Bingley's eyes lit up. “But this is wonderful news! It changes everything!” Then he sobered. “But all is not well. Miss Elizabeth is missing.”
Elizabeth had believed him and had left with Georgiana! Relief flooded through him. But he must remember that he should have no knowledge of that. “Missing?”
“The same day you were arrested. The servant said she was with your sister and the two of them departed in your curricle. Georgiana left me a note saying you had told her to go to Pemberley, but not a word about Miss Elizabeth. I assumed Georgiana had simply taken her home to Longbourn, but neither of them have been seen since. A curricle is not suited for a long journey, and they did not even take a servant with them, so how could they have gone to Pemberley? And why would Miss Elizabeth have failed to tell her family?”
“One question at a time, if you please. I have been in a cell all this time and know nothing. What has been done to discover them?”
“I sent servants along the North Road to ask if anyone had seen them, and there are men searching the area between Netherfield and here. There has been no sign of them, neither the curricle nor the horses.”
All according to plan, although it was deuced inconvenient now. “Miss Bennet, can you think of anywhere your sister might have gone?”
She shook her head. “You do not understand. She did not leave voluntarily. I know that because her emergency satchel is still here. It was packed with everything she would want if she had to leave unexpectedly. I checked that first thing.” A tear slipped down her cheek.
That was a difficult point to counter. “Perhaps you are right, but if she had to leave so quickly that she could not even afford the time to fetch her satchel, where would she go? I do not want to leave any stones unturned.”
Miss Bennet hesitated. “I would have said she would go either to Scotland or to my uncle's house in London, but my uncle has not heard from her.” She lifted her chin. “Mr. Darcy, I understand you knew nothing of this until now, but you seem remarkably calm about your sister and mine being missing. I would have said you are not even particularly surprised by it.” She met his gaze steadily, with a surprising hint of steel in her eyes. “I must ask what you know about their disappearance.”
Bingley frowned. “Yes, Darcy, what do you know?”
Devil take it! In his preoccupation with finding Georgiana, he had handled this badly. He lowered himself into a chair. “I confess I am neither particularly surprised nor particularly worried about Georgiana's disappearance. There has always been a very real possibility I would be taken by the French, so we had an escape plan for Georgiana to employ if that happened. The curricle is always filled with supplies, including pistols. My sister is a crack shot, Miss Bennet, and well able to defend herself. If she has followed the plan, she should be fine.” He believed it, too. Not just because the French were not hunting them, but because if something had happened to Elizabeth, he would know. He would feel it.
Miss Bennet shook her head. “That did not explain my sister's absence.”
“No, it does not, but since they were seen leaving together, I can only assume Miss Elizabeth decided to accompany Georgiana. I cannot say why she would have left no message for you and not taken her satchel, unless she had some reason to disappear without a trace.” Darcy gave Bingley a significant look.
Bingley snapped his fingers. “Captain Reynard! Had you told her you were planning to leave Netherfield? That would have left her at his mercy – unless she disappeared.”
“That could explain it,” said Darcy.
Miss Bennet’s eyes were downcast. She said slowly, “I would rather believe she disappeared deliberately than that she has come to harm, but somehow it does not make sense. Something is not right.”
Darcy put on his blandest, most innocent look. “What is that?”
“I cannot put my finger on it. But wait – perhaps I can. Why did you have elaborate escape plans for your sister when you are in high favor among the French?”
Damnation! He should have realized Elizabeth's sister would be clever enough to spot that hole in his story. “At present, yes, but these things can change very rapidly. The escape plan was also for me. I had assumed she and I would go together. Unfortunately, there was no opportunity for that.”
Bingley said harshly, “Darcy is an agent for the government-in-exile. That is why he is worried about arrest and has an escape plan.”
Astonished, Darcy stared at his friend. “Where on earth did you get that notion?”
