The Darcy Cousins (15 page)

They would have done better to follow Caroline's advice and play cards, for now the young ladies had nothing to do but stare out of the window. The minutes stretched into hours, and the silence deepened.

Georgiana's eyes began to blur from the effort of trying to make out three distant figures on the horizon.

Finally, however, her efforts were rewarded.

"There they are!" she cried, bringing Caroline to her feet.

Clarissa rushed to the window to confirm it.

"Yes, there they are!" said Clarissa with intense relief.

But their happiness soon diminished as the figures came closer.

They watched until the men's features became apparent, and they could see the sheen covering the horses.

"They have not found Anne," said Georgiana.

130

Chapter 12

The three women hurried downstairs to discover what had happened. The gentlemen passed through the doorway and took off their overcoats silently.

"No news?" said Caroline to Robert, who was the first to enter.

He shook his head. "No trace at all," he replied.

There was no chance to ask more questions. The gentlemen strode immediately to the drawing room, where Lady Catherine waited with Dawson.

"Have you found her?" she said, though it was abundantly clear from their expressions that they had not.

"I suggest we send for help," said Darcy. "We need as many people on horseback as possible to conduct a search."

"And have the whole neighborhood abuzz with the news?" said Lady Catherine bitingly. "Certainly not!"

"Lady Catherine," said Robert, "if Miss de Bourgh is injured, then we need to find her by nightfall, before the chill comes in. She has a weak constitution--"

"Yes, yes," interrupted her ladyship. "I know what she has."

"With your permission, Aunt, I will send for some of the neighbours, and we will organize a search party," said Darcy.

MONICA FAIRVIEW

"Then do so," said Lady Catherine. "You may count me as one of the party."

Mr Darcy hesitated, then nodded. "You should not go alone, however." He turned to Caroline. "Caroline, if you would be so kind as to accompany Lady Catherine?"

"Of course," said Caroline.

"May we search as well?" said Georgiana.

"No," replied Darcy.

"We need as many people as possible, Fitz," said Robert.

Darcy examined Georgiana. "Very well, you and Clarissa can search, but you must both stay under the supervision of Elizabeth.

Where is she, by the way?"

"I am here," she said, stepping into the room.

"We will," said Georgiana. To prove it, she linked her arm in Clarissa's and took her over to where Elizabeth was standing.

"Three ladies must search together, while each man searches alone," muttered Clarissa. "Where is the wisdom in that?"

"He means to keep you safe," said Elizabeth.

"What could be safer than Rosings Park?" said Clarissa.

"Patience!" said Elizabeth with a smile. "At least you have a chance to participate."

Cold meats and pies were brought in while word was sent out to various neighbors. Lady Catherine meanwhile studied the map of the park with Darcy and the colonel, and the search area was split into different sectors.

By and by, a number of gentlemen gathered in the front of the house. Georgiana immediately located Channing, who waved at her and Clarissa and grinned.

Mr Gatley was part of the search party as well. The moment he arrived, he immediately came over to Georgiana's side.

132

THE DARCY COUSINS

"I was very sorry to hear the news about your cousin, Miss Darcy," he said. "There is no need to worry yet, however. No doubt she has just taken a fall and will be found easily enough."

Georgiana nodded. "That is what we hope."

He bowed and returned to the rest of the group, where Lady Catherine was now issuing instructions.

Channing caught Clarissa's attention and wriggled his brows most comically while Lady Catherine spoke.

Clarissa smothered a giggle. "He really ought not to," she said to Georgiana. "This is serious business."

"We cannot expect a stranger to feel the same anxiety over Anne's disappearance as we do, I suppose," said Georgiana.

Just as the search party prepared to set out, Mr Collins scurried forward to join them. He dismounted and ran hastily to Lady Catherine.

"My sincerest apologies for my delay, your ladyship," he said, gazing up at her. "If I could but explain..."

"Never mind, Mr Collins," said Lady Catherine, curtly. "We are preparing to leave. My daughter's fate depends on us."

