by APRIL FLOYD
Miss Younge laughed at Elizabeth’s words. “We shall find the truth of your statement, miss. Wickham is a desperate man and were I you, I should consider doing all I might to insure my safety and honor.”
Elizabeth’s maid gasped at the woman’s implication and cast her eyes to the floor of the carriage. Her trembling body threatened to send Elizabeth into her own fit of terror.
Perhaps her captors believed they might extort a large sum from Charles Bingley? Elizabeth thought of Jane and the anguish her plight would bring to her sister. The ousted driver and footman would return to Netherfield with the news if Wickham had not killed them. “I speak the truth. My father is quite ill and my family is dependent upon my sister and her husband. I am certain they would pay whatever Mr. Wickham asks, within their ability.”
Miss Younge sat back on her bench and sighed deeply. “I have given you sound advice. If you choose to ignore it, I can do no more. Wickham is terribly erratic when funds are low. I do hope he spares your maid, at least.”
Elizabeth squeezed Eleanor’s hand for comfort as sobs racked the young woman’s thin body. Mr. Wickham’s partner in crime had a way with words, her presence far more menacing than Elizabeth had first thought.
Mr. Darcy sought to find all that he could of Elizabeth’s plan from his cousin as they rode for Hertfordshire. “If she had only waited a while longer, I would have her beside me now. Tell me, Anne, where was she bound? I imagine it must be Netherfield.”
Anne took her aunt’s hand and spoke freely in the Darcy carriage. For the first time in her life, she was at ease and without worry. “She would not say, William. I asked her, I did, but she was worried mother would force the truth from me. I cannot think she was planning to return to Netherfield for the fact Mr. Collins would certainly search there first thing.”
Mr. Darcy agreed with his cousin. Elizabeth would not choose to return to the place Mr. Collins had stolen her the night of the ball. She must be headed to London or Derbyshire.
Lady Anne sighed deeply, her remorse at having parted company with the lovely, young Elizabeth Bennet causing her melancholy to return. “Had we only gone to Hertfordshire from the start, we might have avoided the terrible scene at Rosings Park. I promise this, William, she shall never worry about that parson again. I only wish she knew it as she made her way to a safer abode.”
Mr. Darcy took his mother’s hand and held it tightly in his own. “I shall find her, mother, of that you may be certain. We shall go to Netherfield first, her carriage must have passed that way and she may have stopped only long enough to see Mrs. Bingley before traveling on.”
The hijacked carriage arrived in London but Elizabeth and her maid were bone tired, neither having slept with Sally Younge’s eyes upon them.
The door to the carriage opened and George Wickham smiled tenderly at his new friends. “You may find your accommodations lacking, Miss Bennet, for we cannot afford lodgings as comfortable as Netherfield and certainly none to approach the likes of Pemberley.”
Elizabeth stood to take his arm, her skin crawling with fear. She would do all she might to keep her young maid calm until they were settled. Mr. Wickham heard the unmistakable clink of coins as Elizabeth stood and turned to Miss Younge. “Search her now, for she has hidden a good deal of money on her person. I would dearly love to find it myself but I know you have quite a jealous streak, my dear.”
He winked and stood watching. Elizabeth would not endure such horrid actions against herself and angrily turned over the purse Anne de Bourgh had given her. Sally Younge laughed in Elizabeth’s face. “I had thought you more capable of a good fight, Miss Bennet. I find it must mean you are only a threat to the ladies at a fancy tea.”
Elizabeth kept her face serene as her emotions nearly choked her with their ferocity. Mr. Wickham and his crude companion would pay for their misdeeds; she would see to it the first chance that presented itself. She did not escape the prison of Rosings to fall into yet another trap. “Come, Eleanor, do not fear. These travelers have their money, a good bit of my possessions, and a fine carriage with horses. We may take our leave of them.”
George Wickham’s face fell into a sad mask as he helped Elizabeth and her maid from the coach. “I am afraid you are mistaken, Miss Bennet. This money shall only provide a night or two of luxury for our hard work. We shall require quite a bit more before you are to take your leave, as you say.”
