A.N. I came back from three weeks away. Thank you for your continuous support. Writing time-travel is much more difficult than I thought. I muddle through and hopefully, I will bring you to a satisfying conclusion of the story within the next few weeks.
Chapter 18
Darcy again asked the coachman to stop about one mile from their destination. This time it was for Longbourn. He walked with Elizabeth the rest of the way. The maid followed them as a chaperone. He wanted to discuss with Elizabeth about the herb woman and the night of the murder.
"What did you make of Mrs. Worting?" Darcy asked Elizabeth.
"She is clearly hiding something. She said her sleeping draught kills nobody. That could mean she sold some sleeping draught recently or that her arsenic could kill. And then she kept staring out of the windows."
"You notice that as well? I believe she might have recognized Bingley's carriage."
Elizabeth nodded her head. "That was my thought as well. But which person in Jane's household wanted Mr. Wickham dead?"
"Can you tell me everything about what happened that night right before Wickham's death? I was not on that side of the room at first. I would like to gather as much information as possible before Colonel Fitzwilliam arrives to help." Darcy then listened carefully as Elizabeth recounted the evening.
"Did you know if Sir William or his men had interviewed Anne or Lady Catherine?" Darcy frowned.
"No," Elizabeth said. "I saw Her Ladyship left via the French door when you and Charles were trying to revive Mr. Wickham. It was well before Sir William's men blocked all the exits. I think Miss de Bourgh left even earlier than that."
"I talked to Lady Catherine afterwards. She said she had a headache from the loud screams and stench of Wickham's vomit and thus left. She did not mention Anne was there or if either of them had talked to Sir William. I was unable to talk to Anne since that evening. She has not been well, according to my Aunt."
Darcy frowned as he remembered the conversation with Lady Catherine. He hoped her Aunt was not involved with the death of Wickham! Darcy never thought about that possibility as she was his Aunt. He talked to her just because he tried to do a thorough task to collect all the vital information independently. He hoped the facts would be of use when the Colonel arrived or if the unfortunate events of the trial of Miss Mary took place. Surely there was no motive for Lady Catherine to kill Wickham. Darcy wondered if his Aunt still remembered Wickham or met the scoundrel since he had left Pemberley. Had Aunt Catherine summoned the apothecary or the doctor for Anne? He must remember to talk to Lady Catherine about it later on. In the meantime, he continued to ask Elizabeth. "How many wine glasses did the magistrate collect as evidence?"
"I did not see that," Elizabeth shook her head and said. "but Kitty told me Sir William's men collected three wine glasses. I asked everyone in Longbourn what they remembered about the event, to help Mary's defence."
"That makes the two of us. I have been doing that myself and I have also asked my valet Winston to do the same below stairs in Netherfield."
"Thank you, Mr. Darcy!" Elizabeth said in such a soft and tender voice that Darcy would dearly love to hold her hands and turn the conversation to more pleasant topics. But Miss Mary's life was at risk here. He vowed to stay focus.
"Who did the three glasses belong to?"
"I brought Lady Catherine a drink which she put down. Miss Bingley gave me a drink which Mr. Wickham took from me."
"That accounted for two wine glasses only."
"Yes. If I remember correctly, the side table beside Her Ladyship did not have anything but a fan on it when Lady Catherine put down the drink I brought to her."
"Did you see Wickham drink from the glass Miss Bingley had given you?"
Elizabeth shook her head. "No, I did not know. I have moved away from the table by then. You are not suspecting Miss Bingley, are you? What motive would Miss Bingley have to kill Mr. Wickham?"
Darcy stared at Elizabeth and said with emotion, "Jealousy of my affection for you?"
Elizabeth blushed. "You mean Miss Bingley wants to kill me?"
"Bingley has heard about the herb woman in Walthamstow from someone within Netherfield. I am trying to keep an open mind and will not rule out Miss Bingley yet. We do not know which wine glass contained the arsenic. It could be the third glass." Darcy continued. "How about people who were last seen with Wickham?"
"I think Miss de Bourgh, Lady Catherine and Mary," Elizabeth replied.
Further discussion of the night of the murder came to an end as the party arrived at Longbourn. Darcy spoke briefly with Mr. Bennet and bid the family goodbye. Elizabeth saw him off. Before they walked out to the portico, Darcy squeezed Elizabeth's hands, gazed at her intensely and raised her hands for a kiss.
