Mr and Mrs Darcy 02 Suspense & Sensibility (24 page)

"You saw someone in the window. Are you quite sure it was Mr. Dashwood?"

"I made no mistake."

"From two stories below? Come now, Darcy. Are you that infallible?"

"Yes." Though he made the assertion in a confident tone, he
reconsidered his memory of the sighting. The figure's build, his height, his
coloring - it
had
been Mr. Dashwood. "Yes," he repeated.

She regarded him skeptically.

"You do not believe me?"

"II you are certain, then I believe you." Her expression
growing pensive, she tapped her quill against the blotter. "I merely
contemplate that if it was, in fact, Mr. Dashwood standing in the window, we
are hard-pressed to account for how he traveled to Devonshire and back so
quickly. Delaford is three days' journey from here, and your call at his
townhouse perfectly divided the nine days he claims to have been gone."

Confronted with the logistics, Darcy sought an explanation. "He
could have traveled straight through, stopping only to change horses."

"A dangerous proposition. Visiting his relations hardly seems an
urgent enough errand to warrant risking a midnight encounter with highwaymen.
And even if he did travel at such a pace, the timing of your sighting means he
had less than five days' time on either side to make the trip there and back
again. He would have been required to turn around directly he arrived,
leaving him
no opportunity to conduct whatever business took him there."

"Assuming he left London and returned when he says he did."

"He claims to have departed early on Friday the fourteenth and
returned late the Saturday next." She put aside her letter to Jane and
pulled out a fresh sheet of writing paper. With a few dips of her pen, she
sketched out a rough calendar. "You called on Tuesday at what hour?"

"Half past three."

She made a notation in Tuesday's box. "We know he returned Saturday
because he came straight here, looking as if he'd just been traveling."

"He could have returned earlier and made himself appear
travel-weary for his call."

"Regardless, we know he was in town by Saturday evening." She
wrote as much on the page. "That's closer to four days than five between
your observation of him and his appearance here - simply not enough time for
him to have made the trip after you saw him."

"Then he must have left and returned before Tuesday afternoon."

"He maintains that he departed Friday morning too early to take
leave of Kitty. Even if he set out at some ghastly hour..." She scowled at
her annotations. "I simply do not see how it is possible. Besides, did not
someone else claim to have seen him Friday night? That gentleman at your
fencing club looking for Mr. Dashwood?"

"Longcliffe?" When Darcy had encountered him, he'd said he confronted
Dashwood at the Pigeon Hole late the night before. "Yes, Longcliffe's
meeting would have happened on Friday. I heard of it while waiting for
Chatfield, and we meet on Saturdays."

"His testimony curtails Mr. Dashwood's travel period even
further.
And we have not even considered all the sightings of Mr. Dashwood that others
reported that week." She set aside her pen and rubbed her temples. "Unless
Harry harnessed an eagle to his carriage, I do not know how he managed the journey."

"Mrs. Edward Ferrars arrives on the morrow. Surely additional
information from her will enlighten us. If she calls as soon as she is settled,
we can look for her perhaps as early as Saturday."

So intensely did his wife study her paper that Darcy was not sure she
heard him.

"Elizabeth?"

She withdrew a second sheet. "I am not certain I can wait that
long."

Twenty

"She has done with her son, she has cast him off
forever, and has made all those over whom she had any influence, cast him off
likewise

-
John
Dashwood to Elinor,

Sense and Sensibility,
Chapter 41

Elizabeth
set out for St. James's Street within ten minutes of receiving Elinnor's
communication of her arrival in London. She'd sent a note to the Brandons'
townhouse begging leave to call upon Mrs. Edward Ferrars at her earliest
convenience, and in turn had been invited to come immediately. She
hoped the Delaford party would not consider her eagerness ill-mannered, but the
more she pondered the questions surrounding Harry's Devonshire visit, the more
quickly she needed to have her puzzlement abated.

Elinor greeted her warmly in the drawing
room, where Edward also waited. After hearing Elizabeth's apologies for
intruding on the couple so soon, and dismissing them as entirely unnecessary,
Mrs. Ferrars immediately introduced the subject of Harry.

"The exigency of your call relates, I
presume, to our nephew. Has something further occurred since your letter to us
in Delaford?"

A twinge of conscience admonished her for
allowing her own impatience to cause them undue anxiety. "Not to my knowledge.
Mr Dash wood is, however, so unpredictable of late that one can never be certain
when another tale of his exploits will circulate."

"I sensed in your letter that you
hesitated to disclose all the information in your possession."

"I
did not know how you would respond to the intelligence. And, indeed, Mr Darcy
knows more particulars than I. Many of Mr Dash wood's alleged transgressions, I
am given to understand, are so very shocking that my husband will not describe them
to me. Merely from what I myself have witnessed, I would caution anyone who takes
benevolent interest in Mr Dashwood to prepare for a distressing next meeting,
for you will find him
much altered from the gentleman who entertained us at Norland.
But you said in your letter that you have seen
him since then?"

"He
called upon us a month ago," Elinor said. "It was a very sudden
visit--he arrived so soon after his letter stating his intention to come that he
might have saved us the postage and delivered it himself."

"Do
you recall the date of his arrival?"

Elinorand
Edward exchanged glances "It was a Sunday--the sixteenth, I believe,"
Edward said. "I had just finished services."
"May I ask what errand brought
him to you?"
"He wished to talk about Norland,"
Elinor said. "People and things I remembered from the period I lived
there, or that I might have recalled others mentioning. He had recently explored
Norland's attics and wanted to know the origin of some of the items he had
discovered. Many were pieces that graced Norland's rooms until my father passed
away, but that Fanny did
not care for. Others I had no memory of, and referred him to my mother."

