy was when Uncle Lewis was still alive, and even then, she always had to express her opinions.
She was seven years older than my father and never adjusted well to having younger brothers or sisters.
Father thinks that is part of why she is always so discontented. "
"You are seven years older than me, but we get along just fine." Lizzy stated.
"We do get along well. We probably would even if I was your brother. Aunt Catherine is just unhappy, and she takes it out on everyone else."
"I wish she would not take it out on me. She talks about all the benefits she gives me like the pianoforte lessons, the art lessons and the governess. Then she makes everyone miserable as she tells me how very undeserving I am of any of it."
"Aunt Catherine's gifts are a bit like those roses you were trying to pick. They are special and they look pretty, but if you try to take them, you find out there are a lot of thorns. You need to wear gloves and cut them instead of plucking them like the daisies you might receive from anyone else."
Lizzy thought his comment over for a few seconds. Finally, she said, "I had not thought of it like that, but I suppose you are right. How did you happen to come find me today?"
"My father and I are on our way back to Randbrook. We stopped for a visit and to spend the night here at Longbourn. When we arrived, your father was just getting ready to come out looking for you. He was worried about you. I volunteered to come out in his place."
Lizzy's eyes widened again as she realized the trouble and pain that she would have given her father if he had come to look for her. "I never thought he might come searching for me. I just had to get away from Mama and Miss Stanton for a time."
Richard patted her on the shoulder. "I can understand that as well. I often want to run away when people start yelling at me. Is this a favorite spot to run to?"
Lizzy nodded. "On dry days it is. On wet days I hide in the empty stall in the stable. I have an old bucket to sit on while I think things out."
"But no pebbles to throw at the thought of Aunt Catherine?"
Lizzy shook her head with a grin. Richard grinned back.
"Well, we do not want your father to feel he has to come out looking for you the next time you have to run away," he continued. "I have an idea if you are willing to hear it."
"Yes, please," she said.
"I propose we go back to the house now, both to relieve your father's worry and to get those scratches tended.
When you apologize to your father, tell him why you felt you had to get away and about your two favorite locations.
Ask him if there is a way you can get away when you must without causing him to worry or feel the need to search for you.
After your hands are fixed up, I suggest you and I go out to the garden with the proper tools and cut a nice bouquet of damask roses for your Aunt Madeline together, after gaining permission from your father, of course.
You may still end up being punished for what your mother considers bad behavior, but your new aunt will get her welcome gift all the same. "
Lizzy nodded happily. "Thank you, Richard. I do not want to be punished, but I can stand it if I know Aunt Madeline will still have her roses. I wish you were my brother."
"Well, we do share a godmother, in addition to your father being my godfather, which makes us siblings of a kind." Richard chuckled.
"Lady Catherine is your godmother as well?" Lizzy asked in amazement.
"I am afraid so. I have no idea what father was thinking.
Now, are you ready to go back?" He stood and offered a hand to help Lizzy rise.
She started to grasp it and then remembered the scratches on her own hands.
With a rueful smile, she stood on her own, using the back of her hands to dust off her dress.
"I guess I have been gone long enough," she said.
Richard left the enclosed area followed by Lizzy. Retracing his earlier path, they headed back to Longbourn house together, cheerfully chatting as they walked along.