"Goodbye, Elizabeth. I shall not rest until Miss Mary is free." His voice was raspy and his eyes were like a dark deep lake.
Elizabeth caressed his cheek with her fingers. The coarseness of his skin sent tingles down her body. She replied with an equally hoarse voice, "Thank you, Mr. Darcy."
Darcy released Elizabeth's hands abruptly, walked out and boarded the Bingley carriage. He turned his head to focus on Elizabeth's lone figure at Longbourn until he could not see her anymore. As the carriage trotted along, his mind was full of the tasks ahead. Still, his heart was filled with emotions he saw in Elizabeth's eyes.
~0~
Colonel Fitzwilliam arrived with another officer in Netherfield the next morning. After the travelers washed off the dust, a hot breakfast was brought into Bingley's study for them.
"Colonel Frank Lushington," Richard introduced the officer to Darcy and Bingley. They asked not to be announced to the others of the house yet, except to Mrs. Bingley. The Hursts and Miss Bingley were still abed, unaware of the arrivals of the two guests. The de Bourghs were indisposed and stayed at their bedchambers.
To save time, the visitors preferred to discuss the matter with the gentlemen while they were eating.
"Sorry for the delay in returning," Richard said to Darcy. "I finished the business in London earlier but locating Lushington took slightly longer."
Richard then turned to Bingley and said, "Darcy wrote that we would need reinforcement. He asked me to find someone who could get Colonel Forster involved, due to Sir William's high-handed handling of the matter. Lushington has been a military lawyer for some years. He has served in the Continent. He is on injury leave at the moment."
Lusington pointed to his limped left hand and said in a matter of fact tone, "I had a happy encounter with a French bullet."
"Sorry to hear about your injury," Bingley said. "But that is a brilliant idea, Darcy, to force Colonel Forster's hands!"
Lushington nodded his head. "Since the victim Lieutenant George Wickham was a militia, we can talk to Colonel Forster, his commanding officer, to request he be involved in the investigation. That will make sure this local character, Sir William, acts properly. It will also give me access to the interview notes and evidence. I can re-examine them more thoroughly and with a fair mind."
"Do you think Colonel Forster will have any objection inserting himself into the local magistrate's affairs?" Bingley said, happy that Darcy came up with the idea but still worried about anything that could jeopardise the release of Miss Mary.
"Leave that to me," Lushington said. "I will use the relevant military formalities to persuade Colonel Forster. Failing that, Richard said I have some other inducements at my disposal."
"Definitely," Darcy stated. "Miss Mary is innocent and I shall put up the necessary funds for your 'persuasion' if required."
"Me too," Bingley added. "Mary is my sister in law, after all."
"Let us hope we do not need that. Now before Richard and I meet with Colonel Forster, what can you tell me about the night of the murder?"
Lusington made notes as he listened to Darcy and Bingley recounted the events on that fateful evening. Darcy consulted his notes. He and his valet had been busy collecting intelligence after Sir William had arrested Miss Mary. He also added the information mentioned by Elizabeth and their visit to the herb woman in Walthamstow. The only piece of news Darcy decided to withhold for the moment was the presence of Anne at the party. He did not want Sir William to somehow get hold of the information, through Lushington, and interrogate Anne. Darcy's cousin was in a delicate condition, both physically and mentally. Darcy had extracted an agreement from Elizabeth as well, to keep silent about it if she was questioned. He hoped Miss Mary would not say a word about it to Sir William yet. He would tell Richard privately.
"When was Mary introduced to Aunt Catherine?" Colonel Fitzwilliam interrupted. "Why did Mary stay by our Aunt's side all by herself?"
"They could have been introduced at the party and Miss Mary stayed by Aunt Catherine's side for your sake. After all, she and you are courting." Darcy replied. Trust Richard to ask the right but sensitive question! Darcy must gesture to Richard to desist in this line of questioning until they could talk.
"I remember seeing Elizabeth and Caroline with Mary, Wickham and Lady Catherine before that," Bingley jumped in. "And there was another person by the French door, but I did not see him."
"Or her," Lushington murmured. Darcy twisted his signet ring, hoping the other men moved on to other topics.
