“I came down thirty minutes earlier,” Mr.Worth bemoaned missing the incident.“I took no note of anything unusual at that time.”
Mrs. Williams sipped her soup. “I pray Miss Donnel suffers no continuing injury.”
“My housekeeper reports that the lady has a badly bruised ankle and a sizable bump on the back of her head, but Miss Donnel should recover quickly,” Darcy assured everyone.
Georgiana offered, “I think it admirable that His Lordship sees to his cousin personally. I imagine that Edward would be as attentive for Anne or me.”
Darcy noted Elizabeth’s questioning stare, but he ignored her silent demand for answers. “Lord Stafford does seem most concerned. The family is suffering with the illness of a loved one, compounded by the inconvenience of being stranded by the storm.”
“I still say the man affects his cousin,” Lady Catherine remarked to no one in particular.
“It should be none of our concern,” Anne said evenly.
The fact that his cousin offered an opinion of any kind caught Darcy off guard. He had no time to intercept his aunt’s response. “One could hardly help but take notice,” Lady Catherine snarled. “And who are you to correct me? Since when do you censure me—your mother—the woman who suffered to bring you into the world?”
“And what a lovely world it is, Mother!” Anne stood suddenly, throwing her napkin on the table. “If you will excuse me, Fitzwilliam,” she mumbled as she rushed from the room.
“Well, I never!” Lady Catherine began.
However, Darcy cut her remarks short.“I am sure,Aunt, that my cousin meant no harm. It could have been Anne or Mrs. Jenkinson or Mrs. Williams or Mrs. Wickham lying in that bed right now or even worse. Anne is sensitive; I beg you not to dwell on her unintended aspersion.”
His aunt said grudgingly, “I suppose, Darcy.
Elizabeth caught Darcy’s eye. “Maybe Mrs. Jenkinson might see to Miss de Bourgh.”
“That is an excellent idea, Elizabeth. Mrs. Jenkinson, please send us a report on Anne’s recovery when you deem her settled.”
“Certainly, Mr. Darcy. Thank you, sir.” The lady gave Elizabeth a quick nod of gratitude and followed Anne to their adjoining quarters.
“Anne,” the older woman called as she came through their connected dressing rooms,“are you well?” Anne lay prostrate across her bed, clutching a lace handkerchief in her left hand—her shoulders shaking with muffled sobs. Mildred Jenkinson sat on the edge of the bed, lightly stroking Anne de Bourgh’s back. “Oh, Anne, my darling girl. I hate having you so distraught.”
Sniffles and sobs escaped as Anne buried her face into the pillow. “I cannot go back there!” she wailed.“I simply cannot return to Rosings.” She sat up suddenly to look at the only friend she had ever
had. “If I return to Kent, I must accept never having any freedom until my mother leaves this earthly world. I cannot bear it, Mildred.”
Mrs. Jenkinson slid her arm around Anne’s shoulder. “We will think of something. Maybe Mr. Darcy can convince Lady Catherine to soften her reproaches.” Mildred rarely spoke honestly about what she observed in the de Bourgh household, but she knew that Anne would not chastise her for speaking aloud what they both thought. “Or perhaps the Darcys might extend an invitation for you to remain at Pemberley when Her Ladyship returns to Kent.”
Anne grasped at this hope. “Oh, Mildred, do you believe that possible? Even though Lieutenant Harwood may not be here, it would be heavenly to simply have the peace that Pemberley provides. I could learn to play the pianoforte at last. I have always wanted to play.”
“I know, my Girl.” Mildred tightened her embrace.
Anne closed her eyes as if picturing a different future. “And I could take a long walk if I chose or read a novel by Mrs. Radcliffe or paint a picture.There would be no one to say ‘She is quite a little creature’ or anyone to remark that I might become quite accomplished if I applied myself.” Anne sighed.
Mildred hesitated. “I must offer you a caution: Even Mr. Darcy may choose to accept Lady Catherine’s dominion over you.”
Anne refused to give up on her dreams. She wiped the tears from her face. “Help me to freshen myself. I must speak to my cousin immediately. If Fitzwilliam refuses to help, then I need to know before this storm lessens. I must have all my options present.” She rushed to her dressing room and poured fresh water in the bowl. Taking a folded cloth from the stack on the dressing table, Anne dipped it in the water and wrung it out. Dabbing at her eyes, she looked at herself in the mirror. “I hate the way my lids swell when I cry.” She pressed the cool cloth to her eyes and held it there. It was as if she washed away her troubles. “You will come with me, Mildred, when I speak to Mr. Darcy.”
