Twenty-nine

At four, Derek Wincannon called again at Willowmere. “Has Miss Elham returned?” he asked Ames when he opened the door.

The old butler shook his head solemnly. “No, sir. And I admit that I’m beginning to worry. She’s sent no word to us, and it’s been hours. It’s not like Miss Elham to go off without a word.”

Derek nodded decisively. “Well, this time no one shall dissuade me from going in search of her. Who knows, she may have fallen and twisted an ankle or any such thing.”

At that moment, Jane Taunton entered the hall from the library. She looked faintly surprised. “Why, Mr. Wincannon, are you back?” she asked. “I didn’t think to see you again so soon.”

“Miss Elham asked me to call at four,” responded Derek shortly. “And I find she has not yet returned.”

Jane nodded. “Yes, and I am beginning to think her rather naughty. She really ought to have sent word if she meant to stay with old Mrs. Whitlock so long. But you know how old women can be. I daresay Elisabeth is longing to get away but cannot break in on her flow of talk without being rude, which she never is, of course.”

Wincannon listened to this rambling recital with a frown. “She went to Mrs. Whitlock’s?”

Jane nodded. “I inquired after we spoke.”

Derek turned to Ames. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Ames went rigid. “I was not informed of Miss Elisabeth’s intention, sir.”

“Oh, it was her maid told me,” added Jane. “Elisabeth happened to mention it to her as she was dressing. Won’t you step into the library for a moment, Mr. Wincannon? I’ll order some tea. You may wait for Elisabeth if you like.”

But Derek was still frowning. “I cannot understand why she went out through the back garden if she meant to visit Mrs. Whitlock,” he said meditatively. “It is quite the opposite direction.”

“She wanted a longer walk, I suppose,” replied Jane. “Won’t you come in and sit down?”

Derek looked incredulous. “Longer than three miles? It is quite that to the Whitlock cottage.”

“I-Is it?” asked Jane a little uncomfortably. “Well, then, that silly girl of Elisabeth’s must have misunderstood her, that’s all.” She looked down.

A strangled noise came from Ames’s vicinity, though he said nothing. Derek still frowned. “I don’t like it,” he said finally. “I’ll walk along the field path to make sure Elisabeth hasn’t fallen and been hurt or perhaps lost her way.”

Jane laughed. “Elisabeth?” she said incredulously. “It’s not possible. She has pored over maps of this district.”

Just then, Lavinia was seen descending the stairs from the upper floors. When she saw the group in the hall, she hurried forward. “Oh, good day, Mr. Wincannon. You cannot think how fallicious it is to see you. I’ve been so worried.”

“Why is that?” asked Derek sharply.

“Elisabeth has gone out, no one knows where, and it has been four or five hours,” said Lavinia. “She’s never done such a thing before, only excepting the time she went careering across the country after Tony.”

There was an arrested expression in Derek’s eyes. He turned back to Jane. “Are you certain you’ve told me all you know?” he asked her.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she answered.

He looked at her with narrowed eyes. “I think perhaps you do,” he said. He addressed the group. “I’m going out to look for Elisabeth.” And he turned on his heel and strode out of the hall.

Ames held the door for him and followed him through onto the porch. He shut the door carefully behind him and said, “Pardon me, sir, but I would like one word with you before you go. I don’t know what’s going on, and it may not be my place to say this, but I’m worried about Miss Elisabeth, you understand.”

“Yes. What is it?” asked Derek impatiently.

“Well, sir, I have to say that Miss Taunton is mistaken. I personally inquired of Miss Ketchem, that is Miss Elisabeth’s dresser, and she had no knowledge of where her mistress had gone.” He sniffed. “And to call Miss Ketchem a silly girl! Well, sir, that is outside of enough, if you’ll pardon my saying so.”

Derek’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, I think there’s more here than meets the eye. I think Miss Taunton may be hiding something at your mistress’s request. Please say nothing to anyone. I intend to get to the bottom of this.”

“Yes, sir.”

Wincannon left Ames standing on the porch and walked around the house and into the garden. He looked carefully at the now muddy path, but the rain had washed away any marks it might have shown. He went rapidly across the garden, climbed the stile, and set off into the field. As he went, he looked carefully along the sides of the path, occasionally pushing aside a clump of grass with his riding crop.

He reached the lane on the other side of the field very quickly. Once there, he stood for a moment, perplexed. He turned at first to the right, then stopped, hesitated, and reversed his direction. He traversed the lane more slowly, straying from side to side, examining the ditches and hedges, often shaking his head disgustedly.

When he came around the curve that brought the inn into view, Derek stopped. He appeared puzzled for a moment, then his brow cleared and he gestured sharply with one clenched fist. “Of course,” he said aloud to himself. “I’d forgotten this old place.” As he started to move forward again, a post chaise pulled up to the inn’s front door and stopped. Derek also halted and watched as a man came out of the inn, had some conversation with the driver, then disappeared again. When he was gone, Derek started to walk quickly forward. He was halfway to the building when the man returned escorting a woman, and Wincannon halted again.

He watched as the woman started to climb into the coach, then resisted. As she struggled for a moment with her companion, her face was turned toward Derek, and he recognized Elisabeth. He broke into a dead run as the man forced her into the carriage and climbed in after her. The chaise began to move, and Derek put every bit of energy into overtaking it, but he failed, his grasping hand missing the tail of the carriage by three feet. It drove on, oblivious, and he was forced to give up. He stood in the center of the lane, his chest heaving, and called “Elisabeth!” once. But he was winded, and the word was hardly audible. He panted harshly for a few moments, then turned and ran back the way he’d come.