The journal didn't turn up.

Despite additional warnings from Mrs Channing the next morning, whoever took my journal continued to stay hidden. Since it hadn't a miraculous appearance and was still considered missing, Mrs Channing had no choice but to order searches of all the servants' rooms. If the journal was found, the person whose room it was in risks dismissal without a reference based on Lord Richardson's discretion. It was not a good look to have a servant dismissed due to theft.

She waited until all evening chores had been completed and the family had retired for the evening before gathering us all together. With it approaching midnight and all of us due up in the early hours of the morning, no one seemed too happy about having to delay sleep for an additional half an hour. They should have thought of that before someone decided to steal my journal.

"You shall all wait here whilst Mr Serif and I conduct searches of your rooms. We will not be reporting on anything else we might find as these searches are for the journal. If we find it, the person responsible for taking it will be punished. We hope these searches will take no more than half an hour," Mrs Channing said.

"Theft comes with a heavy punishment," Mr Serif said, "if you have the journal, you are best off admitting it here before we act. Does anyone have anything they would like to say?"

No one spoke.

"Very well. You were warned."

Mr Serif and Mrs Channing left the servant's hall, their footsteps echoing up the stairs as they climbed to the servant's quarters. An uneasy silence settled over everyone gathered, no one willing to say a word or even breathe too loudly. I knew the other servants were looking at me, all of them wondering why I had to tell Mrs Channing. If the journal wasn't found, I would be public enemy number one for making such a big deal over it.

Even Mary, who didn't want people to turn on her, though I might have gone too far in telling Mrs Channing. Just a few hours before, she had tried to get me to tell Mrs Channing that there was no need for the room searches. I didn't care if none of the other servants liked me, I just wanted my journal back. They could all turn their backs on me if it meant I could get the journal back in my possession. Mary just liked being liked.

"This is ridiculous. How are we supposed to get a full day's work done tomorrow if we're all half asleep? Lord and Lady Ainsworth arrive tomorrow and I am not serving them at the table if I do not get enough sleep," Benedict said, folding his arms over his chest.

"Don't be so pompous, Benedict. Lord and Lady Ainsworth won't even look at you, they're not going to care if you look tired." Luke rolled his eyes.

"What would you know about it? You're just a gardener. No one cares how you look."

Jasper stood up from his chair and walked behind it, pressing his hands into the back. "That's enough, both of you."

"How can you be sure one of us has even taken your journal, Jane?" Benedict asked, ignoring Jasper. "You probably just misplaced it. I detest the idea of anyone going through my things in search of something that is probably still in your bedroom. Honestly, you younger ones don't understand how important it is to maintain standards and standards have certainly been slipping these past few months."

"Leave her alone. They'd be hell to pay if someone stole something that belonged to you."

"I'm not stupid enough to leave something lying around to be stolen."

Luke made a sudden movement, but I grabbed onto his arm. "Don't. Ignore him."

I had learnt to ignore Benedict a long time ago due to his constant pompous attitude and his tendency to act as though he were better than anyone else because he's a footman. He was still in service and that made him no better than the rest of us, not that he would believe anyone if they tried to point it out. Although I had learnt to ignore the stupid comments that came out of Benedict's mouth, not everyone else had.

Luke still struggled to control his temper around him and I would not have been all that surprised if he ended up punching him one day. Benedict knew just what to do to get Luke riled up enough to snap back, but he never pushed him far enough. I expect he knew what Luke would do if pushed too far.

No one said anything for the remainder of the waiting period, but they couldn't hide the disdain on their faces. I too hated the idea of Mrs Channing and Mr Serif looking through everyone's personal belongings, but someone had taken my journal. That wasn't something I was just going to forget about and whoever took it should have owned up or returned it anonymously if they didn't want their rooms searched through.

Mr Serif and Mrs Channing reappeared a little while later, but their hands were empty.

"Well, Jane, there was no sign of it. I suggest you do another sweep of your room and any other location you had the journal, just in case. I doubt it just grew legs and walked away so it has to be around here somewhere," Mrs Channing said.

"May we go to bed now?"

"Yes, you may retire for the night." Mrs Channing nodded. "And Jane, make sure you have one last look in your room before bed, just to be on the safe side."

"Yes, Mrs Channing."

Everyone slowly moved towards the staircase with Jasper and Mary gravitating towards each other. I walked with Luke who appeared somewhat amazed that the journal hadn't been uncovered. At least he believed me.

"I reckon you could remove everything from your room and they'll still accuse you of having misplaced it." He shook his head. "There are plenty of places someone could have hidden it."

"I'll probably never get it back."

"We'll find it. When everyone is out on Sunday, we can search all the hidden spaces. It might turn up then."

"I hope so."

"It will." Luke smiled. "Goodnight, Jane."

"Goodnight."

I smiled and entered my bedroom where Mary had already started to change into her nightdress. She looked up at me and watched me change into my nightdress without taking Mrs Channing's advice. I knew that the journal wasn't in the room and I wasn't going to waste my time searching for something that wasn't there. Whoever had it had gone to extensive lengths to keep it from being found and the only person who would do that had to be aware of Lady Catherine's journal.

"Aren't you going to search the room?" Mary asked as I climbed into bed.

"Why? I know where I put the journal and I've already searched this room twice. It's not here."

"Maybe you really did misplace it. Jasper said he saw you with it in the servant's hall so it might be down there."

"We share a room. Where have I always kept my journal?"

"Under the mattress."

I threw my arms in the air and let them drop onto my lap. "Exactly! Why would I put it somewhere else? Just because Jasper saw me with it downstairs doesn't mean it's there."

"No one likes being accused of stealing, Jane. Not that you're all that innocent, you did steal Lady Catherine's journal after all."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Mary shrugged. "I'm just saying that you're accusing someone of taking something that belongs to you, but you were more than happy to take and read Lady Catherine's journal. They're not all that different."

"They're completely different!"

"No, they're not. Jasper said that those who point the finger sometimes end up being guilty of the crime themselves, and in this case, that seems true."

I raised an eyebrow. "I didn't steal my own journal."

"No, but you stole someone else's"

With that, Mary laid down, rolled over, and fell silent.

~~~

First Published - February 24th, 2022