Chapter 16
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Back in Warwickshire, the Lord Justice of Appeals Matthew Dowen had returned after nearly a week in London, and several days travel through the fall countryside, to a frantic wife clutching the uninformative note from Elizabeth.
Her departure hadn't actually been noticed until the irate messenger demanded his things returned after sleeping the clock around. He'd described the serving girl who'd assisted him to the room and removed his boots.
Her mother, thinking that perhaps Elizabeth had hidden the items in retaliation for being taken as a servant, had set people to looking for them. The note, and her true absence weren't discovered for several hours more, when everyone realized she was missing all at once, and her room was searched a second time.
Not that the note had moved, just no one had thought to give it attention while seeking the coat, hat and bag. And somehow her absence at dinner the night before hadn't been noted.
Lady Dowen had been forced to give the messenger what she regarded as an exorbitant sum, to cover the loss of his gear. For one of the grooms, once the news had spread, realized the identity of the rider he'd seen, and reluctantly came forward with the information that Elizabeth had left wearing the messengers coat and hat.
And she hadn't returned yet! And it had been a week! All this was explained to Elizabeth's father, in a flood. Wanting nothing more than his bed, he reread the note, and declared that as she was already a week gone, another night was unlikely to affect things much one way or another.
In the morning, he reread the note again. He then spent some time trying to imagine what his wayward daughter might consider to be a timely matter that might take anywhere from several days to several weeks to deal with. He asked his wife and children for their ideas on the subject at lunch.
Constance was upset with her husband, she'd had the idea somehow that he would return and fix everything. Even though she acknowledged to herself that this was an unreasonable expectation, she still felt that he ought to be doing something, riding out searching for Elizabeth! Something! Not calmly interrogating his family over lunch.
Anne suggested that maybe Elizabeth had heard of another estate sale of books, recalling the incident when Elizabeth had left home for an entire day to ride over three towns away, and returned with an itinerant merchant and his cart in tow. The man had had the cleverness and good fortune to buy up the better part of someone's library.
Elizabeth had heard of his cache when one of their tenants had shown her the illustrated book of fairy tales that she'd purchased from the merchant, to gift to her grandchildren. On her return Elizabeth had coaxed her father into buying the books, and meekly accepted both the scolding and the punishment issued after the fact.
Constance declared that if Elizabeth had run off to buy books, she would strangle the girl with her own hands when she returned.
Sir Matthew privately felt that it was a far less harmful idea than any he'd come up with.
Rebecca wondered aloud if Elizabeth knew any men well enough to have gotten into 'that' sort of trouble. Their papa had been wondering the same thing, and repeated the question to his overwrought wife.
"Perhaps Mr. Edwards?" she suggested tentatively, as that young gentleman had made several calls upon them since Lady Briarly's summer party. Constance had formed the slight hope that perhaps he was interested in Elizabeth. Elizabeth's sisters rejected the notion at once, they were aware, if their mother was not, of whom Mr. Edwards preferred to spend most of his time with when he invited the Dowen girls on outings in the countryside.
Trinity, the youngest daughter, suggested they send to their older brother Marcus, in Oxford, which wasn't so far away after all. Since Elizabeth was his favorite sister, being the most bookish like he was, he might know something, or she might even have gone to visit him. The two wrote to each other relatively frequently.
Sir Matthew was impressed with this idea, and composed a message to his studious son at once.
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Back in Warwickshire, the Lord Justice of Appeals Matthew Dowen had returned after nearly a week in London, and several days travel through the fall countryside, to a frantic wife clutching the uninformative note from Elizabeth.
Her departure hadn't actually been noticed until the irate messenger demanded his things returned after sleeping the clock around. He'd described the serving girl who'd assisted him to the room and removed his boots.
Her mother, thinking that perhaps Elizabeth had hidden the items in retaliation for being taken as a servant, had set people to looking for them. The note, and her true absence weren't discovered for several hours more, when everyone realized she was missing all at once, and her room was searched a second time.
Not that the note had moved, just no one had thought to give it attention while seeking the coat, hat and bag. And somehow her absence at dinner the night before hadn't been noted.
Lady Dowen had been forced to give the messenger what she regarded as an exorbitant sum, to cover the loss of his gear. For one of the grooms, once the news had spread, realized the identity of the rider he'd seen, and reluctantly came forward with the information that Elizabeth had left wearing the messengers coat and hat.
And she hadn't returned yet! And it had been a week! All this was explained to Elizabeth's father, in a flood. Wanting nothing more than his bed, he reread the note, and declared that as she was already a week gone, another night was unlikely to affect things much one way or another.
In the morning, he reread the note again. He then spent some time trying to imagine what his wayward daughter might consider to be a timely matter that might take anywhere from several days to several weeks to deal with. He asked his wife and children for their ideas on the subject at lunch.
Constance was upset with her husband, she'd had the idea somehow that he would return and fix everything. Even though she acknowledged to herself that this was an unreasonable expectation, she still felt that he ought to be doing something, riding out searching for Elizabeth! Something! Not calmly interrogating his family over lunch.
