Mary sniffled as he handed her his handkerchief. “Are you certain?” she asked. “I do not wish to use tears to force you into dancing if you feel that it is not appropriate with Mr Darcy missing.”
“If you can bear to be seen in public with such a blockhead, it would make me very happy indeed,” he promised.
“Very well,” Mary said, wiping her eyes.
“And the last? Will you favour me with the last as well?” he begged. “Mary, if you will forgive my stupidity, I will spend my life making it up to you.”
“And you will not be angry at me for practising any more?” Mary asked.
“Never again,” he insisted. “Iamvery proud of you. I am just intolerably stupid, as well.”
“Very well then,” she allowed. Then she gave him a watery smile. “Thecomtesays that he likes you. He says that you are a good man, and that I am fortunate in you. I hope that if we are practising another time, that you might come in and say hello.”
“I will, darling,” William promised. “I assure you that I most certainly will.”
Late that night,a meeting was held in Lady Catherine’s private sitting room with Georgiana, Ashley, Richard, their aunt, and Mr Croucher. “Tell us Croucher, what have you found?” demanded Richard.
“Well, Colonel, sir, the local men, they took me to see the entrances to the caves. There are a few ways to come up on them unexpected, like,” answered the man. “When you leave tonight, sir, it will still be a good time to get a look. I will take you there.”
After the meeting had ended, where the only useful information was that which was shared by Croucher, Richard accompanied Croucher to the coast line, where the man showed him how to access the caves in question. It was very late at night, and very dark. Thankfully they encountered no one, though they did not draw close.
Richard and Croucher made a plan, in which men who Richard trusted, likely his father’s men, some of whom had arrived with his brother, were to be stationed on horseback near the different entrances to the town, to wait for the dragoons, and direct them to a secluded location until Richard could brief them. When the men arrived, on the very next low tide, they would ambush the caves, hopefully finding Darcy, and rounding up the ringleaders of whatever ghastly plot was unfolding in Eastbourne.
If General Vane had sent the unit, and if they travelled at the speed at which Richard prayed they would, the dragoons should be here by tomorrow, or the following day at the latest.
1 A Shooting Break was a large, open country carriage with four wheels and a hood, which was large enough to convey six sportsmen, and even their dogs and rifles.
CHAPTER 49
The night of Lady Amesbury’s ball was a magnificent evening. It was not too hot, although Elizabeth was certain that the ballroom would be steaming later, even with a cool breeze coming off of the coast. She boarded Darcy’s coach with Lydia, Georgiana, and Priscilla. The others crowded into Lady Catherine’s and Lord Carlisle’s carriages, and the party set off for the ball. Arabella understandably still had not stirred from her rooms, nor left her children, so she remained behind at Bourne House. Anne and Priscilla were equally in no mood for dancing, but they consented to join the others, for Darcy’s sake. Anne thought the locals were abominable and barbaric, throwing lavish affairs and celebrating when there was a man missing, and there were men in their town attempting to kidnap or murder people.
Elizabeth dreaded the event. She knew Lady Catherine was correct, the locals had given up on Mr Darcy far too easily. Elizabeth saw the sense to join them in their revelries, all the while reminding them that the search must resume tomorrow. But where to search? They had searched every inch of Eastbourne. Every estate had been combed, all of the outbuildings, the woods, the beaches, the caves that were safeenough to enter. The mayor and the local men were hard put to know where to look next.
Elizabeth had never seen so many officers at one entertainment, not even Mr Bingley’s ball. Mr Bingley had invited the entire regiment, but Colonel Forster had understandably left a large number of men on duty at the camp. It did not look as if Colonel Allen had done that tonight. The young ladies on Lady Amesbury’s guest list would not want for partners.
Each member of their party wore a blue ribbon tied about their arm. Georgiana and Lydia had gone and purchased every inch of blue ribbon at Johnson’s, cutting them into appropriate lengths, and each young lady carried a large handful in her reticule.
“Good evening, Lady Catherine, we are so grateful that your party joined us,” said Lady Amesbury in the receiving line. “Oh look, everyone in your party is wearing a blue ribbon! Whatever for?”
“We wear our blue ribbons to remind everyone to keep looking for my poor brother, Lady Amesbury,” said Georgiana forwardly, turning beet red as she did so. “Would you like to wear one as well?”
“Indeed, we brought enough to share,” Lady Catherine, as she opened her reticule and pulled out a ribbon, and the ladies proceeded to boldly tie ribbons on the arms of their hosts and the family.
“What an interesting idea,” Lady Amesbury said tolerantly as she allowed Georgiana to tie the blue ribbon, which clashed terribly with the lady’s gown, to her upper arm. The rest of their party was tight lipped as they entered the ballroom, whereupon the ladies all burst into giggles.
“How bold you have become, Georgie!” Priscilla laughed. “And here she is, afraid to go into society in London!”
“I believe you could tie a blue ribbon on the arm of Lady Jersey in the middle of Almack’s with a straight face and get away with it, little cousin,” Ashley teased a blushing Georgiana. “You will do very well indeed when you go to London.”
The party split up, Jane and Mary to stroll on the arms of their suitors, Lady Catherine to speak to the dowagers and other guests, while Anne, Priscilla and Caroline were besieged with requests to dance. Elizabeth was also mobbed by gentlemen and officers, but she accepted no dances, and stayed with Georgiana, Lydia, and Mrs Annesley. Their party strolled the room, spoke with their friends, and passed out blue ribbons to everyone who wished for one.
By the timethe first dance started, more than two thirds of the guests had blue ribbons tied to their arms. Most of those without were officers, who were not permitted to alter their uniforms in any way. Elizabeth was wistful and did her best not to weep a bit as the ladies and gentlemen spun about the floor, but it did give her joy to see her sisters dancing with their gentlemen. Jane had confessed to Elizabeth that she and Bingley agreed that they could not take joy in becoming engaged while Mr Darcy’s fate was unknown, and they had agreed to wait, at least for now, before entering an engagement. Elizabeth knew that Jane was making the sacrifice for her, and she loved her sister for it.
The Woodhouses attended the ball, and Miss Woodhouse danced the first with her father, the second with Lord Carlisle, who wished to show his gratitude for her assistance to his sister and cousin. The young lady was in excellent looks, and credited her recovery to the fine air of Eastbourne. Thankfully, the young lady good-naturedly accepted her blue ribbon from Georgianawithout complaint, and made no mention of any kind of Mr Darcy all evening, even when the other women were speaking of the search to other guests. Miss Woodhouse rightfully guessed that Elizabeth’s patience was hanging by a thread, and thankfully said nothing indelicate to upset her.
The marvel of the ball was the magnificent ruby that Lady Gordon wore. Her husband, Sir Charles Gordon, was a local baronet whose grandfather had made a fortune in iron mines several decades before. It was rumoured that Sir Charles had engaged thecomteto enlarge the jewel by some method of alchemy, and the endeavour had been successful.
Elizabeth sat between Lydia and a captain from the regiment at dinner, where the main topic was many discussions as to the authenticity of the enormous stone in Lady Gordon’s pendant.
