Mr. Darcy's Daughter (39 page)

Then
Richard came in with the others. He saw and understood the unasked question in
his wife's eyes and, wanting to reassure her, said quickly, "A body has
been found on the floor of the quarry. A man...Mr. Carr thinks it may be
someone who has recently been in these parts, a certain Mr. Jones..."

"Mr.
Jones? Not Andrew Jones the man who...?" before she could finish asking
the question, her husband answered, "Yes, but a formal identification has
still to be made. Mr. Grantham has informed the police and I am afraid, my
dear, I shall have to attend and provide a report."

The
relief Cassy felt was so great, tears poured down her cheeks, as she held on to
Lizzie and nodded when he asked if she could cope. Her maid Lucy appeared and
they took Lizzie upstairs and settled her down in her room, before Richard
embraced them both, assured them he would be back as soon as possible, and left
with Mr. Grantham.

Mr.
Carr, who had arrived to see Lizzie, had met Grantham at the entrance to the
drive, where he had learned the grim news. It had been impossible to keep the
story from Lizzie when she joined them.

Now,
having been assured that Lizzie would soon be well, he decided to go into town
himself and make some enquiries about Jones. What, he wondered, was Jones, if
that was who it was and it seemed very likely from Grantham's description that
indeed it was Jones, doing back in the village? All the information he had
obtained had led him to believe that Andrew Jones had moved to Derby.

Lizzie,
who was persuaded to rest in bed and tell her mother what she had heard, was at
a loss to explain who had found the body and by what means Grantham had
discovered that it was Jones. All she knew was what she had heard from Mr.
Grantham and Mr. Carr, who had been discussing the terrible news as she went to
join them at the entrance.

"I
had no notion anything was wrong; I assumed Mr. Grantham had come for you,
Mama. I thought you were going with him to attend to matters at Pemberley. When
I heard, I was so shocked, because we thought Mr. Jones had moved to
Derby," she explained. "Both Mr. Carr and my brother Darcy said so,
and yet it appears he was here all the time."

Cassy
was baffled. "It is strange indeed that he should be here and why in that
part of the country? No one, but people who have grown up in the farms and
villages around Pemberley, would even know of the path that goes through the
quarry. Some of the lads use it to save time coming across the Common, but how
would Jones know of it? And, I wonder what brought him back?"

Cassy
had only a vague recollection of Mr. Jones, but Lizzie remembered him only too
well. When her mother wondered aloud whether it could have been the same man
she had seen walking with Margaret Baines, when returning last night from
Pemberley, Lizzie sat up with a very startled expression, "Mama, did you
say 'walking with Margaret Baines on the Matlock Road last night?'"

"Yes,
I did. It was quite late last evening. Grantham was driving me home and we saw
them, at least I am sure he saw them, too, but he said nothing. It was a young
man; I could not see his face, of course, but I assumed he was young from his
slim figure and the clothes he wore. They were very fashionable, good quality
clothes. I assumed it was an admirer of Margaret's."

"His
coat, Mama, was it long with a big collar, like so?" asked Lizzie
demonstrating with her hands a wide collar of the type that some fashionable
gentlemen in London favoured. Lizzie recalled that Jones had been wearing such
a coat when he accosted her in the village.

Her
mother replied, "I could not see how long it was, but yes, I did notice
the big collar. Indeed, that struck me--I thought he looked something of a
toff, and I wondered at Margaret keeping company with him. But I suppose I was
just too tired to mention it last night."

Then
Lizzie, recalling the evening when she and Laura had seen Margaret with a man,
who had disappeared into the trees on their approach, uttered a cry and hid her
face in her pillow. Her mother suddenly realised the import of her words and
cried, "Oh my God, Lizzie, no, it cannot be. Margaret would not be so
foolish, surely?"

There
was not sufficient time to ponder the question, as a knock on the door heralded
the appearance of Miss Longhurst, who brought the news that Margaret Baines had
not arrived for work that morning.

"I
am sorry, Mrs. Gardiner, I had intended to draw your attention to it, but Dr
Gardiner had told Lucy you were very tired and not to be disturbed, so I took
the children out into the garden after breakfast and did not get another
opportunity to tell you," she explained, then seeing Lizzie lying with her
face hidden in her pillow, asked, "Is Miss Lizzie unwell? Is there
anything I can do to help?" and Cassy said at once, "Indeed yes, Miss
Longhurst, there is. Could you please ask Lucy to bring us up a pot of tea?
Lizzie has been upset by some bad news; there's been a death in the
village."

"A
death! Oh dear," said Miss Longhurst. "Oh, dear me, that must be
dreadful. Was it someone known to Miss Lizzie? A friend?" She was
immediately solicitous and very curious.

Cassy
shook her head. "Not a friend, no. It is not yet certain, but it looks
like it may be a gentleman Lizzie met last year, at my brother's house in
Cambridge.

Dr
Gardiner is gone to the scene with the police; we shall probably know by
afternoon. Now, I do think Lizzie could do with that cup of tea, please, Miss
Longhurst," Cassy prompted, and she was away in a trice, still shaking her
head at the strange news.

No
doubt she would pick up more details from the servants, thought Cassy.

On
these matters, they always knew so much more.

She
was right. By afternoon, the entire staff seemed to know. The dead man was a Mr.
Andrew Jones of London and more recently from Derby, where he had purported to
run a print shop, but no one could find anyone who'd worked there.

Recently,
too, he had been visiting the village, apparently staying with friends in
Cromford, but drinking and occasionally sleeping overnight at the inn.

There
was news, too, that in the last two weeks he had been seen in the woods,
walking with Margaret Baines! She had been seen by the butcher's boy, who had
told the cook and the scullery maid. Indeed, she had even been teased about it
in the kitchen.