Bingley met his gaze without flinching. “I have suspected it for some time. You are not the sort to sell out your country merely for your own comfort. The night when the Gouldings came to dinner, I saw you show their friend a bit of paper, and you burned it afterwards. That was when I knew.”
Darcy sat back, drumming his fingers on the armrest of the chair. It was better to have them believe him a spy than to guess at the truth. “I deny it, but then again, I would deny it whether it was true or not. But what I can tell you, Miss Bennet, is that I will not rest until I have found my sister and hopefully yours along with her, and when I have done so I will endeavor to inform you somehow as to Miss Elizabeth's safety.”
“All you need to do is to go to Pemberley,” grumbled Bingley. Was he cross because Darcy had not admitted to his charges?
“Unfortunately, it will not be so simple. Part of the escape plan was to lay a false trail. I do not know where Georgiana is, except that it is not Pemberley. I will have to search for them, and it will not be simple or quick. Georgiana knows how to hide her tracks.”
“I can help,” Bingley offered.
Darcy shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but it is better for me to do this alone. There is too much I cannot tell you, and it could endanger both of us. I would feel much easier knowing you are here and can pass along to me any news Miss Bennet may receive.” He attempted a smile. “And without Miss Elizabeth or Georgiana here, someone should remain with Miss Bennet.”
His friend considered this. “Will you inform me if you do need help?”
“That I will be happy to do, and I am glad to know I can rely on you.”
“Of course you can. Dammit, Darcy, I do love England, too. You do not need to hide things from me.”
“It is not up to me, Bingley. Too many lives are at risk.” And he had been right not to tell Bingley anything, given how quickly his friend had shared his suspicions with Miss Bennet. A secret was only a secret as long as it was kept.
Miss Bennet folded her hands in her lap. “Mr. Darcy, did my sister know anything of your...other activities?”
Darcy weighed his options. “Not until the very end when I needed her to carry a message to Georgiana.” It was an admission, but he suspected Jane Bennet knew how to keep a secret even if Bingley did not.
“Good,” said Miss Bennet. “She found you very confusing. At least now she has an answer to her questions and will no longer blame you for your choices.”
She was not the only one who was glad. It had been surprisingly painful to keep secrets from Elizabeth. And he would never forget the warmth of her lips against his.
***
Elizabeth sent a boy with the message first thing in the morning, praying her uncle would read it and understand. She had always considered herself an independent person, but her constant fear of being captured by the French and her responsibility for Georgiana made her long for the presence of someone older and wiser. Her uncle would make everything better.
It was not yet noon when she spotted Mr. Gardiner riding in on a sweating horse. Her heart swelled at the sight of his familiar face. She hurried outside to greet him, followed by a worried Georgiana.
Her uncle dismounted and tossed the reins to a groom, seeming to notice her only at the last minute. Then he hugged her so hard she gasped for breath when he finally released her. “Thank God!” He grabbed her shoulders. “But what in God's name were you thinking? Do you have any idea what you have put us through by disappearin
g like that?”
Tears came to Elizabeth’s eyes. “I am sorry. I did not want to leave, but I had no choice.”
Mr. Gardiner’s face grew grim. “Who was it? Who took you away?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “No, it was not like that. It was my duty, but I wish there had been a way to prevent my family from suffering for it. But I cannot tell you about it here. There is a garden behind the inn where we can talk.”
“Very well.” Mr. Gardiner followed her into the inn and out through the rear door. Georgiana trailed after him.
They sat on a stone bench some distance from the inn, while Georgiana waited near the doorway. The words burst from Elizabeth. “Is my family safe? I have been so worried about them.”
Her uncle’s brows knitted. “As far as I know.”
“The French have not evicted them from Longbourn?”
“Not that I have heard of, and they would have told me. But why did you leave?”
Elizabeth breathed a sigh of heartfelt relief. “I needed to help her escape.” She gestured towards Georgiana.
Mr. Gardiner looked around them. “Of whom are you speaking?”
