“And you, Jane, how old are you?” Edith asked.‘So this terrible woman told her daughters they were to receive a surprise so they would cooperate with her without question. Quite a surprise, to be discarded in HydePark,’Edith thought angrily.
“I two. Papatowd me I have biwthday in Aug,” Jane responded.“Mawycome Jan-ury.”
Mary was only about three months old! The hatred Edith felt for the mother who had done this burnt white hot. If she were ever found, Edith would demand that Paul have her transported. Even that was too good for this worst mother she had ever encountered.
When Jane spoke of her father, it was with the same warmth as when she had mentioned the uncle. Edith could only assume that he was a warm and loving parent. If that was the case, how had the mother managed to leave the house undetected with his daughters? Was the father away on business? Or was he incapacitated in some way? Edith noticed that Elizabeth had fallen asleep where she sat, her little head leaning against Edith’s side. When she looked to the other side, she could seethat Jane’s eyelids were also heavy. She signalled the nursemaids to come to her. One took Elizabeth and the other Jane, who was almost asleep, and placed them on two of the little beds, covering them to keep warm.
“Make sure I am called as soon as any of the girls wake,” Edith instructed before exiting the nursery and making for Paul’s study. She stopped at the schoolroom where Mrs Healy, the governess, was busy with teaching Jamey a lesson. She continued down the stairs, and with a perfunctory knock, entered the study.
“Well, my darling wife, what did you learn?” Holder enquired.
Edith related all she had learnt from the girls. Well, what she learned from Jane other than her age, Lizzy had not said much. It was not unexpected of a child who was only one.
Holder cogitated for some moments to allow all Edith had gleaned to sink in. He stood and retrieved an atlas which had maps of each county of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland in it. He placed the large book on his desktop and opened it to the two pages for Herefordshire.“Here is Merryvale,” he pointed. Then his finger moved.“But there is also Merryfield, Merryfold, Merryshire Wood, and Merry Hill. I will send men to each of them to discover if three girls have gone missing. In addition, I have sent a notice toThe Times of Londonwhich will run from tomorrow until Wednesday of the coming week asking for information about a woman travelling with three young children in the last few days. I offered a small reward but did not mention the sexes or approximate ages, so it will be far more difficult for charlatans to try to claim it. I think we should delay our departure to Holder Heights until Monday after next. That way, if anyone comes forward, we will hear them.”
Even though she wanted nothing more than to leave for Staffordshire with the girls as soon as may be, Edith knew her husband had the right of it. If the girls were meant to be hers, they would be.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Fanny felt ebullient as the post coach arrived in Meryton. She waited until the other passengers had alighted before she slipped away. As much as she hated walking, she was happy to do so now. She covered the mile to Longbourn in a half hour. She was feeling very pleased with herself until she saw the horses and men in the drive. Chief among them was Mr Long, the magistrate.
At that moment, Fanny realised she needed to manufacture a credible story of where the girls were. She forced herself to cry and began to wail, which attracted the attention of the men in the drive.
With Hill next to him, Long strode towards the supposedly anguished woman.“Mrs Bennet, where are your daughters?” he demanded.
“My nerves, the shuddering, the palpitations, and the flutterings…” Fanny promptly feigned fainting. Unfortunately for her, none of the men caught her, and she fell onto the gravel of the drive, thankfully, not face first.
Collins stood in the doorway watching everything unfolding before him. He had been honest with the men when he had told them he had no idea where Mrs Bennet and her daughters were. When the two nursemaids had awoken, they had raised a hullabaloo. Soon, the butler—he would have to go—had summoned the magistrate and other men in the neighbourhood. The nursery servants remembered him coming in shortly before they were drugged, but they had not seen Collins administer the laudanum.
The magistrate had questioned him like a common criminal instead of the soon-to-be master of the second largest estate in the area. How he wished it were the premier estate! All he could tell them was that Mrs Bennet took the girls that morning; however, he had no knowledge of where they had gone—mainly because he had not wanted to know—and why should he when he was not the master yet?
The rest of the day Thursday, all day today, men had ridden out, but not a clue had been found until Fanny returned. Collins was impressed that the woman had returned sans the brats. He would be able to reduce the pin money he had planned to give her because there were no brats for her to have to pay for any longer. At least not yet, unless she could make the story believable and not reveal the truth of what she had done, whatever that was. He watched smugly as two footmen carried the woman into the house. The contrived fainting was a good way for her to come up with a believable tale.
Once the footmen deposited Mrs Bennet onto a chair in the drawing room, Mrs Hill waived the salts under her nose.
With the strong smell below her nose, Fanny simulated coming too.“Are my darlings back home?” she wailed.“Where are my girls? Please tell me that evil man has not taken them.”
“Mrs Bennet, why did you drug the nursemaids?” Long demanded.
“In my grief, I wanted to take the girls to see Edward, a man they love. I knew the maids would not allow me to take my own daughters, so I added laudanum to their tea. I set off for London…” Fanny dabbed non-existent tears, “…in the kind Mr Collins’s rented carriage. All was well until we were just outside of London, where we took a break. I went into the inn to use the necessary. Meanwhile, the evil coachman drove off with my darlings within.” After that pronouncement, Fanny began to wail again.
“What was the name of the inn?” Long pushed.
“I…did not…notice the…name. I was…thinking of…getting back to…my girls,” Fanny stated between sniffles.“I did not sleep yester-night as I tried to find a clue as to where the blackguard had gone with my daughters.” She hung her head in supposed sadness.“I did not discover hide nor hair of them.”
None listening felt that the story rang true, but they had nothing with which to refute her words.“What direction did the carriage travel?” Long enquired.
“South, it looked to me like they were moving away from the direction of London,” Fanny claimed.“Please say you will find my darling girls. How am I to live without them?”
When Collins was asked about the name of the coachman, he only remembered the name Jones. The man had been passing through Faversham; he said, so he had no idea where he came from or where he resided. Like they did not with Mrs Bennet, no one believed him, but again, they had no proof.
Knowing how little Mrs Bennet cared for her daughters, Hill wondered why she was speaking about the Misses Bennet the way she did.
“I feel faint again; I must sleep, seeing I had none for almost two days,” Fanny claimed.
Long gave permission for her to go. Unless she cracked, they would not know what happened to the three Bennet sisters. Such tender ages of two, one, and a few months, two or three he believed. His wife would know exactly.
Phillips’s head clerk, one William Jamison, cleared his throat.“I sent an express to Beech Hill in Devonshire, the Morris’s new estate, to say that Mr Phillips is needed urgently. I know not if they will be able to reach Mr and Mrs Phillips on their honeymoon, but I had to try,” the man informed everyone.
