Revelations an adaption of Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 87

When they arrive home, everyone goes straight to bed. Georgiana pulls Eric into a little nook in the hall and kisses him goodnight with fervour. That'll cost him at least an hour to wind down from, maybe he should talk to her and explain how a man experiences these little tokens of affection. Though it's less than a month until their wedding, maybe he can cope with the sleepless nights a little longer. Or he can play a few scales to unwind, no-one will hear if he sneaks into the drawing-room for half an hour.

Preferring sneaking downstairs to lying awake doing battle with his urges, Eric does indeed make his silent way down the stairs after the house has quieted down. Half-expecting to meet Simon or Mr Manners in the hallway, he is not surprised to hear a small sound in the direction of the servants' quarters downstairs. To prevent embarrassment, he steps back into the shadow to let whoever is about at this hour pass him by undisturbed.

But no-one does, and when he continues towards the drawing-room he can pinpoint the noises to Darcy's study. If there is someone downstairs he can forget about playing the piano in the middle of the night, but that does raise the question: why would Darcy be in his office at night? He is almost certain to not be in there right now, he values his time alone with his wife. That leaves the possibility of an intruder, or a servant snooping, which endangers two very good friends of Eric's likely to be caught at their own sneaking about. Or Georgiana, if it's a burglar. Better take a very careful look, and if it is Darcy after all he can ask permission to play the piano for half an hour, to unwind. Darcy'll think it's from the stress of the concert.

Excited now in a different way, Eric moves towards the study very, very quietly. It's kind of reckless to try and catch out a possible burglar, but if he rouses the house and it's Darcy after all, he'll make a nice kind of fool of himself.

Fortunately the door is left slightly ajar, and there is a light in the study. A burglar would not use a lamp, and with a little more daring Eric opens the door entirely, to find a nervous, dark figure rifling through the drawers of Darcy's desk. It's smaller than Darcy, and his patron would never rifle through anything in this room, he knows exactly what is where. Feeling a need for a witness, Eric quickly withdraws and enters the servants' part of the house, hoping to find Manners in Simon's room. A soft knock proves enough to get a reaction, but since Manners is not exactly supposed to be here, there is no reply. Someone is moving towards the door, though, and when Eric expects that person to have reached the door he says softly, 'It's Eric, there is someone in Darcy's study.'

The door opens and Manners comes out, still dressed, he must also have waited for the house to quiet down before moving downstairs.

'Simon's already asleep, we can handle it by ourselves.'

He sounds grim, as if he knows who it is in Mr Darcy's study. Once on their way, Manners moves much more quietly than one would expect of such a powerful man, and Eric is happy to fall in line beside him. No careful probing for his companion, Manners merely pushes the door open with force, then enters the room.

'Stay right where you are, Mr Collins!' Manners bellows.

Mr Collins? What could he be looking for in Darcy's office?

The tubby little fellow is now easily recognisable, staring at the two of them in guilt and fear.

Manners closes the distance between them in three long strides, grabs him by the collar of his coat, and orders, 'Fielding, check his pockets. And his clothes. Very thoroughly.'

'I was just looking for a few stamps! I didn't do anything! I'm a man of the cloth, I'm above your suspicion, how dare you imply that I would steal anything!'

Valuables then, or plain hard cash. Trusting Manners to know how far one can go with the cousin of one's host, even if he is so only by marriage, Eric starts with Mr Collins' coat, finding all the pockets and turning them inside out. A wad of bills falls out, and the man colours, then calls out defensively, 'That's mine! I already had that before I came in here!'