The Mysterious Death of Mr. Darcy

by Regina Jeffers

  His cousin pursed her lips as if to silence a response. “Uncle Samuel would have been pleased to think on it.” The Countess straightened the seam of her dress. “I must rescue your wife. Mrs. Darcy has been entertaining the children while their governess and nurse organize the nursery.”

  “I am certain that with Barriton’s demise the house is in disarray.”

  Lady Rardin smiled. “It is a bit chaotic, but Mr. Crescent has proved valuable in setting matters to order. Rardin means to offer Mr. Crescent the butler position at Woodvine so the man can end his service under Uncle Samuel’s roof.”

  Darcy said, “That is very generous of the Earl.”

  She bent to kiss Darcy’s forehead. “Rest. We have plenty of time to renew our acquaintance. I have missed you.”

  “And I you,” he said with a smile.

  The countess started for the door. “By the way, I should tell you that I thoroughly approve of your choice of Mrs. Darcy as your wife. Any woman who risks what Mrs. Darcy did to save you is of the first tier. Her connections are of no consequence.”

  “The lady’s connections are my connections, Cynthia. Elizabeth is all I require for my happiness.”

  The colonel arrived for their nightly game of chess. Darcy had remained in bed for three days, and he thought he might go insane if he had to spend many more days in his quarters. “Thank goodness, you are early,” he said in greeting.

  The colonel assumed the chair Darcy’s many visitors had used over the past few days. “I have heard from Cowan,” Edward announced. The Runner had seen Stowbridge, the magistrate’s wife, and Gaylord to London. With the truth of the trio’s crimes becoming common knowledge, Edward and Cowan had thought it best if the threesome were removed from area.

  “And?”

  Edward relaxed into the chair. “It appears Cowan had the right of it to take McKye with him for additional protection: Stowbridge attempted to kill both his wife and Gaylord.”

  “Then our assumptions proved true?” When he and Edward had deconstructed the crimes, they had come to the conclusion that Gaylord had been Mrs. Stowbridge’s current lover.

  “Even more nefarious than we anticipated,” the colonel shared. “Merrick Gaylord was actually Merripen Gry, the man with whom the Baronesa had made her escape all those years before. They had been together all this time. The man is Andrzej Gry’s father.”

  Darcy’s recognition arrived. “Mr. Gaylord was the man I saw climbing from the back of the gypsy wagon when we called unexpectedly about the horses.” He hated that he saw everything so clearly in hindsight.

  Edward added, “It is likely why Andrzej asked that you send for him. If we called upon the band without notice, we would likely have found Merripen leading his people.”

  “I should have noted how both the housekeeper and young Gry referred to my cousin as Mr. Samuel. No one else used the appellation in speaking of Samuel Darcy. If I had taken notice, we could have saved ourselves many headaches.” It was too late to regret the blinders he had worn during the past several weeks.

  “And what of the Baronesa’s relationship with Glover?” Because of his interest in the answer, Darcy pushed himself higher in the bed.

  Edward steepled his fingers and then folded his hands across his waist. “As Mrs. Darcy previously discovered in Samuel’s journals, your father’s cousin had received news from Mr. O’Grady of a woman who matched Mrs. Ridgeway’s description. O’Grady spoke of a woman who lured men with a promise of marriage and then did away with her suitors. What we did not know is the woman had an accomplice: a surgeon, a man who paid for the bodies she provided.”

  “Glover,” Darcy said in amazement.

  Edward nodded his agreement. “Likely, if we had discovered the bodies of any of Mrs. Stowbridge’s suitors early on, we would have recognized how each had been a victim of an anatomy lesson. However, as the bodies were badly decomposed, we had no means to recognize the degradation exacted upon the bodies. The markings on Mr. Bates’s grave were meant to divert attention from their true intent. To place the blame on the coven.”

  “Did Glover and the housekeeper arrive in Dorset at the same time?” Darcy’s interest had piqued.

  “According to the Holbrooks, they did.” The colonel hesitated for a fraction of a second. “Likely, the surgeon and the woman singled out your cousin on his return journey from America.”

  Darcy’s mind raced with possibilities. “Glover’s examination room?”