“I am sure the gentleman would prefer not to discuss familial relationships in my presence.” Mildred watched Anne’s demeanor.
She had noted the subtle difference in Georgiana Darcy now that she was under Mrs. Darcy’s care. She would like to see Anne earn some confidence of her own.
Anne came to kneel before her companion. “Oh, Mildred, you must come with me. I would not be able to approach Fitzwilliam without your support.” She took the older woman’s hand and brought it to her cheek. “You are my only true friend; you know my deepest secrets.”
Mildred Jenkinson stood, bringing Anne to her feet also.“Come, my Girl.You know I can never deny you.”
Forty-five minutes later, they sat with Darcy in his study. Mrs. Jenkinson appreciated the kindness that Mr. Darcy showed as he listened carefully to Anne’s plea for asylum. He made no commitment, saying that he would need to speak to Mrs. Darcy and to the Fitzwilliam faction of the family before he chose to involve them in what would likely be another tiff with Lady Catherine.
He questioned Anne regarding Lieutenant Harwood, specifically asking whether the man offered marriage and asking about anything else she might know of him. “It cheered me to know the good colonel was the one who introduced you to Harwood. I trust Edward’s opinion of a man’s character.” Darcy spoke the truth—he did trust his cousin’s judgment. But he also paid Harwood an indirect compliment to gain Anne’s confidence. Attacking the man had gotten Lady Catherine nowhere.
“You would like the lieutenant, Fitzwilliam. One finds the easiness, openness, and ductility of his temper. He is just what a young man ought to be: sensible, good-humored, lively, and I never saw such happy manners!—so much ease, with such perfect good breeding!”
“Then Harwood is of family?” Darcy still wanted to know more of the man than his cousin’s idealized opinions.The fact that Harwood had met Anne privately at an inn bothered Darcy.Theoretically, the man compromised his naïve cousin; he chose to learn more of the man because Anne needed protecting.
“The lieutenant is a second son; his brother Rowland will inherit. Robert has two sisters—one still at home and the other married to another officer in the service.”
Darcy steepled his fingers, deep in contemplation. “I see.” He paused before he added, “Anne, I am concerned, and I intend to learn more about the lieutenant. I want you to understand that I do so out of affection for you and not out of some mean spiritedness.”
Anne glanced at Mrs. Jenkinson, who sat obediently in the corner, pretending not to hear. “Mrs. Jenkinson will speak to my conduct, Fitzwilliam. I would wish that you feel free to ask her anything, and I release her to be completely truthful regarding what she knows of me and of the lieutenant.”
Again, Darcy weighed his words carefully. “I do not believe that necessary at this time, but I may consider it as the situation develops.”
“Thank you, Cousin, for listening to me.” She prepared to stand, but he motioned for her to remain.
“Might you tell me what you know of Miss Donnel’s accident?” He sat forward, interested in her account.
“I am unsure of what you speak, Fitzwilliam.”
“Simply tell me the chronological order of the events. Did you see anyone else about? Did Miss Donnel seem aware of what awaited her?” Darcy could not shake the feeling that as Miss Donnel made her living as an actress, the
accident
held more questions than answers.
“Mrs. Wickham and Miss Donnel were in the hallway when I left our quarters and joined them. When Mrs. Williams opened her door, Mrs. Darcy’s sister and I turned to greet her, but Miss Donnel continued. She came from the opposite direction toward the main staircase.
Impulsively, Darcy’s attention now fell upon his cousin’s companion, a woman to whom he had rarely spoken over the years unless during a game of casino or quadrille. He knew something of the woman’s respectability. Mildred Jenkinson had come to Rosings after losing both her husband and her child in a typhoid epidemic
that hit her village in Oxfordshire some fifteen years earlier. A traveling carnival and a group of gypsies had reportedly spread typhoid to three communities in the midlands that summer before the disease was contained. Having traveled extensively with her husband, who served in a diplomatic position, the lady had the disposition and the qualifications to serve as his cousin’s companion. Anne turned to the woman for affection, and the woman protected Anne from Lady Catherine’s frequent censure as best she could. “Mrs. Jenkinson, you were in the hall when I helped His Lordship. Did you observe anything unusual?”
