Mr. Darcy's Daughter (47 page)

"Margaret?"
said Lizzie, clearly shocked.

The
officer nodded, "Yes, Miss Gardiner, only Margaret Baines can corroborate
Archer's statement. Indeed, he has alleged it happened because he went to her
aid, when she was attacked by Mr. Jones, on the path above the quarry. He
claims she called out for help and he responded to her appeal."

Lizzie
rose and ran from the room and her mother followed her out, while Dr Gardiner
sent for the housekeeper, who was requested to fetch Margaret Baines.

At
this point, Mr. Carr, Darcy, and Frank Wickham, feeling awkward and intrusive,
strolled out onto the terrace, leaving Dr Gardiner and his wife to deal with
the police and Margaret Baines.

Mrs.
Gardiner returned and sat beside her husband on the couch by the fire.

Margaret
Baines entered and was invited to seat herself on a low chair beside her
mistress. The police officers sat stiffly before them and asked her questions,
which she answered without hesitation. Previously, she had told the story of
her brief association with Jones, but had made no direct mention of John
Archer, unwilling to implicate him in any way.

Now,
however, as they questioned her about the incident in the woods, she revealed
more of what she had already told her mistress. She told them of the evenings
she had walked home through the woods and the occasions on which Andrew Jones
had walked with her. She told them how she had, on one occasion, noticed a man
following them and had told Mr. Jones of it, but he had been unconcerned, she
said.

After
she had discovered the man was John Archer, she had been afraid of being exposed
by him and losing her job, she admitted. Relating the frightening experience of
her final encounter with Jones, she revealed for the first time to the police
the struggle she had heard taking place after she had broken away and fled from
him.

It
took very long, because Cassy insisted that the girl be given time to answer
their questions in her own way. Finally, it was done.

The
inquest, they said, would take place next week and Mrs. Gardiner had to
guarantee that Margaret Baines would attend, tell her story, and be prepared to
be questioned by the coroner. Which Cassy, having glanced at her husband and
seen him nod, agreed to do. Margaret would continue to stay with the Gardiners
until her appearance before the coroner.

As
soon as they were gone, Cassy, having cautioned Margaret to say not a word
about her statement to the other servants, sent her directly to her room.

Mr.
Carr had already taken his leave, taking Mr. Wickham with him, and Darcy had
long gone to bed, more confused than ever.

Cassy
then went upstairs herself to reassure Lizzie and hoping to improve her own
understanding by discussing the situation with her husband.

Richard
was tired, too; it had been a long day, but he took time to explain to his wife
what would be the most likely outcome.

"It
is difficult to imagine a more extraordinary case than this one has turned out
to be," he said, shaking his head. "For Archer to confess to the
crime is a singularly brave thing to do. He is facing certain transportation or
jail for the term of his natural life."

"Unless
the coroner believes he did genuinely intervene to save Margaret from a
dreadful fate at the hands of Mr. Jones," said Cassy, who had not
previously given much thought to Archer's fate.

"Of
course, but is it likely? Jones was the son of a wealthy London family with
important business and social connections. They will be well represented.

Archer
comes from a family of simple tenant farmers. He has had some education and has
worked for one or two prominent families in London, but there is no comparison,
is there? And not a great deal of hope for him, unless the coroner is a man of
absolute integrity, who is not influenced by these matters."

His
wife was not quite so pessimistic and believed that the coroner may well believe
Archer's story, especially when heard in conjunction with Margaret's statement.
"I do hope you are wrong, dearest. It seems so unfair,"

she
said, hoping in her heart that Margaret's evidence would not be used to hang or
transport a man, who had indeed acted to save a young woman from molestation,
albeit somewhat precipitately and with terrible consequences for Mr. Jones.
Despite her reservations about Archer, Cassy could not believe he deserved such
a fate.

*

The
week following, Margaret Baines, modestly and soberly gowned, accompanied by
her mother and the attorney, presented herself at the offices of the
constabulary and thereafter attended the coroner's inquest.

There,
John Archer told his story on oath, for all to hear.

He
claimed he had loved Margaret Baines, though she knew nothing of his feelings;
he had intended, he said, to apply to her mother first, for permission, before
approaching the girl. But, he had loved her since the days when he, as a young
man, had lived on the Pemberley Estate, before he had gone to work in London.

On
his return he had hoped to find employment, marry her, and settle in the area,
he said, speaking seriously and with such a degree of openness that he had to
be believed. That was until he saw her with Mr. Jones walking in the woods, he
said. Asked if it had made him jealous and angry, he admitted to jealousy but
denied anger, saying he knew little of Jones to make him angry at the time.

Later
he had made enquiries about him from contacts in London and on learning
"the man was a swindler and a notorious deceiver of young women all over
town," Archer said, he had decided to follow the pair, chiefly "to
ensure the girl got into no trouble" because he did not trust Jones.

He
had followed them undetected for almost two weeks, during which time, he
claimed "nothing untoward occurred," until the day he had seen Jones
kiss the girl, when she had broken away and run from him.

It
was the day Margaret Baines had first spotted him, he said, but he didn't think
she had recognised him.

Asked
if he was, by then, both angry and jealous, he admitted that he was.

Asked
if he wanted to assault Jones, he denied that this was so.

"I
was concerned for Margaret. I was glad she had got away. I was also happy to
see that she did not welcome his advances," he said in reply. "I knew
then she did not care for him and I was very glad of it. But I was sure he
would not take no for an answer. His type never does."

