The Lost Heir

by Harriet Knowles

“Why ask for her, too? In God’s name, why?” Darcy wanted to tear his hair out. He couldn’t wait here a moment longer. He must go and find her.

  “It’s a trap.” Richard’s voice was flat and unemotional. “He wants you to go after them, and he’ll arrange some sort of accident for you.” His gaze was steely. “He will ensure he does not fail this time.”

  “Yes. You must not go, Darcy. Richard and David will go.” Uncle Henry looked sternly at Darcy. “Do you hear me?”

  Darcy shook his head. “I have to go. Nothing you can say will stop me. Nothing.” His frustration mounted. “Now. I must go now. Every moment we delay takes them closer to Scotland.”

  He turned back to the Gardiner’s servant. “Thank you for coming here yourself, Mr. Evans, and not just sending a note. Please make sure you inform Mr. Gardiner directly he is found.”

  “What can he do? And how will he find you if you go riding off in such a hurry?” His uncle’s voice cut across the room again.

  Darcy turned away to the window, pain stinging his palms. It was his own fingernails digging into his flesh, and he forced himself to unclench his hands. “Miss Elizabeth has a family, too, my lord, and her family need to know where she is, and that I will find her before she can be harmed.”

  He shuddered. Please let it not be too late. “May I take a horse from here, or must I go back to Darcy House?”

  “You ought to tell your father. He will be distressed to hear that his own coachman and other staff have betrayed him and are loyal to Wickham.”

  “You tell him, Uncle Henry. I must go.”

  “I will come with you.” Richard’s voice was determined.

  “I don’t need you,” Darcy lied. “You must have let slip something about where you found me, something that’s told Wickham about my affections for Miss Elizabeth.” The anger bubbled up inside him again. “I’d have known Georgiana was not safe there if you’d told me what you were doing, and I could have sent them elsewhere!”

  “Where?” Richard stood in front of him.

  “You think I’d tell you? Any of you?” Darcy turned away from him, his heart like stone. A muffled sob from the countess, sitting quietly apart from them, distracted him from his anger.

  How would he be able to find Wickham, with all the many side roads to Scotland? How would he be able to prevent the party crossing the border and finding somewhere to wed? He only had Mr. Reed whom he could trust.

  He glared out of the window. He couldn’t do this alone, and, whatever his anger to his cousin, there was no one else.

  He swung round. Richard was gazing at him steadily. He knew, and Darcy forced himself to remain impassive, and pushed his temper deep.

  “I won’t let you down, Darcy. But we must work together. Georgiana needs us both to be there for her.”

  Elizabeth. I must remember she’s not important to them. But to me, she’s the most important person in the whole world, and I’ve let her down.

  He turned to Richard with an effort. “We must go. They must be so afraid.” It was hard to think of Miss Bennet as fearful, but what could she do? Wickham was a cunning man. He must have planned for this sort of eventuality for a long time.

  He swung round to the earl. “We need to find out how Wickham escaped from prison. He must be wanted for that, too, now. It will be a good way to have him apprehended.”

  His uncle grimaced. “If the Darcy House staff have managed to arrange his debts all be paid off, he would have had to be released.”

  “How could they have found three thousand pounds so quickly?” Darcy said impatiently. “If nothing else, the abduction of two young ladies must be sufficient to have him arrested.” He prayed that nothing worse had happened to them as yet. He swung back to Richard.

  “We must get away.”

  The earl nodded. “I will send to all my fellow peers in the north country. They will try and stop them.” He rose to his feet. “Make sure you stop at the Swan in Leicester, the Bull in York, and the Ox in Carlisle. I will write to the post there, to wait for you.” His smile was grim. “As they have the liveried Darcy coach, they will be unmistakeable. Wickham’s overconfidence will see him apprehended.”

  Darcy sighed. The family had no conception how complacent they seemed. He jerked his head at Richard.

  “We must go. I’m taking Reed. Are you taking your batman?”

  Richard made a face. “No, he’d be no use in a scrap. I’ll take Monckton. He’s useful.” He nodded at Darcy. “I’ll arrange for horses.”