"Did
Mr. Dashwood call upon your mother, then?"

"Yes,
and Marianne, as well."
"On the same business?"

"Yes.
He also asked numerous questions about my father and our uncle Albert Dashwood--their
temperaments and deportment, their voices and manners of expression, their
interests and amusements--the essentials of their characters, I suppose. He enquired,
too, about Sir Francis Dashwood, and whether Papa or Uncle Albert had spoken of
him."

"Had
he ever expressed curiosity on these points before?"

"Not
to me, but of course we have had little previous opportunity for such
conversations. I do not know whether he asked my brother about any of his Dashwood
relations before John's death. At the time of Harry's visit, I thought my
nephew had merely developed an interest in the estate and lineage he inherited,
and I was glad of it. But seen in the light of your report
about this Hell-Fire business he's become involved with, I think we instead
witnessed the infancy of an obsession with our notorious ancestor"

"In
your letter, you said that he seemed different from what he had been at Norland
just a fortnight earlier?"

"He
did not look altogether well to me--tired, which I presumed to derive from the
rapidity of his journey. Would you not agree, Edward?"

Her
husband nodded and sat forward. "The fatigue left his nerves frayed. More
than once, I startled him simply by walking into a room. I believe he also did
not sleep well while he was with us. One morning at breakfast, he complained of
a bad dream having disturbed his rest."

"Did
you enquire into the nature of it?"

"No,
nor did he offer it"

Running
footsteps above drew their attention ceihngward. Several pairs of feet, small from
the sound of them, sprinted across the room above. Peals of laughter followed.

Elinor
smiled apologetically. "That would be Marianne and the children. They have
been too long confined in carriages these past few days."
Elizabeth arched a brow
"Marianne included?'

Elinor
laughed. "Actually, yes. My sister possesses as much energy as any of
them, and as little natural inclination to suppress it Though she comports herself
with the dignity and temperance one would expect from a lady of her station, I
think the hours when she dismisses the governess and plays with the children
herself provide Marianne one of her greatest joys each day.

Elizabeth
thought of the quiet, broken only by Georgiana's rehearsals on the harp or pianoforte,
that encompassed the houses in which she herself lived. "It is welcome
noise," she said "Are your own children among the party?"

"No,
they are with our neighbors, the Careys. With Marianne's five, we were already
so numerous as to require two conveyances; to bring our own children with us
seemed unnecessary, especially given the additional trouble and expense of
transporting ourselves home by public coach once our business is
concluded."

"We
also were not certain what demands might be placed on ourselves and our time in
assisting Harry," Edward said.

Regardless
of what had transpired between Harry and Kitty, Elizabeth sincerely hoped
Elinor and Edward Ferrars might exert a positive influence on their nephew--for
the good of everyone he came in contact with, if not for himself. "You
said he enquired of you about
Sir
Francis. Were you able to satisfy him on any particulars?"
"No," Elinor replied.
"Sir Francis died over thirty years ago. By the time I reached an age
where one has memories of anything my father and Uncle Albert never spoke of
him, or had any reason to. I suggested Harry ask my mother, since she would be able
to recall a period when Sir Francis was still alive. I do not know the outcome
of that interview, but Mama is upstairs. Shall I call her? I am certain she would
be pleased lo make your acquaintance."

Elizabeth
wished very much to speak with Mrs. Henry Dashwood but hesitated to impose on
the older woman. "I would not wish to disturb her if she is resting
following your journey."

A
team of horses galloped across the ceiling.

"I
somehow doubt my mother rests just now," Elinor said.

Edward
left to retrieve Mrs. Dashwood As the ladies waited, Elinor advised Elizabeth
that she had not informed her mother of the extent of Harry's transformation or
made any mention of the Hell-Fire Club. I did not wish to alarm her until I had
spoken with Harry myself," she explained.

"I
will not reveal anything that might distress her," Elizabeth promised

Mrs.
Dashwood was a pleasant woman of about five-and-fifty, with grey hair turning
silver and laugh lines around her keen eyes. She greeted Elizabeth warmly upon
their introduction, expressing genuine delight at finally meeting her.

"Elinor
has spoken so favorably of you, Mrs. Darcy, that I have looked forward to knowing
you since Harry announced his engagement to your sister. I am sorry their
marriage will not now take place."

"Unfortunately,
it was necessary for Kitty and Mr. Dashwood to part ways''

"It must be of some comfort to your
family that they discovered their incompatibility before the wedding vows were
spoken, I was surprised to hear the news, as he talked so ardently of her when
he visited. But these things do happen with young people "

Though
Elizabeth and Darcy grew more relieved with each passing day that Kitty had escaped
a permanent alliance with Harry Dashwood, Elizabeth had little inclination to
discuss the broken engagement. She yet lamented her lapse of judgment on the
point of Harry's character, and it rankled her vanity that she had allowed
herself to be so deceived.

"I
understand Mr. Dashwood also spoke of other matters with you during his visit
to Devonshire?" Elizabeth asked.

Mrs.
Dashwood smiled softly in recollection "Yes. He wanted to hear about my
husband, Henry. I was so pleased by his interest. Other than naming Harry after
his grandfather, John and Fanny didn't seem to give Henry two minutes' thought
before he died, and none afterward. Harry met his grandfather few times; John
and Fanny visited Norland just often enough to
insinuate themselves into Uncle Albert's will. That he wished to hear about Henry
now encouraged me to hope that he had grown to be a man worthy of the name he
bears."

"Mother,
Harry asked me whether Papa or Uncle Albert had ever spoken of Sir Francis
Dashwood. Did Harry pose the same question to you?"