Elizabeth lost the last bit of control she possessed and slapped George Wickham hard across his face. Sally Younge jumped from the carriage and tore the sleeve of Elizabeth’s dress with her knife.
Eleanor screamed and the woman was upon her before the young woman could blink. She twisted her hands in the maid’s hair and pulled viciously until the tears flowed freely down her captive’s terrified face.
George Wickham grabbed Elizabeth’s arm and shoved her into a dark doorway of what appeared to be a flop house with unsavory characters gathered about. He marched her up a rickety flight of stairs and pushed her through a flimsy door and upon a bare mattress in the floor. Eleanor soon found herself beside her mistress.
“Stay with them, Sally, while I go and secure our room for the next few nights. I shall send Terrence to guard them as I require your services in my bedchamber this evening.”
Elizabeth and Eleanor sat up, their stomachs churning at the picture of Wickham and his dreadful companion in the throes of passion. Elizabeth spoke before the man might take his leave. “We must not be left in such a state guarded by a man of questionable reputation, Mr. Wickham. Did you plan to gain money for us, I would think Mr. Bingley unhappy to find how we’ve been treated.”
Wickham sauntered over to her and knelt on the floor, his eyes gone soft and his voice a husky whisper. Elizabeth shuddered as his lips came close to her ear. “Mr. Darcy is the one who shall pay my little songbird. You gave me all I need to know when you brightened about your connection to the Darcy family when first we met. Tell me, has the proud man offered for your hand?”
Elizabeth turned her head away, bent on ignoring his question. Sally approached with her knife and held the point against Elizabeth’s throat. “If he did, we must not harm her, but if he did not, I would enjoy a moment alone to carve out an understanding with the chit.”
Elizabeth gazed into Eleanor’s eyes and swallowed the fear that consumed her. “He did, we were to meet here in London with my parents, yet they are too ill to travel. Mr. Darcy will kill you for this, surely you must understand that fact.”
Mr. Wickham stood and smirked as a bored gentleman in the grandest ballroom in London might. He pulled Sally away from Elizabeth and left the woman huddled on the floor with her maid, terrified of their circumstance.
If Elizabeth could escape this squalor, she could find Darcy House and gain the protection of the Darcy family. It did not matter she had lied about Mr. Darcy’s proposal to that animal Wickham. It mattered not that he had not offered for her yet. It had been the only way to keep Sally Younge from killing either her or the maid who trembled beside her.
Elizabeth remembered the blade Anne de Bourgh had given her. If this Terrence person, who was to guard them, tried so much as to speak to them, she would hide it in one hand and kill him if she must.
Chapter 14
The Darcy carriage arrived at Netherfield hours after Elizabeth had gone. There was great shouting and trouble in the entry and Mr. Darcy warned his mother and his cousin to remain inside the carriage.
He ran up the steps and into the entry to find a driver and footman being tended by the apothecary Jones from Meryton. The men had cuts and bruises, and their clothing was torn, yet they seemed well enough.
“Charles,” he called, “what has happened?”
Charles hurried down the stairs motioning for his friend and his servants to lower their voices. “Jane is just now settled upstairs and I would not have bad news delivered where she might hear it.”
Mr. Darcy followed his friend to the study, sparing a glance for the me
n in the entry. They must have been set upon by bandits in the road, for there was no carriage in the drive save his own.
Charles slammed a fist into the wall beside the door after Mr. Darcy entered the study and cursed terribly. Mr. Darcy had only ever heard such language from the likes of his cousin, Richard Fitzwilliam, but the colonel was a soldier and colorful language was de rigueur in his rough society of men. Mr. Darcy placed a hand on his friend’s arm, eager for news of his beloved. “Is Miss Elizabeth here?”
Mr. Bingley shook his head and spoke barely above a whisper. “Lizzy and a maid were in the carriage my men lost. Not far from Meryton, Elizabeth allowed a man and woman to join their party on the way to London. The man stopped the carriage and attacked the footman once they were a few hours down the road. He managed to knock the driver from his seat.”
