“It is too late in the day now to cross the moat and walk six miles into the village, but tomorrow we mean to send a man across to get help,” Sir Edward said.
“A pity Sir Walter did not think of it sooner,” she sniffed.
Lady Susan rolled her eyes. “Yes, and I can tell you who will be on that raft across the moat – the one who is killing everybody! Never to be seen again, I daresay, and the rest of us stranded and abandoned. And you can tell Sir Walter I said that.”
“I think not,” Mr. Willoughby muttered.
“Aunt, Mrs. Rushworth, we need to speak to Martha the maid. She was the last person to see Mrs. Clay alive,” Emma said. “Do you know where she is?”
“She is resting in my room,” Mrs. Rushworth said. “She burst in here this afternoon wailing that she had been beaten.”
“Beaten?”
“Yes, struck in the head! My own servant, who never hurt anybody! She is terrified, and I am not pleased,” Mrs. Rushworth hissed. “First my husband, and now my maid – if you have any notion who the murderer is, I should like to have a word with them before they are given over to the magistrate.”
Elizabeth tried to suppress a smile; having met the late Mr. Rushworth, it was no great surprise that Mrs. Rushworth should be angrier over the assault of her maid than the murder of her husband. “Might we have a word with Martha?”
“I gave her some of Lady Susan’s excellent sleeping draught, but I can try to wake her,” Mrs. Rushworth said. She stepped into one of the bedrooms and returned a moment later with a girl who looked to be feeling very poorly indeed.
“Martha, I understand you have been through a terrible ordeal,” Mr. Darcy said. “Thank you for speaking to us. Would you tell us what happened to you?”
Martha’s eyes welled with tears, and she drew the blanket draped over her shoulders tighter around herself. “I were making marmalade with Mrs. Clay. She were teaching me a pretty song, and then she just stopped singing and looked surprised, like she seen something awful behind me. And then, I don’t know, it were all black.”
“Show them,” Mrs. Rushworth said, giving her maid an encouraging nod.
Martha turned around and pointed to a large bump on the back of her head. They all collectively winced at the sight of it. Martha turned back around, her eyes fixed on the floor.
Elizabeth asked, “Did you see who did this to you?”
“No, ma’am. The door were behind me, but I’m sure Mrs. Clay saw who it was.”
“So when you roused, she was gone?”
“I woke up in the larder. I was frightened, and come straight to Mrs. Rushworth. She said to rest, but I was too scared. She told me to fetch my things from the servants’ quarters, and come back here to recover myself. I’m very grateful.”
“We will send for a doctor to attend you, as soon as we can,” Mr. Darcy said.
Martha looked surprised, but Mrs. Rushworth gave a gracious nod. “Thank you, Martha. That is all for now, I think. We can speak more later. You may return to your resting.”
They waited until the maid had retreated to speak; clearly this was not the time to break the news to her of Mrs. Clay’s demise.
Elizabeth smiled sadly at Mrs. Rushworth, more impressed by her kindness to the maid than anything else she had seen in the lady’s manners. “Do you recall what time it was, when she came to you?”
“Not long after I returned to my room. Half twelve perhaps?”
Elizabeth nodded; the pieces were falling into place. “I have one other question, though I have no wish to embarrass you.” She leaned in and whispered her query.
Mrs. Rushworth's eyes flashed wide, and then she looked as if she were trying to sort through her own memories. At last, her expression hardened. “Yes, I believe so. I had thought… but the keys….”
Elizabeth brought a finger to her lips, caring little if her secrecy offended Lady Susan or Miss Denham. She gave Mrs. Rushworth a tight nod and suggested her own party return to their suite.
When everyone else had filed out the room, Mrs. Rushworth gently caught Elizabeth’s elbow in the doorway. “What are you going to do?”
“I am going to try not to end up like the general, or the captain, or the others down in the cellar,” Elizabeth said in a gruff whisper. “I suggest you do the same.”
Mrs. Rushworth bobbed her head. “I have more cause now than when last I offered my assistance. If there is anything….”
“I believe there may be. I will let you know when we have a plan.”
