Mr Darcy echoed her sentiment, and made a move to dissuade her from leaving. “You can serve no purpose going to London, Mrs Miles,” he said.
“Yes I can. I want to be there when they find him,” she said, vengefully. “I want him to know how much distress he has caused. I want him to hang for it.”
Caroline was angry and troubled herself, though she could not feel so strongly about it, since the pieces held no special meaning for her. She could not wish a man to hang, but she did want him to be caught. And she wanted her jewels back.
Captain Trewson looked apologetically at the assembled company. “I am afraid nothing will do but to post to London immediately. We will send the Bow Street Runners here as soon as possible. Meanwhile, if you apprehend the criminal, or discover anything about him, please send us a message.” He turned kindly to Mrs Bennet. “If you will provide me with a description of the items you lost,” he said to her, “I will make sure to give it to the Runners.”
“I, too, have had something taken,” said Caroline. “I will furnish you with a description as well.”
They departed shortly after, leaving their London address behind. Everyone wished them good fortune, urged them to write as soon as they had any news, and asked them to return as soon as possible. Louisa was overcome with tears at the parting and went up to her chamber the moment the carriage left. Mr Robert, too, excused himself, and withdrew to the library. Charles declared himself ready to go in search of the villain, but no one took him up on it.
A gloom settled over the house after their departure. Rain battered at the windows, and though candles were lit, the rooms were full of shadows. Mrs Bennet’s loss was the worst, for Caroline knew she could ill afford to replace what she had. Even her husband, who rarely exerted himself on her behalf, sat with her, and made every effort to relieve her distress. And Lydia set aside her impatience in an effort to console her mother.
Mary was the only one unaffected by the robbery. She merely gazed at the ceiling and proclaimed in an imposing voice, “One should not be concerned about worldly goods. All is vanity, after all.”
Mr Bennet’s response was to rebuke her and send her out of the room. She left with her nose in the air, declaring that it was all a big fuss about nothing.
***
In the next few hours an inventory was completed. The magistrate appeared, bringing round several men who went about asking questions. A carpenter was hired to seal the broken window until the glass could be replaced, so the sound of sawing and hammering echoed through the house. Yet in spite of the noise, everyone crept around and talked in hushed voices, as if afraid of being overheard. There was no formal dinner—everyone chose to eat in their rooms.
Caroline retired early, though sleep hardly came her way. The moment she dozed off, she was plagued by nightmares in which she imagined someone in her bedchamber. At some point, in the dark, she grew convinced she could feel someone’s breath on her cheek. She sat up with a start, her pulse beating frantically, and peered into the darkness. She was alone. It took her a long time, however, to convince herself that it was safe to lie back down again.
***
When she awoke, a pale, watery daylight filtered through the windows. She lay in bed, listening to the drumming raindrops, disinclined to do anything. But eventually she rang for Molly, who informed her of the latest news. There was such a number of things stolen that the thief would have needed a large cart to get away. The magistrates’ men had searched the area, hoping to find the wheel tracks, but the rain had washed them away. Still, they were following any lead they could find, and they had no doubt they would bring the criminal to justice. All the gentlemen, except for Mr Bennet, had gone out to comb the area and ask questions. Mr Bennet had stayed behind with Mrs Bennet.
“She’s in such a state, poor lady. She’s taken to her bed, quite convinced she is going to die,” said Molly.
Caroline shocked Molly by laughing and saying she was relieved to hear it.
Truth be told, she had been worried by Mrs Bennet’s unnatural silence and was glad to hear she was her old self again.
***
When Caroline eventually left her room, Mrs Reynolds told her that Eliza wished to speak to her as soon as possible. She went to the private parlour immediately. Eliza was again at the writing table, and Caroline took her gently to task.
“You must not overtax yourself, Eliza, or you will never recover.”
Eliza nodded and surrendered the pen to Caroline. “Yes, I know, only it was urgent. I have decided to cancel all our invitations after all. With the house in such disarray, and the magistrate’s men in and out, and everyone so glum, it is hardly the right time for a party. But we must send out the letters today, otherwise they will not arrive before people set out. So you see, there is not a moment to be lost. Mr Darcy has sent for his secretary, but even if he were to come at once, he could not complete all the letters quickly enough by himself.”
“Then there is no time to waste,” said Caroline, in a no nonsense way. “You can dictate to me, and that way you can still accomplish what you wish without having to endure the discomfort.”
Eliza relinquished her place at the table with a smile. “I am very glad you came to Pemberley, Caroline. I did not think we got on very well, but now that I know you better, I find I was much mistaken in my initial impression.”
Her words made Caroline suddenly shy. She looked down at one of the papers in front of her, searching for the right words.
“I have always cared for Jane,” said Caroline. “I thought you were too self-sufficient. That is perhaps still true, but I feel now that we can be friends.”
Eliza nodded. “Yes, perhaps we can.”
Caroline had always believed herself to have plenty of friends. Eliza’s words, however, gladdened her and lifted her spirits. Perhaps she had lost something by coming here, but she had gained something more valuable.
