Chapter 5 - Thursday, September 17, 1812
It would be impossible to tell who was more disappointed and upset, Mr. Bingley or Mr. Gardiner. Over seven days, they had stopped at every post coach station and every inn along the route from Leichester to York. They had stopped at the Smith's home in Bishopthorpe and talked to Mrs. Smith. She was aghast that Miss Elizabeth was missing.
"We put her on the post coach ourselves. My husband talked pointedly to the driver to task him with looking out for Elizabeth. She was looking forward to getting home. Oh, if only I had convinced her to stay until we could take her home ourselves. "
Mr. Gardiner knew the former Miss Lucas from his time in Meryton. "Do not worry yourself Mrs. Smith, we will find her. She is a strong and smart young lady. We will send a letter when she is found." With that they began to back track to London, disheartened and sad. What were they to tell the Bennets? Mr. Bingley particularly did not want to have to tell his Jane that they had failed in their quest.
There had been no reply from any of their inquiries, neither from any of Bingley's friends nor any of Mrs. Gardiner's friends. They had sent a rider back to the White Gull Inn each day to check for news. Bingley debated stopping at Pemberley, but he had not heard back from Darcy and he was not even sure if his friend was in Derbyshire; the last he had heard his friend was on his way to Ramsgate to spend time with his sister.
They would stop once again at each posting station, asking the same questions, probably receiving the same answers, showing the miniature to anyone they could. No one had seen her. There had been one interesting incident spoken of that may or may not have been related to their search. According to one of the drivers they met along the way, he had been told by another driver of an accident that had happened about two weeks ago when the post coach from York to Derby had hit a rut and broken a wheel, but he was not sure which day that had been. Some fancy gent had stopped and sent a rider to have another coach sent from the next stop. The coach was two hours late getting into their next stop and some of the awaiting passengers were upset. Neither Bingley or Gardiner thought the tale had any bearing on the mystery of their missing lady.
Elizabeth was getting worried. Georgiana had said that no replies had come from her brother's express letters to her father and her uncle. Elizabeth had no coin, since her reticule had not been found, and she certainly did not want to ask for anything more than she was already receiving from her good Samaritans. She knew her father was indolent, but surely her uncle would have been worried when she did not show up at the coaching station more than a week ago! She wished she had coin to send a message herself. How could she be sure that Mr. Darcy had even sent the letters that Mrs. Annesley had said he would? She did not know if she should trust him. His staff certainly thought the best of him, but she was not familiar with the ways of the Ton and was not sure if she should put her trust in their ways.
She was even more worried that her sister's wedding would be postponed when she did not arrive in London. She certainly could not ask the Darcys for money to take a post coach, but she felt there had to be a way to make her way home on her own. She decided to get what information she could from either Mrs. Reynolds or Georgiana about nearby post coach or mail coach stops and how much coin she would have to have to make the trip.
She decided to present her inquiry as a game to Georgiana that afternoon. "Let's pretend we are going to take a journey to London, but we do not have a coach or a horse." Elizabeth prompted Georgiana.
"Why would we not have a coach or a horse? My brother has at least six coaches of different sizes and more than two dozen horses." Georgiana replied,
"Well, let us pretend that we are poor and do not own them. How could we get to London? I was riding on the post coach from York to London, so we know that is an option, but is there a cheaper way? Other than walking of course, it is over 100 miles! Have you ever heard of mail coaches? They run constantly throughout England, including overnight, only stopping to change horses. That is why you can get a letter from London to Lambton in two days. I have heard it is cheaper to ride in the mail coach and even cheaper still if you take a seat on the top. What an adventure that would be! I wonder when the mail coach comes through Lambton and how much a ticket to London would be?"
"Oh goodness! My brother would never allow me to travel by post coach, let alone on a mail coach and certainly never on the top of the mail coach! But what an exciting trip it would be, meeting people and seeing the countryside go by from such a high perch. My brother let me ride up next to the groom on a trip to Lambton when I was younger. Oh what fun I had."
"Yes, I imagine it would be fun, as long as it was not raining or cold. But to plan our trip, we would need to know when the mail coach stops in Lambton, as it may be in the middle of the night, and how much a ticket to London would be. How do you think we could get that information?"
Georgiana thought for a moment, then exclaimed, "I know! Mr. Wilson, the head groom, occasionally has to send staff to London to return with horses. He sends them by post coach if there is time, but I think he has sent them by mail coach if they are in a particular hurry." She paused and winked. "My maid is sweet on one of the grooms," Georgiana supplied as an explanation. "I assume there must be a schedule somewhere. Let me see what I can find. I will be back as soon as possible!" and with that Georgiana ran out of the room.
About a half hour later, Georgiana returned, excitingly waving a sheet of paper around. "I got it! Mr. Wilson still had the time table from the last time he sent Gregory and Timothy to London to bring back horses. Let me see, it says that the mail coach comes through Lambton every night, except Saturday night, at half past twelve at night. It takes two days to get to London. A ticket for a seat from Derby to London is one pound ten shillings for an inside seat, half that, or fifteen shillings for an outside seat. I assume the cost from Lambton to London would be about the same. So, traveling to London with your maid would cost three pounds, plus the cost of food along the way. I would not want to be riding on the outside of a coach for the two days it would take to get to London!"
