At least he had a goal. “I will go outside and begin the search.”
“I strongly suggest you stay indoors. If someone abducted her, they may be using her as bait. They would expect you to go out to look for her.Ifshe has been abducted, that is. If not, we will find her and bring her back, and it will soon be sorted out.”
The thought that they were baiting himhadcrossed Darcy’s mind. He felt completely useless, not being able to search for Elizabeth himself.
Matlock nodded grimly. “Leave it to me. Meanwhile, you can do something useful. Search Elizabeth’s room to see if there are any clues.”
***
THERE WAS NOTHING INElizabeth’s room except emptiness. The perfectly made bed signaled her absence. If they had slept together, if they had adjoining rooms, would it have made a difference?
Jane being there had not made any difference. Elizabeth had not returned to her bedchamber last night.
Once he had searched under the furniture and inside the small escritoire for any clues, he sat on the bed and picked up the pillow. Her familiar scent filled his nostrils—the same soap he had inhaled when they were in the carriage together, mixed with her own sweet aroma. He buried his nose in the soft folds of the down feathers and breathed in deeply, fighting the sense of panic and heartache that washed over him.
The door handle clicked. Darcy put down the pillow quickly, hoping against hope that it was Elizabeth. But the door creaked slowly open.
Elizabeth had no reason to be creeping around. Darcy drew a breath and began to mutter a defensive spell to protect himself in case of attack.
Then Jane stepped in.
He dismantled the spell and relaxed back onto the bed.
She looked relieved when she spotted him.
“Oh, it is you, Mr. Darcy. I was worried it might be someone else. Have you discovered anything?”
“Nothing.” He wondered if he should ask her the same question, but concluded that if there was any news, she would have told him.
Still, he could not help it. Perhaps by asking questions, she might recall something useful.
“Did anyone see her after dinner?”
“The last time anyone saw her was in the training room with you, yesterday.”
Was this his fault, somehow? Was there something different he could have done to prevent it?
He sat on the bed, her scent lingering on his skin. Then he pulled himself up. There was no point in hanging around here. There was work to be done.
He would have her found, if he had to go to the ends of the world to do it.
***
JANE COULD NOT BELIEVEthe change that had come over Mr. Darcy. She had known he cared about Elizabeth, but she still saw him as unapproachable, sometimes even cold and forbidding. The agitated person in front of her was very far from being any of those things. No one could doubt that he was a man very much in love, very deeply so.
She could feel the turmoil inside him. She was tempted to offer him a Healing, to bring him some calm, but she did not think he would welcome it. She was too shy to ask. She did not wish to cause offence by pointing out that he was too distraught to have any clarity of mind. If Elizabeth was missing, he would need it.
“There must be some explanation.”
It was a woefully inadequate response, but what else could she say?
“What explanation could there possibly be?”
Darcy was not looking for assurances, he was looking for answers. Jane tried to come up with some logical possibility, but nothing came to mind.
“I do not have one, but my sister is resourceful. She will find her way back to us, whatever the situation.”
She had to believe that. The alternative was inconceivable.
