by APRIL FLOYD
He agreed and gazed at her for a moment longer than was necessary, causing hope to swell in her breast for a peace between them. She did not go so far as to believe he might propose again, but perhaps in time they might find an abiding friendship.
The afternoon passed in what Elizabeth would recount to her Aunt Madeline as perfect bliss, the gentlemen both elevating their importance in each sister’s eyes.
When the afternoon waned and evening approached, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley had walked the ladies to their waiting carriage.
“I say, Darcy, we ought to see the ladies home to Cheapside in their carriage. I find I would like to speak more with Miss Bennet.”
Elizabeth and Jane colored prettily and looked to one another before agreeing with Mr. Bingley. Mr. Darcy sent his footmen away with the picnic baskets and instructions for his driver to follow the Gardiner carriage to Cheapside.
When the party was settled in the carriage, a lively discussion of the theater ensued and before they arrived to Gracechurch Street, Mr. Bingley had managed to set a date for the four of them to see a show.
“Of course, my sister and cousins will certainly come this time. I would not allow them to disappoint you again, Miss Elizabeth,” Mr. Darcy said as they stopped before the Gardiner townhome.
“Mr. Darcy, I was not disappointed with the company today but I would dearly love to see your sister and Miss de Bourgh again. And the colonel, of course.”
Mr. Bingley sprang from his seat and hurried from the carriage so that he might assist Jane. Mr. Darcy quit the carriage before Elizabeth so that he might offer his hand as she gathered her skirts and stepped down to the street.
The door to the Gardiner home flew open and Mrs. Gardiner clutched a letter in her hand, her face pale and drawn with worry. Elizabeth and Jane flew to her side.
Chapter 9
“Aunt Madeline,” said Elizabeth, taking her aunt’s hand, “what terrible news has come to us?”
Jane took the missive and read it quickly as Elizabeth wrapped an arm around their aunt to lend her support.
“Jane, you must tell us what has happened,” Mr. Bingley said as he appeared at her side, “there must be something Mr. Darcy and I might do.”
Jane fanned her face with her free hand and looked to Elizabeth as though she had not heard a word of Mr. Bingley’s plea.
“It is Lyddie, she has run off with Mr. Wickham, Lizzy. What shall we do? Father is on his way to London as Colonel Forster believes they may have come this way.”
Mr. Darcy swore under his breath, a most terrible word the ladies did overhear though he was quite sorry for it. “Please forgive me. This is my own fault. I ought to have warned your father and Colonel Forster when I was in Hertfordshire. Mr. Wickham was never to be trusted with innocent young ladies.”
Elizabeth left her aunt and went to Mr. Darcy’s side. She placed her hand upon his arm intending to comfort him. Her words came in a whisper as she did not wish for her aunt to know of Miss Darcy’s similar history with Mr. Wickham. It was not her place to share the terrible secret of the Darcy family. It would only worry her aunt further for Lydia’s reputation.
“Mr. Darcy, tis no fault of your own my youngest sister has not a care for propriety. As much as it pains me to admit, she would have done the same with any other soldier who was willing. Father has never been able to overcome Mother’s indulgence of my younger sisters. If you blame yourself, then I am to blame as well. I should have written to Father before I left Kent to warn him of the danger Mr. Wickham presented.”
Mr. Darcy took her hands and held them tightly as tears fell from her lashes. “We will find her, Miss Elizabeth. The Colonel and I will turn London upside down. Wickham will marry her; of that you may be certain. I will not allow him to shirk his duty.”
Uncle Gardiner arrived home at that moment on his horse for he had given Jane and Elizabeth use of his carriage for the picnic. He hurried to his wife’s side as he surveyed the crowd gathered at his door.
“Lizzy,” he called out, “we must all go inside now. You’ll tell me what has happened and Jane will go with Madeline into the parlor.”
Mr. Bingley placed an arm around Jane and whispered words of comfort in an effort to ease her tears. “Do not be vexed my dear. Mr. Darcy and I shall see it through whilst you wait here with your family.”
