by Robin Helm
Lady Catherine gave him her hand and stepped down into the boat. It swayed beneath her weight. “I trust you are able to row?”
“Yes, Aunt Catherine, I can row.”
“However deficient your education, I daresay your father provided boats for you and your brother. Boys are said to enjoy enacting naval battles and the like.”
“Naval—what?” Colonel Fitzwilliam gave a grimace and tossed his cigar into the water. “How the mighty have fallen,” he muttered. “Here we go, then.”
Lady Catherine squared her shoulders and glared across the water at the house.
“And for goodness’ sake, hold on. I don’t want you ending up in the water.”
“As if I would be fool enough to allow that to happen,” she snapped.
“Suit yourself.” Colonel Fitzwilliam let go the painter and applied himself to the task of rowing.
CHAPTER 16
The pounding on the front door was unsettling, to say the least. That his aunt could spoil even the most innocent of loving kisses only added to Darcy’s irritation.
“Shouldn’t you answer the door?” whispered Elizabeth.
He lifted an eyebrow.
“Even if this were a seduction,” she went on, “it stands to reason that, after so many days, we would wish to be rescued.”
Did he wish to be rescued? Darcy was no longer sure. On the other hand, she did have a point. He tucked a stray curl behind her ear and said, “Unless that noise is our captors returning.”
“In that case, I would not be kissing you, but preparing to fight. Or better yet, run. But there is nowhere to run, not on an island.” She paused. “Don’t you think we ought to answer the door?”
But Darcy was caught by her words. “Run,” he repeated. “Yes, we would run. Do you know where your shoes are?”
“They’re by the fireplace, but—”
Darcy sat up. “Put them on. And tie Anne’s sash as securely as you can.”
She obeyed at once.
“By God’s provident hand, we’ll pull this off. We won’t wait like sitting ducks.” Darcy rose to his feet, crossed over to the window, and pushed up the sash.
“We are leaving through the window?” Elizabeth’s astonished smile was a delight to see.
Darcy found two blankets and pushed them out. “Can you straddle the sill?”
“I think so, but not without exposing my legs in a shameless way! Won’t we be seen?”
“Not from the front of the house. In one of my, er, Galahad moments, I patrolled the island as your guard—and I looked often toward your window.”
“Spying on me?”
“Sighing with regret, more like.” Darcy scrambled through the opening and then reached up to help her. “If we’re quick about it, we can get clean away.”
Elizabeth struggled to keep her legs covered as she slid to the ground. The poor girl! Darcy was mindful to look the other way while she descended. “You’re certain they cannot see us?” she whispered, adjusting Anne’s dressing gown.
“I’m positive. Now then, run down to the lake,” he said into her ear, “but carefully. We can’t risk injuries from a fall. Follow the shoreline to the dock. Get into the boat, lie down, and cover yourself with this.” He pushed a blanket into her hands. “I’ll be right behind you.”
She looked up at him with wonder in her eyes.
He smiled. “We’ll cast off before they can do anything about it.”
“Fitzwilliam! Will we—leave them here?”
“Maybe.” He laughed. “Don’t look so shocked; this was your idea. Off you go now.”
Elizabeth did not need to be told twice. Hugging the blanket, she ran toward the shore.
Darcy soon followed, scorning his bare feet and lack of a coat. He reached the dock just as she did. Into the rowboat they both tumbled. Lightning fast, Darcy untied the painter and cast off.
The pleasant gurgle of water against the hull was the best sound he’d heard for days—aside from Elizabeth’s loving declarations.
“Are we free?” she said, breathing hard.
“Free to negotiate. It’s high time we gained the upper hand.” Darcy tucked the blanket around her and then fitted the oars. He glanced back at the house. “I see Fitz hasn’t been able to break down the door.”
“Poor Colonel Fitzwilliam; he’ll hurt himself.”
