Dear Sunday friends, thank you for continuing to read even if you've got thoroughly confused. Of course, that is my purpose. . I hope this chapter clears up a few things for you. Happy reading!


Chapter 18

Elizabeth bolted from the bed and paced around the room. She thought frantically back at the past few minutes when she was in Lady Anne's company. Mr. Darcy senior couldn't see the two of them in the corridor. Lady Anne couldn't open the door. Her Ladyship was clearly a ghost at those moments.

When Lady Anne followed Elizabeth around in Mrs. Bingley's room, Elizabeth didn't notice her changing appearance until…

Right! It happened until Lady Anne touched the red dress! She could drop the red dress on the bed, pick up the blue gown, hit her head, get herself scratched and bled. What did that mean? Was Lady Anne turning into the living again? Or was Mrs Bingley practising black magic that her dress could disperse Lady Anne's ghost, preventing her from reincarnation?

Elizabeth was terribly worried about Her Ladyship. She wished she were in Longbourn. She could consult some ancient tombs left by her Oriental ancestors that talked about their experiences with ghosts and the transient world, their theories and speculations. Then she remembered the wonderful collections at Pemberley's library. Perhaps some ancestors of the Darcy would have collected ancient text from the Orient. She put on her robe and went downstairs as quietly as possible, but her hands shook, and her legs trembled with fear for Lady Anne as she meandered through the great house's dim but eerie corridors and stairs.

Finally, Elizabeth reached the library. Drawing a deep breath, she pushed open the heavy oat door and stepped into the familiar smell of books. She lit a few candles and scanned after rows and rows of shelves. She tried to remember what young Mr. Darcy told her about the organisation of the books in this vast library that was a work of many generations. He proudly told her that the library was arranged by topics and then alphabetically ordered the titles. She went straight to the History and Geography section and looked for the Orient. She pulled out books after books from the shelves, scanned the titles, and quickly flipped through pages. There were many travelogues and historical tales about the battles and dynasties in the East, but none seemed relevant.

She decided to move to the Religion section next. It was as unfruitful as the previous section she explored. Next, she moved to the Philosophy and Psychology section. She almost gave up and returned to her bedchamber when she tried the Literature section. Her fingers traced through the books on the shelves, reading the titles hastily, and she found a relatedly new hand-written notebook prefaced by Fitzwilliam's grandfather, Albert Darcy. He seemed to have developed a great interest in all things Orient. He worked with a linguist from there to translate a collection of romance ghost stories published in the mid-1760s. Elizabeth gulped down the words like she was dying of thirst. Some of the translated tales were accompanied by notes based on other materials Albert Darcy had read and gathered. She was immersed in the ghost stories and accounts from tribes for hours.

"What are you doing here, Elizabeth?" Darcy's coarse voice startled Elizabeth. The notebook dropped to the floor with a thud.

"What!" She gasped, turning to see the handsome young man in his dressing robe and slippers.

"I couldn't sleep and come down to fetch a book." He bent to pick up the notebook. "A Translation of Strange Tales from the Orient. What is this?" He stared at Elizabeth with concern.

"It's about your mother," Elizabeth's worries with Lady Anne and lack of sleep overcame her under Mr. Darcy's intense gaze, and she burst into tears. She soon found herself wrapped in his warm arms, her head on his solid chest, his strong hands caressing her back. His calming words smoothed her. Her sob died down, and he carried her to rest on the chaise by the windows. He poured her a glass of wine.

"Tell me what it is, Elizabeth, when you feel better," Darcy's voice was firm and patient.

Elizabeth sipped the wine and then recounted what happened with Lady Anne to Mr. Darcy.

"Is Mother's spirit in danger of dispersing, never reincarnating?" Darcy asked with concern.

"There are some relevant sections here in the notebook from your grandfather," Elizabeth reached out for the text and showed it to Darcy. "Here, this section reconfirms what I've told you before. Your mother shouldn't linger in the transient world for too long. The longer she refuses to take the Soup of Forgetfulness, the more challenging it will be for her to do so. She risks being harmed by other angry ghosts in that world and can never reincarnate into a good situation."

"Yes, but what did the other section say?"