Once the Bennet sisters were inside, Uncle Gardiner sent Jane and Bingley up to the parlor with Aunt Madeline but Mr. Darcy remained in the entry with Elizabeth.
“Uncle, a letter has come from Longbourn. Lyddie has left the Forsters in Brighton to run off with Mr. Wickham. Father sent an express and is on his way. Colonel Forster believes Wickham may have brought Lyddie here to London rather than gone to Gretna Green. I don’t believe he thinks the man intends to marry my sister.”
Edward Gardiner ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “My sister chose well when she married your father but the man was never able to influence your younger sisters. Thank heaven Kitty hasn’t run off too. Has she?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “I am certain had she gone with Lydia she would have done the same. Thankfully Father did forbid her to follow behind to Brighton.”
Mr. Darcy was nearly forgotten as the two stood discussing what might be done until he cleared his throat. Elizabeth apologized for her forgetfulness.
“Uncle Edward, this is Mr. Darcy. He has particular knowledge of Mr. Wickham which might prove useful as we search for Lydia.”
Mr. Darcy stepped forward and offered his hand to Elizabeth’s uncle. “Your niece is correct, sir. I have known him since we were children. He attempted the same elopement with my own sister last summer in Ramsgate. Though I do not think he intends to marry Miss Lydia, I shall find them and see that he does.”
Uncle Edward invited Mr. Darcy to his study where they might form a plan to find the young couple. Mr. Darcy agreed but asked for a footman to be sent to Darcy House to alert the colonel and bring him there. “He is a military man and familiar with Wickham. He will be a great benefit to us in this terrible task.”
Uncle Edward agreed. “I would prefer Mr. Bingley remain here with the ladies. They have need of distraction and I cannot sit here as my niece’s reputation is in much danger.”
Elizabeth beseeched her uncle to allow her to be a party to their plans. “Uncle, I wish to help in the search. Had I told you of Mr. Wickham’s nature or written Father with the news, Lydia might have been returned safely to Longbourn.”
“Lizzy, you must stay here with Jane and Madeline. Mr. Wickham might become dangerous when cornered and Lydia, foolish as she is, ought to be spared the shame before her sisters. It would not do for you to see her in a compromise. It is not the scene for a young lady of good breeding and manners to behold.”
Mr. Darcy turned to Elizabeth and took her hand, squeezing it gently. “Your uncle is correct, Miss Elizabeth. I will send word of our search so you may not worry needlessly. Miss Lydia shall be found. You must believe me.”
Uncle Gardiner turned away as Mr. Darcy lifted Elizabeth’s hand and placed a kiss upon it. She knew he would have a word with Mr. Darcy over the small gesture though he allowed it.
***
The search for Wickham and Lydia went on for a week and Elizabeth despaired of them ever being found. She feared they had gone to Gretna Green and said as much to her father as she sat with him in the library in the evening. He was staying at Darcy House where he might be closer to Mr. Darcy and the Colonel as the search unfolded and to keep from distressing Jane and Aunt Madeline with the comings and goings at all hours such a search required.
“Father, if he has taken her to Scotland then perhaps all is not lost. They will return a married couple and her reputation shall be preserved, along with that of my sisters. It is what we must hope for now.”
She did not hope for such a thing at all but her sister had made any other outcome nearly impossible with her scandalous behavior.
“I am not certain of that, Lizzy.
Do you not recall how he courted you and then turned away for Miss King? The word from your Uncle Philips on that score was that Miss King pressed him for a proposal within days of their courtship. He seemed taken with Lydia then and dropped Miss King. He seems to grow tired of a woman as soon as he has won her affections. I do not think such a man would make a good husband especially with his hand forced.”
It was as Elizabeth had feared all along. It did sound as though Mr. Wickham was only interested in the debauchery of young women who wished to catch him for their own.
Mr. Darcy had sworn to see them married and if he found them, she knew her sister would be tied to such a rake for the rest of her life.