Later
that afternoon, the butcher's boy called and more dreadful details were
revealed. Jones's body, with its skull smashed and back broken, had been found
by a farmhand, taking the shortcut through the quarry, who had fled in terror
to Mr. Grantham's house and told his story. Grantham had called the police who
had sent him to request Dr Gardiner's attendance at the scene. The maid, Lucy,
had it all and retailed it to her mistress and Lizzie.

By
the time Richard returned home that evening, having attended the scene where
the body had been found, a new nightmare had begun.

Margaret
Baines had not merely failed to show up at the house for work that morning, she
had not reached home last night. Her mother had arrived around midday, in
search of her daughter.

"When
she did not return home last night, Mrs. Baines had assumed that she had been
delayed here and decided, wisely, to stay overnight," Cassy explained to
her husband, "Oh that it were true! However, there was no message from her
today, her mother became concerned. No one has seen Margaret since she left
here around four o'clock last afternoon. No one but myself, that is, for I am
now quite certain it was Margaret I saw, walking with this man, on the Matlock
Road, much later in the evening, when I was returning from Pemberley."

"Could
you recognise the man she was with?" Richard asked, intrigued.

Cassy
was unsure. "No, I did not at the time; I could not see his face. But when
Lizzie described the coat he was wearing, Grantham had said the dead man was
wearing a fine wool coat with a broad collar, I remembered it was exactly like
the coat as the man wore who was walking with Margaret."

Her
husband shook his head, his grave face and furrowed brow indicating that he was
very concerned indeed, but he said nothing.

After
they went upstairs, he revealed to his wife that the body had been identified
by the innkeeper as that of Andrew Jones.

"He
had stayed occasionally at the inn and, if the landlord is to be believed, was
seeing a young woman quite regularly," he said, and when Cassy gasped, he
added, "It may not be as bad as you fear, Cassy. The landlord did say they
were walking out, but did not stay at the inn together at any time. He
identified Jones, but knew nothing of the young woman, except that she had very
striking auburn hair. So it does seem it was Margaret."

Cassy
was so shocked, she could hardly speak. It grieved her that a girl like
Margaret Baines, with so much promise and common sense, or so they had all
thought, could have been deceived into an affair with a man like Jones.

"How
could she, Richard? Did she not see that whatever he said, however many
promises he may have made to her, they were probably all worthless? Did she not
stop to think of the consequences for herself as well as her poor mother, who
is worried sick and likely to be even more devastated, when the whole truth is
out?"

Richard
sighed and, when he spoke, his voice was low and even, as though he was keen
not to wound her feelings.

"Do
not judge the girl too harshly, my dear. Remember that only some months ago we
were faced with the consequences of an intelligent, young woman of impeccable character
and connections doing something very similar. Indeed, one might say that at
least Margaret Baines had no husband and child to abandon. If she has been
seduced by this man's charm and false promises, and of that we cannot yet be
certain, she will not be the first young person to be so deceived. It is not
easy for young women of very little means to resist the lure of such a
proposition. They have not the knowledge and experience to help them see
through the promises of a skilled liar, which Jones clearly was. Think, Cassy,
if a woman of Josie's education and intelligence could be taken in by the false
promises of Barrett and Jones, what chance has a girl like Margaret
Baines?"

Cassy's
tears fell, despite her efforts to control them.

Memories
of Josie and Julian, and the appalling tragedy that had resulted from just such
a deception, stung her deeply and Richard, understanding, held her and
comforted her.

The
truth, however, had to be faced and some action would need to be taken to find
Margaret, if she was still alive.

"What
has been done to recover her? Are they searching for her?" she asked, but
Richard indicated that it was at the moment a police matter and, while her
friends and family might look for her, it was now the chief responsibility of
the police to carry out a search.

"But
dearest, you know that they will be far more interested in finding Jones's
murderer, than in recovering poor Margaret," she cried and he agreed,

"Yes
indeed, which is why Grantham proposes to make his own enquiries in the village
and go to Cromford, if necessary, to discover more information. Pray God, they
may yet find her alive."

Cassy
felt some slight relief; she had great confidence in Grantham, yet nothing
would be known for hours; it may even be days, she thought and, in her mind,
began to form a plan, which she hoped might be put into action sooner.

It
was useless to wait for the police, Cassy thought. 'Twere better to make an
immediate start.

Tomorrow,
she would send for Mr. Grantham and Mr. Carr and ask for their help. They were
in a better position than she was to act. As for Richard, she would tell him,
of course, once the plan was in place.

On
the following day, Dr Gardiner left early for the hospital. Police matters,
among other things, had kept him away on the previous day, but he had serious
work on hand, which needed completion. A paper was being prepared to be
presented to a distinguished gathering of medical men next month; he and his
assistant Matthew Ward were working assiduously to complete the research and
write up their results. Acceptance and publication would bring the hospital and
the two men involved considerable recognition and, hopefully, more endowments
for continuing their work.

Cassandra
knew she had much of the day to herself. She despatched urgent notes to Mr.
Grantham and Mr. Carr requesting their help. She had already decided upon a
plan and was hoping they would agree to carry it out. By the time Grantham, who
came in great haste, fearing the worst, and Mr. Carr, who had intended to ride
over to see Lizzie, had both arrived, Cassy had her plan clear in her own mind.
It was simple, but it required the maintenance of strict secrecy; consequently,
it could not involve her husband or any other person who held an official position.

Mr.
Carr, as an outsider, who had recently purchased a property, could help; his
bona fides were unlikely to be questioned. As for Mr. Grantham, as manager of
the Pemberley Estate, where the missing girl and her family had lived, he was
entitled, nay even duty bound, to do whatever he could to discover her
whereabouts.