Page 46 of Her Affections and Wishes

She trudged after him. “Help!” she called through the jib-door whilst rattling the knob. She yelled a few more times before giving up.

Elizabeth collapsed on a step with a sigh. Darcy stared at the jib-door as though the power of his thoughts might compel it to open. “How did it get jammed?” she mused.

“A door to help the servants move about quietly whilst doing their work will not be jammed,” he murmured to himself before trying again to heave his shoulder against the heavy, panelled door. “I think something is in front of it. Besides, it did not swing shut on its own.”

“What are you saying? Someone trapped us in here?” she cried. “Who would do such a thing, and why?”

“Not us, you,” he corrected, leaning against the door with a weary sigh. “Only the housekeeper who made your tea knew I was on my way here, but everyone knew you would stay home in the library today.”

“But you were with me when it shut.”

“You were at the bottom of the stairs, and likely your skirts still in sight of whomever ran in and shut the door. I was up the stairs looking for whoever called for help.”

Elizabeth’s frown reflected her sudden understanding. “Then two people were involved in the prank.”

“A prank?” he repeated. “You think this is a prank, Elizabeth? This is the third incident designed to harm you!”

“Designed?” she cried. “Are you still talking about the vase and the carriage? They were accidents!” How could someone as sensible as Darcy think these occurrences were connected, let alone deliberate?

Darcy scowled. “Someone who saw us kissing in the entrance hall threw that vase⁠—”

“Or it was jostled as someone moved through the cluttered passage in the dark.”

“The carriage horse was struck on purpose to startle it and make you fall.”

“Or a stupid or drunk youth too caught up in the revelry did something thoughtless. Besides, who is aiming at me in such a foul way?”

“Julia Metcalfe has reason to loathe you.”

Elizabeth threw up her hands. “She was thirty feet away when the horse bolted! And it was someone in trousers. We all saw him whip the horse and run.”

“Well, now we know two guests at Woodcote are involved, do we not? Someone lured you in here from the door above, and the other shut this jib-door and blocked it.”

“Two people at Woodcote want me injured? It is more likely two housebreakers tricked me in here to rob the house blind whilst it is empty. You said yourself how rampant crime is during a race meeting.”

Darcy shook his head, ignoring her. “Perhaps Julia recruited a man to help her. She has the most interest in seeing you out of the way, since the only thing I am interested in at Epsom is you.”

She smiled at this, and tried with that smile to turn his thoughts to other things, but he was unwavering. Darcy completely ignored her affectionate look and moved past her to the window. She had to stand quickly to shuffle out of his way.

It was the same symmetrical, multi-paned sash window one would find in any home, each sash three lights wide by two lights high. Darcy tried to raise the lower sash, but it had been neglected, likely because it only illuminated a servants’ stair. The pulley appeared to be broken.

“There are six panes,” he mused. “I could break each one and kick out the grills. With enough clothes between us, we could tie a rope and I could lower you down.”

She glanced out the window, doubting it. “We are on the first floor, not the ground.” He started to argue, but she held up a hand. “And if you cut yourself on one of the many panes you would have to break? You could bleed to death whilst we are trapped in here.”

That seemed to reach through his desperate need to be doing something. He muttered another curse, exhaled noisily, and went back to lean against the jib-door. “I want you free from here, Elizabeth. Someone is out to harm you.”

“Are you suffering a complete alienation of your mind?” she cried. Darcy’s good sense and confidence were attractive qualities; this was madness. “A vase fell. A boy struck a horse. They have nothing to do with each other, let alone whomever trapped me in here.”

“I think Julia, along with a conspirator, trapped you when her previous machinations failed.”

“So she could spend the day with you? Darcy, you are a clever man, but your judgment is wanting. I do not fault her taste, but that is quite desperate.”

“Well, her taste is varied, but she still acts desperately.”

Elizabeth thought this a strange thing to say, and when she looked at Darcy to explain, he flushed. “I was not going to say anything, but when I left you last night, I came to the library for a candle and a book in case anyone saw me and wondered what I was about. Mr Travers was here with a woman. I could not see her face, but she was tall with blonde hair.”

There was too much emphasis on “with a woman” to mistake what he had stumbled upon. “You are certain it was Julia?”