Mr. Bennet rose from his seat and touched her shoulder as he passed. “Perhaps today will be the day we find her, my dear. Though it would be better if your sister had persuaded the devil to marry her, I do not think he would. If he was only drawn by Miss Darcy and her tremendous wealth, he will not settle for a girl as foolish and poor as your sister.”
Elizabeth’s mind spun with recrimination as her father quit the library. Had she and Jane left London the day after she arrived from Kent, she could have warned her father and he might have sent for Lydia to come home. But Jane would have never seen Mr. Bingley again to renew their connection.
Her head hurt from the constant worry and she rose to leave Darcy House and return to Gracechurch Street. As she paused by the door to smooth her skirts, she overhead her father and Mr. Darcy in the hallway.
“He was spotted alone in one of the houses of ill repute near St. Katharin’s on the north side of the Thames. My guess is he has a room there where he might be keeping Miss Lydia. We shall go there this night to see whether we might find them.”
Elizabeth backed slowly away from the door with a plot forming in her mind. If she put her hair up and borrowed some breeches and a coat from her uncle’s closet, she could go in disguise to St. Katharin’s area of the docks and find Lydia herself.
Mr. Darcy and her father would never allow her to go with them, and the cover of darkness would hide her if she encountered them on their own search.
She knew it was a dangerous plan, but if she found Lydia alone she could bring her back to Cheapside and they could all pretend she had never run off with Mr. Wickham. Foolish though Lydia was, Elizabeth could not hope for her to marry the wicked man.
Jane could marry Mr. Bingley, her other sisters would not be tainted by scandal, and Mr. Darcy and the colonel would deal with Mr. Wickham when he was found.
Elizabeth hurried to the entry of Darcy House before Miss Anne or Miss Darcy might see her. If they stopped her to join them in the salon, she would lose the time left to her to prepare for her own trip to the docks.
Chapter 10
Elizabeth pulled the hat she’d found in her uncle’s closet down her forehead and stood straight in an effort to appear taller.
The docks were alive with men staggering here and there and women with bright splotches of color on their cheeks laughing and pushing the men away.
It was a world wholly unfamiliar to Elizabeth and she regretted having come here without the knowledge of her father or Mr. Darcy. She had told her aunt and Jane that she had eaten dinner at Darcy House. When they had left her to go in to dinner, Elizabeth had gone upstairs.
Her uncle’s breeches and coat she had tied up in a sack with the hat and tucked it under her arm as she pulled a cloak from her aunt’s closet. The cloak would hide the sack if someone in her aunt’s household saw her leaving the townhome.
Once outside and on the street, she had walked quite a way before hiring a hackney to take her to the docks. She worried when the man would not wait for her once they were near her destination but he had assured Elizabeth she might find another hackney when she wished to return to Cheapside.
Now, as a light rain began to fall, she gathered her courage and walked down the street wondering how she might find her sister amongst the sea of people and the darkness that seemed deeper for the lack of very many lighted street lamps.
As she turned a corner, a heavy hand knocked the hat from her head. Elizabeth’s hair fell from the knot she had hastily made in the hackney. Had she time to assemble her disguise before she left the Gardiner townhome, her hair might have been more secure. As it was, she struggled to brush it away as a pair of strong hands took hold of her shoulders.
She winced in pain but bit her tongue, for she did not wish to call out and reveal her sex. It mattered not for the man who had caught her was drunk and stumbling about.
Elizabeth felt herself falling to the street with him when arms encircled her waist and pulled her free from his grasp. She gasped and whirled to find herself face to face with a woman quite a bit older, and stronger, than herself.
Her face was not unkind but there was a dangerous wisdom in her eyes. “What have we here, lass? How would a lady such as yourself find your way here? ’Tis a dangerous place for one so fair of face and figure.”
The woman pulled her against the door of a ramshackle building and pushed Elizabeth inside. She was not dressed raggedly nor did she smell of spirits. Her face was not painted in the same manner as the other women Elizabeth had seen on the street.
Lively music greeted them as the woman led Elizabeth up a set of stairs and down a hallway to a dimly lit salon. The laughter of women surprised her and Elizabeth squinted to make out the features of the room.