Anne suggested that maybe Elizabeth had heard of another estate sale of books, recalling the incident when Elizabeth had left home for an entire day to ride over three towns away, and returned with an itinerant merchant and his cart in tow. The man had had the cleverness and good fortune to buy up the better part of someone's library.
Elizabeth had heard of his cache when one of their tenants had shown her the illustrated book of fairy tales that she'd purchased from the merchant, to gift to her grandchildren. On her return Elizabeth had coaxed her father into buying the books, and meekly accepted both the scolding and the punishment issued after the fact.
Constance declared that if Elizabeth had run off to buy books, she would strangle the girl with her own hands when she returned.
Sir Matthew privately felt that it was a far less harmful idea than any he'd come up with.
Rebecca wondered aloud if Elizabeth knew any men well enough to have gotten into 'that' sort of trouble. Their papa had been wondering the same thing, and repeated the question to his overwrought wife.
"Perhaps Mr. Edwards?" she suggested tentatively, as that young gentleman had made several calls upon them since Lady Briarly's summer party. Constance had formed the slight hope that perhaps he was interested in Elizabeth. Elizabeth's sisters rejected the notion at once, they were aware, if their mother was not, of whom Mr. Edwards preferred to spend most of his time with when he invited the Dowen girls on outings in the countryside.
Trinity, the youngest daughter, suggested they send to their older brother Marcus, in Oxford, which wasn't so far away after all. Since Elizabeth was his favorite sister, being the most bookish like he was, he might know something, or she might even have gone to visit him. The two wrote to each other relatively frequently.
Sir Matthew was impressed with this idea, and composed a message to his studious son at once.
Back in Warwickshire, the Lord Justice of Appeals Matthew Dowen had returned after nearly a week in London, and several days travel through the fall countryside, to a frantic wife clutching the uninformative note from Elizabeth. Her departure hadn't actually been noticed until the irate messenger demanded his things returned after sleeping the clock around. He'd described the serving girl who'd assisted him to the room and removed his boots. Her mother, thinking that perhaps Elizabeth had hidden the items in retaliation for being taken as a servant, had set people to looking for them. The note, and her true absence weren't discovered for several hours more, when everyone realized she was missing all at once, and her room was searched a second time. Not that the note had moved, just no one had thought to give it attention while seeking the coat, hat and bag. And somehow her absence at dinner the night before hadn't been noted. Lady Dowen had been forced to give the messenger what she regarded as an exorbitant sum, to cover the loss of his gear. For one of the grooms, once the news had spread, realized the identity of the rider he'd seen, and reluctantly came forward with the information that Elizabeth had left wearing the messengers coat and hat. And she hadn't returned yet! And it had been a week! All this was explained to Elizabeth's father, in a flood. Wanting nothing more than his bed, he reread the note, and declared that as she was already a week gone, another night was unlikely to affect things much one way or another. In the morning, he reread the note again. He then spent some time trying to imagine what his wayward daughter might consider to be a timely matter that might take anywhere from several days to several weeks to deal with. He asked his wife and children for their ideas on the subject at lunch. Constance was upset with her husband, she'd had the idea somehow that he would return and fix everything. Even though she acknowledged to herself that this was an unreasonable expectation, she still felt that he ought to be doing something, riding out searching for Elizabeth! Something! Not calmly interrogating his family over lunch. Anne suggested that maybe Elizabeth had heard of another estate sale of books, recalling the incident when Elizabeth had left home for an entire day to ride over three towns away, and returned with an itinerant merchant and his cart in tow. The man had had the cleverness and good fortune to buy up the better part of someone's library. Elizabeth had heard of his cache when one of their tenants had shown her the illustrated book of fairy tales that she'd purchased from the merchant, to gift to her grandchildren. On her return Elizabeth had coaxed her father into buying the books, and meekly accepted both the scolding and the punishment issued after the fact. Constance declared that if Elizabeth had run off to buy books, she would strangle the girl with her own hands when she returned. Sir Matthew privately felt that it was a far less harmful idea than any he'd come up with. Rebecca wondered aloud if Elizabeth knew any men well enough to have gotten into 'that' sort of trouble. Their papa had been wondering the same thing, and repeated the question to his overwrought wife. "Perhaps Mr. Edwards?" she suggested tentatively, as that young gentleman had made several calls upon them since Lady Briarly's summer party. Constance had formed the slight hope that perhaps he was interested in Elizabeth. Elizabeth's sisters rejected the notion at once, they were aware, if their mother was not, of whom Mr. Edwards preferred to spend most of his time with when he invited the Dowen girls on outings in the countryside. Trinity, the youngest daughter, suggested they send to their older brother Marcus, in Oxford, which wasn't so far away after all. Since Elizabeth was his favorite sister, being the most bookish like he was, he might know something, or she might even have gone to visit him. The two wrote to each other relatively frequently. Sir Matthew was impressed with this idea, and composed a message to his studious son at once.
