“So we were told.” Darcy glanced at Elizabeth to see whether she seemed any better able to grasp Mr. Chase’s purpose than he, but she appeared equally perplexed.
“While occupying the apartment, did you remove or relocate any objects?”
“No. We left all as it was.”
“And you left in haste, did you not?”
The sharpness of Mr. Chase’s tone raised Darcy’s defenses. What intelligence did the constable truly seek, and why did he not simply ask for it? Darcy began to doubt whether full cooperation were in his and Elizabeth’s best interest.
“What causes you to believe we departed in haste?”
“Perhaps I should have said ‘urgency’ As you stated, the storm rendered travel hazardous. Only necessity could have induced you to risk the roads yesterday. What prompted your departure?”
Darcy hesitated to state that there had been no specific reason other than a sense that nothing at Northanger seemed quite as it should. “Business calls us home.”
The constable gestured to the remains of their breakfast. “Yet I find you enjoying a leisurely morning. Are you no longer in a hurry to reach Derbyshire?”
“We thought it best to postpone further travel until the roads improve.”
“They are greatly improved now — I just traveled them myself to come here. But I am afraid your journey home will be delayed regardless.”
At a look from Mr. Chase, one of his companions moved to stand in front of the door. Too late, Darcy wondered whether Mr. Chase were indeed a constable. He instinctively shifted to place himself more squarely between Mr. Chase and Elizabeth.
Noting his movement, Mr. Chase chuckled humorlessly. “Fear not, Mr. Darcy. So long as you cooperate, this will not become a physical confrontation.”
Darcy suddenly felt like cornered prey. His pulse quickened as his mind scrambled to assimilate the nature of the threat Mr. Chase posed.
“Cooperate in what?”
Mr. Chase rose, walked behind his chair, and rested his hands on its back. “I received an anonymous letter this morning advising me that a crime had been committed at Northanger Abbey. It seems that a collection of diamonds once belonging to the late Mrs. Tilney has vanished from the premises, and that their disappearance coincides with your visit at Northanger. Can you offer any enlightenment on this matter?”
Elizabeth gasped and looked at Darcy. “The diamonds. .”
Mr. Chase seized upon the utterance as if it were a confession. He leaned forward and regarded Darcy with increased antagonism. “So you do possess information. Where are the diamonds?”
Initial relief that Mr. Chase indeed represented the law rapidly gave way to resentment at the suggestion that Darcy had broken it. “We know nothing about any missing diamonds,” he said. “We discovered a set of jewelry in Mrs. Tilney’s chamber, but we left it in the drawer in which we found it.”
“When did you make this discovery?”
“Almost directly upon our arrival. My wife happened upon them while seeking a hairbrush as we dressed for dinner.”
“Did you mention them to anyone?”
“I was going to mention them to Captain Tilney,” Elizabeth said. “But he interrupted me and our discourse shifted to other subjects.”
“You did not think the discovery of a valuable set of jewelry merited redirecting the conversation?”
“We were not in the captain’s company much longer.”
“By your own management. And you claim that the diamonds were still in their drawer when you left Northanger?”
“I presume so,” Elizabeth said. “We never looked in the drawer a second time.”
“You did not need to. The two of you discovered the diamonds and decided to take them for yourselves.”
The accusation so appalled Darcy that he momentarily lost the power of speech. “Nay, sir,” he practically sputtered when he recovered himself. “We most certainly did not.”
“By your own admission, you spent the majority of your time in your chamber — even retiring early. Thus you not only had ample opportunity to hide the diamonds among your belongings, but your presence in the chamber restricted the access of any other party.”
He could not believe his ears. How dare this self-important clod carelessly issue such a serious allegation? “We were absent from the room at dinner and breakfast, in addition to our time with Captain Tilney. Someone could have entered the apartment then. A servant, perhaps.”
“Such as a housemaid? That is possible,” the constable conceded. “Did you happen to encounter any of the servants who attended your chamber?”
Darcy paused. Revealing the lack of attention both they and their chamber had received from Northanger’s staff did not seem likely to aid their cause.
Mr. Chase twisted Darcy’s hesitation to suit his purpose. “You suspect one of your own servants, then?”
“No!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “One cannot imagine more trustworthy servants than Lucy and Graham. Beyond that, they both took ill upon our arrival and entered our apartment only to repack our trunks when we departed.”
“When you departed as soon as possible to make good your escape — with the diamonds in your repacked trunk.”
Darcy shot to his feet, unable to contain his outrage any longer. “Sir, you insult my honor as a gentleman. And you insult my wife.”
“Then to prove your innocence, you will not object if we search your belongings.”
He objected very much to Mr. Chase and his cronies ransacking their trunks. “I will not have my wife subjected to that indignity.”
“Would you rather subject both her and yourself to the indignity of sitting in gaol while I complete my investigation?”
“Gaol?” Elizabeth exclaimed.
“On what grounds?” Darcy asked. “You have no evidence, only your own speculation.”
“And the letter.”
“A letter authored by someone too cowardly to sign his name.”
“Darcy.” Elizabeth had moved beside him and now touched his arm. “We can resolve this very easily. Let Mr. Chase search our things. We have nothing to hide.”
Submitting to such an affront went against every natural impulse. But she was right — they had nothing to hide, and allowing Mr. Chase to determine that for himself was a more expedient way to acquit themselves of his ridiculous accusations than engaging in prolonged argument.
“Very well,” he said stiffly.
A thorough examination of every trunk, case, and compartment — right down to Elizabeth’s reticule and his coat pockets — commenced. Darcy observed in silent fury, thankful that Elizabeth had packed no diamonds of her own to confuse the search. Just as the offensive exploration seemed at an end, Mr. Chase’s gaze came to rest on the umbrella stand, where Darcy’s walking stick rested.
The constable withdrew it from the stand. Darcy resented the sight of him holding the cane.