There were several soldiers seated on sofas throughout but there were far more women and their manner of dress was scandalous! Corsets, cotton drawers, and chemises seemed to be their uniforms and not a few were draped in the red coats the soldiers had discarded. The ladies, were you to call them such, leaned against the men in pairs or fought to sit upon their laps and tease them.
Elizabeth’s face burned but she could not look away. The woman who had saved her from the drunken man in the street pulled her along behind a screen on the far side of the salon.
“You must allow me to arrange a hackney for you, Miss. The docks are not a place you should wander unaccompanied and certainly not after dark.”
“What is your name?” Elizabeth asked, all thought of polite manners gone from her mind.
A loud screeching laugh from one of the girls on the other side of the screen caused Elizabeth to jump. She covered her heart noting its wild pace.
“The ladies and gentlemen here call me Lady Sherston. You may use that name if it pleases you,” the woman said as she waved a young boy over.
Elizabeth got the distinct impression that Lady Sherston was not the woman’s true name but that matter was of little importance. She must at least ask whether the woman had seen her sister or Mr. Wickham before she left the docks.
“Please, Lady Sherston, I cannot go without finding my sister. She ran off with a soldier and I believe she may have a room somewhere here near the docks.”
Lady Sherston’s brows rose and she tapped a finger to her lips before sending the boy to fetch a hackney. “A pair like that, a young gentlewoman with a dashing redcoat, would turn heads in this neighborhood. A proper gentleman would never bring the likes of your sister here.”
Elizabeth knew if this woman had not seen Lydia or Wickham, they had likely not come this way. She did not seem to be one left out of the gossip regarding comings and goings this close to the Thames.
“I see a few soldiers amongst the ladies. Perhaps they may have seen the man who took my sister?”
Lady Sherston shrugged and peeked around the corner of the screen. She called to one of the girls who sat on a soldier’s lap. “Lillibet, bring that chap here would you? And make haste!”
The girl rose slowly and took the soldier’s hand. He stood and followed her across the room. When the pair approached the screen, Lady Sherston shooed the girl away. Lingering, Lillibet looked Elizabeth up and down and gave a sneer. “She is far too innocent for my Denny.”
Lady Sherston hit the girl on her shoulder with the edge of her unopened fan and Lillibet steppe
d quickly away. Elizabeth inched closer to the soldier and peered at him thinking he seemed familiar.
“Captain Denny!” she exclaimed forgetting herself for a moment.
“Miss Elizabeth, what are you doing in such a place as this?” he said as he looked over his shoulder.
“The same as you I suspect. I must find my sister and Lieutenant Wickham. Have you seen either of them here?”
Captain Denny’s cheeks flamed brightly. It seemed he was embarrassed to have met Elizabeth in the brothel and in such a state as he was with Lillibet. “I was sent to find Lieutenant Wickham. I believe he has a room here but I was…err…distracted, you might say.”
Elizabeth would not remark upon his business in such a place for she had been told by her mother that men frequented such places. It was the least of her concerns at the moment. “You must see whether he has and if my sister is here. If I find her this night and take her home with me, all is not lost. Please help me Captain.”
Taking the time to button his shirt, Captain Denny seemed to hesitate but at last he warned Elizabeth. “You must not linger here. It is not the place for a young lady of your circle. I cannot protect you and search for Lieutenant Wickham.”
“Then I shall search alone, sir. Do you not understand my position? My sister will bring shame upon my family if she is not found. If my father finds her with Lieutenant Wickham, she will be made to marry him. I cannot think, with all I know of the man, that it would be a good match.”
Captain Denny blew out an exasperated breath. “Let me retrieve my coat and we shall search together.”
Lady Sherston took Elizabeth by the arm. “A piece of advice lass, not that I believe you will take it, but you best have the captain see you and your sister home should you find her. Leave that Wickham scoundrel for your father to deal with, you understand?”
Elizabeth brushed the woman’s hand from her arm. “I do Lady Sherston, I understand perfectly. Thank you for the assistance you gave me earlier in the street. Desperation often leads to terrible consequences and I am most desperate.”