“Your sister Kitty, and your mother.He has abducted and imprisoned them,” Darcy said at last, after a pause that was dreadful to Elizabeth’s feelings.“He swears that he shall have them killed if you do not come to his estate in England.The letter has some other threats within it, but that is the essence of the matter.”
Elizabeth grabbed for the letter.
“You do not wish to read what he wrote.Believe me, you do not.”Darcy held the white fluttering pages away from her.
“What can we do?— do you think.Oh, God.What can we do?”
Darcy put the letter away in his waistcoat.He opened his mouth to respond, and for an instant Elizabeth felt a surge of hope that her Darcy would have some notion of what to do that would immediately rescue her mother and sister.
But he then closed his mouth.
Elizabeth shivered, like she had when she sat in his drawing room, awaiting Darcy’s return after walking six miles on a swollen foot in a freezing London without a coat or proper shoes.
“At the first we shall contact a judge in his county to send constables to his estate,” Darcy said at last, pacing next to the rainy window.“This is not a sort of matter which he can expect to escape punishment from.This letter alone is proof that he is the one to cause the disappearance.He has been deeply incautious.When the magistrates descend on his house—”
“He will simply do what he swears, and kill my sister and my mother.”
“Elizabeth…” Darcy walked up to put his arms around her.
His touch was not enough to comfort her.She felt her skin crawling, and part of her wanted to shout at Darcy to leave her be.
Her mother.Her little sister.
Elizabeth panted horribly.She felt like a bare-knuckled punch had been delivered to her sternum, and the air would no longer come in.
“Breathe, Lizzy.”Darcy gripped her tightly, holding her body comfortingly against his solid mass.“Deep breaths.One breath in.Breathe out.One breath in.And then breathe out.Breathe, Lizzy.”
She followed his orders, and breathed in long shuddering breaths.
He kissed her hair.“We’ll rescue them.We’ll find a way.”
Her mother.Her sister.
Kitty had grown to look very like Elizabeth.Would Lord Lechery slake his lusts on her now that he could not touch Elizabeth?What did he plan to do with Elizabeth when she came to his estate — for she knew she must, even if he killed her.
She was shivering, feeling scared and unsafe, despite Darcy’s hold.
She saw her mother, her nervous anxious mother, who despite everything she loved.She imagined her mother caught in this terrifying situation, trying to complain of matters to her captors like she would to all her friends, and them screaming at her to shut up.
“I must go, as he ordered.”
“He means to kill you, or worse.”
“There is nothing worse than him killing me.”Elizabeth pulled out of Darcy’s hold and walked to the window.She hunched her shoulders.
The sky was still grey, rainy, and ugly.
Darcy walked up to her, but while he had a firmness in his face, she could tell from his manner that his mind was endlessly spinning, and not coming to any conclusion.
She gulped air repetitively, and she pressed her elbows against her sides, as though that pressure was the only thing which kept her from dissolving into a million pieces.
Then Darcy’s distraction faded away.He stood taller, with something that was almost a smile.
Yes, she saw him mouth to himself.
Darcy said, “Do you trust me?You have claimed me as your champion.Your dragon slayer.”
“He will kill my family.I must go.I see no other way.I must go.”