“Right again,” said Darcy. “Here we go. Time for our bravery test.” He cupped his hands. “Fitz!” he shouted. “Ho there, Colonel Fitzwilliam! Ahoy!”
To say that Darcy’s cousin was dumbfounded was an understatement. He gave a yell and ran toward the dock. Lady Catherine stood gaping like a fish. “There you are,” she shouted. “You ought to be ashamed of yourselves, carrying on in such a way.”
Down to the dock marched Lady Catherine. When she could see them more clearly, she gave a gasp that even Darcy could hear. “Merciful heavens, where are your clothes?”
Darcy dipped the oars and brought the boat nearer. He did not want his cousin to miss what would come next.
“It happens that our clothes are in the house, drying. Miss Bennet put a stop to my foolhardy swim to shore. Which is a very good thing, because—”
“Swim?” shouted Fitz. “Are you daft? That water is freezing. Moreover, it’s at least five furlongs to shore.”
“My mistake. After being held captive for days, I misjudged the distance.”
“Captive, you say? You were held captive? Here?” This was from Lady Catherine.
Darcy raised his voice. “Spare us the theatrics, ma’am. You planned this, right down to the smallest detail.”
“I? How could I do such a thing?”
“The diagram of the stables in your sketchbook?”
“It is no crime to draw pictures.”
“The express messages coming to the house at all hours? Your correspondence with the archbishop of Canterbury?”
“I—had pressing legal and ecclesiastical matters to attend to. Business that did not concern you!”
“Your lackeys knew their business, all right,” said Darcy. “I was abducted before I took my morning ride; Elizabeth was seized in the rose garden.”
“Good gracious! I am shocked, do you hear? Shocked. The sanctity of Rosings has been painfully violated!”
“By your design! You provided everything necessary for a week in isolation: wood for the fire, food, blankets and bedding, and clothing. We did wonder why Anne’s clothes were sent, instead of Miss Elizabeth’s.”
“Did you say Anne?” Lady Catherine demanded. “Not my Anne, certainly.”
“Be thankful that Elizabeth was kidnapped by mistake, for I doubt Anne could have survived the journey. As you see, I still bear the marks of—coercion.”
“By this day, so you do!” cried Colonel Fitzwilliam. He leaned over the edge of the dock. “What happened, man?”
“Elizabeth was also hurt, quite badly, and that I find hard to forgive. When I think how she was drugged, and tied up, and pulled about—”
“Impossible!” screeched Lady Catherine. “You are lying! I gave specific instructions that you were to be treated gently, with every considera—” She snapped her mouth shut.
“—every consideration?” said Darcy. “Your idea of gentle treatment is widely at variance with that of your hirelings.”
Fitz turned on his aunt. “You had them brought here and held captive? Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Darcy did not bother to disguise his scorn.
Lady Catherine could stand no more. “It is your fault, yours!” she hurled at Darcy. “You would not do your duty! You ought to have married Anne. It was arranged years ago, as well you knew. And yet you did nothing! Year after year!”
“Confound it, ma’am,” cried Fitz, “this is not the Dark Ages! Nor are we byzantine! By that reckoning—and my mother’s—I ought to marry Cousin Clara, and that is something I’ll never do, not in a million years.”
“Poor Cousin Clara,” Darcy heard Elizabeth whisper
.
“So you arranged this,” Fitz went on. “You brought them here in an effort to compromise Anne—and force a wedding. I find that despicable. So would Anne.”
“She would have Darcy as her husband,” snapped Lady Catherine. “That is the material point.”
“An ignoble means to a miserable end!”
“If you won’t have your mother’s niece,” said Lady Catherine, “then you can have no objection to Elizabeth Bennet.”
“What?” shouted Colonel Fitzwilliam. “Me, marry Miss Bennet? Why the devil would I do that?”
“We’re pawns on her chessboard,” called Darcy. “You are to play the role of the desperado.”
