Page 6 of A Life Diverted

She heard a sound from above her. Had her family found her?

Were they opening the box? Next, the scratchy things above her were moved, and she was staring up into the face of an old man she had never seen before.

The man reached down and lifted her from the box.

He was gentle with her, but she was more scared than she had ever been before.

Where were Mama and Papa? And what of her brothers? Was it true that they did not want her?

The coachman could not believe his eyes.

A little girl was in the storage beneath the seat, and she had been bound and gagged.

She wore night attire. He removed the gag, and she shrank back in fear.

Not knowing how long she had been there, he was sure she was thirsty.

Thankfully, he had the remains of the bottle with the water he kept with him while he drove.

When he offered her the water, she seemed to shrink back even more until he said, “Water. ”

As soon as she heard the magic word, and since she was feeling so very thirsty, Ellie allowed the man who had removed the thing from her mouth to put the bottle to her lips as she thirstily drank.

After a few sips she felt like she wanted to cough, and then she felt sick. The man pulled the bottle back.

Next he untied her hands and legs, which was why she had not been able to move.

Ellie was not able to understand what was happening or what had occurred, that she was here with this man and not at home with her family.

The man picked her up, and she did not object.

They walked to a building where it was light and warm.

Ellie could not understand anything; she wanted to sleep again.

The coachman asked that Mr Bennet be summoned.

Bennet was about to wash before dinner arrived.

To say he was shocked to see the coachman holding a little mite with a shock of dark hair was an understatement.

It was a little girl, and she was in a night gown.

He knew it was not a conversation to be held in public.

“Smithers, bring her and follow me,” Bennet commanded.

He led the coachman up to his suite of rooms.

“Thomas, who is that little girl?” Fanny demanded when her husband entered the chamber followed by the coachman with a girl in his arms. “Look at her lips; they are dry, she needs to drink. Have a maid bring me sugar water while you tell me what is going on here.”

The door leading to the other bedchamber opened, and Bennet shook his head to Miss Weasley, so she led Jane back into their chamber and closed the door.

“Smithers?” Bennet asked.

The coachman explained what he had heard leading to what he had found, and the state in which he discovered her.

The only thing the coachman knew for certain was that the girl had not been under that seat when they departed the parsonage in Dronfield because he had checked under both benches to make sure everything was as it should be.

Bennet did a quick mental calculation. They had slept at two inns and stopped, at least, at eight others in various counties.

The girl could have been placed under the seat at any one of the stops.

The problem was he had to get to his mother, so they could not go back and stop at every inn asking about a little girl.

“Leave her with us; we will decide something before we depart,” Bennet told the coachman. The man bowed and left the room.

By now, the sugar water had arrived, and Fanny was allowing the girl to sip a little at a time.

She looked closely at her. She was very beautiful.

She had the most fascinating emerald-green eyes and lovely wavy raven-coloured tresses.

It was then that Fanny noticed the stitching on the girl’s night gown in red thread.

“Thomas, I am sure she is gently born; look at the quality of her night gown, even if it is rather filthy. And see here, someone took the time to embroider these letters onto the garment. Two E’s and a larger W. Could that be her name?”

Slowly Ellie began to relax. The lady holding her and helping her sip the sweet water sounded very nice, and she was being very gentle with her. The water with the sweets in it tasted ever so good.

“Fanny, I was thinking. Given the situation, we cannot go back to every inn along the way. I agree that this mite is gently born; hence, we will not turn her over to the parish and have her in some poorhouse for foundlings.” Bennet cogitated for a minute more.

“When we reach Longbourn, we will write out a description of her and ask Smithers to stop at every inn we did on the way south. There he can enquire if anyone is looking for a girl by this description. In addition, I will write a letter to my former patron and request he use his connections to discover if anyone is missing a daughter. What do you say that until she is claimed, she lives with us at Longbourn? ”

“We can only hope her family recovers her soon. She seems to be a very good girl, but I can only imagine how I would feel if Jane were lost and we knew not where she was. For now, I will ask Miss Weasley to bathe her and put her into one of Jane’s warm night gowns.

