Chapter 29 #2
The mood of the table was warm and lively. Conversation sprang up almost at once, carried easily between the guests. Richard proved as entertaining as ever. He recounted several mild absurdities from his regiment that had Georgiana laughing behind her hand and Bingley nearly choking on his wine.
Even Mrs. Hurst smiled, which Darcy noticed with quiet approval.
She had been subdued since the dramatic departure of her younger sister from Netherfield. For several days afterward she had spoken very little, her manner restrained and distant.
Yet over the past week he had observed her sitting often beside Lady Anne in the mornings, asking questions in a low voice while the elder woman answered with patient kindness. Mrs. Hurst had listened attentively, sometimes even thoughtfully, and gradually her reserve had softened.
More importantly, she had made a visible effort to treat the Bennets with kindness whenever they visited.
It had done much to restore the easy harmony of the household.
The courses progressed amid frequent laughter and comfortable conversation. The evening carried none of the stiffness that might have accompanied such a gathering weeks earlier.
When the final plates were cleared, Bingley looked down the table at his sister.
“I say, Louisa… would you ladies be very put out if we go with you now instead of separating? We men will play billiards and smoke cigars later, but I imagine Richard here is eager to spend time with the ladies of his family.”
Richard beamed. “I say, that is very good of you, Bingley!”
“Of course,” Mrs. Hurst said quietly, rising from her chair.
When all were settled in the music room, Richard immediately begged to hear Georgiana play. The girl blushed a little but agreed with alacrity.
“This is quite an improvement over the sounds in the camp,” Richard said with a cheeky grin and a wink, causing Georgiana to giggle and fudge the first note.
After listening for a few moments, Richard leaned over from his chair to quietly speak to Darcy. “What are your plans for your sister and my aunt after the ceremony?”
Darcy set down his glass. “I have secured a small cottage not far from here,” he said. “Elizabeth and I will spend our wedding night there and remain for a short visit.”
Bingley, sitting nearby, nodded enthusiastically. “Jane and I are doing the same. That will allow the Hursts, Lady Anne, and Miss Darcy to remain comfortably at Netherfield… and yourself, of course, Richard.”
“Thank you, Bingley. I knew I could count on your hospitality,” Richard replied. “It is a good plan, and it will allow you all to have your privacy while also preventing your family from feeling as though they were intruding.”
“After a week or so,” Darcy went on, “Bingley and Jane will return here. Georgiana, Lady Anne, Elizabeth, and I will travel to London.”
Richard smiled faintly. “And after that?”
“A longer wedding journey will likely wait until summer,” Darcy replied. “Perhaps the Lakes.”
“An excellent choice,” Richard said warmly.
The conversation continued easily, the company lingering together with unhurried contentment.
Then, without warning, there was a loud banging from the front door.
Urgent.
Insistent.
Darcy rose from his chair. Next to him, Richard leaped to his feet and put his hand at his hip, though no sword was there.
“What the devil?” Bingley asked in confusion.
From the foyer came raised voices and the hurried footsteps of servants. Then a woman’s voice rang out clearly through the house.
“I must speak to Mr. Darcy at once! It concerns Miss Elizabeth!”
Darcy flew into action.
With his heart in his throat, he ran—for perhaps the first time in his adult life.
The footman had just stepped back to allow the visitor into the foyer when Darcy reached them. Standing on the threshold, flushed and breathless from exertion, was a woman who he vaguely remembered as being one of Elizabeth’s friends.
Miss Lucas… Charlotte?
She saw him immediately over the servant’s shoulder.
“Mr. Darcy!”
Darcy pushed past the footman. “What is it? Is Elizabeth well? Has she been hurt?”
Charlotte opened her mouth, then closed it and glanced nervously around the hall.
Darcy followed her gaze and realized that the entire household had followed him from the dining room. Bingley, Richard, Lady Anne, Georgiana, and the Hursts all stood watching with growing concern.
He acted at once. “Here, this way.”
He ushered her quickly into the small parlor adjoining the hall. Behind him he heard Lady Anne’s calm voice. “Georgiana, come with me.”
She guided the younger girl away toward the music room, Mrs. Hurst and her husband following in uneasy silence.
Richard and Bingley remained.
“We will be here,” Richard said quietly.