"Did you note down the witnesses Sir William interviewed, seeing that you seem to have started the investigation already, Mr. Darcy." Lushington asked.
Darcy sighed with relief on the change of topic. "If Winston, my valet, and I are correct, Sir William was very hasty. His men interviewed only a dozen servants while Sir William even less. He made the arrest immediately after talking to just three witnesses."
"Who did the magistrate interviewed?" Richard asked with his fists tight.
"Miss Gertrude Grey. She is Miss Bingley's friend from London. Mr. Tristan Boulanger, a Meryton local, and Miss Bingley." Darcy replied.
"In that order?" Lushington asked.
Darcy nodded his head. Richard's face turned thunderous. "Bingley's carriage seemed to be recognized by the herb woman and Miss Bingley was the last witness Sir William talked to! Could Miss Bingley kill Wickham and then blame it on my Mary?" Richard stood up. "I will drag Miss Bingley in here for interrogation now!" Before the Colonel could race out of the study to confront Miss Bingley, Darcy pulled Richard to sit back on the chair. He told Richard he had not finished talking to the military lawyer.
"Lushington, I came across an ancient book from some exotic countries about crime and punishment. It talked about a way to identify a perpetrator of crime through the evidence he or she leaves behind."
"Darcy, I don't care about some ancient books you read about. You always bury your head in books. I must see to Mary's release as soon as possible and Caroline Bingley is high on my suspect list! I want to talk to Miss Bingley this instant."
"Colonel Fitzwilliam, it won't help your dear Miss Mary if you choke Miss Bingley into admitting killing Wickham. She could claim the confession was made under duress." Lushington said.
"Surely you are mistaken, Richard!" Bingley jumped up and exclaimed. "Caroline may be a sharp tongue harpy or snob, but she is no murderess."
"Let us hear what Mr. Darcy has to say," Lushington separated Bingley from Colonel Fitzwilliam. They were glaring at each other.
"This book said that the ridges in each person's finger are different. It can therefore be used like a signature to identify a person. Since Sir William has the wine glass with arsenic in his possession, perhaps we can hire an artist to help. The artist can use a magnifying glass to draw out the pattern of the ridges and match them with the patterns of the people present near the table that night."
"That is a fascinating idea," Lusington said. "What is the name of the book?"
"I cannot remember it now," Darcy said, fully aware there was no such book. The idea of fingerprinting to identify a culprit came from Elizabeth's time-travel. He had been thinking about this fingerprinting method last night, since Aunt Catherine refused to talk to him and he had time. Darcy even checked Winston's fingerprints against his own, much to his valet's consternation. Their patterns were entirely different. Darcy then consulted some books on how to copy a pattern but could not find a suitable method yet.
"What nonsense are you talking about," Richard mumbled. "Do you think Aunt Catherine will allow an artist to hold her hands, examine her fingers and draw any pattern there are on her thumbs? She would be most displeased."
"Caroline will object to that too," Bingley added.
"And we have to consider other people who have handled the wine glasses, such as the servants and Sir William's team," Lushington said.
Darcy nodded his head. "You all have a valid point. But if the interrogation does not lead to a confession, it is still worth considering using this fingerprinting method. Perhaps we can use stenciling to obtain the fingerprints of all people you mentioned. This will minimize the time required to have the fingerprints taken for anyone nearby Wickham when he was killed."
"Urgh! Darcy, stop talking nonsense. First this fingerprinting and now stenciling! We need to drag Miss Bingley to the camp and then to Lucas Lodge before the magistrate! I am sure she is involved." Richard cried out.
"Be calm, Richard!" Lushington said. "Mr. Darcy, do you mean we can get Lady Catherine, Miss Bingley, Miss Mary and so on, to dab their fingers in say, water coloured with spice? Then we make an impression of the fingers on paper for an artist to compare it against the patterns left on the poisonous wine glass."
"That is the direction I am thinking," Darcy said. "But the artist can possibly give us a better idea of what works better with human skin or on glasses, to obtain the fingerprints."
"Great!" Lushington said. "I am open to this idea, as long as what you said from this ancient text is really true, that we all have unique patterns on our fingers. Richard, let us go to Colonel Forster now."
