Page 32 of Bella Darcy is on the Run

Lydia drew in an unsteady breath and looked towards the red-haired maid. "Clara was with them. She knows more than I do."

Every eye turned towards the girl, who looked increasingly distressed beneath their attention. "Miss Bella followed Captain Harwood, missus. A local gentleman. She thought he might be mixed up in somethin' untoward and wanted to see what he was about. I told her we oughtn't, truly I did, but she'd made up her mind and there weren't much I could do to stop her." Clara wiped quickly at her cheeks with the heel of her hand. "There were men waitin' down by the harbour. Four of 'em, maybe more. Captain Harwood tried to fight 'em and told us to run. I got away, but Miss Bella didn't. He shouted at me to fetch help, so I went straight to the Customs men and brought 'em back as quick as I could. By then they were all gone."

Darcy closed his eyes briefly. Of course Bella had followed a man she barely knew out into the night. It seemed that in recent weeks his daughter had become capable only of making decisions that placed her in extreme danger. And she must be so frightened. That was the worst of it. The thought of his little girl frightened and trapped somewhere with only a man she scarcely knew for company nearly caused him to crumble completely. He bunched his fists at his sides and forced himself to breathe. Giving in to fear would do her no good. He had to find her.

"You did exactly the right thing," Elizabeth said gently to Clara. Her voice trembled, but she reached out and took the girl's hand. "You brought help. And now we have some notion of where she is. No one could ask more of you than that."

Clara gave a small, miserable nod. "I should've stayed with her. But Captain Harwood is a good, brave man, he fought somethin’ fierce he did."

"And then there might have been three of you missing instead of two," Lydia said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You have been a good friend to your mistress and the captain, Clara."

Darcy forced himself to concentrate on what mattered. "Who were these men?"

Lydia shook her head. "Sly Trevethan's men, or at least that is what the Customs officers told me. Apparently Captain Harwood has been working with them for months, trying to catch Trevethan smuggling goods through Falmouth. I knew there was something odd going on with him, but I had no idea it was anything like this." She caught Darcy's hand between both of hers. "And Bella is a good girl, Darcy. A clever girl. I shall have a few words for her myself when we get her back, but she has sense and she is not alone." She began to usher everyone inside.

Darcy felt Elizabeth move closer beside him. "And the Customs officers? What are they doing now?"

"They have been searching since Clara raised the alarm," Lydia said. "The magistrate has been informed as well, and men have been sent to the harbour, the roads out of town and several properties connected with Trevethan. So far there has been no sign of either of them."

Behind Darcy, Mina gave a frightened little sob. He turned and saw Kate standing rigidly beside her, one arm wrapped tightly around her younger sister. Both girls had gone pale. Darcy stepped towards them and drew both girls into his arms. "We are going to find her," he said, keeping his voice as steady as he could. "Bella is clever, and Captain Harwood is with her. From everything I have heard, he is a capable man. We will find them both."

Mina buried her face against his coat. "You promise?"

Darcy's throat tightened. He had always tried never to make promises to his daughters that he could not keep, but there were moments when a father had no choice but to lie with conviction. "I promise."

He kissed the top of her head before releasing both girls and turning back towards Lydia. The fear had not lessened. "Take me to the Customs officers," he said. "I want to know everything Captain Harwood discovered about this man and every property connected with him. If Trevethan has taken Bella, then somebody in this town knows where he is."

Lydia nodded at once. "Of course. I will take you there now." She turned to Clara. "See the girls settled, will you? I am going with my sister and brother to the docks."

Chapter Sixteen

By the time Darcy, Elizabeth and Lydia arrived at the Customs Office, the drizzle had deteriorated into heavy, driving rain. The office itself was a neat wood-clad building on the harbour side, and the rain mixed with spray from the sea so that it felt as though the elements themselves were attacking the small group as they huddled together and made their way towards the door. Darcy gathered the two women close as he wrenched it open, and they stumbled into the offices in a damp and dishevelled crowd.

Several clerks seated at benches looked up in astonishment at the finely dressed but thoroughly soggy trio who had interrupted their work. One boy, who could have been no more than sixteen or seventeen, stood quickly and tugged nervously at his waistcoat.

"May I help you, sir? Ladies?" he asked, nodding to each of them in turn.

"I need to speak to the senior officer in command here. Immediately," Darcy said in his most commanding master-of-Pemberley voice. "My name is Fitzwilliam Darcy, and I must speak to him about my daughter."

That appeared to have the desired effect. They were shown without delay into a room at the back of the building, where a fire crackled merrily in the grate and a man of around sixty with white-grey hair and an impressively full moustache stood to greet them.

"Mr Darcy. Mrs Darcy. Mrs Bennet." He bowed to each of them. "I am very sorry we are not meeting in happier circumstances. Please, will you sit? Can I send for some refreshments? Tea, perhaps?"

"No, thank you," Elizabeth said kindly but firmly. "As you must understand, we are very anxious to discover what has happened to our daughter."

"Of course." He motioned for them to sit.

The man had a kindly face that reminded Darcy a little of his own father in his later years, with warm amber eyes behind steel-rimmed spectacles, but Darcy had no time for such reflections or, indeed, niceties of any sort. He opened his mouth to speak but realised he did not have the man's name.

"Collector Brown," the older man supplied with a firm nod as he took the seat behind his desk. He sat very straight, his shoulders square despite his age. He had the look of a man who had spent much of his life in military service.

"Collector Brown. It is good of you to see us, but I will not keep you with pleasantries. I urgently wish to find my daughter. From what I understand, she may have been set upon by a local smuggling gang while in the company of one Captain Harwood. What can you tell me?"

Brown offered no further niceties in return. Instead, he provided a clipped overview of Silas Trevethan and his suspected activities. "As slippery as an eel, that one. We have long suspected that he sits at the centre of much of the smuggling activity in and around Falmouth, but nobody has ever managed to pin anything directly upon him. Captain Harwood has been making covert enquiries on our behalf, and, as it was not widely known that he was working with this office, he has been able to glean rather more information than we have managed through ordinary channels."

"And his instructions last night?" Darcy asked.

"To observe. Nothing more. We needed a reliable witness to some underhand activity before my men could take more direct action. Captain Harwood believed there might be movement at the harbour during the night and intended to watch Trevethan's men." Brown paused, looking directly at Darcy. "And I hope I am not speaking out of turn when I say that Harwood is a very good man. A brave man, with a distinguished naval career behind him, and his service to this office has been exemplary. If he is with your daughter, Mr Darcy, he will protect her with his life if necessary."