Kitty nodded and bent her head again to her work, though her stitch went astray and she was obliged to pull it out again.
There was a chair near the window that had not been drawn forward since… too long since. It remained angled toward the light, as though its occupant had merely stepped away for a moment and might yet return. Elizabeth passed it without alteration and laid the letters upon the sideboard.
Aunt Gardiner entered quietly and took her place near the fire. “Your uncle will join us directly,” she said. “His caller has come early.”
Elizabeth raised her head. The words were difficult to find, but when they came, they were composed. Unemotional. “Very well.”
There was a pause in which Mary finally struck a chord—soft, exploratory. The note hung in the air and faded. After two more notes, the drawing room door pushed open, admitting Mr Gardiner and another behind him.
Kitty started and had to smother a little cough. Mary’s hand stilled upon the keys. Elizabeth crossed the room before either of them could rise.
The man who followed Mr Gardiner was a gentleman of middle years, plainly dressed, his coat brushed but worn at the seams. He bowed before Elizabeth with professionalreserve.
“Miss Bennet.”
She returned the courtesy. “Mr Hawthorne.”
Mr Gardiner closed the door. “Pray be seated,” he said, indicating the chairs near the hearth. “We are obliged to you for your persistence.”
The gentleman inclined his head. “I regret that I have little new to offer.”
Elizabeth assumed her place, hands folded in her lap. She did not glance at her sisters. The report was orderly, everything that could be expected of a professional. Mr Hawthorne wasted no time in presenting his papers.
“The household at Lynwood had been re-questioned. The servants’ recollections remained unchanged. The cliff path had been examined again in fairer weather. No further articles had been recovered beyond those already catalogued. No vessel had reported a sighting that corresponded with the date. No evidence of debt, correspondence, or private arrangement had emerged to suggest voluntary departure.
“I have spoken with the magistrate at Alnwick, and with two of the fishermen who assisted in the first search. The magistrate concurs,” he said at last. “In such cases, Miss Bennet, when no disturbance of the ground is found and no sign of violence presents itself, one must conclude that the sea has claimed what it will.”
The fire gave a small shift in the grate.
Elizabeth regarded the man without blinking. Blinking invited tears. “You have been thorough.”
“I have endeavoured to be so.”
“And you believe there is nothing further to be done?”
He hesitated only a fraction. “Not within the bounds of reasonable inquiry. It has been… an extended investigation already.”
Mary’s fingers tightened on the keys until one of them accidentally rang out an E flat. Kitty’s needle had ceased its motion entirely.
“Extended.” Elizabeth’s eyes wandered to the chair in the corner. “Yes, I suppose it has.”
Mr Gardiner’s hand flexed on his knee, a fist clenching and then, slowly, releasing. Mrs Gardiner was gazing absently at the floor with a faint hollow expression.
“What of the tenants?” Elizabeth’s voice warbled faintly. “The ones whose fields bordered the path she would have walked? You said there were some you might still interview.”
Mr Hawthorne glanced at Mr Gardiner, but there was no help for him there. “Miss Bennet,” he sighed, “I have re-examined every deposition taken at the time. The tenants along the southern road were approached again this past summer, when memories might have cooled into greater clarity. Notices were circulated as far as Berwick and Durham. No account has been overlooked.”
He paused, not for emphasis or evasion, but as a man measuring whether any further assurance might honestly be given.
“There has been… no report of a young woman matching your sister’s description in any parish registry within a hundred miles. Nor has there been evidence of passage booked under another name. If there were cause to suspect concealment or coercion, I should pursue it. But there has been no such indication.”
His gaze moved once more to Mr Gardiner, then returned to Elizabeth.
“I would not withdraw were there ground upon which to stand. I remain at your disposal, should new information arise. But at present, I have exhausted the channels available to me.”
Elizabeth’s eyes had grown unfocused… distant. But she drew in a breath and rose, extending her hand. “We are grateful for your diligence, sir. And your sympathy is not unfelt, I assure you. If any new circumstance should arise, will you please inform us?”
Hawthorne was already on his feet, and he took her hand almost gratefully. “Immediately, Miss Bennet.”