I know it will be too big, but we will make do, and have it altered, until we reach Meryton and can order her some things that will fit.

I will wait until she has had enough sugar water.

We know not how long she was under the seat, but I believe she will want to eat after the bath. ”

Although she did not know who these people were, or where her family was, or why they had given her away, Ellie could feel she was safe.

The lady with golden blonde hair, similar to Aunty Annie, was very nice to her.

She did not feel thirsty anymore, and her hunger pains had reduced greatly.

Now the kind lady was speaking of a bath and food afterwards.

Both were things Ellie desired. She loved getting dirty, but just as much, she enjoyed a bath to clean off all of the dirt and grime afterwards. The lady offered her some more of the sweet water, and she shook her head.

“You do not need any more water now?” Fanny verified.

The pretty little thing nodded her head in confirmation.

She wanted to ask a name and some more questions, but Fanny did not want to pressure the girl.

She was very petite, but Fanny guessed she was at least two.

When she made to take the little one off her lap, Fanny felt her tense up.

“You may keep holding my hand. We will walk into the other chamber where my Janie is, and you will have a bath. Do you agree?”

Ellie nodded her head. She did not know why, but she had not wanted to speak yet.

One thing she did know was she would never hide away again.

The last time she did, she had lost her family; except she could not remember hiding.

Also, she would use her proper name. Could it be that her family did not want Ellie anymore?

There was something with faeries and pixies just beyond her memories .

“Mama, who is this girl?” Jane asked when she saw someone holding her mama’s hand.

“We do not know her name yet. We will ask her after the bath,” Fanny replied.

“Lizbet,” Ellie said quietly, barely above a whisper.

“Is your name Elizabeth?” Fanny asked gently. She watched as the little one nodded her head.

“Well then, Elizabeth, this is Jane, and the lady with her is our governess, Miss Weasley.” Fanny asked the governess to join her on one side of the room while the girls stared at one another. She gave a very quick explanation and asked that the little one be bathed.

Jane was intrigued by the pretty girl with the very interesting coloured eyes. She had never before seen that eye colour. She decided it would be good to have a friend with whom to play, so she marched up to Elizabeth, threw her arms around her, and hugged her.

Elizabeth began to cry. She missed Mama, Papa, and her brothers, but she had obviously done something to make them send her away to this family. She did not verbalise her feelings and allowed the governess to lead her to the bathtub, which had just been filled.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Fanny was called back into the other bedchamber by Jane on behalf of the governess.

“Mrs Bennet, look at her back below her left shoulder. She has a rather distinctive birthmark.” Miss Weasley pointed out the crescent moon shape on Elizabeth’s back.

“When Mr Bennet writes her description, he should mention a birthmark without a location or shape. That way you will know if it is truly her parents, if they come to claim her.”

“I agree. Thank you, Miss Weasley.” Fanny turned to return to her husband .

The mistress left, and the governess continued bathing the sprite.

She had such thick, lustrous hair when it was washed.

Nothing like her own Welsh straight red hair.

Also, the girl seemed to relish the filth being washed from her body.

She decided to ask one or two unobtrusive questions.

“How old are you, Miss Elizabeth?” she asked while she was drying the girl.

“Two, but I be free,” she held up three fingers, “soon.”

“Do you know your papa’s name?” Miss Weasley was not surprised by the shaking of the little girl’s head, but by asking the question, she caused the girl to burst into tears. That was the end of the questioning.

As Fanny had suspected, when she saw Elizabeth in one of Jane’s nightgowns, it was far too long on her. They had a maid create a new hem so that the girl would not trip when she walked. When the food arrived, Fanny was delighted by the pleasure Elizabeth took in eating.

After the meal Jane and Elizabeth climbed into one of the two beds in the chamber. The latter was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Fanny asked Miss Weasley to make notes if the little one spoke in her sleep.