Murder at Mansfield Park

house, and have the maids fetch blankets and hot tea. I fear she has been quite soaked through.’
    ‘You mean she b’aint dead after all?’ said the man, as he followed them inside. ‘It took us so long to free her, and all the while she neither moved nor spoke. I
don’t mind telling you, we feared the worst.’
    ‘Bring her through here, if you would,’ said Mrs Grant briskly. ‘Lay her on the sopha—gently now! Mary, rub her temples, and send a maid to find my salts. Heaven only
knows how long she has been in this state.’
    Mary looked up at the man, who was standing in the doorway, twisting his hat in his hand. She had seen him before—a tall, handsome fellow, who had touched his hat to her once or twice when
she had encountered him in the park.
    ‘Did I hear you aright—did you not say some thing about freeing her?’
    He nodded. ‘Yes, miss. We saw her as soon as we got to the avenue—she’d gone and chained herself to one of those old trees. How she managed such a thing on her own, God alone
knows, but I swear she weren’t there when we left the place last night.’
    Mary wondered for a moment why they had not sent immediately to the Park for help, given the much greater distance to the parsonage, but she had seen the trepidation in the man’s eyes; in
the face of what must have seemed to be a fatal catastrophe, he had no doubt feared that his employer would be only too ready to lay the whole blame of it at his door.
    ‘You have nothing to fear,’ she said quickly. ‘You have acted quite properly. But I am very much afraid that Miss Julia is extremely ill. We must dispatch a messenger for the
apothecary at once, and send word to the Park. Her family will already have missed her.’ Even as she uttered the words, her heart ached for the distress the Bertrams must be in—first
Fanny, and now Julia, gone from the house with no explanation. What must they be thinking?
    Mrs Grant was clearly of the same mind; she went immediately to her writing-desk, and penned a short note to Lady Bertram. ‘If you will be so good as to take that to the Park,’ she
said, holding it out to the workman. ‘And with all speed, if you please.’
    ‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said, bowing, and with a parting look at Mary, he was gone.
    The apothecary was not long in arriving thereafter; it was lucky for them that he was close by, having been attending a case of pleurisy in Mansfield-common, and he was able to give his opinion
on the invalid without delay.
    ‘I am afraid, Mrs Grant, that it is a very serious disorder,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘Her strength has been much weakened, and in consequence the danger of infection is
very great. I will prescribe a cordial for you to administer, and you must convey her upstairs to bed at once. On no account should she be moved unnecessarily. I will call again later
today.’
    ‘Thank you, Mr Phillips, you may rely on us,’ said Mrs Grant. ‘I will see you to the door.’
    When Mrs Grant returned to the parlour she found Mary sitting at Julia’s side, her eyes filled with tears. ‘I should have foreseen this!’ she said. ‘I knew she had been
neglecting her health—I knew she was half frantic about the felling of the avenue—I should have talked to her—comforted her—’
    Mrs Grant sat down next to her, and took her hands in both her own. ‘I am sure you did every thing you could, Mary. I know your kind heart, and I know your regard for Miss Julia. This
latest folly of hers was in all probability the whim of the moment—how could you possibly have anticipated she would do such a thing? And on such a night!’
    Mary wiped her eyes. ‘It was her last chance,’ she said softly. ‘They were to start the felling today. She must have been truly desperate.’
    ‘Come, Mary,’ said her sister, kindly, ‘the best way for us to shew our concern is by ensuring she is well cared for. The maids have prepared the spare room, and lit a good
fire. Let us ask Baker to carry her upstairs.’
    Mrs Grant went in search of the man-servant, and Mary was left for a few moments to herself—a few moments only, for she was soon roused by a loud knocking at the door, followed, without
announcement, by the unexpected appearance of Mrs Norris. This lady looked exceedingly angry, and seemed to have recovered all her former spirit of activity; she immediately set about giving loud
instructions to the maids, and directing her own servants to carry Julia to the