“Sacrifice myself to her schemes? Not on your life.” Colonel Fitzwilliam gestured toward the boat. “Darcy is obliged to offer marriage, not me. And unless I miss my guess, he has already done so.”
“My humble proposal has been kindly accepted, yes.”
“What?” shrieked Lady Catherine.
“I owe a debt of gratitude to Miss Bennet for saving the honour of my family—that would be the Darcy family, ma’am, not yours. We Darcys do not embroil ourselves in intrigue and abduction.”
“How dare you speak to me in such a way!”
Darcy shot a significant look to his cousin. “Fitz?” He manoeuvred the rowboat nearer to the dock.
Colonel Fitzwilliam’s eyebrows went up and then, very slightly, he gave a single nod. A swift movement of the oars brought the bow to collide with the dock. Colonel Fitzwilliam did not hesitate. Into the rowboat he dropped.
It rocked from side to side, but did not ship water. “Nicely done,” remarked Darcy, bringing the gunwale out of Lady Catherine’s reach.
Her hands clawed the air. “Come back!” she howled. “You cannot leave me here!”
“Oh, can’t we?” taunted Colonel Fitzwilliam.
“I see no impediment to your survival,” Darcy called. “There is wood for the fire and plenty of food—if you don’t mind salt pork and dry bread and eggs. There is tea, and a comfortable bed, and you can wear Anne’s party dresses for amusement.”
“It is unconscionable to leave an old woman alone and defenceless! You dare to be so vile?”
“You left them,” shouted Colonel Fitzwilliam. “Take a dose of your own medicine!”
“Hudson! You’ll pay for this! You get back here! Or not another penny will you get from me!”
“We’ll send someone for you,” Darcy promised, “once Elizabeth is returned to her home.”
Lady Catherine gave a snarl of rage.
Elizabeth laid a hand on Darcy’s arm. “You cannot be serious, Fitzwilliam. This is too much.”
“It’s only for four days. Or five, depending.”
“One ill turn does not deserve another. We ought to bring her with us.”
Darcy felt his expression harden. “What she did was intolerable.”
“Yes, but consider. I ought to have a chaperone for the journey, to maintain as much respectability as is possible. Otherwise, what inn would have us? I will be travelling without luggage or a maid, and you see how I am dressed! You look like a vagrant, having no stockings or shoes or coat.”
Darcy’s lips would twitch! He must not laugh; his aunt deserved no mercy. But he also knew that Elizabeth was right. “A vagrant, eh?” he said, smiling in spite of himself. “I rather like that.”
“So do I,” she whispered.
“I shouldn’t be bringing this up,” Fitz put in, “but our dear, deplorable auntie holds the purse strings. We’ll be at a standstill before we reach the next coaching inn.”
Darcy began to laugh. “Plague and the devil take it! Very well, we’ll travel with a termagant! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He wheeled the rowboat and manoeuvred back to the dock. In the meantime, Lady Catherine had collapsed in a heap.
“Very well, Aunt Catherine,” Darcy called, “we declare a truce. We’ll carry you home with us—but on our terms, not yours.”
Lady Catherine staggered to her feet and shook out her skirts. “It’s about time you behaved like a rational man.” She straightened her bonnet.
“We’ll come in and dry our clothes. Then we’ll close the house and be off. Fitz, I hate to importune you, but you need to remain here to guard the boat.”
Lady Catherine gave a cry of protest.
Darcy was unmoved. “We four leave this island together or not at all.”
oOo
Where to go next became the topic of conversation. It remained so, even as they piled back into the boat for the journey to shore. Lady Catherine was all for Hunsford, but Darcy insisted on Hertfordshire so that he could call on Mr. Bennet.
From his seat in the stern, Colonel Fitzwilliam spoke up. “There is another option, you know. It would involve a bit more travel—it’s a good three hundred-odd miles from here—but it might be the best way to rescue Miss Bennet’s reputation.”
Darcy slewed round in his seat. “Why are you smiling like that? Out with it, man.”
