The two women gasped, their quarrel put aside as together they pushed the panel aside. In the dark, narrow passageway, they could hear retreating footfalls. “They must have heard me,” Mrs. Rushworth said, her face pale and grim.
And then something caught Mrs. Rushworth’s eye, and she took a few steps into the passage, stopping to pick up a small silver object. It fit in the palm of her hand, which she extended to show Elizabeth. It was avinaigrette de toiletteshaped like an alder tree.
Mrs. Rushworth frowned at it. “Take it, for your evidence. I shall pray it belongs to a lady who will keep her mouth shut if she heard my story.”
Elizabeth nodded gratefully as she took the little object and tucked it into her pocket. “Thank you. But surely it is not necessarily a sign of guilt to be in the passageways.”
“No?”
“You tell me. You were in one just this morning.”
“A fair point, I suppose,” Mrs. Rushworth said wryly. “But I should like to know where this passage leads.”
Elizabeth trembled, clenched the penknife in front of her, and nodded. Mrs. Rushworth lifted a candle off the nearest table, and the two women joined their free hands as they slowly stepped into the passageway. Something skittered past Elizabeth, brushing her skirts, and she bit back a whimper, certain it was a rat. They pressed on, and eventually rounded a corner. A short distance later, they reached the end of the passage, which was closed.
Mrs. Rushworth raised the candle as she searched for some mechanism that would open it. “There must be something, else what good would such passages be?”
“There, at the top.” Elizabeth motioned for Mrs. Rushworth to shine the light a little higher, and a small latch was revealed where the stone was cut away. “Can you reach it?”
“No, but I might be able to lift you.” Mrs. Rushworth set down the candlestick and held out her arms. Elizabeth began to tuck the penknife back into her bodice, but Mrs. Rushworth caught her wrist. “Keep it. We do not know what we shall find on the other side.”
Elizabeth nodded and braced her free hand on Mrs. Rushworth’s shoulder as the haughty woman indecorously managed to lift her far enough off the ground for Elizabeth to reach the mechanism and open the passage door. There was a creak as the wall shifted across the stone floor, and light poured in from the narrow crack. The door itself was light and easily pushed aside once Mrs. Rushworth lowered Elizabeth to her feet, and they stepped into a bedchamber.
Holland sheets covered most of the furniture; it did not appear to belong to any of the current guests, and Elizabethknew not whether to be disappointed or relieved. “Well, if the room is unassigned to any of us, I suppose anyone might have come in,” she said.
“Mr. Tilney assigned each group of searchers to some sort of the house.”
“True,” Elizabeth said.
“Hey ho! Is someone there?” Elizabeth recognized her uncle’s voice, and he came into the room with Mr. Darcy and Mr. Crawford in town “Lizzy?”
“We found a secret passageway,” Elizabeth said.
“We were alerted to it when we heard somebody else in here,” Mrs. Rushworth added. “Have you not seen anyone in the last few minutes?”
“We were searching the next room together,” Mr. Darcy said. “We have not left one another’s presence for a moment, nor have we seen anybody.”
“We heardyoueasily enough, so whoever it was must have been very stealthy,” Mr. Crawford mused.
“A lady,” Elizabeth suggested, sharing a glance with Mrs. Rushworth before taking thevinaigrette de toilettefrom her pocket and showing it to the gentlemen.
“Ah, a clue! Cathy will be delighted,” Sir Edward said, examining the object they had found.
“We wondered whether it was damning merely to be in the passageways,” Mrs. Rushworth said. “But if this was left by someone who was not assigned to search this area, that must add a degree of ill-intent.”
“That is a very good point,” Mr. Darcy agreed. “And nobody was to be alone. Someone in the passages must have separated from their search partner.”
“Or they both went through together,” Elizabeth said, not able to make sense of it. “We should check, anyhow, if everyone remained together, or if by the end of the day anybody has been unaccounted for.”
“I agree, but for now we had better get on in looking for the key. I trust you are recovered, Maria – Mrs. Rushworth?”
“I am, Mr. Crawford,”
“If you gentlemen would give us a moment,” Elizabeth said. The three men went into the hall, but Elizabeth detained Mrs. Rushworth. Despite their disagreement, Elizabeth felt that after exploring the passage together, she had some little duty to Mrs. Rushworth. “I would not have mentioned anything, had you not spoken to me. Unless it becomes necessary, I will not speak of it beyond those of my inner circle who are already aware.”
“That is a fair compromise,” Mrs. Rushworth said with a tight smile. “I will show you the very same courtesy, and I even wish you well.”
They were in accord, and they rejoined their escorts and went their separate ways. Elizabeth spent the next hour searching for the key that would unlock the drawbridge. Sir Edward asked what she had spoken of with Mrs. Rushworth, and Elizabeth candidly described her encounter with the woman.
