“That is true,” Andrew acknowledged. “Then I suppose we cannot think our Aunt had anything to do with Ellie not being here.”
“You know it could have been another robber, not a gypsy who Ellie discovered, and they took her,” William surmised. “We should suggest to Uncle Joseph and Aunt Cilla that they see if anything is missing.”
The others agreed it was a good plan and made their waydown to the study.
Wendell was pouring a measure of port for his two brothers-in-law and Darcy when his sons and nephews entered the study. His first instinct was to dismiss the boys suggestion. However, he thought better of it and looked in the places he kept valuables in the study. The first thing Wendell noticed was the key to the safe in the wall behind his desk had been moved.
He was in the habit of placing it in a very particular position in the drawer where it was kept. He unlocked the safe. The banknotes and coins, worth about five hundred pounds, were gone as was the gold fob watch he had received from his father, the one he intended to give to David when his son reached his majority.
“My goodness, the boys were right. We have been robbed!” Wendell exclaimed. He felt a cold shiver travel up and down his backbone. If Ellie had been wandering the house and witnessed the criminal or criminals in the act, and they took her, would they ransom her or end his beautiful girl’s life? “We need to summon Sir Albus. I am not sure what the magistrate can do after the fact, but it seems there was a crime committed here, and Ellie may or may not have been a witness and a victim of the miscreant who thieved from us.” Wendell had not employed footmen to patrol the house at night like Matlock and Darcy had at their much larger estates, but that would have to change. If he had had men on duty overnight, would Ellie be safe now?
While waiting for Sir Albus to arrive, Wendell shared what had occurred with his wife and the surmise that Ellie had come upon the thief. The knowledge sent Cilla into a deeper melancholy than she had been in before.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
By the end of the second full day of travel, the Bennets and their governess reached an inn in the southern part of thesmall shire of Huntingdonshire. On the morrow they would enter Bedfordshire, before reaching Hertfordshire. Unless there was an emergency which impeded their travel, they would reach Longbourn before dusk.
The coachman drove the carriage to the side of the inn nearest the stables. He unhitched the horses and made sure they would be well cared for overnight and returned to the conveyance to get his valise from the small storage area near where his feet would rest when he sat on the driver’s bench. As he extracted his valise, he could have sworn he heard the sound of a whimper coming from somewhere. He dismissed it as his imagination and climbed down. The one door to the cabin was open, so he went to close it when he heard the same sound again, much louder this time, along with the sound of movement below the forward-facing bench, the one where the spare blankets were stored.
He put his valise down and climbed into the carriage. He lifted the forward-facing bench seat very gingerly. He could now hear the sound of muffled crying.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
During that day of travel
Ellie was waking up and remaining awake for longer than before. Eventually she remained awake all of the time. She felt like she was being jostled around but could not understand where she was in the dark space she was in.
Why had Mama, Papa, Dawy, or Bawny not come to find her? Why was she so hungry and thirsty? Had she hidden so well that no one had found her before they broke their fasts? She tried her best to call out, but there was something in her mouth; when she tried to kick, her legs would not move, and she could not climb out of where she was because her arms would not move either.
She was about to try and call out for her family even with the thing in her mouth when she heard voices, ones shehad never before heard. Ellie could not understand how this could be. Had Mama and Papa given her away to the colourful people because she always hid away and did not always listen? She seemed to remember a voice telling her she was bad, and her family no longer wanted her. That could not be true, could it?
There were times when the jostling stopped, and she could not hear any voices. Then after a time the movement would begin again, and so would the voices.
As time went on she felt more and more thirsty, so much so that her throat hurt, and her belly was screaming for food. The movement ceased again; the voices stopped as well. Briefly, she heard some men speaking, and then she knew not how much longer she was being shaken about again, but only for a very short time.
She was crying in earnest now, not knowing what was happening to her and, more importantly, why. She tried to move her arms and legs, but they refused to move very much at all. The thirst was getting worse and worse.
She heard a sound from above her. Had her family found her? Were they opening the box? Next, the scratchy things above her were moved, and she was staring up into the face of an old man she had never seen before. The man reached down and lifted her from the box. He was gentle with her, but she was more scared than she had ever been before. Where were Mama and Papa? And what of her brothers? Was it true that they did not want her?
The coachman could not believe his eyes. A little girl was in the storage beneath the seat, and she had been bound and gagged. She wore night attire. He removed the gag, and she shrank back in fear. Not knowing how long she had been there, he was sure she was thirsty. Thankfully, he had the remains of the bottle with the water he kept with him while he drove. When he offered her the water, she seemed to shrink back even more until he said, “Water.”
As soon as she heard the magic word, and since she was feeling so very thirsty, Ellie allowed the man who had removed the thing from her mouth to put the bottle to her lips as she thirstily drank. After a few sips she felt like she wanted to cough, and then she felt sick. The man pulled the bottle back.
Next he untied her hands and legs, which was why she had not been able to move. Ellie was not able to understand what was happening or what had occurred, that she was here with this man and not at home with her family. The man picked her up, and she did not object. They walked to a building where it was light and warm. Ellie could not understand anything; she wanted to sleep again.
The coachman asked that Mr Bennet be summoned.
Bennet was about to wash before dinner arrived. To say he was shocked to see the coachman holding a little mite with a shock of dark hair was an understatement. It was a little girl, and she was in a night gown. He knew it was not a conversation to be held in public. “Smithers, bring her and follow me,” Bennet commanded. He led the coachman up to his suite of rooms.
“Thomas, who is that little girl?” Fanny demanded when her husband entered the chamber followed by the coachman with a girl in his arms. “Look at her lips; they are dry, she needs to drink. Have a maid bring me sugar water while you tell me what is going on here.”
The door leading to the other bedchamber opened, and Bennet shook his head to Miss Weasley, so she led Jane back into their chamber and closed the door.
“Smithers?” Bennet asked.
The coachman explained what he had heard leading to what he had found, and the state in which he discovered her. The only thing the coachman knew for certain was that the girl had not been under that seat when they departed the parsonage in Dronfield because he had checked under bothbenches to make sure everything was as it should be.
Bennet did a quick mental calculation. They had slept at two inns and stopped, at least, at eight others in various counties. The girl could have been placed under the seat at any one of the stops. The problem was he had to get to his mother, so they could not go back and stop at every inn asking about a little girl.