Elizabeth glanced back at Georgiana. “That youth over there. She is a girl dressed as a boy. Do you remember my letters about Mr. Bingley and Miss Darcy, the new friends who were visiting Jane? That is Miss Darcy. Or that is how we were introduced to her, but it is not her name. Her brother had been keeping her hidden from society much as we did with Jane, but he was not really her brother at all. Then he was arrested, and because I was the only person there, he told me the truth—”
“You are making no sense, Lizzy. Why did you run off without a word?”
“It is not why, but who.” She whispered in his ear, “She is Princess Charlotte.”
He crossed his arms and glared at her. “Ridiculous. I do not know if you have gone mad or are merely the victim of a clever hoax, but that girl is no more Princess Charlotte than I am King George. You cannot believe everything you are told!”
“That is not fair! It was not simply believing what he told me. For weeks I spent hours every day with Mr. Darcy and his sister, and the entire time I felt there was something I was failing to understand about them. Jane felt it, too. When he was forced into telling me who she was, suddenly the entire puzzle made sense.”
Her uncle sighed heavily. “Somehow I am certain he wanted something from you when he concocted this fable.”
“He was being arrested. He wanted me to protect her, to take her away.”
“He told you the thing that would make you most likely to do as he asked. Lizzy, I know how much you have wanted to contribute something to the cause of England’s freedom, but he took advantage of your trusting nature to accomplish his own ends.”
“My trusting nature? You are confusing me with Jane! Can you not even consider that I might be telling you the truth? I have spent four days and nights with her, and I am certain beyond a doubt of her identity. For heaven’s sake, this is a girl who reads French books on military strategy for pleasure!”
Mr. Gardiner simply shook his head. “I am sorry, Lizzy, both for your disappointment and for all the pain this deception has caused.”
Elizabeth pressed her arms tight against her sides as she forced her anger down. Finally she stood and said, “Very well. I know better than to think I can change your mind when it is made up. I will ask only that you not repeat anything of what I have told you to anyone, for the sake of my safety, if nothing else. She and I will leave here today.”
“This is ridiculous! What of your father and mother, not to mention your aunt, who are all desperately worried about you? You must return to them.”
A cold numbness spread through Elizabeth, but there was only one course of action open to her. “I did not ask for this burden, but I have a duty to something larger than my family. If it will console them, I will send you a letter saying I am safe in Scotland, and you may show it to them.”
He opened his hands as if he wanted to take her by the shoulders, but he made no move to touch her. “Is that where you will be going, then?”
“I do not know yet, but we will disappear completely. I have mastered that particular skill in the last few days.” She hated sounding so cold when this was likely the last time she would see her uncle, but if she did not focus on what she had to do, she would start to cry.
His hands fell to his sides. “I can only pray someday you will see reason and return to us. I can give you a little money if that would help.”
She made a harsh sound in the back of her throat. “Thank you, but I have more money than I know what to do with.”
Georgiana’s voice came from beside her. “Elizabeth, may I speak to your uncle privately for a few minutes?” She sounded calm and confident, much as she had when she had revealed her identity to the old couple near Oxford.
Elizabeth lifted one shoulder. “If he is willing to speak to you, I have no objection. I will pack the satchel; we will be leaving as soon as possible.” She left without a word to her uncle. Her lower lip did not begin to tremble until she was inside the inn.
***
Half an hour later, Georgiana returned to Elizabeth’s room. “Go to your uncle,” she said. “He wishes to speak to you.”
Elizabeth turned a pained gaze on her. “Did you convince him?”
“I think so. He asked me a great many questions.”
Bile rose in her throat. Had her uncle believed a stranger when he had not trusted Elizabeth? She was not certain she wished to know the answer.
Mr. Gardiner was still sitting on the bench behind the inn. No doubt her red and swollen eyes were obvious, but there was nothing she could do about that. “Georgiana says you have something to tell me,” she said coolly.
