“And Georgiana! He wanted to secure a promise of aid from you, in exchange for revealing the attacker.”
Richard stared at the ground, aghast. The timing was right, and no one had seen that devil since…. “But he claims he was not behind the attack himself? I could almost have believed it of him, the filthy liar.”
“I only know that he finds himself no longer protected by whomever it was. I came tonight to learn more, but W—w… hesawme, Colonel! I was going to speak with Mr Wickham myself because I did not dare send another, and now….” Her shoulders shook with angry tears, and another shrieking gasp brought her hand back to her mouth.
It looked dreadful, he had to confess. Little wonder that Darcy had arrived thinking everyone he knew had turned against him—first somehow that dratted announcement in the paper, and then this!
“See here, Miss Bennet,” he tried to comfort her, “Darcy is—well, I would not call him reasonable at the moment, but he is an intelligent man. These are things he must be told, for Georgiana’s sake if not his own. We shall attempt to make ourselves heard on the morrow, after he has had a night’s rest in his own bed and a shave. He is always at his most sociable then.”
She made no answer but the continued quaking of her shoulders.
“Fear not, Miss Bennet, we will show him the truth,” he insisted. “Darcy will hear you, I have every confidence.”
“No, Colonel,” she whispered. “I have given him reason before to doubt my judgment, and his good opinion, once lost, is lost forever.” She brushed some tears from her cheeks, which mattered little against the rain. “I shall return to Hertfordshire and never see him again. Please, take me to Lambton tonight!”
Richard glanced down at the shivering frame of the young lady.Stubborn!But it was not the time to carry an argument, for the little farmhouse was near enough now for their voices to be heard. They walked the remaining distance in silence, he urging her on by lengthening his own strides until they reached the threshold.
“Halloo!” he pounded on the door. “A lady requires shelter from the rain! Please, may I bring her in to dry herself?”
There was a stirring within, and a moment later a middle-aged couple opened the door. The farmer looked suspiciously at him, but his wife instantly recognised Elizabeth as the young lady known to be a guest of Miss Darcy. “Miss Bennet! Come in, miss, come in! I hope the poor mistress is not out with you in this weather!”
Elizabeth accepted the woman’s hospitality with quiet gratitude, and assured her that Miss Darcy was safely indoors. “I foolishly thought to walk out late and became… lost,” she mumbled as a blanket was brought. “The colonel was kind enough to search for me.”
The farmer’s wife clucked her sympathy and promptly settled Elizabeth by the hearth, while Richard drew to the side with her husband. “My good sir, I must thank you for attending to Miss Bennet. Might I impose on you so far as to care for her while I return to the house to call back the riders and bring a carriage?”
“Oh Colonel, I pray you would not trouble yourself,” protested Elizabeth from across the modest room. She raised her head and sought him with imploring eyes, her expression begging him not to take her back—not to bring her again beforehim. Richard could well understand her reluctance, but there was no help for it. Her belongings, her sister, and even the carriage that might convey her to Hertfordshire, if necessary, were all at the great house of Pemberley.
“I am afraid I must, Miss Bennet,” he apologised. “I will not be away long.”
Chapter forty-two
Elizabethshiveredforovertwo hours while she waited for the colonel to return. She was not chilled—the generous farmer and his wife had seen amply to her comforts. Every pulse beat thrummed in dread.William!How could she have erred so grievously? Could there have been any worse betrayal than to be found meeting secretly with the man he despised the most?
Tears continued to brim in her eyes, and the hot tea offered by her hostess went almost untouched. She could not swallow, could not speak, could think of nothing but his name as it echoed over and over. He was alive, he had loved her enough to come to her, and she had wounded him unforgivably! Just now, when she most wished to rejoice and he most sorely needed a confidante, trust was dead—blasted utterly by unseen hands and her own indiscretion.
She did not miss the worried looks exchanged by her host and hostess. Oh, why was the colonel taking so long with the carriage? She could have walked the distance twice in such a time! And what was she to do about Lydia? Her stomach churned as she tried not to crumble before these strangers. Darcy’s tenants they were, and she would not have it whispered that one of his guests had fled his house, no matter how true.
At long last, the sounds of deliverance rattled outside the farmhouse. Colonel Fitzwilliam himself had returned for her, his manner urgent, but still gracious and gentle.Why could I not have fallen in love with him instead?He was so much less complicated than his cousin, and far more adept at civility. She allowed him to take her by the hand, looking curiously into his eyes. The depth, the ardent interest and devotion she had come to know so well, were absent from the colonel’s gaze. She swallowed and looked away. No, it was no happenstance of physical appearance, but some unique quality possessed by Fitzwilliam Darcy alone that perfectly matched her own heart, and none other could compare. Theyfit, were designed for each other, and she had destroyed any hope of a future.
She was gazing now at the floor of the carriage, her dried cloak huddled about her, when the colonel closed the door and slid close to her side. She raised her head in alarm when she beheld the intense expression upon his face. He took her hand again and leaned very close to her ear, and Elizabeth stiffened in dread. Oh, no, he was not about to try to salvage her honour after their late-night walk! She began to arch back in denial.
“Miss Bennet,” he spoke lowly, “I am afraid that I will not be able to deliver you to Lambton this evening as you requested. Darcy has vanished again.”
She blinked, startled at this reversal of her expectations. “He… he is gone?” Her eyes wandered from the colonel’s. Shehadseen him before, had she not? Or was it another delusion?
“He had left the house shortly before my return. I do not know why, or where he had gone. Hodges said that he saw Georgiana for a moment, and then our aunt found them out just as they were greeting one another. There was some altercation, then Darcy exploded. The last anyone saw him, he was marching out into the night without a hat or a coat.”
“Did they not follow him to ensure his safety?” Elizabeth was rigid now with fear for him. “It must be nearly midnight by now, and still raining! Oh, Colonel, he is not himself! Why would they not call him back or send someone with him?”
“They tried. He had some rather choice things to say about their efforts—Georgiana was still in her room crying over his words. Thank goodness for Mrs Wickham! Your sister was trying to comfort her when I left. Miss Bennet, I am afraid I need your help.”
“But what can I do?”
“When we find him, I need you to talk some reason into him. Clearly, he needssomeoneto whom he might listen, and my last conversation with him ended rather badly.”
“I should do more harm than good! Colonel, you know what happened tonight. You know he has every reason to despise me!”
“I know that he was a hairsbreadth from tearing the sword down off his wall to murder me because he was still out of his senses after seeing you.”