Continuing,
Archer told the coroner that, on the following day, he had stayed well hidden
and managed to follow the pair, to the point where they had stopped on the path
that ran along the lip of the quarry. He had remained at a distance, concealed
by a dense thicket. There, as they stood, the girl had spoken in a low voice.

Archer
said he could not hear her words, but then, he had seen Jones reach out for the
girl, draw her towards him, attempting to fondle and molest her, whereupon, she
had struggled and cried out for help. As he had rushed out towards them, she
had broken free of Jones and escaped into the woods. Archer then claimed he had
rushed at Jones "in a rage, like a madman" shouting at him, and
Jones, taken by surprise, had struck out at him with his stick. Archer said he
still carried the bruise upon his shoulder, a fact that was confirmed by the
police.

Archer
had carried no weapon, not even a stick, he said. In the ensuing melee, he had
struck out with his fists and Jones had fallen to the floor and then, as he
rose and lunged at Archer again, he had tripped and, losing his balance, fallen
over, tumbling headlong down the face of the cliff into the quarry below.

Asked
by the coroner if he had done anything to help the man or to verify if he was
alive, Archer shrugged his shoulders and said it was a long way down and the
light was almost gone. He had peered over the edge, but had neither seen nor
heard anything, he declared.

"You
heard no cry for help?" the coroner asked and Archer swore he had not. As
he spoke, without emotion, Margaret Baines sat, her face red with
embarrassment, her eyes downcast, blowing her nose from time to time on a large
handkerchief provided by the attorney. Her striking auburn hair glowed in the
light flooding in through a high window behind them, and each time Archer
looked at her, he seemed to be gazing at her hair. Cassandra could not help
wondering at his feelings for Margaret. Could he really be so obsessed with the
girl, he would risk his freedom, even his life, by making such a plain
confession of guilt?

There
was a general feeling of unease in the room, a sense that Archer was already
resigned to his fate. No one had suggested that the man was lying. The officers
of the constabulary seemed content and most of the public appeared to
sympathise with Archer. As for the man himself, he sat quiet and composed, as
if nothing mattered.

After
hearing all Archer had to say and questioning both Frank Wickham and Margaret
Baines again, the coroner retired to consider the evidence, while everyone else
went outside for a breath of fresh air.

The
verdict, when it came, was a shock.

The
coroner had concluded that there was no doubt Mr. Jones had died as a result of
the fall he had taken into the quarry. But, and here was the salient point, he
said, "Archer had been trying to protect the virtue of an innocent, if
rather foolhardy young woman, for whom he claims he had a genuine affection and
honourable intentions. Had he not acted as he did, she may well have suffered a
far worse fate at the hands of Mr. Jones. Archer could not have been expected
to remain unmoved. He had set upon the man, who had tried to molest the young
woman and in so doing, Archer had accidentally caused the death of Mr.
Jones."

There
was an audible sigh of relief in the room and Margaret Baines sobbed into her attorney's
handkerchief.

Lizzie
Gardiner had not been able to bring herself to attend the inquest.

When
Darcy and Mr. Carr returned with her mother and Margaret, who was now at
liberty to return to her home, Lizzie wept with relief. "At least Margaret
will not have a death upon her conscience," she said, and it was clear to
them that she did not mean the death of Mr. Jones. "It would have been
singularly unfair if a man who had tried to stop a helpless girl being molested
was to lose his life or his liberty, because he had, by his action,
accidentally caused the death of her attacker," and there was not a
dissenting voice to be heard on the subject.

Cassy
was immensely relieved, too.

While
she had no liking for Archer, she was glad the matter had ended without the
need for a trial, possibly followed by a hanging or transportation.

Some
of the tales that were told of the fate of men sent down for murder, sentenced
to penal servitude at Godforsaken places like Port Arthur or Norfolk Island on
the other side of the world, were too horrible to contemplate.

Cassy
assumed that Margaret would now be free to live and work in the area as she
chose.

"She
will probably never want to see the man Archer again," she declared, as
they retired to bed that night.

Her
husband smiled and said, "Perhaps, but I cannot believe the girl was not
flattered by his admission of a love lasting many years and such a public
declaration of his intentions. Besides, just think, by his confession, he was
declaring his willingness to give up his liberty or his life for her. Margaret
must be touched, surely?"

"Oh,
Richard, do you really believe that?" his wife protested, but Dr Gardiner
was unwilling to be cynical, at least not until he had evidence to the
contrary, he said, as he put out the light, pointing out gently that men had
been willing to die for love, before today.

Cassy
was not in any mood to be contrary; it had been a much more satisfactory day
than many that had gone before and she had no wish to indulge in a pointless
argument with her husband. Besides, she thought with a smile, he may even be
right.

The
police investigation into the death of Mr. Jones had led, quite by chance, to
the discovery of two other wanted men who had been appre-hended at Cromford.
They had been involved in setting up a string of fraudulent deals around the
county, most of which led right back to Andrew Jones.

Clearly
he was the man they had been working for, and it was to their hideout, in an
old manor house outside Cromford, that Jones used to retreat whenever the inn
became too crowded for comfort or a stranger asked too many inconvenient
questions.

News
of their arrest brought general relief to the community and especially to the
innkeeper, Mr. Hand, whose suspicions had increased considerably in recent
times.

Mr.
Carr, too, was glad to be rid of them; they'd been loitering around his
property too often for his liking, yet he had been powerless to do very much
about them. Their depredations had troubled many of the farmers and shop-keepers
in the area, for they were suspected of thieving and worse. It may well be said
that, knowing they were taken into custody and would soon be out of the county,
the entire populace breathed a sigh of relief.