The two footmen accompanying them remained silent.
“Well, gentlemen, we had best continue with our work. I begin to suspect the goods have been concealed elsewhere.”
Beaumont said, “It would assist matters greatly if we knew precisely what we searched for.”
“Yes, indeed. Still, I imagine we shall recognize it when we find it. Beaumont, you have labored through the entire night. Return home and sleep awhile. Will you join us for dinner this evening?”
The man grinned. “I shall. I look forward to the visit.”
Richard laughed. “You mean to say you look forward to seeing Miss Bennet?”
Then he addressed the other men.
“I must return home and dispatch another express to Darcy. The rest of you may return as well, except you, Miller. Remain here until Jacobs and Masters arrive. Show them which caves we have already searched and where they must continue the work. Afterward, you may return to Rosings and sleep. We will return to continue the search once we have slept a few hours.”
Mr. Collins awaited Mary in the drawing room at eight o’clock the following morning. All three sisters descended together. Anne joined them and ordered tea.
Mary recounted everything she knew from the moment she had walked toward Rosings until she arrived at the parsonage in Penshurst village.
Mr. Collins’s expression unsettled Elizabeth, and from the look upon Mary’s face, she knew her sister felt distressed as well.
He rose to his feet.
“Mrs. Collins, I should like a private word with you.”
Anne spoke at once. “Mary, there is a fire lit in the yellow salon.”
Mr. Collins closed the door behind him before asking, “Did these men violate you, Mrs. Collins?”
Mary flushed but met her husband’s gaze without fear.
“Sir, I have already described the full extent of my injuries. I suffered a laceration to my arm and a headache from the blow to my head, but beyond that, the man with whom I dealt treated me kindly. He brought me supper. That was the only occasion upon which I saw him. I remained locked alone in that chamber for hours.”
“Yes, Mrs. Collins, I understand, but you have stated you lay unconscious for part of that time. How can you know you were not assaulted?”
Mary pressed her lips together.
“Sir, I should know if I had suffered the sort of assault to which you refer. I bear no injury on my person apart from the laceration on my arm.”
The rector repeated the question a third time.
Mary offered no reply.
Instead, she left the room.
Her sisters heard her run up the stairs and exchanged uncertain looks, unsure whether they should go to her or whether Mr. Collins would follow.
Anne spoke before anyone else could reply.
“Sir, what has occurred to distress my friend so greatly?”
“She will not satisfy my concerns, Mrs. Fitzwilliam. I asked her three times whether those men violated her.”
“And did she not answer you, sir?”
“She did. She insists no assault took place, but she lay unconscious for part of the time, ma’am.”
“Mr. Collins, pray understand that a woman would know whether she had suffered such an assault. If you choose not to believe your wife when she assures you no violation occurred, that is your own affair, but you must not continue questioning her in so disrespectful and humiliating a manner.”
