“Perhaps you ought to turn back, and send word to Netherfield—I will continue to follow him, with Mr Hill.”
“Let us give him a little longer, and so I will,” he agreed.
Several minutes later, Elizabeth felt she must insist, especially when Neddy stopped to examine a particularly interesting hole at the base of a giant oak. Her skirts, and Jane’s as well, were muddy and now showed rents and rips. “Neddy! Georgiana is here somewhere and we have to find her. Oh, this is hopeless!”
“I can go back to Netherfield for more help,” Mr Bingley offered.
“Yes, that is probably wisest,” Darcy nodded his agreement. “However, I have noticed that, despite Edward’s preference for less cultivated trails requiring minor detours, we are heading approximately due north, with very little deviation.”
“Are we? I know nearly where we are in relation to Longbourn, but I had not noticed that,” Jane said, with some wonderment.
“I feel that he has a destination,” Darcy said. “I have observed his uncanny sense of direction before, despite thefact that he is practically an infant. I feel to trust it, in this instance.”
“I suppose he has a right to a little distraction,” Elizabeth said. “I am sorry for my impatience, Neddy.”
“I say, clever lad!” Mr Bingley exclaimed. “Frankly, I am utterly lost, and would require Miss Bennet’s help to find my way back to my horse.” He smiled at Jane, who blushed.
“Ye’ll have my own help or none at all,” Mr Hill declared, looking at Mr Bingley with some suspicion.
“Let us stay together for a few more minutes,” Darcy said, and they fell back into line as the trail narrowed.
Neddy ignored them all for the most part, scrambling over a root and continuing on his way, his hands flapping in a motion peculiar to him when in high spirits.
Ten minutes later, the trail that they were on met a wider track, which Neddy turned onto; as they rounded a bend, Elizabeth thought she heard something.
“What is that noise?” she asked.
“Well, I’ll be bound,” Mr Hill cried, and they all ran ahead to where the track curved at a rocky incline. About halfway down the slope sat Georgiana, her face dirt streaked, her expression more angry than hurt. It was only when she spotted her brother, Elizabeth, and Neddy peering over the embankment at her that she burst into sobs.
Thirty-Seven
A MORE WEIGHTY ACCUSATION
The incline where Georgiana had fallen was incredibly steep, and required her brother and Mr Hill to fashion a sort of rope with vines and green willow branches and Darcy’s neckcloth so that Darcy could make his way down to her. She had injured her ankle, and could not bear weight upon it, but with her brother’s help, and Mr Hill and Mr Bingley gripping and steadying the ‘rope’, they managed to bring her up again.
“It was so, so stupid,” Georgiana admitted, once she was safely at the top. “Instead of going to Oakham Mount, I decided to explore in a different direction. All I managed to do was to get myself lost! I dismounted to climb a boulder for a better view and to regain my bearings. As I climbed back down, I lost my footing, slipped and took a tumble, twisting my ankle on the way down. I was desperate to get up the hill and rejoin Neddy—I thought, if only I could get back to Mabel, I could drag myself back into the saddle. I have been at it all morning, only making it as far as you found me. At one point, Neddy must have climbed down off Mabel’s back,because I saw him peer down at me. I urged him to stay with Mabel, and after a few minutes, he disappeared. I have been beside myself with worry. I am so sorry, Elizabeth, that I failed him this way.” The tears she had recently managed to dry, reappeared.
“I am grateful that you were not injured more than you were,” Elizabeth reassured.
“It was Neddy who brought us to you,” Jane explained. “He knew right where you were, and led the way.”
“You are so quick-witted, Neddy,” Georgiana said. “Thank you!”
“Tuck-a, tuck-a!” Neddy replied, obviously entranced with the vine rope.
“But where is Mabel?” Elizabeth wondered. “Neddy was alone when he reached Fox Hollow, and we have not seen the horse.”
“I reckon she is returned to the Netherfield stables by now,” Darcy speculated. “Edward, let us have that rope, will you?”
Darcy and Mr Hill were fashioning a litter from saplings, the vine rope, and Darcy’s greatcoat. Elizabeth donated her wool wrap and Jane, her pelisse, to the cause. When completed, Darcy placed Georgiana carefully on it, he and Mr Hill lifted her, and they all trooped back to Fox Hollow—a much quicker journey returning than coming, as they followed the wider, more travelled track back, instead of Neddy’s more circuitous route. About half the way to his home, Neddy lifted his arms to Elizabeth and she picked him up, fully intending to carry him the rest of the way. But Darcy asked Mr Bingley to take his end of the litter, and took Neddy from her. Neddy offered no protest, but laid his head upon Darcy’s shoulder and went promptly to sleep.
“Well,” Elizabeth said, “we have finally discovered a means of exhausting him. Several miles of wilderness walking is all that it takes.”
Darcy smiled, rubbing the boy’s back affectionately. “I cannot think of another three-year-old child who would have been as useful as he was today. Who knows how long it might have taken us to find my sister, especially since we would have looked first in a wholly wrong direction? It is a miracle,heis a miracle, if you ask me.”
Elizabeth gave in to temptation, leaning into him for a fleeting moment. As she did so, he bent to briefly press his cheek to the top of her head. However, at the same instant, Mr Bingley happened to glance their way. She saw his eyes widen before he looked away.
She looked up at her betrothed. “Mr Bingley appears to have received something of a shock. Perhaps we ought to make an announcement so that he does not draw incorrect conclusions.”