“Simply put, we make for the border.”
Elizabeth was beside Darcy on the middle seat; he heard her gasp. “Scotland?”
“It cannot be worse than what you’ve endured already,” Colonel Fitzwilliam pointed out. “When Miss Bennet returns to her family as Mrs. Darcy, all will be forgiven.”
Lady Catherine fired up. “Do you seriously mean to cover shame with more shame? To be married out-of-hand is insupportable. A man of Darcy’s stature does not elope!”
“It’s what you planned for Anne, was it not?”
“I daresay she brought along a special licence for that purpose,” Darcy remarked. “It’s a pity that the name cannot be changed, or we’d use it today.”
Lady Catherine gave a cry. “Such a disgrace!”
Elizabeth pressed more closely against Darcy. “What disgrace?” said he. “You will be present at the ceremony, ma’am, to give your blessing to the union.”
“And,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam, “they’ll need a witness. In Scotland, do witnesses sign the register? I call that poetic justice.”
Lady Catherine sat in the bow, glaring at everyone. “Never! I shall never give my blessing to this ramshackle match.”
“Is that your final verdict? Very well.” Darcy wheeled the boat and began to row back to the island.
“You dare to threaten me?”
“This is no threat, ma’am. You’ve made your choice, so back to the house you will go.”
“It’s Gretna or the island,” quipped Colonel Fitzwilliam. “Time to pay the piper, milady.”
Elizabeth spoke up. “That’s enough, you two. There is nothing else to be done, Lady Catherine, but accede to their demands. You know how stubborn Mr. Darcy can be. I am not eager for the long journey to Scotland …”
“Ha,” growled Lady Catherine. “You’re as besotted with him as he is with you.”
Elizabeth’s dimple appeared. “It so happens that I am. Nevertheless, we are grateful for your help in this matter, ma’am.” She gave a sidelong look to Darcy.
“Grateful,” he dutifully echoed.
“If we are ready to behave sensibly,” Elizabeth went on, “shall we turn this boat toward the shore? It’s freezing out here on the water. I daresay the wind never stops blowing.”
“We shall travel the length of England; I hope you know that,” grumbled Lady Catherine. “Days of hard travel. I daresay my poor coach will be battered to bits.”
“It’s no hardship to me!” crowed Colonel Fitzwilliam. “And none to our fair couple, either. If all goes well, we’ll pass through Exeter by noon. And then, on to Bristol and the north.”
“We’ll post an express to your family,” Darcy told Elizabeth, “to explain the abduction mistake and announce my, ah, honourable proposal. My aunt,” he added grimly, “will add a personal word of greeting.”
“Might we send an express to poor Charlotte as well? She must be sick with worry.”
“But of course,” said Darcy. “L
ady Catherine will be delighted contribute a special message, singling out Mr. Collins as the herald of our joyous news.”
“I shall do no such—”
Darcy responded with a deft movement of the oars. The boat swung about to face the island.
“Oh, very well,” grumbled Lady Catherine. “I suppose you also expect me to purchase the wedding ring. A waste of good money is what I say!”
“It so happens that I have that detail in hand, Aunt. It’s the one thing of value your brigands did not touch.” Darcy lifted his hand from the oar to display his signet ring.
Colonel Fitzwilliam began to laugh. “Well played, Darcy.”
Darcy’s lips brushed Elizabeth’s ear. “You won’t mind being married with this, will you, my love?”
“Mind? I should like it above all things!”
“You would,” muttered Lady Catherine. “Well?” She looked from one to the other. “If we’re to travel all the way to Scotland, we shouldn’t loiter here. Surely you can row this boat faster, Darcy. Put your back into it!”
Darcy and Elizabeth shared a smile. “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “In this, I am delighted to oblige.”
THE END
Also by Laura Hile
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Darcy By Any Other Name
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A STEP TOO FAR
Wendi Sotis
A Step Too Far Copyright © 2020 Wendi Sotis
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