Elizabeth continued, "Here, it said…Some ancient tribes believed that the Goddess of Death wasn't merciless. She is not an evil god. She only summons people when their time is due according to the Great Book of Life and Death. There are consequences for interfering with the time of individuals, as written in the Great Book, warning people against committing murder or taking their own lives. For the victims of murders, they may get a chance to use corpses to resurrect their souls, provided that some conditions are met."

"Corpses! I could hardly get my head around all these ideas."

"There is yet a third possibility."

"What is it?"

"Assuming Mrs. Bingley is Lady Anne's murderer. She could be practising black magic and finally reached its target by condemning Lady Anne's soul to a world of no reprieve. Her Ladyship would never reach out to her friends and family, ghost or living, nor reached by any psychic in the world."

"But that is too horrible to consider!" Darcy exclaimed.

"I would do whatever I can to prevent that," Elizabeth said. "And your mother was showing signs of a living being again. She could pick up dresses, hit her head and bled."

"So you believe the second option? Yet, I still hear a 'but' in your sentence," Darcy astounded by the latest development, half not believing it and half longing with high hope.

"Some ancient tribes believed that the ghost or his family must do a lot of good for many people to warrant such a momentous act by the Goddess of Death. I do not know your ancestors, but the Darcys I know have done many good deeds for the tenants, servants, and people in Lambton and beyond. I am leaning more towards this possibility. To go against what had happened to the 'corpse', the Goddess would only allow the ghost and his family a day to enact the resurrection."

"You meant we have to find a corpse within the next twenty-four hours to resurrect Mother?" Darcy asked with his mouth gaped open. "Do you propose we go to the undertaker to see who died recently? And should we find a male or female corpse? What did we have to do to 'resurrect' this corpse? I feel like I've gone mad here."

"No, no, Fitzwilliam, I know it is unbelievable," Elizabeth said. She grabbed Darcy's hand and squeezed it, unaware that she was calling Darcy by his first name. "But you must trust me on this. There are a lot of happenings in this world that cannot be explained by science and our present knowledge. It does not mean that it couldn't happen. We must keep an open mind. As for Lady Anne, we are not looking for a corpse. We must look for a lady who recently met with an 'accident'. It could be falling down the stairs, a birth, a carriage accident and so on. Let's say we call her Annette, for I hate using the word 'corpse' to describe her. This beautiful soul is willing to give up her body for Lady Anne. We must show some respect even though we don't know her yet. She is not dead to the outside world; for example, she may be unconscious, but she has, in fact, passed on. She probably had drunk the Soup of Forgetfulness and reincarnated, but the Goddess of Death is holding her body for a deserving ghost whose life has been cut short. And we don't have twenty-four hours, as I spent nearly an hour here. We couldn't start the search until dawn. Once we find her, I think we will know how to resurrect her. It could be as simple as touching her hand or speaking to her."

"But the accident could happen anywhere in England or even Scotland! And how can we be sure that we have found the right 'corpse', no, I mean Annette?"

"The Goddess of Death is careful with her planning to open this window of opportunity," Elizabeth said as she re-read the notebook of Albert Darcy. "The Goddess of Death won't make it impossible for the ghost's family to reach Annette. That would not be fair. So the 'accident' must have happened less than a day's distance from Pemberley. And we could be sure she is the right one as Annette would have a cut in her left earlobe."

"I still have so many questions," Darcy said breathlessly. "Would Mother take the appearance of Annette, or would Annette looks like Mother?"

"Annette will most definitely not look like your Mother. But some of Lady Anne's memory of Mr. Darcy and you would be left intact, mingling with Annette's memory of her own family."

"Would Father fall in love with this Annette and marry her?"

"That I do not know," Elizabeth said. "The folklore said a lot could go wrong during the resurrection process. Annette may retain the worse part of Lady Anne's memory of your Father and repel against him when they meet. Or Annette could be married to another man. Or she could be a maid of low connection or a young girl less than half your Father's age. She could even be a man. It all depends on all the parties involved. Your Mother must have a strong wish to seize this opportunity offered by the Goddess of Death. Annette must be willing to surrender her body and memory to let your Mother continue living on in it. Lady Anne's family that is, your Father or you, must find Annette and be there to state your wish and welcome Lady Anne back, no matter how different her circumstances is. The murderer must also not interfere with the resurrection. If the murderer somehow got wind of it, Annette could be killed by Lady Anne's murderer too. She would do anything to prevent Lady Anne's memory from pointing out who the guilty party is."