Darcy gave a brief nod before following Charlotte into the parlor, leaving the door standing open for propriety’s sake—although the notion of thinking of such things in such a dire moment nearly made him chuckle.
I must be losing my mind.
The moment they were alone he turned to her. “What has happened? Is Elizabeth safe?”
Charlotte looked at him steadily. “Eliza sent me a note asking me to bring it to you.”
Darcy took a step forward and reached out his hand. “Then give it to me.”
She did not move.
“I will,” she said slowly. “But first you must promise me something.”
Darcy stared at her. “What?”
“When you leave here,” Charlotte said, “you must take me with you.”
Darcy blinked in astonishment. “Miss Lucas—I do not understand.”
“I am seven-and-twenty years old,” she continued plainly. “I have no dowry, no prospects, and nothing awaiting me in Hertfordshire except a lifetime of dependence.”
Darcy said nothing.
“You need not take me immediately,” she went on.
“But when you are settled in Derbyshire, have Elizabeth send for me. Allow me to come. I will find some position—perhaps as a companion or governess. Or even a husband in a place where I do not have to compete with the five beautiful Bennet daughters.”
Her voice remained composed, but something in her eyes betrayed a deeper desperation. “I only wish the chance to make a life somewhere beyond here.”
Darcy hesitated. “Of course I would help you—”
“No.” Charlotte lifted her chin. “I require your word.”
Darcy frowned. “My word?”
“As a gentleman,” she said firmly. “Promise me that you will help me leave Hertfordshire.” For a moment irritation flared in him. Elizabeth might be in danger, and here Miss Lucas stood bargaining.
But then he looked more closely at her.
Beneath her calm manner lay something raw—something urgent and pleading.
Darcy understood suddenly that this request had not been lightly made.
“Very well,” he said quietly. “You have my word.”
Charlotte exhaled slowly, relief softening her shoulders. “Thank you.”
She reached into her cloak and withdrew a folded paper. “Here it is.”
Darcy snatched it from her hands.
The moment his eyes fell upon the hurried lines of Elizabeth’s writing, the color drained from his face.
He read it once.
Then again.
Drugged.
Taken away in the night.
Forced marriage.
His hands trembled slightly as he lowered the paper. “What on earth is happening at Longbourn?” he demanded.
Charlotte shook her head helplessly. “I did not see Elizabeth. Kitty brought it to me from her. She told me Mary struck Elizabeth earlier, and that Elizabeth had been crying in her room.”
Darcy pressed his lips together.
“She also said Elizabeth was behaving strangely,” Charlotte continued. “But nothing that suggested this.”
Darcy ran a hand through his hair. “I know Mary… strongly dislikes me,” he said slowly. “But why would Mr. Bennet—?”
Charlotte could only shrug. “Elizabeth has always been his favorite. I cannot imagine why he would do something so extreme… especially something like drugging her.”
Darcy nodded grimly.
“I must go to Longbourn immediately.”
Charlotte hesitated. “Mr. Darcy… be careful.”
He looked at her, surprised by the quiet concern in her voice. “I will.”
“I should return home,” she said.
Darcy moved toward the door. “I will escort you to your carriage.”
Charlotte flushed slightly. “I did not bring one.”
Darcy stopped and gaped at her.
“There was no time,” she explained. “I only had a moment of privacy to read Elizabeth’s letter before realizing what it contained. By the time my father’s carriage could be readied…”
Her voice trailed off before she added, “I did not know how to explain my need for it, in any case.”
Darcy glanced toward the dark windows beyond the hall.
She had come alone.
On foot.
In the dark.
Across the village with soldiers and fields with no lighting.
His respect for her rose sharply.
“Go to the ladies in the music room,” he said quickly. “Ask Mrs. Hurst to arrange a gig for you.”
Charlotte nodded.
“But do not explain anything,” Darcy added. “Tell them only that the gentlemen will speak to them shortly.”
“I understand.”
She slipped quietly from the room. Darcy stuck his head out into hallway.
“Bingley. Richard.”
Both men entered at once, and Darcy handed them the letter without a word.
Bingley’s face went white.
Richard swore under his breath.
“What are you going to do?” the colonel asked.
Darcy’s voice was deadly calm. “I am going to Longbourn.”
He folded the letter carefully.
“And I am rescuing Elizabeth.”