He rubbed his hand over his mouth. Beads of perspiration edged his forehead. “I cannot believe it! But I must believe it. She knows too much, and the way she carries herself...”
Elizabeth held back a bitter laugh. Her uncle had never seen one of Georgiana’s nervous attacks. “You should not judge upon that. Sometimes she is quite different. I have come to the conclusion that she is very good at being that other person whose name I will not say, but she is not well suited to being meek, obedient Georgiana Darcy.”
“But that this burden should fall onto you! My hands are shaking just thinking of what might have happened to her and to you. I am sorry I disbelieved you, Lizzy.”
She thawed a little. “I still wake up in the night disbelieving it myself.”
“That a secret of this magnitude could be kept for so long!” He mopped his brow with a handkerchief. “But you said in your letter that you were in urgent need of help. If it is not money, how can I assist you?”
Elizabeth sat down beside him. “She was supposed to go into the care of another Loyalist, but he has been executed. We do not know where to take her next. Only Mr. Darcy or someone in Jamaica would know that. We need to discover what has happened to Mr. Darcy, but very quietly, so no suspicions are raised.” At least her voice had not trembled while speaking of Mr. Darcy.
Mr. Gardiner said, “I can write a letter to your father and ask about him, or I could travel there myself. Or I could send someone to ask questions.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “It is more difficult than that. There can be no direct questions or involvement of anyone else. No one must know you have any interest in Mr. Darcy. If he was forced to confess, they will be watching my family and on the lookout for strangers inquiring after him. You would have to visit Longbourn, but I know it would look suspicious if you left your business and go there for no reason, so we may have to wait.”
Mr. Gardiner blinked several times before responding. “I see. I will have to set up a family visit, but you are right. It would raise questions if I appeared suddenly.”
“We also need help finding somewhere to stay, especially if Mr. Darcy can no longer help us and we have to contact the government-in-exile for instructions. It will take months for
a letter to travel across the Atlantic and back, and we cannot stay at inns indefinitely. Too much attention is paid to travelers.”
Her uncle nodded. “I can assist you with that. We will have to discuss what type of situation would be safest.”
Elizabeth felt a weight lift off her shoulders. “Secrecy is paramount. You are only the fourth person in England to know the truth, but that is already too many.” But she was glad for her own sake that he knew it. It had been a heavy responsibility to carry alone.
***
Elizabeth looked curiously at the pile of parcels Mr. Gardiner set on the small writing desk in her room at the inn. “What have you brought us?”
“Mourning dresses,” said her uncle. “Do not worry; no one has died. They are costumes for the role you will need to play in your new situation.”
“You have found us lodgings?” asked Georgiana.
“Of a sort. It was more challenging than I anticipated. I looked at several flats before discovering that Hangman Lamarque requires new lodgers to be reported to the French. If your Mr. Darcy has confessed, they might be watching for two young people in search of lodgings, so I decided to look at other options.”
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. “Hangman Lamarque?”
Mr. Gardiner looked at her in surprise. “You have not heard him called that before? I suppose the nickname has not yet traveled outside the city. Monsieur Lamarque, who became head of London police last year, suspects all Englishman and considers almost everything a hanging offense.”
Elizabeth nodded. “I read in The Loyalist that London arrests and executions had increased.”
“There is one of Lamarque’s hanging offenses for you – possessing a copy of The Loyalist.”
“Hanging just for that?” cried Elizabeth. “Why, when the French commander in Meryton arrested someone for that, we all thought it was just a ploy.”
“Not in London. You will find life in Town quite changed since his arrival. Everyone is afraid of him.”
Georgiana’s brows drew together. “Can no one stop him?”
Mr. Gardiner shook his head. “Rumor has it that General Desmarais attempted to persuade him that a frightened populace is a dangerous populace, but Lamarque is not under his command. He reports directly to the Emperor.”
Conceit & Concealment: A Pride & Prejudice Variation Page 11