  Darcy stared after him.

  “Do make sure you stop at Carlisle, in particular, Darcy.” The earl’s voice was calm, and Darcy swung round to look at him.

  “Wickham won’t go to Gretna. It’s too obvious. He’ll go to one of the other border towns.”

  “Richard is right, you know,” his uncle said mildly. “If Wickham is using Miss Bennet as a trap for you, he’ll do the obvious, knowing you’ll have to check there first. You must allow me to make plans to aid you.”

  Darcy shook his head. “There won’t be time.” If he had his way, they’d reach Scotland long before any post could. But he would not say it. He crossed briefly to the countess, and crouched before her.

  “I will find them, Aunt Alice. I will.”

  She sat up straighter. “I’ll be thinking of you, William.”

  He tried to laugh. “Think of Richard, too!”

  She forced a smile, although it didn’t reach her eyes. “Your mother would be proud of you.”

  He nodded tightly, and rose to his feet. At the door, he turned to his uncle. “It is possible we may never meet again. Thank you for welcoming me to the family, and I regret what may happen now.”

  The butler extended Darcy’s coat and he shrugged into it, his uncle’s suddenly crumpled features in his mind’s eye. But he had to warn them. Wickham had planned this, and he’d had to raise the possibility of failure to them.

  But now, he would put that thought behind him. He must not — would not — fail Elizabeth.

  41

  Elizabeth combed her fingers through Georgiana’s hair. “There you are. It is quite the best that can be expected.”

  She’d been dismayed and shocked to find the coach had stopped deep in a country lane late the previous evening.

  “Where is the inn?” Georgiana had looked around, bewildered.

  “You’re not going to an inn.” Mr. Wickham seemed to be enjoying himself. “Do you really think I’d permit you to raise the alarm, or find some way of escaping in the night?” He’d laughed immoderately. “Oh, no. I can’t have that.” He’d got to his feet. “You will go, one at a time, behind that hedgerow, for you to have a moment of privacy for whatever you require. After that …” his voice hardened. “You will be left in this coach for the night. We resume our journey at dawn.”

  Elizabeth had gone first. Mr. Wickham had pointed out the lack of routes to escape unseen, then he’d turned away, for which Elizabeth was grateful at least. A wild hope had arisen in her, as he’d prepared to leave the coach, presumably to go to a local inn himself, but she’d despaired when she saw some of his men remained behind on watch — and the ropes tying the coach doors, sealing them in. There would be no escape that night.

  But she’d been alone with Georgiana, and she knew her task had been to try and reassure her that she would think of some way of mitigating this terrible future. She might have been more successful if she could think of an opportunity. But she could see no chance at all.

  Her heart was heavy that morning, her dread mixed with exhaustion, but she smiled encouragingly at Georgiana as the two overnight guards slept in the opposite corners of the coach. Mr. Wickham, his appearance much improved, sat between his thugs and watched Elizabeth and Georgiana in a silence that made Elizabeth nervous. She knew the effect on the girl would be much worse.

  She discovered how much worse after a brief stop down yet another lane, where they were given a little bread and a piece of cheese to share. They were brief
ly alone, and Elizabeth tried to persuade Georgiana to eat a little. Her blood ran cold as she heard the rough laughter of the men outside.

  A few minutes later, Elizabeth was taken to the stream and allowed to dip an old tin mug into the water and drink. Her heart lightened a little as she smiled foolishly at the mug. Mr. Darcy had thought her idea of supplying the army with mugs of tin from the Cornish mines a good one. She wondered, a trifle hysterically, if this mug had belonged to a soldier.

  Mr. Darcy. The thought of him wrapped round her with warmth and comfort, and she straightened up, a new determination filling her. Somehow she needed to imbue this confidence in his sister, without giving Mr. Wickham any intimation of her sudden certainty that Mr. Darcy could not be far behind them.

  But as the coach set off again, Georgiana suddenly seemed to lose control of the fear that she’d barely subdued before. Her sudden shriek of terror startled them all, herself as well, and soon Elizabeth was fully occupied in trying to soothe her. She caught a brief glimpse of Mr. Wickham’s disgusted features, before he rapped on the roof of the coach.