  “Was used for anatomy lessons,” Edward confirmed. “Mr. Newby has verified that he attended several such sessions in Mr. Glover’s quarters. Of course, no one suspected from whence Glover had acquired the bodies. The late surgeon was a respected teacher in his students’ appraisals. Evidently, the housekeeper convinced Glover to use her son and several others from the gypsy band as his body snatchers. Glover’s minions were given permission to line their pockets with whatever jewels or coins they could discover within the coffins. The man who escaped the night Besnik was killed was Vandlo Pias, which explains how Mrs. Stowbridge manipulated the gypsy into his attack upon Mrs. Darcy. The housekeeper must have threatened to speak to the authorities if Pias did not exact revenge for your interference in the Baronesa’s life.”

  Darcy shook his head in belief. “No wonder we struggled with making sense of this puzzle: There were multiple culprits and multiple motives.”

  Edward clapped his hands in anticipation of the game. “Enough of this maudlin history. I came to best you in a game of chess.”

  “It has been a long time since you have won, Cousin,” Darcy reminded him. “What makes you believe today is your day?” The smile had returned to Darcy’s lips.

  Edward set up the board on a small table. “I plan to play on your guilt by reminding you of the danger I faced in liberating you from your grave.”

  “If you mean to blackmail me, Colonel, you have sorely misconstrued my kindness on your behalf.” A chuckle and a knowing nod of affection proved the strength of their everlasting relationship.

  His wife slipped into his bed well after the hour that country society would have retired. Newby had removed the bullet in Darcy’s shoulder and had properly stitched the knife wound, but Darcy held no qualms about plastering his wife’s warmth along his frame. Elizabeth was his healing balm. “You went to the nursery again,” he said as he snuggled into the curve of Elizabeth’s neck.

  “I want a dozen children, Fitzwilliam,” she announced without preamble. Her breath warmed his chest. “May we return to Pemberley soon and make beautiful babies to fill its halls?”

  He smiled against her skin. “I knew you would find inspiration in the Sandersons’ brood.”

  Elizabeth crawled up his body. “I miss our home, Fitzwilliam. I miss the park and Pemberley House and Georgiana and Mrs. Reynolds.”

  “I thought you wished to call in at Hertfordshire?” he said with hesitation.

  Elizabeth kissed the line of his chin. “May I not ask Kitty and Papa to come for a visit? I have no desire for my mother’s drama in my life. I wish to know Papa’s calming presence and my sister’s spontaneity. Papa would be happy to live in Pemberley’s library, and Georgiana requires another young lady with whom to share her secrets and desires. All girls should have multiple sisters.” Clutching at Darcy’s arm, Elizabeth pressed her cheek against Darcy’s chest.

  He rested his cheek against the top of Elizabeth’s head. “And what of you, Elizabeth?”

  Her emerald eyes flashed with a familiar fire. Her chin jutted upward. “I require only one thing to know happiness: you, Fitzwilliam Darcy. I wish to return to Pemberley where I might nurse my husband to health and where we might finally know the happiness of a family of our own.”

  Darcy kissed her tenderly. “We could begin our family tonight,” he suggested.

  She peppered his chest with a series of kisses. “Are you well enough?”

  Darcy chuckled. “Not well enough to demonstrate my love to my wife? I can assure you, my love, that possib
ility does not exist.” He kissed Elizabeth again with more passion. “To tonight, Lizzy. To a new beginning.”

  She accepted his kiss eagerly. “To a dozen Darcy children.”

  Historical Notes

  Internal Decapitation

  A rare medical condition, atlanto-occipital dislocation or internal decapitation, occurs when the skull separates from the spinal column during severe head injury. With nerve damage, severance of the spinal cord, or strangling, the injury is nearly always fatal. Although this situation sounds as if it is a recent discovery, the idea of internal decapitation is the basis behind any hanging, in which a person’s neck is broken under his own weight. Although survival of atlanto-occipital dislocation is a long-standing medical mystery, in the past eight years, there have been numerous cases of people surviving severe injuries of this nature. Generally in such cases, neurosurgeons perform an occipital cervical fusion to keep the head from coming off the spine.