Darcy stood up abruptly and paced around the library. Then he stopped in front of Elizabeth and said with great emotion, "I'll make sure Mother is welcomed, no matter how her or his life situation has changed. And I don't believe the murderer would interfere with Mother's resurrection, as Mother doesn't know who the murderer is anyway. Should we talk to Father about it?"

Elizabeth thought for a minute and then shook her head. "I believe your Father's mind is more fragile in the whole affairs. If we find Annette and there is no possible for her to reunite with Mr. Darcy as his wife, your Father may break down from grief. It's also possible if the process goes wrong and Annette's body is no longer possible for Lady Anne to resurrect. We do not want to send him to his early grave by raising his hope and dashing it. And I also believe you have a stronger familial link to Lady Anne than Mr. Darcy. You are related to Her Ladyship by blood. Remember, she said that she was able to follow you around in her ghostly form, but not Mr. Darcy."

Darcy agreed immediately. "Let me organise a discreet 'search'. It is a large area to cover. I will instruct Mr. Reynolds to take a few footmen to go south and my head gardener Harrison with his under-gardeners to cover the north. They are to look for someone who has gone unconscious recently and with an injury to his/her left earlobe. What story should I give to the servants?"

"Tell them you want to talk to this woman who might be related to my injury at Rowsley. And when they find such a person, it is important to get you there without delay."

Darcy nodded his head. "That would do as it is a magistrate's matter. Reynolds and Harrison would ensure the servants have their eyes and ears opened while not giving away too much."

"I also think we should confide with Judge Darcy and Jane. They would not be easily fooled by the urgency we try to organise this search or the cover story we used for your butler and head gardener." Elizabeth added. "We can use the excuse of sightseeing, with one party going west and the other south. Jane and I could play out these differences during breakfast."

"Then we will leave Aunt Augusta, Father and Bingley to decide which party they want to join. Or if they wake up too late, we would just go without them." Darcy said with great impatience. "But before I forget, can you share your speculation about Mrs. Bingley's children with me? Do you believe that Aunt Augusta is Mrs. Bingley's first illegitimate child? But surely she wouldn't allow Uncle David to marry his own love child."

Elizabeth shook her head. "Augusta Hawkins is Daisy's first child out of wedlock. Daisy was seduced by the very charming Captain Hawkins when she was just 15 if I am not mistaken."

"That is a relief to hear about your speculation. But Captain Hawkins can't be Collins's father, right?"

"Yes, I think Lord Matlock is Collins's father. Daisy used the affairs to blackmail Lord Matlock into marrying Augusta when Captain Hawkins died about seven years ago and later installed Collins as the Vicar of Stapleford. I can't figure out who the third child and Daisy's third beau are."

"When I marry, I vow to be faithful to my wife till death do us part," Darcy said with conviction.

Elizabeth nodded and stood from the chaise. Her eyes were full of admiration. The couple looked at each other with intense emotion. Darcy grabbed Elizabeth's hands, raised them and bestowed a lingering kiss. They both closed their eyes for a long moment, enjoying the feeling of connection and passion.

"God speed!"

They parted way at the library door. Elizabeth went to her bedchamber to wait for dawn to arrive while Darcy instructed the servants first.

The two parties headed by Reynolds and Harrison left Pemberley at the crack of dawn, covering Leeds and Northampton in the north and south directions. About an hour later, Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth talked to Judge Darcy and Jane. The latter pair decided to go east, towards Lynn, while Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth, accompanied by a maid, would go west, towards Liverpool.

When the two parties were ready to leave, Mr. Darcy senior and Lady Matlock were awoken. They were puzzled by the great urgencies everyone wanted to depart Pemberley for the day. They wouldn't hear of being left in Pemberley with Bingley, who was still asleep. Mr. Darcy and Lady Matlock decided to join Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth, thus delaying their departure for another hour.

