“No, not a word from her. I have searched her room, but if anything is missing, I cannot recognize it. I have put together a list of everyone I have introduced her to here, both parishioners and tenants. I plan to go to each of them. Perhaps she spent the night caring for someone who is ill.”
They both knew Elizabeth would have sent word if that were the case, but Darcy would grasp at any straw. “How may I help? Should I accompany you?”
“That would only draw attention to her absence. If you could arrange a search through the grounds at Rosings –”
“It is being done now. She did not take a stagecoach from the inn, but if she managed to leave the area – perhaps someone offered her a ride? – where would she go?”
Mrs. Collins chewed her lip. “Her uncle in London is closest. Helives on Gracechurch Street, but I do not know the number. Meryton is another possibility. I can think of nowhere else. But she would expect us to look in those places.”
“Does she have other relatives? Friends who married and moved away?” He had spent the long night trying to think of possibilities.
“Her family is all in Meryton, apart from her uncle. As for friends, there was a girl who married and moved to Ware, just a few miles from Meryton. Her name was Emma Swift. It would be Emma Lazarus now, but I do not know how to find her.”
“I will send men to check all of those. Discreetly, of course. Do you plan to notify Mr. Bennet?”
For the first time she looked uncertain. “I started a letter a few minutes ago, but I wonder if I should wait until tomorrow. Lizzy would be furious if I worried him unnecessarily.”
“I would not wait. If we find her, you can send a second letter, but if there is a chance the Bennets would know where to look... She cannot have much money and no extra clothes, so time is of the essence.” His words echoed in his ears: if we find her, if we find her.
“You are right. I will send it immediately. And I will let you know what I discover today, even if it is nothing.”
DARCY KNELT BY THEedge of the lake that bordered the grove at Rosings Park. Fear made him hesitate, but he plunged both hands into the cold lake, letting his magic reach out to the water, gathering it together, and letting it flow past his fingers. His senses followed the magic into the murky, half lit depths, searching, always searching. His magic sifted through the silt at the bottom, inch by inch and foot by foot. His nerves were rattled by each obstruction he encountered, and his heart almost stopped when he found a long thick form. But it was only a largetree limb, and somehow he forced himself to keep going, checking and rechecking until he was certain there was nothing that did not belong.
Finally he sank back on his haunches, a nauseating sense of relief filling him. She had said she would rather die than be bound, and while he did not think she would act upon it, he could not be certain. At least it had not been here, in the lake they had walked next to together while he dreamed of their future. Yesterday he had been bereft by the knowledge she would never be his; today he would be grateful just to know she was alive. He covered his face with his cold, wet hands.
“Mr. Darcy! Is something the matter, sir?” It was one of the servants combing the grounds for any sign of Elizabeth.
He dropped his hands. “No. There is nothing in the lake.”
“Oh, well, that’s good, isn’t it?” Fortunately the man seemed not to need a reply as he meandered away, his eyes searching the ground.
LORD MATLOCK TOOK HISleave later that morning, seeming more concerned for the knowledge he might be losing than for Elizabeth’s well-being. Darcy was glad to see him go. Richard had gone riding, hoping to cover ground in neighboring estates the searchers on foot would not reach.
Darcy was alone when he received a note from Mrs. Collins. She had found nothing. No one had seen Elizabeth.
How could she have vanished into thin air? The only possibility left seemed to be that she might be hiding somewhere under an illusion, but how long could she keep that up? The nights were still cold. What would she eat?
How would he survive not knowing what had happened to her?
Unable to sit still, he tried something he had never done before. He sought out his cousin Anne.
She did not seem surprised to see him, but then she rarely showed any sign of emotion. Darcy carefully explained about the search for Elizabeth, noticing for the first time how she would lose the train of conversation whenever the subject skirted on magic. The evidence had been there; he had simply never bothered to look for it.
After the fifth or sixth time Anne failed to finish a sentence, he asked, “Does it ever feel as if you are thinking something and the thought is snatched out of your head?”
She leaned forward and grasped his hands. “Yes. Yes, yes, yes.” It was as if she turned into a different person, one he had never met before.
She did feel the loss.
Now how could he respond? He could not offer to fix it. Finally he said, “Miss Bennet wants to help you.”
Her vague look was back. “You like Miss Bennet, do you not?”
He tightened his lips to keep the words inside, but what was the point? “Yes. I like Miss Bennet very much.” It was a relief to say it.
She nodded. “Then you must... You must...” Her face screwed up as if in pain. “You must throw grass. In the air.”
“Green grass? That is just an old wives’ tale.”