Mr. Darcy tried to rush past Charles, but was gripped about the shoulders and shoved against the study door. “The man was traveling with a woman who called him Wickham. The driver is certain of it.”
Mr. Darcy lunged at the mention of the vile man’s name, his anger at Elizabeth’s predicament causing all reason to leave him. Charles stepped back and held up his hands.
“I am going after them! Keep my mother and cousin safe here at Netherfield until I return with Miss Elizabeth.”
Mr. Darcy strode quickly from the study and broke into a run once he cleared the front doors of Netherfield. Mr. Bingley followed him out and went to Lady Anne as she was helped from the carriage. She held onto his arm demanding an answer for the chaos they met upon their arrival. “What has happened?”
Charles Bingley took his best friend’s mother and cousin inside Netherfield and had them sit in the parlor until Mr. Darcy had galloped away, hell bent for leather.
“Mr. Bingley, why are there injured men in your entry and why has my son alit from this house in a blind fury?” She feared her dear friend, Miss Elizabeth, was the reason and she moved closer to her namesake on the sofa. Anne de Bourgh took her aunt’s trembling hands and held them as gently as she might. She too feared there must be some terrible tragedy and fought back tears of regret.
“Lady Anne, your son has commanded I keep the two of you safe here until he returns. Miss Elizabeth’s carriage has been hijacked, by the reports of my driver and footman. She has only a young maid to rely upon.”
Lady Anne rose swiftly from her seat, a hand pressed to her mouth. “It cannot be. The poor girl has only just escaped Rosings and that horrid parson. Who would do such a thing? Pray God she does not come to harm.”
Mr. Bingley came and stood beside Lady Anne for fear she might faint. Anne sobbed on the sofa, bitter tears of frustration at her inability to see Miss Elizabeth safely to her destination. “I ought to have sent her in a carriage from Rosings with an armed driver and footman. Instead, I gave her a small knife and a purse to carry to her doom.”
Lady Anne sat again beside her niece and comforted the young woman. “Miss Elizabeth is strong and has her wits about her. Surely with the help of the maid, she will find a way to escape her captor. William will find her, and the persons responsible will suffer greatly, on that you may depend.”
She glanced to Charles Bingley, sensing his reticence to speak further on the matter. “What more is there to tell, son? Who has taken our dear Miss Bennet?”
He paced before the ladies, his heart broken to have to speak the next words to Lady Anne. “We believe it was George Wickham and Miss Younge.”
Lady Anne fell against her niece, the wail of pain tearing from her throat causing the butler and the men in the entry to come rushing into the room.
Jane appeared behind them, her hair loose and her hand upon her middle. Charles bowed his head and prayed for the strength to tell his wife of her sister’s dire situation.
“Lady Anne, I have not prepared your rooms but I shall call for the maids to set fires in two adjoining suites.”
Anne stood and Charles introduced her to Jane. “This is Miss Anne de Bourgh, she is Darcy’s cousin from Kent. I fear Lizzy was gone before Darcy arrived at Rosings.”
Lady Anne stood with the help of her niece and went to Jane. “My dear, I shall leave for London and Darcy House in the morning. You must keep Anne safe here with you and remain strong for your sister.”
Jane shook her head, her face stricken by the news of her sister’s trials. “What has happened to Lizzy?”
She turned to Charles, the tears spilling from her eyes as she stepped into his arms.
He smoothed her hair and held her firmly. The child between them moved and he bit back the sorrow he shared with Jane. “Lizzy will be home before you know it and none the worse for her ordeals. She is the strongest young woman and Mr. Darcy will see she is safe. I swear it to you.”
Charles led Jane upstairs and stayed by her side throughout the night, hoping Anne might manage to tend her aunt with the help of his servants. He had wanted desperately to leave with Darcy, for Lizzy was his own sister now and he would do no less in securing her future than he would for Louisa or Caroline. He simply prayed through the night for Mr. Darcy and the young women held by the wicked George Wickham.
Elizabeth eyed Terrence and kept a strong grip on her knife. She stood now by the lone window with her maid speaking in hushed whispers of London and all the fine shoppes to maintain her own sanity as much as that of her young charge.