The party of four started with some awkward conversations, mostly carried out by Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, about the gentleman's travel in the past years. He also pointed out some interesting sights to Elizabeth when Fitzwilliam neglected his duty. Fitzwilliam was generally not a talkative person. His worries for his mother made him nearly silent. Lady Matlock tried to ignore Elizabeth and conducted a separate conversation about the noble people she knew with Fitzwilliam without much success.

They stopped at a popular inn for a short luncheon, where Elizabeth chatted with the maids and innkeeper, trying to gain knowledge of any freak accidents around the area. Lady Matlock turned her body away from Elizabeth, showing her disdain for Elizabeth for such a familiar overture to common people.

Once they resumed their journey, Lady Matlock berated Elizabeth, "Young lady, I must warn you giving too much consequence to people of low birth. They are not to be trusted."

"That is nonsense, Augusta," George Darcy said. "Without the servants, maids and tenants, Matlocks, Pemberley and any great estates or royal houses cannot function well. We have been trusting them every day."

"I am never lax in my duty as the Mistress of Matlock. I keep an eagle eye on any cheating servants or lousy tenants who cannot meet their rent."

"No wonder Matlock had financial difficulty if that is how you treated those who work for you, Augusta," Mr. Darcy continued. "How would people work for you with devotion if you constantly look over their shoulders or suspect them of cheating."

"I concede that Pemberley is prosperous and well run, but Anne and your management style may not suit Matlock. But I have more concerns about this young lady. She seems to spend too much time into strange occurrences. That's not the right topic for a young unmarried lady. She should practise discussing fashion, music or literature with people of equal or higher birth."

"What a crazy notion you have!" Mr. Darcy and Lady Matlock continued on in this manner until the carriage slowed near the village of Trentham.

"Why are we stopping?" Lady Matlock exclaimed. "Are we to be besieged by highwaymen?"

The coachman replied to Mr. Darcy's enquiry, "Sorry, Sir, a carriage accident ahead. I will send Rob to investigate." The postillion jumped down from the carriage and ran ahead.

Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam immediately exchanged a look of concern and excitement. "I will go with Rob," Fitzwilliam said, "they may need an extra pair of hands."

"May I go with you," Elizabeth asked, pretending to be contrived. "I would like to offer my help too."

"I'm not interested in all the chaos, hysteria and whatnot! You should leave the young men to deal with this business, young lady, rather than hindering them with your presence.

"Oh, leave them be," Mr. Darcy said, trying to get the young couple time to themselves. "I will keep your company, Augusta, so that no highwaymen may harm us while the young ones are gone."

Fitzwilliam handed Elizabeth out, and they almost ran to the two carriages ahead. They could see Rob helping a young woman out of the overturned carriage.

"Mary! What are you doing here?" Elizabeth exclaimed as she came upon Mary King, a long-term resident of Meryton. She appeared to be unharmed but shaky.

"Elizabeth, I'm so relieved," Mary blurted out among the sobs. "Pray, can you help me? My uncle and aunt are taking me to Liverpool. We were on the road at a leisure pace when a carriage suddenly sped around the corner like a mad dog directly onto us. We overturned. My uncle and aunt are trapped inside the carriage."

Rob crawled inside the carriage. He poked his head out a moment later and said, "Sorry, Miss, your uncle is dead." Mary burst out in tears. "Your aunt is still alive. I can feel her breath. She is unconscious."

"Let me give you a hand," Fitzwilliam said and crunched down to look into the carriage. On seeing Miss King's aunt inside the carriage, he gasped. "She has injured her head, on the left, and there is a cut on her left earlobe."

Elizabeth realised the significance of Fitzwilliam's words. "Mary, stay strong. Your aunt will need you when she awakes." As Elizabeth patted Mary, she turned to see a gentlewoman marching towards them. She was dressed in a gaudy travel gown with colourful feathers.

"Daisy!" "Mrs. Bingley!" Lady Matlock and Mr. Darcy exclaimed. They had left the Darcy carriage as well and greeted the finely dressed gentlewoman.

Why was Mrs. Bingley here at Trentham, over 160 miles from Middlesbrough, where she was supposed to be on holiday?