“Miss Malfoy, what is it? Are Barney and Ellie well?” Wendell demanded to know.
“Master Barney is dressing as we speak, but Miss Ellie is missing,” Miss Malfoy stated urgently. She saw the forming smile on the master’s face. “Master, there is something not right. I do not believe she slept in her bed last night.” She told Mr Wendell what she had observed.
“Go see the housekeeper and butler, I want every available man or woman searching this house and the park for her. I will go tell my wife what you suspect,” Wendell stated as he turned and re-entered the suite.
“Joseph, had you not…” Cilla faltered when she saw the look on her husband’s countenance. “What is it?” she asked, barely above a whisper.
“Ellie is not in her bed,” Wendell reported. “Before you say what I was about to say when Miss Malfoy spoke to me, you need to hear what she reported. In her opinion…” He related what she had told him as well as the orders he had issued prior to entering the bedchamber.
“Matilda would never raise the alarm unless there was good reason. I can only pray our girl will be discovered soon,” Cilla said, worry evident in her voice.
It was the work of minutes for her maid to assist Cilla in dressing, and soon she was on her way to assist in the search. Wendell accompanied his wife. They found their eldest son and some of his guests in the hallway outside their chambers.
“Mama, Papa, what is it?” David asked with deep concern when he saw the looks on his parents’ faces.
“Ellie is missing. Wake all of your friends and assist with the search,” Wendell barked.
Andrew and Richard Fitzwilliam, fourteen and eleven, and William Darcy, ten, ran back into their chambers to dress for riding. “I know Wickie said he was not well and went to bed early yester-night; should we wake him?” William asked his two older cousins.
“Even though he does not like Ellie very much, I am sure he will want to join in the searching,” Andrew opined.
As he was dressed first, Richard went and knocked on Wicky’s door. He was four years younger than the steward’s son, but Richard Fitzwilliam was already stronger than him. He, like his brother and cousins, was wary of Wicky, but to date he had never done anything to cause them to sever the friendship. Richard did not know why Wicky had antipathy for Ellie.
“Richard, what is it?” George Wickham asked with a scratchy voice. “My throat is not right yet. I am going back to my bed.”
The youngest Fitzwilliam explained that his cousin was missing, and he and the rest of the boys were going to join the search for Ellie. “Will you join us or go back to bed?”
“Does she not hide away as a habit?” Wickham asked.
“Yes, Ellie does, but according to my Uncle Wendell, this is different. Should I tell everyone you are too infirm to assist?” Richard pushed.
“Give me a few minutes; I will be down shortly,” Wickham agreed.
Soon enough the rest of the boys, which now included Barney and his pony, were mounting their horses in preparation to join the searchers. Wickham rode out with William.
A search of every conceivable space in the house,including every single bedchamber, and all over the estate did not reveal a trace of Ellie Wendell.
Those searching outside would keep looking until dark, but Cilla knew it was time to write to Elaine at Snowhaven and Anne Darcy at Pemberley. She also wrote one to her brother and sister-in-law at Glenmeade. All the while she wrote her missives, she was praying that her dear little girl would be found hale and healthy. This was a living nightmare, and Cilla needed it to end as soon as humanly possible.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As their estates were about equidistant from Willowmere, the Darcy and Fitzwilliam parents arrived at almost the same instant. A few hours later, as dusk began to fall and the temperatures with it, the Grangers arrived from Staffordshire.
While the men were with Wendell, the women were trying to console Cilla.
The whole of the day had passed, and now it was dark, and not so much as a trace of Ellie had been found. “Where is my little girl? I need to see my little angel,” Cilla wailed as she was ensconced in her private sitting room with the other ladies. She allowed the tears to finally fall.
“Cilla, she could not just vanish into the air,” Lady Matlock asserted.
“Elaine has the right of it,” Lady Anne agreed. “We will discover my goddaughter, and then this will be like a bad dream.”
“We have searched high and low. The tenants are all assisting, so as much of the estate as possible is being scouted. Stephen will join the other men at first light, and they will begin riding to neighbouring estates and even some of the towns in the area,” Adele Granger said. “It will be well Sister; Ellie will be discovered.”
“We will all pray that Ellie is well and will be homesoon,” Lady Anne suggested.
With nothing more they could do at that moment, all four ladies lifted fervent prayers to God, begging for Ellie’s safe return to the bosom of her loving family. After praying and Cilla regaining a level of equanimity, the ladies decided to join the men and children.
As she walked next to Anne, Elaine Fitzwilliam watched Cilla with great concern. She was fully aware of how it would crush her younger sister if something had harmed her Ellie. If that had occurred, heaven forfend, Cilla would have to be convinced to live for Joseph and her sons. Lady Matlock was reasonably confident her love for her husband and sons would ultimately allow her sister to carry on. Of course, the best outcome would be Ellie coming home.
