Chapter 11

Mr. Darcy was not in the library where the gentlemen were meeting. Mr. Bingley and Mr. Hurst were sitting at a side table playing a game of cards. Mrs. Hurst was playing with her bracelets. Lydia looked around the room a second time, but he still wasn't there.

Mr. Bennet was not happy. It was clear Mr. Bingley was not at all concerned about any of the missing people at least not enough to stir himself to do anything about it. He had originally liked Mr. Bingley and everyone disliked Mr. Darcy. It was clear that under adversity one shined much brighter than other. "Mr. Bingley, am I late?"

"Late? no of course not, we are just getting ready to begin. Hurst and I just need to finish our game. Darcy has not shown up either." Mr. Bingley replied as he drew the card that Mr. Hurst had discarded.

"Were is Mr. Darcy?" Lydia asked. He was the entire reason she had made the trip. If she had known he was not here she would have stayed home.

"I do not know, I have not seen him since dinner last night. He barely ate two bites before he was called away."

"Where was he called?" Lydia asked. Hopeful there was information that could help her.

"I do not know."

Mrs. Hurst, who had been silent up to this point added "He was called to speak to someone's housekeeper, a Mrs. Hill."

"Never mind Louisa. She does not know what she is talking about. She has been quite upset since Caroline went missing yesterday morning shortly before dinner." Mr. Bingley loudly slapped a card down on the table with a sound of triumph.

"Miss Bingley is missing?" asked Mr. Bennet. It seemed every time he came to Netherfield they had discovered another person had gone missing.

"Yes, quite a sad business the whole thing. First Miss Elizabeth, now Caroline." Mr. Hurst was taking his turn so Mr. Bingley could give a little more of his attention to the conversation.

Mr. Bennet did not know what to say at first. He only nodded and made a sound of agreement.

Lydia was more outspoken, "Sad is not the word I would use. Miss Bingley is not missing. She is here with me." Lydia was getting rather fed up with Mr. Bingley.

"No, she is not." Mrs. Hurst replied with a quick glance in Lydia's direction.

"Yes she is." Lydia stubbornly insisted.

Before the argument could continue, Mr. Bennet removed his daughter from the room and sent her to help her older sister to the carriage and accompany her home home. Lydia could hear her father apologizing for her silliness as she marched to her sisters room.

Jane and Lydia were both quiet on the ride home from Netherfield. Each waited for the other to start the conversation. Neither did.

Mrs. Bennet was very excited to see her oldest daughter home again and asked her all sorts of questions most of which were about Mr. Bingley. Lydia easily slipped away unnoticed to look for Mrs. Hill.

XXXXX

It was well past midnight when Mr. Darcy found Elizabeth sleeping in the hedge on the south side of Longborn's lawn. Mrs. Hill had retired much earlier on Mr. Darcy's assurances that he would wake her if he found anything.

Mr. Darcy scooped up Elizabeth. He was careful not to wake her. He gently carried her to Mrs. Hill's door. Upon his knock, Mrs. Hill opened the door. She expressed her delight. Afterwards she lead him down to the kitchen where she made up something for him to eat and a basket bed for Elizabeth. Mrs. Hill, with Mr. Darcy's help, quickly made up a guest room for him.

Mr. Darcy did not sleep. He stayed up watching Elizabeth in the kitchen to make sure she did not try to get away again. He kept his post until shortly after sunrise when sleep called to much for him to resist. Naturally, he slept past breakfast.

Mrs. Hill and the other servants were very careful not to wake him as they went about their morning duties. Mr. Hill and one of the stable hands carried him up to the room he was supposed to be sleeping in.

Mr. Darcy had just woken up and gone down to the kitchen to check on Elizabeth, when Lydia came bursting through the doors to the kitchen to ask for Mrs. Hill. "Mrs. Hill! Mrs. Hill! Mama said you were in here and I need you ever so desperately!"

"Yes, Miss Lydia?"

"Oh goody! Mrs. Hurst said you had stolen Mr. Darcy. In the same breath she said that he was missing! Did you take him away and lose him? I need to find him because Lizzy is Missing!"

"Is Miss Elizabeth missing again?" Mr. Darcy asked from the other doorway.

Lydia told Mr. Darcy what had happened the previous day and what had happened that morning at Netherfield. She told him so fast that she had to repeat herself three times.

Mrs. Hill who was trying to make dinner in the kitchen and directed the group into the sitting room and out of her way.

Mr. Darcy began the questioning by asking Miss Bingley how she had been shrunk. She explained that she had been riding through the paths around the village and found the ring. She tried it on and was her new size. Her horse ran back to Netherfield leaving her alone until she found Miss Lydia. Miss Lydia then cared for her up to the point when Mr. Darcy was found in the kitchen.

"What did the ring look like?" was the first question Mr. Darcy asked.

"Do you want to see it? I have it with me." She reached into her dress pocket and pulled out the ring. Mr. Darcy held out his hand for the ring. He examined it carefully. He offered it to Elizabeth asking if it was the same ring that had shrunk her.

"Yes. That is the ring. Or it is a good copy." Elizabeth replied with a dramatic pout.

"Can I see?" Lydia asked as she bounced up and down on her chair. "Is that the ring the witch put all her magic in?" Mr. Darcy allowed her examine it. Lydia turned the ring over and looked at the gem and it's decorations, "I don't quite agree with the witches taste in jewelry. The gem is a little big for my tastes."

Mr. Darcy asked for paper and a pen. He took the ring back and sat a the table carefully studying it and recording what he found. He also made many studious sounds as he worked.