Page 104 of Triumph at Pemberley

Friedrich said, “Not yet. She said we had to go because Mr. Jack was captured.”

Darcy drew in a sharp breath. There were hundreds of men named Jack. Surely he could not mean…

Elizabeth asked gently. “Do you mean Mr. Jack Darcy?”

The boy nodded enthusiastically. “He told us to call him Mr. Jack.”

Darcy rocked back on his heels, his hand still mechanically patting Alexandrine’s back despite this new wound in his gut. Captured. What would Napoleon do to his prisoner? Executing him would be a waste. Instead, he would try to put Jack in thrall to him. Then Napoleon could turn his immense power against the English.

It would be a disaster. No one could stand before the two of them together.

Jack would likely rather be dead.

Grief swamped him. He should be used to this pain now, after all the times he had believed Jack to be lost or dead, but it only got worse with repetition.

“How was he captured, do you know?” he asked. Jack, with his ability to make the earth move underneath him. Could a six-year-old know anything of the sort?

Alexandrine, from the great age of seven, answered, “He agreed to meet Napoleon under a truce flag. No one knows what happened, but he never returned. Maman cried when she got the news.” She rummaged under her coat and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “She sent you this.”

He had to force himself to take it gently, rather than seizing it from her little hand. Carefully he unfolded it.

“This is dated eight days ago,” he said slowly. The words only confirmed what the children had already told him.

Alexandrine nodded. “She told our nurse not to come here directly, so we went west to Bristol, then north to Preston, then east and south.” She recited it proudly, as if it were one of the lessons she had prepared for him.

“Well done,” he said hollowly. “You have seen a great deal of England, then.” And their route would have neatly avoided anywhere French troops were likely to be.

Elizabeth must have seen how he was struggling. “Shall I take the two of you upstairs and get you settled? Perhaps you will tell me about your favorite foods so I can have Cook prepare them. He makes the most wonderful cakes. We have a playroom, too, with toys. It has not been used much of late, but I hope you will enjoy it.”

Friedrich asked, “Will we have lessons with the Kapitan again?”

Alexandrine corrected, “Maman said we must call him Mr. Darcy now.”

“Well, we will see about lessons for you,” Elizabeth said briskly, shepherding the children away.

As they left the room, he saw her cast a concerned glance over her shoulder. He gave a slight nod to indicate he was well enough, but that was all he could do.

He sank back down in his chair and rested his face in his hands. Jack. Again.

And without Jack, there was nothing to stop Napoleon’s army.

Elizabeth had not seen Rana Akshaya in her human form since the founding of the new Nest. What had inspired her to call at Pemberley now? Usually she sent an imperious summons to Elizabeth via Cerridwen. Yet here she sat in the parlor in her flowing sari and thick veil, sipping tea which Elizabeth now knew was unappealing to dragons in any form.

Carefully Elizabeth said, “It is always a pleasure to see you, Eldest. How may I be of service to you?” Rana Akshaya would not be here if she did not want something.

“We are out of time, Gate-Opener. We have no choices left. The mad dragon knows where to find us, and he has dragons of his own. The King’s Bond was the only thing protecting us, and that is gone. We must act now.”

Elizabeth winced at her callous description of Jack’s capture. “How, though, when I can only hold a Gate for a few minutes?”

“It will have to be enough.”

It was impossible. It took all her concentration and Talent to open those Gates. How could she possibly do it in Napoleon’s presence? She would be stopped and killed long before she managed it. “I cannot do it.”

Rana Akshaya said harshly, “Then you must either learn how, or leave Pemberley behind and take your dragon to another Nest where she can be safe.”

Her chest tightened until she could barely breathe. Not because of anything her guest had done, but because she knew it was true. If they could not stop Napoleon, her life at Pemberley was over.

Darcy hurried into the private sitting room where he was due to dine with Elizabeth. Overdue, in fact. “Apologies, my love. I was in the schoolroom with the Hartung children, and Alexandrine insisted that I hear her lesson just as I used to in France.”