Page 44

“In some senses it will,” replied his uncle.

“It is a disturbance. However, I have seen the Dower House, and it is much more confined and much more easily guarded than Rosings. In this, Richard and Parker concur. The other problem remains the sheer numbers of people who will be coming into Kent from London for this. The inn will simply not accommodate all of them, and my solicitors, their clerks, one of the two physicians, you and Elizabeth, Anne, Richard, and myself make up a party too large for the inn, and too large for the dower house if you include servants and horses. This inquest is formidable in scope, as I learned when I inquired about holding it. There will be three commissioners and no less than twenty-four sworn jurymen as well as bailiffs, perhaps the sheriff, and assorted others.”

In a little more than two hours, the party had made the turnoff for Hunsford and had pulled up and dismounted in the lane behind the parsonage.

They were greeted by Ned and several grooms and lads from the Rosings stables.

“We will lead the horses down to the stables by a quiet lane,” said Ned.

“When you require them, send word to the stables.”

“Well done,” said the Earl, dismounting and handing his horse into the care of one of the grooms. Darcy also dismounted, then removed his drab overcoat from its place behind the saddle and put it on.

A saddlebag held his pistols, powder, shot, and other necessities.

These he placed in the deep pockets of the coat.

Darcy turned to find a grim-faced Collins standing by the gate, which was open to admit them. He greeted Darcy and Fitzwilliam by name and was presented to the Earl.

“Mrs. Collins sends her greetings, sir. She is perfectly well and is still safe under my protection at my house in London with Miss de Bourgh and my wife.”

Collins bowed gravely and said, “Thank you, sir. Come in, gentlemen.” He seated them in his study, a large, comfortable room flooded with light and with a good view of the road. Parker awaited them there. A silent maid brought tea. “Have you any other news?” he asked when they had been served.

“Wickham was killed in Meryton during an unsuccessful attack on Miss Mary Bennet in her own father’s garden.

His two hired accomplices were tried at the assizes in Wells for the murder of a footman and the attempted abduction of a young lady in Bath.

They were found guilty, and they will be hanged today at the gaol in Wells. ”

“Well, I will pray for him. But he did a great deal of evil and wronged a great many people,” replied Collins.

“Indeed, I myself am far from blameless. I was Lady Catherine’s eager, if unwitting, accomplice in spreading malicious lies about innocent victims.” He bowed to Darcy.

“For that I am truly sorry.” Darcy could not identify the change in Collins.

The man looked much less fatuous. His simpering expression had vanished, and even his voice sounded more serious, less smug, perhaps.

“I should say at the outset that I received this note from Lady Catherine at a late hour last night. She wishes me to call on her today for the purpose of identifying some man in the village who would be willing to undertake work of a delicate nature for her in London. She prefers someone who is vulnerable to blackmail, threats, or coercion.” He reached into a drawer of his desk and brought out a book.

“This is Dr. Oliver’s journal. It relates the story of his betrayal by Lady Catherine and his subsequent downfall.

I understand from my wife that you have heard much the same story from his daughter. It is here if you require it.”

“Thank you. We are here just in time,” remarked the Earl. “After what my sister has written to Mr. Collins, and knowing that Wickham and his men are no longer a threat, it seems more a question of simply going in and bringing her out.”

“Are we sure of the servants?” asked Fitzwilliam.

“As sure as we can be, sir,” replied Parker.

“I have personally interviewed each one who remains. While they have a sense of loyalty to her, they believe as we do that she is of unsound mind and that she must be prevented from harming others—or herself. I should point out that she consumes a great quantity of strong drink now. Timmons, the butler, has told me she has all but finished the port and has started on the brandy. Its effect is to make her violently angry, irrational, and abusive at first, then increasingly lethargic.”

“That may explain her behavior on Sunday,” added Collins. “She shouted loudly that I was to be sent away, and then I heard another female begin to cry.”

“And what time was this, Mr. Collins?”