"No, neither would I." remarked Elizabeth sadly. "Neither would I. Georgiana, this has been fun planning a trip, maybe next time we will decide where we would shop in London. I have never been to Bond street, but I assume you have."
"Oh, yes, my aunt, Lady Matlock took me once and then she took me to Gunter's for ices! It was so much fun. Maybe next time you can come with us."
"I would like that. My sisters and I would occasionally peruse the items found in our little resale shop in Meryton. You never know what fantastic bargains you would find there."
"There is a resale shop in Lambton, but I have never been in it. I know sometimes the maids would shop there for their Sunday dresses."
"Yes, that would be fun." Elizabeth yawned. "But I think I need to rest now. I still feel tired easily and I think I will rest until dinner."
"Oh, alright Elizabeth. Have a nice rest. But you will join us for dinner tonight? Please?" Georgiana asked hopefully.
"Yes, I think if I sleep now, I should be able to join you for dinner tonight. Thank you."
"Oh, my brother will be so pleased. He has been asking how you have been. He was really worried about you, I could tell."
"Thank you, Georgiana. I will see you at dinner." With that, Georgiana left the room as Elizabeth pretended to get ready for a nap.
There was no chance of her sleeping now. She had to plan. She had to find a way to get the coin she needed to get on that mail coach tomorrow night. Since there was no coach on Saturday night, she had to be on the mail coach tomorrow night, she could not stay here any longer. She had to get home. If her family were not going to come to get her, she would find a way home on her own. She thought it was very unlikely that her uncle would not have answered Mr. Darcy's express letter. Her father might not stir himself to answer, but her uncle was a man of business and would, at the minimum, have sent an answer and most likely, enough coin for her to continue her journey. She felt uneasy that she was not told of a reply from her most trusted uncle.
She started going through the few items in her trunk. Most of what she had would not bring in much coin in a resale shop. She thought back to what she saw at the resale shop in Meryton. She could only bring what she could carry herself, with one hand, in her portmanteau. She would need to keep her warmest dress, boots, bonnet and cloak. She was pretty much convinced that she was going to have to ride on the top of a mail coach all the way to London. She had a few pieces of inexpensive jewelry, four of her favorite books and her two nicest dresses that she would have no use for on this journey. She hoped that she would be able to make enough selling them for a seat, even if it was on the top of the coach.
She figured that she had to attend dinner with Georgiana and her brother this evening. She would use it to thank them sincerely for their care. Tomorrow she would use the excuse of being over tired to miss dinner and retire early. Once her hosts went into dinner, she would take her few possessions and walk the five miles into Lambton. She had inquired of her maid and found out that the resale shop was open until eight in the evening. She would have to be there in time and take her chances with earning enough to buy a ticket. It would probably not allow her enough coin to buy meals on the road, so she decided that she would pick up some apples from under the tree that she could see from her window. Surely the Darcys would not miss a few apples.
Dinner that evening was a painful affair for Elizabeth. Georgiana was very enthusiastic and wanted everything to go well. She had planned a fancy meal and took pride in playing hostess. Elizabeth dressed in one of her nicer dresses and allowed the maid to do her hair up in a fancy style. She almost felt pretty, except for the splint on her arm. Her host was impeccably dressed, for such an informal dinner, a fact she found out that she could attribute to Georgiana. Her new friend had no idea how much harder she was making the whole affair for Elizabeth.
Her host was charming, handsome and, as she reminded herself, way above her socially. The more she saw of the estate and the way they lived, the more clear it became that she did not belong here. Although her manners were impeccable, thanks to her Aunt Gardiner's influence, she felt out of place; like she should be treated as a visiting governess rather than an honored guest. She might have been able to maintain her equilibrium during this farce except that Georgiana had chosen to meet in the library before dinner. Once she saw that room, she was spellbound. If there was one room in this vast house where she could feel at home, it was in the library. Yes, it was five times the size of her father's bookroom, and yes, there were fabulously expensive books in here, but any library could hold her attention. She was lost.
Her host took her by the elbow and excitedly gave her a tour of the library. Elizabeth felt an unexpected sensation in her chest when her handsome host took her arm. He showed her first edition folios, a Gutenberg bible, books in Latin, Greek, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, books she had only heard about and others that she had never even heard of. Her resolve to leave was being shaken. She was glad when dinner was finally announced and she could break away from this fairy tale world.
Dinner was delicious. She noticed that the beef had been served already cut up, for all the diners, not just her. Since she was eating with one hand, that was very thoughtful of Georgiana, or maybe it was someone else who had been so thoughtful? Everything that was served could be eaten with one hand. She glanced over at her host and saw him look away each time. He was being a gentleman, but he still made her nervous. She absolutely had to leave tomorrow. Tonight could not be over soon enough.
After dinner, Georgiana played the piano for them and she enjoyed it immensely. She thought that she could get used to living like this. It definitely was time for her to leave. She could not risk staying until they heard from her family. She tried to enjoy the evening and let tomorrow's troubles stay in tomorrow. She thanked both the Darcys profusely and said good night to her hosts as early as she thought would be polite, feigning fatigue. That would play into her plan to retire early tomorrow if they thought she had over exerted herself this evening.