Page 49 of Till Death Us Do Part: Book 2
She pointed to the middle pile. “I just showed Mrs Darcy the accounts for the first of June. As far as I can tell, she took the total cost of the food for the estate for the last six months and divided it by the total number of servants, plus one, then multiplied by three.”
Unable to follow, Darcy asked, “Pray, explain.”
Knight said, “She paid for her own food. The other pile is the wages for the maid and the footman she took with her, going back to January, as far as I can make out.”
Darcy sighed. “You were right, it is a message, and not a subtle one. I assume she took her trunk and nothing else.”
“It would appear so.”
“The message was that she was takingnothingfrom this estate or its master,” and then he fell back into a chair in despair.
Unfortunately, it was one of his mother’s chairs that matched an identical one at Rosings, so it nearly broke his back when he fell into it. He had to laboriously climb back up and pace around the room in anger and frustration for several minutes just to get his equilibrium.
Finally, he turned to his companions. “How in the world did she manage it?Was that purse loaded with money?”
Bates looked guilty. “I may be able to surmise. The purse had no bills. I obviously did not look inside, but I felt what I took to be a handwritten note. It was cut unevenly, and not the right size for a banknote. It had coins that I would estimate to be about twenty to forty pounds based on their weight. I would be surprised if it was enough to travel far while paying travel and lodging expenses for two servants—but it would get them by for a few weeks. It could easily get them to London or Hertfordshire.”
“Do not assume too much. They both seem loyal to her, so they may not be taking their wages.”
Bates looked at the stacks of coins. “Those two stacks make nearly twenty pounds. If the money in her purse was all she had, most of it would still be there on the vanity. She must have some other source of funds.”
Darcy thought for a moment, then admitted Bates was correct. “So, she had no apparent source of funds, no income,received no post, and, as far as we know, had no way to get anywhere very far away, or live once she got there, correct?”
Everyone nodded in confusion, thoroughly unable to think how it would all work out.
Darcy stood up straighter, thinking it was about time to quit whining about his dismal position. “We all know perfectly well that nothing valuable was stolen from the house, so how did she do it? If we can work that out, maybe we can use that to find her. I think it is time to start talking to the people who knew her.”
“Discreetly!” warned Mrs Reynolds. “We have kept her departure a closely guarded secret. Of course, everyone knows she is not here, but nobody outside this room knows she is gone, or the fact that we have no idea where she is, and if or when she will return.”
“Yes,” Darcy agreed. “The circle is tight, and we need to keep it that way. Once she is found, her absence can be easily explained with some fiction—if I can get her to return, that is. If she is not found—well—I am not prepared to contemplate that possibility, but I must, sooner or later.”
Mrs Reynolds frowned, and Darcy said, “Do not give me that look. You know I cannot and would not force her to return, but I want my wife back. I know I must earn the privilege, and I do know it is an uphill battle, but I cannot begin until we find her.”
All his companions nodded in agreement.
Darcy thought for a few minutes and finally said, “I will start with Bartlet and Longman. Knight, you poke around in Lambton and the outside staff but use the utmost discretion. I do not want news of her departure leaking if it is unnecessary, but err on the side of finding her, not preserving our reputations. Locating her is paramount, and this would not be the first Darcy scandal, nor the last. We will weather it.”
“Yes sir.”
Darcy looked at the clock. “I have time to talk to Bartlet before dinner. I believe I will emulate Mrs Darcy for the duration, Mrs Reynolds. I will take a tray when I return.”
She frowned. “That is easy enough, sir. We are accustomed to it, but are you sure it is for the best?”
“I am not sure of anything.”
“A wise attitude, sir.”
Darcy looked pensive, then finally just shook his head, and went to get a horse for the ride into Lambton. He thought he might as well ride Omega and try to understand what his wife saw in the beast.
18.Omega’s Sigh
“Darcy, welcome home.”
“Longman, good to see you.”
Following their usual custom, neither man bowed, nor did they shake hands. They only nodded their heads in mutual respect. Longman had been a groom for Darcy Senior for many years before his death. Father and son had depended on him for decades, and the forms of their interaction were well settled.
It was Longman who had mostly taught the young Fitzwilliam Darcy to ride. His father gave his son lessons like most men of his station, but he had been easily distracted. It was Longman who taught the young Darcy heir the essence of horsemanship. It was Longman who whipped George Wickham within an inch of his life when a nasty trick nearly cost the lives of the heir of Pemberley and two good horses. (One of the groom’s greatest regrets in life was that he had not finished that particular job.) The two men understood each other as few others could.
