Page 16 of Lord Lonbourn’s Daughter
The next day, a letter arrived at Darcy House.
It was disconcerting that it was found resting on Darcy’s desk in his study.
It created a flurry of activity to discover how it had entered the house and by whose hand.
The investigation was unsuccessful, and as a consequence, Elizabeth was no longer allowed to leave his side.
The Earl of Longbourn instigated a similar regime in his own home.
Both gentlemen carried arms, even inside their houses. Nothing was left to chance.
The letter revealed where Lady Kitty was being kept.
She was here, in London, and it was in a more respectable area than they initially would have thought.
The Earl of Matlock and the viscount stayed at Bennet House with the ladies while the Earl of Longbourn and his new son went to the location.
Tothill Fields was close to Pall Mall and St James’s, though Darcy thought he could spot a couple of pickpockets He would later discover, after he had arrived home, that he was one expensive kerchief short.
“My attorney lives on the next street,” Darcy muttered.
When they arrived, they had no choice but to ring the bell.
A rouged lady opened the door. She was fashionably dressed but appeared to be suffering from shortness of breath by the way her chest was heaving.
Some form of itch compelled her to scratch her arms, but it was the tiny pupils that gave this lady away as heavily dosed with laudanum.
Unfortunately, she spoke not a word of English, only French.
Yet, she was not so high and mighty that she would pretend not to understand Darcy’s stuttering efforts.
Languages had never been his forte at university, despite his penchant for reading.
He preferred calculation and science, though he did manage to introduce himself and the earl in French and state their business.
“I am Madame Heroux, a nurse. We have been expecting you,” the lady acknowledged while gesturing for them to enter.
The gentlemen were not led to a parlour on the ground floor as they expected but were taken directly upstairs.
Darcy wondered whether the lady might have mistaken his meaning when she guided them to a chamber with a large bed.
It was dark as the curtains were drawn, but he could distinguish a form on the mattress.
He directed his lordship to investigate while he stayed on the threshold.
He would not allow them to be taken by surprise should the French lady have instructions to lock them inside.
Longbourn shook the girl and whispered softly, but Lady Kitty would not wake. He noticed that her breathing was short and shallow.
“What have you given her?” he enquired, while revealing that his French was not lacking.
“Just a small dose of laudanum, for her melancholy and female trouble,” the woman answered.
“How long has she been under your supervision and drugged with laudanum?”
“Mademoiselle has been here for ten or eleven days. Her mother escorted her here to recover from a recent loss. Our methods are known far and wide to aid the black humours. We have several patients residing with us. Unfortunately, Doctor Sauveterre is away at the moment. He will be back before supper.”
“I want to see your other patients.”
“No! The lady said you were to collect this girl only.”
“My wife died more than a year ago, Madame Heroux. I wonder whether it was my housekeeper or her governess that escorted the girl to your questionable establishment. Would you indulge me by describing the lady to me?”
“Certainly. It was, as I mentioned, a fashionably dressed lady, not a servant, who brought Lady Catherine here.”
Darcy was surprised that she had not been admitted under a false name. Whoever was behind the abduction must have been fairly certain the girl’s father would not go public with the kidnapping. If he had, they may have found her sooner, provided that the nurse and doctor were not in on the scheme.
“Do you remember any details? My governess is a gentlewoman, and her attire is always impeccable.”
The woman huffed in indignation.
“There is finely dressed and fashionably dressed, your lordship. There is a difference. This was a lady with unlimited access to the best seamstress London can provide. Her dress was of the finest silk, the lace was exquisite, and a French lady’s maid had done her hair, I am absolutely certain.”
“Yes, yes, we have established that she was elegantly dressed, but what of her personal traits, hair colour, or age?” Longbourn enquired impatiently.
“She was between thirty and forty, plain features…I noticed nothing extraordinary about her countenance, and her hair was light brown or perhaps dark blonde.”
“Which is a description that would fit half of London’s female population,” his lordship grumbled.
“Could you describe her carriage, any footmen, or the driver?” Darcy enquired from the threshold.