"What about Miss Bingley? Shouldn't you interview her first?" Richard insisted.
"No, let us establish our authority on this case first. Then we examine the notes Sir William has collected. If he arrested Miss Mary prematurely, we may not even need to interview Miss Bingley to get Miss Mary released. But of course, we will eventually interview Miss Bingley as one of the possible suspects for killing Wickham."
Richard grumbled but nodded his head reluctantly.
"One word, though, Mr. Bingley," Lushington turned to warn Bingley. "I understand you love your sister. But please do not breathe one word of our discussion just now to Miss Bingley or anyone else."
"But…"
"We did not want her to prepare her answers or flee the country."
"That is totally absurd! Caroline is not involved and she will not flee the country." Bingley exclaimed as he turned to look at Darcy for his support.
Darcy could not offer his support for Bingley, regarding Miss Bingley's innocence. He shrugged his shoulders. Bingley sat down slowly.
"The same applies to you, Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr. Darcy. Please reframe from discussing this with Lady Catherine."
"Now you are crazy, Lushington," Richard protested. "Why would my aunt want to kill Wickham?"
"I do not know but I intend to find out the truth."
"I brought you to Hertfordshire, surely you cannot help Sir William to point his fingers to my relative."
"If your relative truly kills someone, I have a duty to bring her to justice."
"Richard, let it be," Darcy said. "Lushington is right. We have to allow him to do his job fairly. We should be open-minded and not exclude Miss Bingley or Lady Catherine from the suspects list."
"Next, you will say my Mary is really the murderess," Richard mumbled.
"See what you will say if Elizabeth is suspected of murder," Bingley murmured.
The party of men then went their separate way. Colonels Fitzwilliam and Lushington left to visit Colonel Forster. Bingley went to join his wife. Darcy decided to go for a ride.
~0~
Darcy raced his horse away from Netherfield with no destination in mind. He longed to go to Longbourn and discuss the early meeting at Netherfield with Elizabeth. However, he decided to comply with Lushington's request, at least for the moment. Darcy galloped hard and soon unwittingly found himself near Oakham Mount. He spied someone walking across the slope. Surely that could not be Elizabeth, still intending to cross to the future to see Lucy Hill! Darcy jumped down from his horse and ran towards the person.
Elizabeth was at the entrance of the pit, staring down it as though at the mouth of a great beast. This frightened Darcy and he shouted her name. But she did not seem to hear him from a distance and climbed down the pit. Darcy's heart sank. He ran as fast as he could and followed Elizabeth down the pit. By the time he walked through the dark tunnel and reached Elizabeth, she was standing inside the cave. She had a small torch in one of her hands and a small package in another. The eerie silence and shadow covering Elizabeth gave Darcy a chill.
"Mr. Darcy, what are you doing here?" she said, shocked by his sudden appearance.
"You cannot leave Elizabeth! I am here to convince you to stay."
"What do you mean? I am not leaving."
Darcy was so frantic that he did not hear Elizabeth clearly. "Elizabeth, please come back with me. You promised you would trust me and I am assuring you that Miss Mary will be alright."
"You are not listening to me," Elizabeth said.
"Where is this time machine you have been talking about? This place is dark and there might be dangerous creatures here. Stop this and let us leave."
Suddenly another voice was heard in the tunnel. "Mr. Darcy, are you well?" Darcy recognized the voice of Tuttle, Richard's batsman. Darcy was about to turn to call out to him.
"Mr. Darcy, you are not …" Elizabeth said.
Just then, an orange beam appeared and blinded them for a moment. The parasol-like thing, in gold, emerged, span and spewed out many rays of light. Darcy squinted his eyes to peer at the glow, marveled by its magnificence. As if in a truce, he stepped forward and raised his hand.
"Do not touch it!" Elizabeth yelled out loud.
Darcy heard her warning a moment too late. His right hand brushed the ice-cold surface of the strange thing. Darcy felt his left hand grabbed by someone and heard a loud cry by Tuttle. Before Darcy could withdraw his right hand, a powerful feeling of euphoria swept through him and he felt lost in the bliss of the moment. He opened his eyes and noticed the swirling lights with a surreal glow. To his surprise, he found that he was floating and Elizabeth was holding his hand tightly, drifting just as he was on the air. Then everything went black.
