“To what end?” Darcy inquired calmly. “Causing Bennet’s carriage wheel to collapse would do nothing for Mr. Wickham’s pocketbook, which I believe is his primary concern.”
“Unless someone hired him to do it,” Josiah Anders said in a low voice. He shrugged. “Wouldn’t stop him fromalsotrying to collect from Darcy, since there was a connection between them.”
“A tenuous connection, but I take your point,” Bennet replied.
The room was silent. First Isaac and then Josiah Anders crossed their arms over their chests in imitation of Walker. Hardiman did the same but raised one hand to stroke his chin in thought. Fitzwilliam rubbed the back of his neck. Bennet leaned against his desk. Darcy put his hands behind his back and stared at his shoes.
“Or it might be Collins,” Fitzwilliam said, breaking into the quiet at last.
“Or Collins,” Darcy agreed.
“This Collins,” Hardiman said slowly. “He is next in line to inherit your estate, General?”
“He is,” Bennet confirmed.
Hardiman nodded.
“Will you ask about the man in town tonight?” Walker asked brusquely.
“I will see where the conversation takes me,” Hardiman replied. “The most revealing conversations are the ones in which I say very little. And I must warn you that it may take time.”
“Whilst Hardiman works, I will ask that the rest of you guard the house,” Bennet said. “Thus far there has not been a direct attack, but with the failure of two more subtle assaults, I cannot say that the next will not be more aggressive. I will watch the post carefully, and we will need to speak to the servants again about being approached as Mr. Todd was.”
“You do not know who hired him?” Hardiman inquired.
Bennet shook his head.
“I sent word to a few more men,” Walters said gruffly. “They could not travel as quickly as the rest of us, but they should be here tomorrow unless you don’t need ’em. I should like to have enough men for shifts.”
“No, I shall take them and be glad,” Bennet replied, and they settled into a discussion about how to best secure the house and its inhabitants.
With little left to be done and the rain preventing any walking, the days passed rather quietly for Elizabeth. Jane made certain that the men who arrived to assist Papa had warm places to sleep, as well as food and drink. Elizabeth helped Jane, played the pianoforte when Mary could be persuaded away from the instrument, and read aloud to anyone who found their way to the parlour. There were readings of Shakespeare when the men were about. When the men were not about, Elizabeth and Jane worked in the still room with Kitty and Lydia, Mrs. Keller offering quiet instruction. Mary consulted with Jane on her plans for the garden. Papa even used the rain as a reason to miss church, which he had never done before.
Despite all her efforts to entertain herself and those around her, the events at Longbourn combined with being largely confined to the house for four days wore on her, and Monday found her rather dispirited despite the promise of a ball on Tuesday. If the rain did not stop, perhaps even that great event would have to be postponed.
She hoped not, for Mr. Bingley’s sake if nothing else. There would be so much wasted food. Goodness, the white soup alone! Only silently did she admit to herself that she badly needed to be out of the house.
Elizabeth stood from her work and replaced everything in her sewing box. The tension of the situation in which they found themselves had kept her from her rest, and she shut her eyes.
“Good day, Miss Bennet,” said Mr. Darcy.
She glanced up. For the first time in days, Mr. Darcy was alone.
“Good day to you, Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth replied with a smile. “Have you been released from your duties?”
“It is good to be an officer,” Mr. Darcy replied with a lift of one eyebrow. “For we are assigned to guard the inside of the house.”
“A boon indeed,” she agreed. “I would pity the other men, but they seem to relish the opportunity to be uncomfortable.” Sergeant Walker and his men had shrugged off the offer of warm baths and dry clothes. As Papa had predicted, Sergeant Walker would not agree to join them for dinner, and without him, the other enlisted men would not, either. Despite Elizabeth’s familiarity with the military, it was still a little surprising to her that the former officers in residence seemed to envy the enlisted men rather than be relieved to hand off the more unpleasant duties.
“I am pleased to find you here,” Mr. Darcy said. “I have not really seen you since all of this began.”
“Papa has been speaking with us about your progress, for which I understand I have you to thank,” she told him.
“I merely pointed out that he was perhaps not seeing you all clearly. You and Miss Bennet have seen a great deal in your lives. It would be a mistake not to include you and hear what you had to say. He agreed with me, though not without complaining about daughters who grow up too quickly.”
“You expect my sister and me to succeed where so many men have failed, do you?” she asked teasingly.
Mr. Darcy held up his hands. “My only intention was to discover whether you might discern anything we are missing. Your mind works in ways that are fascinating to me, different as it is to my own way of thinking. I told your father it could not hurt to solicit your contribution.”