  Belle Gunness

  The character of Mrs. Ridgeway is based on the real-life Belle Gunness, a woman known for the many murders she committed. Belle was the archetypal black widow killer. She attracted multiple husbands and suitors, many of whom she murdered for their money. Using cyanide, Belle would dispatch her “loved ones.” At 280 pounds, she was also ready to rid herself of her latest “lover” by striking the man with a hammer or an ax.

  Born Brynhild Paulsdatter Storset on November 11, 1859, in the Norwegian fishing village of Selbu, she emigrated to Chicago in 1881. Among those who lost their lives at Belle’s hands were her husbands: Mads Sorenson and Peter Gunness. Belle often advertised in Norwegian-language newspapers for a “relationship.” Those who arrived in La Porte, Indiana, to meet the “comely” widow often did not return home. Farmhands on Belle’s farm sometimes went missing, as did her foster daughter Jennie.

  In April 1908, a fire at Belle’s house left behind the bodies of two of Belle’s foster children, as well as an adult female’s body. Identifying the body was difficult because it had been decapitated. When investigators searched the site for the missing head, they discovered fourteen other corpses on the farmland. They were able to identify two handymen, Belle’s foster daughter Jennie, and five of the Norwegian suitors. Belle Gunness was the U.S.’s first known serial killer.

  Cemetery Alarm

  When I lived in Columbus, Ohio, I often traveled to Huntington, West Virginia, to visit my mother. In doing so, I would cross Pickaway County and the Circleville area of Ohio. On one of those excursions, I discovered a little-known fact: A man named Thomas Howell had patented (in 1881) an exploding device commonly called a “grave torpedo.” If someone attempted to rob a grave protected by the device, the torpedo would explode, killing the robbers. In the 1800s, many medical schools would rob fresh graves to find cadavers for teaching purposes. The Church objected to the dissections, and only those who died in mental institutions or were put to death for their crimes were readily available to the medical students.

  In Ohio, the body of John Scott Harrison, the father of future President Benjamin Harrison, disappeared. His body was later found dangling from a rope in a hidden shaft at a medical college. Attempts were even made to rob the grave of Abraham Lincoln.

  History Detectives episode 703, titled “Cemetery Alarm” from series 7 devotes itself to the story of Howell’s invention and of the prevalence of grave robbing during the 1800s. One can view the full episode at http://video.pbs.org/video/1169415042.

  The character of Peter O’Grady is based on Thomas Howell, and, yes, I did use dramatic license in the dates for the prototypes of Mr. Howell’s efforts.

  Lewis Tregonwell

  A captain in the Dorset Rangers, Lewis Tregonwell is known as the founder of Bournemouth. Tregonwell and his wife Henrietta (Portman) came to Mudeford so that Henrietta might recover from the loss of their second child. While in the area, they visited Bourne Heath and fell in love with the area. In 1810, Tregonwell bought 8.5 acres for £179 11s from Sir George Ivison Tapps, the Lord of the Manor of Christchurch. It was to be the Tregonwells’ summer home. They slept in the house for the first time on April 24, 1812. The house survives today as a wing of the Royal Exeter Hotel.

  The Monoliths in Dorset

  Some 30 meters south of the River Stour in Bear Mead and two kilometers west of Wimborne in Dorset, a monolithic stone can be seen. Located at SY 986–993, the stone, of fine limestone, has a density of 2,650 kilograms per cubic meter, suggesting an approximate weight for the monolith of 1,076 kilograms. The stone is affectionately called the “Bearstone.” A similar toppled monolith can be found some 600 meters to the NNE, on the other side of the River Stour in Cowgrove. Of similar quality to Bearstone, “Moonstone” is approximately 1.2 meters high x .75 meters wide x 0.2 meters wide, with a weight of 477 kilograms.

  The source for both stones appears to be Purbeck, which is twenty-three kilometers south on Dorset’s Jurassic coast. Likely, the stones were transported into Christchurch Harbour and up the Stour to their present positions. An Ordnance Survey map dated 1902 shows five stones in a circle, centered on SY 992–996. The Bearstone is situated 570 meters to the SW of the circle and is likely a “heel” stone for the formation. Most professionals believe that Bearstone and Moonstone were boundary stones used before the Inclosure Act of 1805 to mark the meeting points of unfenced fields. One can find wonderfully detailed pictures of the area and the stones at “Monolith at Bear Mead” (http://www.eyemead.com/MONOLITH.htm).

