Free A Royal Bennet by Melanie Schertz Page B

Elizabeth and the
maid. It was only after his informing her of his
acquaintance with Elizabeth’s family, her father’s
estate of Longbourn, and with the Gardiner family,
that Mrs Barkow decided he was telling the truth. “Mr
Darcy, if you will step into my husband’s office, we
can speak in private.”
    Richard followed his cousin as they entered the
room, and the door was closed behind them. “So you
do know Miss Elizabeth?” Richard inquired.
    “Yes, and you must understand the reason for us
not saying so. There have been men watching the inn,
as one of the maids had gossiped about our
mysterious guests who did not leave their room.
Foolish girl; we had to send her on her way, for I will
not hold with such gossip.”
“The men who were here, are they still watching
the building?” Darcy asked.
    “They were until an hour ago. We heard some
commotion out front, and, when we looked, we saw
the men arguing and suddenly left the area. I am not
sure if they realized how we snuck them out, but it
was plain to see they knew the young ladies were
gone from here.”
“How did you remove Miss Elizabeth and the
maid?” Richard was curious.
    “A friend of our family is a freed Negro. He assists
others to gain their freedom.” Mrs Barkow stated,
watching her words carefully. She was cautious of
allowing anyone know of Abraham, for she did not
wish to bring him any harm.
    “Mrs Barkow, we are here to recover Miss
Elizabeth and the maid. We wish to restore them to
the Gardiners. I believe they will be arriving in
Liverpool any time now. We received an express from
my sister, at my estate of Pemberley. That is how we
came to be at your establishment. Apparently Miss
Elizabeth sent an express to Lambton, to a friend of
her aunt’s. The lady then informed my sister,
knowing I was coming to assist Miss Elizabeth.”
    “Yes, Miss Elizabeth was concerned with using
what few coins she had to pay for the express, but she
felt it was important to send the information quickly.”
    “I am eternally grateful for your kindness to Miss
Elizabeth and, I believe the maid is named Lucy.”
Darcy stated with a warmth about him. “And I wish to
cover any debt the ladies left behind, as well as
whatever cost was accumulated in moving them.”
    “Miss Elizabeth stated her family would assist in
paying the funds, but it is not that great an expense.
Miss Elizabeth would not hear of adding to the bill,
keeping everything as simple as possible. I would not
stand for her and Lucy having only bread to eat, it
would do them no good to take ill from no proper
food. They did not have anything necessary to take
care of themselves. Why, Miss Elizabeth even tried to
refuse my offer of a hot bath. Like it would be such a
great burden. No, what I have done for the young
ladies was a gift from me and my husband. We are
firm believers in when you do good things, good
things come back to you. Someday, we might be in
need of assistance, and hopefully someone will be
there for us.”
    “You will always find a friend in me, if ever you are
in need, Mrs Barkow. No matter what the problem or
need, you will be welcome to contact me.” Darcy
handed her one of his cards, with his address at
Pemberley and in Town on it, along with a pouch of
coins. “Can you tell me where they were being taken
to?”
    “Mr Miller was taking them to Bluecoat School. He
has a friend who works there, and they would be able
to hide the ladies in the basement.”
“I can take you there, Mr Darcy.” Mr Barkow
stated.
     
~~ ** ~~
    Mr Gardiner came out of the Rose and Crown inn.
“They said that Mr Darcy and his men are out at the
moment, and they do not know when they will
return.”
“Do they have rooms available to rent?”
    “They do. I have paid for two rooms. Let us go
inside and order some food. We can wait for Mr
Darcy to return.” Mr Gardiner assisted his wife down
from the carriage, before turning to assist his brother
in law. “How are you