Unfortunately, aside from a bit of family history, Moon Dancer and I were unable to locate much on Lucerne's personal life. The only other strange piece of information I found was that the mare had disappeared under strange circumstances and that their family owned business fell to financial ruin and went bankrupt shortly thereafter. The family's private manor was left untouched and had long since been abandoned on the original Hayseed Family property for over two hundred years.
The rest of what we'd found consisted of company records and the personal expenses of some of the family who worked for the business. Moon Dancer meant to cast them aside, sure that they had nothing to do with our search, when I stumbled upon something interesting. It seemed that, during the last two years or so leading up to Lucerne's disappearance, she'd used an inordinately large amount of bits to fund some rather odd purchases, the consequences of which ultimately led to the downfall of the family business.
Some of these purchases included, but weren't limited to several trips in and out of Equestria on long and mysterious sojourns in other countries, various and highly expensive odds and ends—a few bought from the very curio store we'd visited just the other day, some minor construction fees, and most baffling of all, many rare and costly chemicals seemingly bought at random for some unknown purpose.
They certainly had nothing to do with lumber or the manufacturing thereof, that much was clear. The mare had also paid a certain unicorn mage-for-hire quite a hefty sum for some kind of service rendered. Neither Moon Dancer or I were able to find the name of that mage or his business information, which made me believe the mare may have hired the mage in confidence for a task she wanted nopony to know about.
Whatever the case may have been, the circumstances surrounding Lucerne's disappearance were suspicious to say the least and more than warranted further looking into. Moon Dancer suspected the disappearance was in some way tied to the tome, and while I shared those suspicions, I didn't share in my friend's enthusiasm. I found that the more I learned, the less I wanted to know. Still I persisted, more for Moon Dancer's sake than my own curiosity.
With the relevant information documented and another lead found in the form of an old unicorn mare by the name of Evening Star, we left the archives. The last of the Hayseed Family had died out roughly a half a decade before I was born, so there was no help to be gained there. Evening Star was the only pony we could find whose not so distant ancestor had worked closely with the enigma that was Lucerne Hayseed. The mare's great grandmother had worked as a maid in Hayseed Manor when Lucerne had been the head of the family, and was one of the last maids remaining in Lucerne's employ before she vanished.
It was our hope that Evening Star could shed some light on what her older relative had experienced back then. Moon Dancer had wanted to head straight for the abandoned manor, but I was able to persuade her to wait until we'd gained some more insight into the matter at hoof. The last thing I wanted for either of us was to go into that old manor blind and unprepared. Little did I know that nothing could have prepared me for what I saw in that wretched old relic of a house.
Like the curio shop, Evening Star's rather quaint home was located on the outskirts of Manehattan and it took some time for us to reach our destination. The sun had reached its zenith by the time we arrived and knocked at the mare's door, and I prayed the mare was in. My prayers were answer when the door creaked open after only a few knocks. The mare had rarely hosted any guests in her old age, and was understandably surprised at our sudden appearance.
Even if she hadn't known me personally, Evening Star at least knew of my status as a Princess, and that went a long way in smoothing over the introductions and explanations. It only took a few minutes of discussion before we were kindly invited in and offered lunch. It was a modest meal, but I was no less appreciative and graciously accepted, though Moon Dancer respectfully declined the offered meal. Over the course of the meal, we told Evening Star of what we'd discovered about the Hayseed Family and to our pleasant surprise, she was fairly knowledgeable of matters involving the goings-on within Hayseed Manor.
I pointed out as much, and Evening Star replied that her great grandmother had kept a diary of sorts during her life as a maid in the manor. The diary, along with several other keepsakes, had been passed down to Evening Star's grandmother, then to her mother and finally it had found its way into Evening Star's possession. The mare had spent a good deal of time in her youth reading through the diary and had memorized a good deal of its contents.
"My great gran wrote a good deal about her life in that old manor, but I'm afraid I haven't any kind of diary to show you, not anymore," the mare explained in response to Moon Dancer's request to see the diary, "lost it long ago during a delightful trip to Saddle Arabia. It was a darn shame to be sure, but even if I'd brought it back with me, I couldn't show it to you, not in good conscience.
"A lot of what my great gran wrote had little to do with the members of the Hayseed Family and a lot more to do with her own life at the manor—that, and the sweet words she'd never had the courage to say to the stallion she'd been smitten with at the time. I don't think you girls came here to talk about such things, and I wouldn't feel comfortable sharing anyhow.
"As for the Lady's strange behavior and disappearance, it was just as much a mystery to my great gran as it is to the two of you. Lady Lucerne had become terribly withdrawn in the final years before she vanished, but none of the help ever found out why. The only thing I know for sure was that the Lady's demeanor had become so horrendous and scatterbrained that many of the servants and workers quit outright, and those that stayed behind like my great gran were all fired only a week or so before the disappearance occurred."
That was all the mare knew, and though it was far less than we were hoping to hear, I thanked her for what little facts she could contribute. Apparently the disappointment had shown clear on our face, because the mare spoke again before Moon Dancer and I had the chance to rise from our seats to leave, this time with an apologetic smile and consolatory tone.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help, dears, but if you're looking to know more about Lady Lucerne, I may know of somepony that can help you. The two of you are already aware that the manor lies beyond the Hayseed Swamplands, yes? Well, if you don't mind a bit of travel and some camping out, you'll find a stallion living in an old cabin out there near the swamp's western edge.
"Wispy Willows is the stallion's name. He's a bit of a curmudgeon, but there's not a pony alive who knows more about the Hayseeds than he does. Was a good friend of mine back in the day, but we lost touch after he moved into his father's old cabin in the swamp. Don't know why he went, but he always used to talk about how his family and the Hayseeds were close back in the day and how he wanted to honor the Hayseeds by taking care of the swamp or some such nonsense.
"Don't know if I believe it myself, personally... that stallion was always a shifty one, Celestia bless him. Always looking to make a quick bit. You ask me, I think he just wanted to loot the manor and pawn off the goods, but I can't say for sure. That aside, I suppose It's not a terribly long journey to his place, but it goes a bit off the beaten path and a little ways into the swamplands so you'll have to hoof it most of the way."