  “We will ride outside,” he snapped at Elizabeth. “Until she can control herself. I will not let either of you delay us, and if you cannot calm her, I will do it a different way.” The barely controlled violence in his eyes sent a shard of fear into her throat, and she nodded at him and set herself to soothing the girl as much as she could.

  “Now listen to me, Georgiana. Listen as carefully as you can, but keep crying a little, so he stays outside for a while.” She gave the girl a little shake. “Do you understand?” It took a few minutes, but eventually her friend quieted somewhat.

  “I’m certain your brother and cousin are coming after us, Georgiana.” Elizabeth glanced at the window, trying not to look as if they were plotting anything. “They will not let anything happen to us. So our task until they come for us, is to remain strong and ready for when we need to take action.”

  Georgiana needed a great deal of reassurance and Elizabeth wasn’t certain she’d be able to retain what she said, but she had to do her best.

  “Now, you need to stay strong. Eat what you can when we have the opportunity, so you can be ready when we can make our escape — because we will, Georgiana — we really will.” She met the girl’s gaze. “Do you trust me?”

  The girl nodded slightly, and took out her handkerchief. “I really don’t like the way he looks at me, Elizabeth.”

  “I don’t either,” Elizabeth confessed. “But at least that is all he has done.” But there was no time for further conversation. The door was wrenched open.

  “Have you decided to stop making such a commotion?” Mr. Wickham sounded disgruntled as he climbed in, followed by the two thugs.

  Elizabeth could feel the girl shivering next to her and straightened up, knowing the girl would feel her strength. She looked at their captor with contempt, and was surprised when he looked away.

  42

  Darcy didn’t stop until it was too dark to be safe to continue. He’d watched Richard struggle to stay silent as they’d passed the previous post stop in the gathering dusk, but had pressed on a further three miles. It might make all the difference.

  “We’ve done well to get this far.” Richard swung off the horse beside him and glanced at the inn. “But if we were to ride so late, we ought to have gone to the Swan. Father might have a message there for us.”

  Darcy glanced at him. “If we’d stopped back in Oadby as you wanted to, we’d have had to call at the Swan in the morning. We’ll do that anyway. The post might catch up with us, although I’m not certain of it.” He watched morosely as Richard’s man hurried into the inn to secure the parlour for their use. Mr. Reed was walking to the stables, talking to the grooms, and Darcy smiled faintly. Reed would get more information from them about whether the Darcy coach had been here.

  “Look, Monckton’s at the door.” Richard’s voice caught Darcy’s attention. “Let’s go to the parlour and have a whisky. We could both do with one.”

  Darcy shook his head. “You go in. I’ll wait here until Mr. Reed’s back from the stables — in case they are here. I would not want them to be able to ready the coach and go.”

  “They won’t be here, Darcy.” His cousin’s voice was understanding. “If for no other reason that they had several hours start on us.”

  “They might be.” Darcy felt stubborn. “We’ve been riding hard for two days now, and we can change horses within a few minutes. Changing horses on a coach takes longer.” He smiled slightly. “I’m sure the ladies have also thought of ways to delay them.” Reed was standing at the gateway to the yard, shaking his head.

  They weren’t here. Suddenly desperate, he turned away. “We must find them.”

  Richard’s voice was understanding. “I know. But remember, if Wickham does get to Scotland first, he still has to make himself known to us afterwards to claim Georgiana’s fortune.”

  Darcy turned and stared at him. “And you said we were friends in the past? How can you think like that?” He shook his head, and pushed his way towards the inn. “We promised her she’d never be forced to wed him. How will she ever trust us again after enduring that?” He looked back, scowling. “And you seem unconcerned about Miss Bennet, too!”

  “No.” Richard fell in beside him. “I do understand your fear for her.”

  Darcy bit back a sceptical remark. It would do no good. He nodded at the landlord’s bow, and flung himself into the armchair by the fire in the parlour, watching as his cousin sloshed a healthy amount of whisky into two glasses.