“It was shortly after one o’clock in the afternoon.”

The Earl joined in. “Then it is simple. I will call on her at one o’clock, merely as a brotherly gesture, asking for a bed because I have business at--let us say Bromley.

Timmons will usher me unannounced into the formal drawing room on the main floor.

I understand that is where she sits now.

I will converse with my sister. At some point, I will either be able to walk out with her on my arm, or I will be forced to compel her to leave.

If the former, I shall escort her to her carriage, which will be waiting under the porte-cochère.

If the latter, I shall look for help from the men you have posted at the various doorways into the drawing room.

She will be conducted to the dower house where she can be kept under guard.

The hearing is set for Monday at noon at the Crown.

Mr. Collins, I expect you will be called upon to testify. ”

“I will be ready, sir.”

The clock on the mantelpiece showed that it was half past ten.

The men spent the next two hours planning and strategizing.

At about quarter past twelve, Darcy walked to Rosings by the back lane.

He was admitted to the kitchen, taken quietly upstairs, and stationed by the doors to the music-room, which were half opened.

He could see nothing, but he could hear Lady Catherine ordering that more brandy be brought to her.

At almost precisely one o’clock, he heard her speak up. “And what are you doing here?” she spat.

“Cathy, what a greeting for your little brother! I have urgent business in Bromley, and I am come to ask a bed for a night or two. Surely you can find a place for me here. How do you do, my dear? You are looking as well as ever.”

“Well, I am not as well as ever. These servants are robbing me blind and drinking my cellars dry. My worthless daughter has fled the house, and Fitzwilliam Darcy has wed that trollop, Elizabeth Bennet. It is all very vexing, and if I do not do something to recover from it, all my plans will come to nothing!”

“Sister, what a thing to say. Why is Anne such a worthless creature?”

“She was supposed to marry Darcy, only she was too weak and stupid to know how to attract him. I did my best for her. I eliminated as many of the girls competing for him as I reasonably could, and still it has come to naught.”

“Eliminated them?”

“Yes. Oh, you always were stupid. I made sure they were out of her way.” She took a sip of her brandy but did not offer any to her brother.

“I have one more hope of success. If they fish Elizabeth Bennet’s lifeless body out of the Thames, Darcy will have no choice but to marry my daughter. There will be no one else left.”

“Poor Elizabeth Bennet. I cannot believe you would wish to harm such a pretty girl. And why must this marriage between Darcy and Anne take place?” asked the Earl in the mildest of tones.

“Must I spell it out for you? And in any case, it is your fault. Yours is the fault, yours will be the responsibility. I bear no blame in any of this.”

“My fault? I am intrigued in spite of myself. Why precisely is it my fault? Perhaps there is something I can do to make amends. You had better spell it out for me, sister.”

“Very well, I will. The only thing you can do to make amends is to kill your worthless self and those two miserable sons of yours, and their spawn as well.”

The Earl was momentarily silenced at this, while Darcy from his vantage-point could only thank God that his cousin was stationed somewhere outside. He felt it was about to get a great deal uglier, and in fact it did.

Having recovered his countenance with some difficulty, the Earl went on. “My faults must be heavy indeed. Why is it my fault? What have I done to merit being taken out of this world with all my posterity? You must admit, it is a horrific fate.”

Her words seemed to ooze and drip with venom. “You should never have been born in the first place! Therefore, you should have the good sense to take yourself away! If my parents had behaved decently, they would have stopped at one child. I should have been that child.”

“So married couples should, ah, cease to behave as married couples after their first child has been born?”

“Of course, they should. It is disgusting for them to do anything else. They are like animals otherwise. Besides, I managed to do it.”

“Really?”

“Of course. But my miserable parents not only managed to bring our sister Anne into the world, but they also then produced you. It is disgusting, begetting children like rabbits as the lower classes do who lack the refinement and decency to know better. I, and I alone, should have been Countess of Matlock.”

“And what would you have done then?”