Being in the same city as Mr. Darcy was a torture under these circumstances and she longed to run into the night and hire a post-chaise to take them to Darcy House. But knowing London as she did from her visits over the years with the Gardiners, she and the maid must not be upon these streets after dark, not in this section of town as women alone.
Terrence slid his bulk down the wall by the door and Elizabeth released the tension in her arms and back from clenching the small dagger Anne had given her. She did not trust the man but she could not keep herself in a fight posture for much longer without becoming useless if he approached them.
The maid was pleased to have seen Wickham and Miss Younge take their leave and had ceased with her trembling and fear. For that, Elizabeth was grateful. A clear mind would help them think of a way out of their situation.
She believed they would see no more of their captors this night, not with the purse full of money they had taken from her. She hoped they drank themselves unconscious and awoke as though a thousand horse hooves pounded through their skulls.
She glanced at the door beside Terrence who seemed about to drift off to sleep. There was the small window beside them but there was no ledge nor way down for a woman in a dress. Elizabeth would not give up.
Eleanor pulled out a small purse of coins and handed them to Elizabeth. “From your sister Jane. She wanted to come with us but you know Mr. Bingley would not hear of it.”
Elizabeth’s heart lifted and she helped the maid to lie down behind her on the tattered mattress and kept watch while she slept. When the weak rays of dawn pierced the gray skies of London and crept across the floor, Elizabeth moved about the room as quickly and quietly as she might.
Terrence was snoring so loudly; Elizabeth was certain he would awaken himself before much longer. She gently nudged Eleanor from her fitful dreams and hurried her to the door. If they could slip into the hallway and go slowly down the rickety steps, they could find a conveyance to take them to Darcy House. Mr. Wickham would not dare to seek them there.
Once in the street, Elizabeth pulled Eleanor close and with their heads down, they hurried up the street. “Listen, Eleanor, if we are parted do you know the way to Darcy House?” The young maid nodded, fearing to even speak.
A wicked laugh found them around the first corner. “Well, see what we have here. Wickham, go finish Terrence, he has failed us one time too many.”
Wickham started to refuse this notion but Sally Younge wanted what she wanted. Wickham took the maid with him, amidst much arguing from Miss Bennet and wretched sobbing from the maid.
Miss Younge took Elizabeth
by the arm and pinched her flesh hard. “Unless you would prefer to die today, I suggest you follow my instructions. I kept you here with me to dissuade poor Wickham from his base nature. The maid won’t tempt him but he would compromise you without a second thought.”
Elizabeth could not stop the tremble that passed through her body.
“George loves beautiful young women, his desire for them has always been his downfall. Miss Darcy proved that. But she paid, she did.”
Sally’s eyes had grown brighter and her breathing increased as she spoke. Elizabeth had never been so frightened in her life. The woman was truly and completely mad! In spite of her fear, Elizabeth asked what the woman meant, her voice hoarse. “What has Miss Darcy to do with this?”
“Let’s have an understanding, Miss Bennet. George loved Miss Darcy, much as it killed me. When she became frightened to go along with our plan, George returned her to Mr. Darcy in the hope he might ask her hand in years to come. I hated him for that! George is mine.”
Elizabeth struggled to breathe evenly. Was this woman beside her, the one who held her arm in a vise-like grip, responsible for the death of Georgiana Darcy? She found it difficult to believe every word of hatred that flowed from the woman. Surely George Wickham would not have allowed her to kill the young woman he loved?
Elizabeth took the purse Eleanor had given her and opened it quickly, causing the gold coins to clink and roll against the ground. The surprise, combined with the flash of gold in the early light, had Sally Younge on her knees scratching about the cobblestones.
Elizabeth turned then and ran for all she was worth. She heard the woman cursing her, the pounding of her feet, the screams echoing in the quiet streets.
Yet she managed to escape the woman and hid in doorways and shadows until she had come at last to a post-chaise. When she gave the name Darcy House to the driver, he hurried away, unconcerned about the payment for his services. She would send several footmen back for Eleanor.