  “Mr. Reed and your man will go and check as many post inns as they can while we’re dining,” Darcy said abruptly. “I’ll write to your father and tell him we’ve reached Leicester.”

  “We’ve made amazingly good time,” Richard nodded. “But I’ll write to Father. Why don’t you write to your father? He will appreciate it, I’m sure.”

  Darcy glanced across the room. “I never mentioned the Gardiners or Miss Bennet by name. How can he know what I feel about this?”

  Richard’s gaze was astute. “The first time you met him — when he asked if you were married.” He smiled faintly. “You denied it, but I think you may have been too emphatic. You cannot blame him if he made some enquiries.”

  A cold hand squeezed Darcy’s heart. “It has cost Elizabeth much and may yet cost her life. How can I not blame him — or any of you who has let information reach Wickham?”

  Richard grimaced. “And it all started with Mrs. Gardiner, of course. But no one could have anticipated what Wickham would do.”

  Darcy frowned. “Mrs. Gardiner?”

  Richard looked startled. “But you know she came to see Mother after she first met you? She was going to speak to you.”

  “She said nothing to me.” Had she betrayed him? Darcy shuddered. “What did she come to your mother for?”

  Richard looked uncomfortable. “I didn’t realise I was breaking her confidence, Darcy. She said she’d been introduced to you, and, having lived in Lambton, recognised your father in you.” He shifted uncomfortably in the chair. “But she didn’t say much, and would not tell us the name you were using or where you were. She left soon afterwards, obviously unsure whether she’d done the right thing, and saying she must speak to you and ask if you wanted to make contact with the family.” He shook his head. “She never returned.”

  Darcy wondered if she’d shared her knowledge with her husband. But Gardiner would have spoken to him. If he couldn’t trust his mentor, he could trust no one. Another thought struck him. “Lambton?”

  “A small town not five miles from Pemberley. The estate owns most of the homes there.” Richard was looking steadily at him.

  “So, if she gave no information, how did you find me?”

  For the first time, his cousin looked abashed. “I took a horse and followed Mrs. Gardiner’s coach to Cheapside. I searched there until I found you.”

  Darcy jumped to his feet. “So, your parents and my fa
ther decided that those who live in Cheapside are unworthy, and have investigated Elizabeth and found her wanting!”

  He slammed the door behind him as he strode out into the cool night air. He must walk, dark or not.

  “Darcy!” He ignored his cousin’s shout and strode along the street. He would have to stay within the confines of the town, there was just enough light from the windows of the houses alongside for him to see.

  Someone caught up with him and began to walk a little behind him. He turned to berate Richard, but it was Mr. Reed, silent, and alert. Darcy took a deep breath, and nodded at him. Reed had never put a step wrong, never given Darcy cause to doubt him. He strode on, up and down the street, trying to calm his anger.

  If Mrs. Gardiner hadn’t gone to Matlock House, Richard would never have found him. He’d still be William Stoke, gaining security enough to offer for Elizabeth. He would have been happy, wouldn’t he? He was sure he could have made Elizabeth happy, too. They were as one mind when working together on business matters. And she was very beautiful.

  He wished he was there still. The business would soon have been secure enough for them to reach an understanding. Knowing nothing of the Darcys or the Matlocks, he would not know of Georgiana’s unhappiness, or Wickham’s evil intent. He sighed. Marriage to Elizabeth. It could have been like the marriage the Gardiners had.

  Thinking of the Gardiners raised his anger at Mrs. Gardiner again, and he had to push it away. Anger never served him well, he knew that. Elizabeth had encouraged him to seek his family, and something she’d said had made him wonder if she believed she would lose his attentions. He smiled wryly. He would never leave her behind, never.

  But he had put her in danger by seeking to reclaim his birthright. Wickham had seen it slipping through his fingers, and Darcy ought to have known they would never be safe the way the Matlocks wished to deal with the matter.

  As they passed the inn for the third time, Mr. Reed stepped closer. “I could obtain a torch from the inn, Mr. Darcy, and you could walk outside the town. I will tell them to delay dinner until you are ready.”