Chapter 15
Gloom had descended upon the household, thick and heavy as fog, affecting everybody except the irrepressible youngest Bennet girls. For two more days the rain continued to descend with dreary regularity, so there was no possibility of escaping from the house. Lydia, who hoped all day to go to Lambton in the carriage, was forced at last to concede that the rain was not likely to cease.
“Oh, this is so very boring! I wish I had not come!” cried Lydia, throwing herself onto an armchair. “It will never stop raining, I declare!”
“I have to agree with you, Lydia,” said Mr Bennet, looking up. “I think it very likely that it will continue to rain until the whole world is flooded and we will be forced to ride in an ark. But I wonder if you would be allowed on it?
“The flood was sent to punish the wicked,” said Mary, ominously.
“Yes, but none of us here deserves to be drowned,” said Mrs Bennet. “Except for the thieving villain who stole my jewels. He deserves it above all others, and I hope he will drown. But I wish he would return my necklace and earrings first, for depend upon it, they will be carried away a long distance by the flood and taken up by someone else.”
“There will be no flood,” announced Kitty, in triumph. “The rain has stopped.”
Lydia rushed to the window to look out. “So it has. Mama, may we go out walking?”
Meanwhile Caroline decided to make the best of their enforced confinement to speak to Robert Darcy, for she needed to settle matters with him. Her confession to Eliza had done away with her fear of disclosure, and it seemed altogether pointless to continue a façade which had began to crumble almost as soon as it was built. She saw no advantage to prolonging the engagement, particularly in view of his interest in Mrs Miles.
When she asked for his direction, Mrs Reynolds pointed her to the library.
“Miss Bingley,” he said, with his usual smile. “Allow me to pour you some refreshment. Or would you prefer tea?”
“I will have sherry.”
“Very daring of you, I must say! Are you certain?”
/> “You must not tease,” she said. “I am here to speak to you seriously.”
He made a face. “That is very ominous indeed. What are you to accuse me of this time, I wonder?”
“I promise you, I am not here to accuse you of anything.”
“Then I promise in return to be serious. More serious, perhaps than you would wish.” He gazed into his port bleakly.
“Does this unusually solemn mood have anything to do with Mrs Miles?” she asked, the words spilling from her mouth. It was not what she had intended to say at all.
Robert Darcy raised an eyebrow. “No.”
Such a brief answer did not satisfy her. “Do you plan to meet her in London?”
He lifted both brows in exaggerated surprise. “Why, Miss Bingley! I think you are in danger of becoming quite human. I would never have imagined you could ask such a personal question.”
Heat flooded up to her face and to the very roots of her hair. She cursed herself for her lack of discretion. What did she care about Mrs Miles, anyway? “I’m sorry…”
“For Heaven’s sake! Surely you are not about to back out?” He took a long gulp from his glass. “She was a charming companion, and no, we did not spend the night together, just in case this new-found curiosity of yours provokes you to ask. She was charmingly open and free in her manners, which I found very refreshing. I may meet her in London, but I have not yet decided. Does that satisfy you?”
“Of course. You know I could not possibly have asked—”
“But you wanted to know, and I have told you.”
“I did not wish to know.”
He leaned forward and took both her hands in his. “Oh, Caroline, what will it take for you to be able to bare your soul?”
With her hands wrapped firmly in his, she could not think. “I cannot…” She hesitated, not at all certain what it was she could not do.
“No,” he said, dropping her hands. “I know you cannot. Though I still believe that under that cold exterior there is a warm heart, waiting to be discovered.”
She wanted to tell him that of course there was a warm heart. She was warm. Her brother thought her warm, surely. Jane did. Others did, did they not? Perhaps not her sister. Her sister would not think her warm. She would not wish her to be warm.
“I have thrown you into confusion,” he said. “I should apologize, perhaps, but I will not.”
Caroline stood up to leave. “I think today is not a good day to have our conversation. You are in a strange humour.”
“On the contrary,” he said. “It is an excellent day. I will try to refrain from making personal comments, though I do not promise to succeed. I seem to have this impulse, you see, when I am with you.”
She took her seat again. She could not have left in any case. No one had ever spoken to her the way he did. It made her uneasy, and yet she could not walk away from it. She wanted to know what he thought.
“If you are not upset about Mrs Miles’s departure, why then have you been in the doldrums since, Mr Robert?” She felt very daring, confronting him like this.
“If you insist on asking me questions of such a delicate nature, then you could at least call me Robert.”
“Very well,” she said. “But you have not answered my question, Robert.”
“You have quite mistaken the matter. It was not Mrs Miles’ departure which brought on a fit of doldrums. It was something else entirely. I have at long last received a letter from my family in Boston, for, as you know, with the hostilities between our countries in full swing, the mail service is not at its best. My mother is asking me to return. I have left my younger brother Frederick in charge of the family business. He is not alone, since two of my father’s friends are there to lend him a hand. Nevertheless, Frederick is responsible for all decisions that must be made. Some business matters have come up requiring urgent attention. If I were there, I would settle them easily, but I cannot do much from here, not without being in possession of all the facts.” He stared again into his glass, as though he expected to find a solution in the fiery dark liquid.