Brought to the center of attention, at first Mildred stammered. “I-I was a few sec-seconds behind Miss de Bourgh, sir, as I returned to her quarters for a shawl. Lady Catherine is most mindful of cold drafts.” It was the woman’s way of saying that Her Ladyship could be demanding, and she simply tried to anticipate her employer’s idiosyncrasies. “There was a man in Pemberley attire blocking the way, and when I could not reach her, I feared for Anne’s safety.” Mrs. Jenkinson paused before telling Mr. Darcy the rest. She was still a servant, even though she shared Anne’s confidences, and she preferred not to report poor service. Mildred did not wish to see the man lose his position.“I hesitate, Mr. Darcy, to criticize this man’s conduct.”
“Was a member of my staff unpleasant, madam? If so, I wish to be informed,” he insisted.
Mildred rose and came closer to the desk, where she might speak without being overheard from the hall. “The man blocked the way, and when I tried to move around him, he refused to budge. I was most anxious to assure myself of Miss de Bourgh’s safety, and I spoke harshly to him, demanding that he move. At that point he told me to beware and called me an old woman.”
“Why did you not tell me, Mildred?” Anne reached out to take her companion’s hand.
“It was really nothing.” She looked away in embarrassment. “The thing was, Mr. Darcy—it was not so much his words, but the pure animosity found in his countenance.”
“Would you recognize him again?”
“Of course, sir.”
“Then I will ask Mr. Baldwin to gather the male staff. If you will indulge me and identify the man, I would wish to speak to him about his rudeness to a guest.” Darcy thought the man’s actions suspicious.
“As you wish, Mr. Darcy.”
An hour later, Darcy summoned Mildred Jenkinson to the downstairs ballroom. Several rows of men and boys stood awaiting her appearance. “Is this everyone, Mr. Baldwin?”
“It is, Mr. Darcy.” He bowed respectfully.“I checked off everyone against my household records.All the men are accounted for, sir, except young Lawson, who rode out with Mr. Steventon to check on the sheep.The boy wishes to apprentice with the steward.”
“How long have they been away?” Darcy wanted the lady to examine the entire staff.
“I believe, sir, that they left at first light. I let the boy go because Mr. Steventon seems to like Lawson’s company.”
Darcy bit down his frustration. “I understand.” He would need to see the lad separately when the footman had returned from his outside duties. “Mr. Baldwin, have each man walk toward us and then return to his duties.”
“Yes, Mr. Darcy.”The man moved off to deliver his instructions.
Placing the woman’s hand on his arm for support, Darcy stood beside Mrs. Jenkinson. “As each man passes, observe him carefully. Once you have noted your unknown opponent, you may tell me then. I will make no comment until we have seen them all. In fact, I will wait until you have returned home before I address the man, so as to remove the blame from you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Darcy.”
Then the procession started. One by one, the men walked past them, and Mildred purposely made eye contact, but after looking at all thirty, she found no one who resembled the man she had seen
in the private hallway. “I apologize, Mr. Darcy, but it was none of these men.”
“Yet the man you saw wore the Darcy livery?” They were the only ones left in the expansive room.
“It was the same, sir, as what your men wore today. The man I encountered was near your age and several inches shorter. He had a muscular build and what would have been a pleasant-looking face if he had not been so angry. He had dark, wavy hair, and a square jaw. He spoke fiercely and then moved away to the private family rooms.”
“He entered my family’s quarters?” Incredulity played through his voice.
“I did not see him enter the rooms, but he walked in that direction, and the hall ends with those rooms.”
The situation dumbfounded Darcy. “I want to find this unknown man, Mrs. Jenkinson. At the moment, you are the only person who has seen him.Will you help me identify him?”
She recognized Mr. Darcy’s protective nature: She had observed it on more than one occasion when he dealt with Miss Darcy and even with her beloved Anne.“Of course, Mr. Darcy-—anything, sir.”
From behind the gold-trimmed door leading to the linen closet, James Withey watched. Each of the men employed by Fitzwilliam Darcy as part of the household staff paraded by the opening, which was only an inch or two—but large enough for him to see all he needed to see: the old woman from earlier in the day exited the room on Darcy’s arm. He did not know her—had not expected to confront her as he had made a timely exit. He had taken a chance with the string—wanted to see if it could possibly help him eliminate his target. However, he would need to be more careful in the future. He could not afford for anyone else to see him.