She made to move on, but he stepped in front of her horse. "You cannot imagine the depth of my sorrow at such a tragic occasion, your ladyship," he said, speaking rapidly, "I am sure as a mother--and an excellent mother, if her ladyship will permit me to say so--your grief--severe as it must be--can have no bounds. For if a tragic event should have occurred--but we must not speak of such things--for it is by no means certain--you may count on me to assist your ladyship in any way I can. Your ladyship will find me willing to go to any lengths in this painful task of seeking Miss de Bourgh, for I assure you--"

"I am certain you will do your best, Mr Collins," said Lady 133

MONICA FAIRVIEW

Catherine, "Now return to your mount, and Mr Darcy will give you instructions."

Torn between apologies, lest he had incurred her ladyship's displeasure, and anxiety that Mr Darcy would leave without giving him instructions, Mr Collins stumbled away.

Lady Catherine, who was supposed to set out herself, lingered behind to speak to the ladies.

"What did Mr Collins mean? What tragic event? " said Lady Catherine.

"I am sure I cannot imagine," said Elizabeth quickly.

Lady Catherine fixed her eyes on Elizabeth. "You are not such a fool as all that. If you know what he means, you must tell me immediately."

"I do not think you should take Mr Collins at his word," said Elizabeth. "He is prone to exaggeration at the best of times. Let us be on our way, Lady Catherine. We cannot afford to delay."

"Nevertheless, you must have some idea what he meant."

When Elizabeth did not answer, Lady Catherine turned to Caroline. "Well, have you nothing to say either? Have all the Darcy men married dunces?"

"You must ask Mr Collins yourself when he returns," said Caroline calmly. "I cannot presume to comprehend what he is thinking. Shall we leave?"

Lady Catherine, seeing she was to receive no answer, urged her horse to a trot.

Georgiana and her companions moved off in a different direction, towards the copse of birch trees that was their search area.

They peered through the tree branches and brushes aside the brambles with crops or sticks, their search yielding nothing.

They were hoping to glimpse something that would mark 134

THE DARCY COUSINS

Anne's presence--a shawl perhaps or the muff that Anne always carried--but none of them materialized. They searched carefully, hardly speaking, moving until they encountered the group from the next sector covered. They exchanged serious greetings, while each group reported the same: they had found nothing.

Just to make sure, they returned and searched again.

With each minute that passed, Georgiana's heart constricted further. At the beginning the whole thing had seemed very unlikely. She had not really taken it seriously. In fact, Georgiana had half believed it was a way for Lady Catherine to rein Anne back in under her wing. She had even thought--to her shame--that Lady Catherine was hoping that by lengthening Anne's leash, some accident would befall her. Then her ladyship would be fully justified to bring her daughter back under her iron rule again.

But as Anne's disappearance became more and more impossible to explain, Georgiana now began to worry in earnest. There was guilt at the heart of her worry, and a horrible suspicion that they had in some ways contributed to her disappearance. She was terrified that the role they had played in encouraging their cousin to become independent would have serious consequences. For it was true that Anne was frail and unaccustomed to depending on her own resources. If some accident had befallen her, she might not know what to do. Nor did she have the strength to survive long without help.

After another look through the copse and the adjoining area, it became abundantly clear that they would not find Anne there.

Clarissa suggested that they return.

"Let us look one more time," said Elizabeth.

"Perhaps we should return to the house," suggested Georgiana.

"Maybe someone has found her already."

135

MONICA FAIRVIEW

Elizabeth, however, insisted on one more look, just in case.

When it wielded nothing, she turned back to the house, shoulders slumped in defeat.

They arrived there to discover that several of the searchers had already returned, but no one had any news.

"I'm afraid," said Clarissa to Georgiana. "We know she could not have gotten very far, since she tires quickly, yet no one has found her. I cannot help agreeing with Mr Collins. I can think of no other explanation for her disappearance."

Georgiana stared at her cousin.

"But what did Mr Collins mean?"

"Remember the other day, when we went to see Charlotte? When we found her missing? She came from the direction of the pond."

It was too terrible to contemplate.