  The Lesser Key of Solomon or Lemegeton

  The Lesser Key of Solomon is an anonymous seventeenth century grimoire. It is also widely known as the Lemegeton. It is an extremely popular book of demonology. Although the book appeared in the seventeenth century, much of the text comes from the sixteenth century, including Johann Weyer’s Pseudomonarchia Daemonum. King Solomon is supposedly the author of the text; however, the titles of nobility used within the text were not in use during Solomon’s reign. Nor were the prayers to Jesus and the Christian Trinity part of King Solomon’s time.

  The Circumstance and Manner of Death:

  Drowning Victims

  According to a document issued by the Department of Forensic Medicine at the University of Dundee, “The world incidence of death by drowning is estimated at about 5.6 per 100,000 of population. Approximately 1,500 deaths from drowning occur in the UK each year; 25% occur in the sea and the rest in inland waters; the majority of victims are young adults and children; two-third are accidental and one-third are suicidal; homicide by drowning is rare.”

  Disposal of a body in water is sometimes attempted in the case of a homicide. In such incidents, an autopsy is directed toward establishing injuries inconsistent with an accident. To discover an excellent source on all things related to drowning victims, I would suggest www.dundee.ac.uk/forensicmedicine/notes/water.pdf.

  Arsenic Poisoning

  Arsenic was once considered to be the perfect poison. It lacks color, odor, and taste. The symptoms include stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. The perpetrator may give small doses of the poison over a period of time, which makes it more difficult to detect. According to most sources, the Borgia family was renowned for its use of arsenic, although some newer articles suggest that this assumption may be incorrect. One of America’s founding fathers, George Wythe, was killed by his grandnephew with a dose of arsenic. In The Phantom of Pemberley, I incorporated the idea of women adding arsenic to their makeup as face whitener.

  A famous arsenic murderer during the Victorian era was a woman called Mary Ann Cotton (1832–1873). Reportedly, she killed twenty people over a twenty-year period, including her husbands and children. She was known to serve many of her victims an arsenic-laced tea. A postmortem examination of one of her victims sent Cotton to the gallows.

  Sheela na gig

  Sheela na gigs are figurative carvings of naked women which display exaggerated vulvas. They are easily found throughout Britain and Ireland on churches, castles, and other important buildings. O
ne of the most well-known examples of Sheela na gigs can be found in the Round Tower at Rattoo, in County Kerry, Ireland. Another excellent example is located at Kilpeck in Herefordshire, England.

  Resurrectionists (or Body Snatching)

  The secret disinterment of corpses from graveyards was a common activity in the nineteenth century. Bodies were sold to medical schools for the purpose of dissection or anatomy lectures. Those who practiced body snatching were often called resurrectionists or resurrection-men.

  Before the Anatomy Act of 1832, the only legal supply of corpses for anatomical purposes in the UK were those condemned to death and dissection by the courts. The court system would condemn those of more violent crime to dissection. However, the courts did not supply enough corpses for research purposes. It is estimated only an average of fifty people were condemned for such purposes each year, while the medical schools required five hundred cadavers annually. Therefore, a business in body snatching evolved.

  The Minster

  In the novel, I have taken the liberty to create a small church serving the Wimborne community. In reality, Wimborne Minster, known locally as the Minster, is the parish church of Wimborne, England. The Minster has existed for over thirteen hundred years and is recognized for its unusual chained library, one of only four surviving chained libraries in the world. The Minster is a former monastery and Benedictine nunnery, which houses the resting place of King Ethelred of Wessex.

  Roman Roads

  The earliest roads built during the Roman occupation of England connected London with ports used in the invasion (Chichester and Richborough) and the earliest legionary bases at Colchester, Lincoln, Wroxeter, Gloucester, and Exeter. In the eighteenth century, Roman roads were built over to create the turnpike system. When roads on their land had not been built over, farmers ploughed under many sections, and the original roads were stripped of their stone to use on turnpike roads. However, there were numerous tracts of Roman road which survived in the form of footpaths through woodland or common land.