“I am trapped, Caroline, and that frustrates me no end. I do not know how they will manage. One false step is all it takes for the business to come crashing down.”
“Is your brother too young, then? Do you not trust him to make the right decisions?” she asked.
“Frederick is only twenty-four. He is old enough, perhaps, but he does not have the experience, and he was not trained to the business as my father trained me. He is resourceful and very clever, but I do not know if he can take the whole weight of the business on his shoulders.”
“You have to trust that he will do well, that is all,” remarked Caroline. “Perhaps, because he has no choice, he will do what needs to be done.”
Robert nodded. “That is a good way of looking at it,” he said. “I think he may prove quite equal to the task. Perhaps it is just as well that I cannot go back. Who knows? Frederick might well come into his own during my absence.”
It was the first time he had spoken about his brother. Caroline realized she knew nothing about his family at all. She did not even know how many brothers or sisters he had.
But that was not what she asked.
“Do you miss them?” It was certainly not what she intended to ask. Her tongue had acquired a mind of its own.
He had not expected her question, either. “Yes, I do miss them. I did not imagine that I would. The family has always meant the business to me. But now that I cannot know when I will see them again, I find myself thinking about them far more often.”
“Do you have sisters as well as a brother?”
“I have two sisters.” He smiled in recollection. “You would find them quite deplorable, for they are both real hoydens. Clarissa is now sixteen, and May is fifteen. And my youngest brother, Lawrence, is twenty. Lawrence has always had a tendency to get into all kinds of scrapes. That is one good thing about not being there: Frederick has to deal with it, thank heavens!”
Caroline noticed for the first time that one side of his mouth tended to curl up much further than the other when he smiled.
“What about your mother?”
“My mother is very proper. She was careful to raise us to take pride in our lineage, though my father never gave a fig for it. It was a constant source of friction between them. She never understood that he cared nothing for the Darcy name. And he never really understood that she had married him because of it.”
He paused to put down his empty glass. “A sad tale, but not an unusual one. My father had a knack for commerce, which society would never have approved had he stayed here in England. It would have been considered beneath him, as a gentleman. So after he left the Navy, he began to work in shipping, and built a very good business for himself. Though I must admit he funded some rather strange inventions.” He grinned and shrugged. “They would have been good if they had worked.”
He entwined his fingers together and regarded her thoughtfully. “But you did not come here to ask about my family, Caroline.”
“I am glad to have learnt about them.”
He took up his empty glass. He did not pour himself another, as she would have expected. He just looked at it, then put it down again. Instead, he sat back and watched her.
“So tell me what you wished to discuss.”
“I came to speak to you about an entirely different matter. I came to talk about… ending our engagement.”
“Yes,” he said, which was hardly helpful.
“How do you wish us to end it?”
“I told you before, that is your decision to make,” he said. “We agreed from the onset that you would terminate it.”
“I hoped to come to some agreement with you.”
“I am not the one ending it,” he persisted.
“I need your help,” she replied, not understanding his mood at all.
“You do not need it. You are far more capable of knowing how to handle this situation than I am. It is you who knows all
the social niceties. If I have learned anything lately, it is that I do not always understand the subtleties of English life.”
His refusal to discuss the matter exasperated her. “I do not know why you are speaking thus. It is quite ridiculous.”
“Why ridiculous?” he asked, equally annoyed. “Is that not what you have been saying all along? That I am not a true gentleman? That I do not truly belong here? That because I was not born on this soil I have no claim to be English?”
“I do not understand you,” she said. “Why are you bringing up all these questions? I thought we had put them behind us when we declared a truce. I simply wanted to discuss our arrangement, and how best to deal with it.”
“Everything is always simple for you, is it not?” he said. “If that is the case, I do not comprehend what you wish to discuss. You may do as you please. Why consult with me?”
She held on to her temper, reminding herself that when he had announced their engagement, he had helped her out of a bad situation. But she could not control her tongue. “You cannot disclaim responsibility. It was you, after all, who caused the muddle. I never asked for your help. No one consulted me then and asked my opinion. Suppose I had in fact circulated those rumours, hoping to force Sir Cecil to show his hand? And you stepped in, oh so gallantly, and announced our engagement. What am I left with now?”
She had not been aware that she still resented what had happened. That was the problem with Robert Darcy. All he had to do was goad her a little, and everything she was guarding carefully inside began to burst through, like a flood.
“You did not touch your sherry,” he remarked, mildly.
“I dislike sherry,” she muttered.
“I never offered you sherry. I hope you do not plan to blame me for that as well,” he said, with a cynical gleam. “You asked for it. I know very well that you would prefer tea.”
“You know what I dislike most about you, Robert?” said Caroline, taking up the sherry in a gesture of defiance, and swallowing it down in one go, “You always think you know everything about me, but you do not. You know nothing.”
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