"Surely you are not implying..."

Clarissa nodded as though she had spoken it. "It is possible."

"Do not say such a thing, Clarissa. Why would she do such a thing? Mr Collins could not possibly have intended that."

Oh, if that happened. To think it would all be their fault; that they had driven her to such desperate measures by harping on her situation. How would she ever be able to live with herself?

"Intended what?" asked Elizabeth, who had come up behind them.

"I--," said Georgiana, in considerable distress.

Clarissa flushed and looked down at her feet. "'Tis only what I thought Mr Collins was implying. I would never have come up with it myself," she said defensively. "I thought he meant that she had drowned herself."

"Hush!" said Elizabeth, looking round at the drawing room uneasily. "Do not repeat such a thing to anybody. I cannot for a 136

THE DARCY COUSINS

moment imagine that is what Mr Collins had in mind. I know you are fond of Gothic novels, Clarissa, but we are not characters in a novel."

"Then what did he have in mind?" retorted Clarissa defiantly.

"If you will not tell me what he meant, you cannot blame me if I am forced to speculate."

Elizabeth looked kindly at the young woman. "If you knew Mr Collins as I do, you would know he probably meant nothing by it at all." A small smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. "In fact, you had better think about it as little as possible."

Clarissa's expression remained mutinous. Elizabeth, however, smiled even more widely. "I should not tell you this, if you have not yet discovered it, but Mr Collins is among the silliest men of my acquaintance, and it is very likely, if you were to ask him what he meant, he would not remember saying anything at all."

Clarissa was only partly mollified. "You cannot throw me off the scent so easily," she said. "It is true that Mr Collins, as you say, is addle-brained, but you have not given me a convincing account of Anne's disappearance."

"You may count on it," said Elizabeth confidently, "nothing more alarming has happened than that Anne has taken a fall and, out of reach of any kind of assistance, she has not been able to return home. I am sure one of the search parties will return with some such news soon enough. Meanwhile, something warm to drink may do us good and prevent us from speculating too wildly."

She said this in a tone that was light and could not cause offence, and the two young ladies--in the manner of very young people who prefer to dismiss unpleasant things that do not agree with their view of the world--were able to chase away their fears when faced with a more sensible view of the matter.

137

MONICA FAIRVIEW

Nothing in Elizabeth's manner revealed that she was herself very anxious for her husband's cousin. She did not consider that Anne would have done it deliberately, but it was possible that Anne could have fallen into the pond or the stream that ran through Rosings.

Encumbered by her clothing and the multitude of shawls around her, she may have been unable to swim.

None of the returning parties had anything new to report. As dusk fell, the search was called off with an agreement to resume it the next day as early as possible.

Darcy comforted his aunt the best way he could, by telling her that even if the night was cold, Anne was equipped with enough shawls to keep her warm, and that her daughter was sensible enough to drag herself to some kind of shelter, even if she was injured.

Elizabeth and Caroline assured her of the same thing.

Georgiana and Clarissa were sent upstairs--to be out of Lady Catherine's way, presumably. They were only too glad to be removed from her presence, and Clarissa spent the rest of the evening teaching Georgiana how to make a Grand Entrance into a room full of strangers.

It was not that they were not worried about Anne. It was that they did not want to think about her. Far better to remain opti-mistic and to wait and see what tomorrow would bring.

The next day, a number of the gentlemen appeared in long boots and fishing clothes. Georgiana registered their clothing with dismay. It was clear now that Mr Collins was not the only one who had considered the possibility of drowning. They departed 138

THE DARCY COUSINS

to search all the ponds on the grounds and to inquire down-stream whether she had been found, while others continued the search for her beyond the boundaries of Rosings Park. A half-hearted search of the grounds was also conducted, with Lady Catherine leading, but the area had been combed thoroughly the day before, and no one deemed it likely that the search would yield any result.

Georgiana, meanwhile, could no longer dismiss the possibility that something terrible had happened. Her unruly thoughts had become a reality, and for the whole day she was haunted by the image of Anne being carried back, dripping with water. She could not bear it.