“The barouche box was expensive but looked to be in need of maintenance—the crest was missing even though it did not look old to me. I did not notice the driver, but I am sure a footman was standing at the back of the carriage. I cannot describe him either. I did not pay them any attention. Lady Catherine was distraught when she came here, your lordship. She cried so fiercely it was impossible to understand a word she said. Her French is unintelligible.”
“Yes, Kitty never took an interest in the languages. She speaks not a word of French,” Lord Longbourn admitted with chagrin.
Darcy had a vision of how it all must have appeared to Lady Kitty, being brought to a hospital-like environment while not understanding a word that was uttered. She must have been so frightened; a thought she gave emphasis to when she awakened…
The Earl of Longbourn had dipped a cloth in cold water and bathed her face to wake her up. She clung to her father when she recognised who was hovering above her.
“Please, Papa, take me home. I promise to be good. I shall practise the languages and calculation diligently. Geography even if you will allow me to return to Bennet House. I shall not utter another silly word, never mention lace or ribbons ever again. I promise!”
“Hush, Kitty, I would feel bereft if you never uttered another silly word. I miss your mother so much, and hearing you girls talking about ribbons and lace reminds me of happier days. I know I tease you about it, but I have not once been serious.”
That attempt at comfort made the girl cry even harder.
“A-am I allowed to c-come home?” she stuttered between hiccups.
“Of course you are, dearest. We have been looking for you for eleven days,” Lord Longbourn consoled his daughter.
Lady Kitty giggled through her tears.
“I have only been away three.”
Longbourn and Darcy exchanged looks, entering a silent agreement not to reveal the length of her absence.
“Let us all go home. The doctor can wait.”
“Excuse me,” Darcy addressed father and daughter. “I shall investigate the other rooms if you do not mind. Madame Heroux, can you show me around?” He gestured towards the door with a shiny guinea in his hand. The nurse smirked and led the way.
There were rooms on both sides of the hall.
Madame Heroux opened the doors and let him look inside.
All the inhabitants were females of various ages, but none of them was Georgiana or Lady Lydia.
The room at the end of the hall was his last hope.
Madame Heroux opened the door and hastened inside.
The young girl in the bed had scratched herself until she bled.
With the nurse occupied with applying salve to the distraught patient, he used the opportunity to have a look about.
The sound of a carriage slowing down drew him to the window.
A glance out revealed a slow-moving carriage passing his own.
It did not stop at the front as he would have guessed but pulled in around the corner.
This room was much larger than the previous one, situated at the end of the house with windows on three walls, and Darcy moved to the one overlooking the mews.
A gentleman not much older than himself emerged from the carriage.
It could be Dr Sauveterre returning to his establishment.
The driver tossed the reins to a groom while he joined the doctor, talking animatedly while pointing at something inside the carriage. Darcy wondered whether it was a new patient.
The driver reached inside and pulled out something that was wrapped in burlap sacks.
It was a deadweight, and the two men were struggling to carry it into the house when the sack split open, revealing the contents to Darcy, who fought the bile rising in his throat.
He hastened back to the earl and his daughter.
He felt no need to talk to the doctor but wanted to get them out of there as soon as possible without raising the nurse’s suspicions about their haste.
“I do not think there is much else we can accomplish here. Let us return home and let Lady Kitty’s sisters take proper care of her.”
“Yes, I agree. I am taking my daughter home, Madame Heroux. We shall return in the evening to question you and your employer. For now, I shall be satisfied providing my daughter with the loving care of her sisters.”
Darcy had not noticed that Madame Heroux had followed him. She was extending an upturned hand towards him. He had forgotten to give her the coins. He handed them over and helped support Lady Kitty out of the door—she was of little help to herself.
Elizabeth was waiting with her sisters at Bennet House. Darcy was not eager to tell his wife what had transpired, but she needed the information to take proper care of her sister. He was saved much explaining due to Lady Kitty’s obvious condition.
“She has been given laudanum,” he blurted out with his usual lack of tact.