Trapped at Rosings

by Emily Russell

  Fitzwilliam’s lips twitched with disgust. Even at a time like this, Lady Catherine still only thought of what she wanted. He hoped Darcy and Anne were not together and forced to marry. It would be unjust to both. He was resolved that when he found them safe, he would do all he could to release Anne from her mother’s clutches.

  “We can think of that later,” he said. “Come, the first place we should look is the glade. Darcy likes to walk there, and I am sure that is where they might be…”

  The sun had climbed higher by the time they reached the glade. Two ladies passing by on their way to town joined them. Fitzwilliam had not been happy to see them. Mrs Swift and Mrs Sanders were the two biggest gossips in Kent. They lived and breathed scandal as if it were air. Before he could stop her, and as if he could have prevented her anyway, Lady Catherine summoned them to her and told them what had occurred. As Fitzwilliam expected, the ladies offered to help at once.

  Not out of any concern for the missing pair, of course. They were not about to pass on an opportunity to be involved in a scandal that would see them whispering behind fans and pursing their lips sanctimoniously for the next five years. Fitzwilliam had walked as far ahead of them as he could so he would not need to listen to their clucking. His anxiety for his cousins stretched his nerves taut, and he did not know if he could prevent himself snapping at them if he were in their presence. Fitzwilliam had sent a boy on ahead to Hunsford Lodge to inform the Collinses of what had happened and to request Mr Collins join their search. The man was a fool, but Fitzwilliam would take any help he could get.

  Fitzwilliam looked around the clearing. Apart from a few birds chirping in the trees, all was silent.

  “Sir,” a groom called. Fitzwilliam went to him. The man pointed to a tree with a bullet hole.

  “That is fresh,” said the Colonel, running his finger over it. His stomach roiled, and Lady Catherine paled.

  “Where are my daughter and my nephew?” she shrieked. “Anne! Darcy!”

  Fitzwilliam went to the cottage just as Mr Collins came huffing and puffing into the clearing.

  “Got here… soon as… soon as I could…” he panted. “Lady Catherine, I am so sorry about your fair daughter. We are… we are having a crisis of our own. My cousin is— ”

  “I do not care about your cousin,” Lady Catherine snapped. “My daughter and my nephew are infinitely more important. We must find them.” She lowered her voice. “And if they are found together, I shall have to insist most fervently on their marriage.”

  Mr Collins eyes widened that the lady should think on such matters at such a time, but he nodded eagerly, keen as always to show his agreement.

  “Of course they should. And I am sure Mr Darcy will not object. Lady Anne is the most…”

  “Darcy! Darcy!” Fitzwilliam cried in excitement from outside the cottage. “They are here! Are you both together?”

  “Yes,” called Darcy from the other side of the door. “They locked us in here together last night. Open the door, Richard.”

  “They are together.” Lady Catherine’s eyes gleamed with triumph before falling into a melancholy gaze. She turned to the men gathered around her. “My poor girl has spent the night with a man in this cottage. It is neither of their faults, but they shall have to be wed at once. There is no other alternative.”

  Mr Acton agreed. “It is a shame when it is not their fault, but you are correct. Mr Darcy is an honourable man. He will need no persuasion to protect the lady’s reputation.”

  Lady Catherine nodded in satisfaction. Fitzwilliam and several of the men heaved at the wooden beam and knocked it from the door. Fitzwilliam pulled the door open, and for a moment, no one outside the house could see anything.

  Their eyes grew accustomed to the dim light, and Lady Catherine shrieked at the sight.

  Darcy and Elizabeth stood close together. Darcy’s arm was still around her. The lady’s fichu and shawl were missing, leaving her dress bare and torn while the gentleman’s shirt hung loosely over his trousers. They looked tired and dusty, and from the red stain on his shirt, Darcy was clearly injured, but they looked relatively unharmed for all that.

  “Darcy, thank goodness.”

  “Cousin Elizabeth!” cried Mr Collins. “There you are! We have been worried about you. Mrs Collins is out of her mind since we discovered you did not return last night.”

  Lady Catherine rounded on him at once. The small man cringed. “You knew Miss Bennet had not returned?” she snapped. “Why did you not tell me?”

  “I tried to, but…” Mr Collins trailed off, looking at her helplessly.

  “Oh, close your mouth, you fool,” she snapped, all appearance of the stately lady gone in the face of her disappointment.

  “Darcy, where is Anne? Is she with you?” Fitzwilliam demanded as the tired pair stepped blinking into the morning sun. He offered them a flask and Darcy took it, giving it to Elizabeth first. Despite his fear for his other cousin, Fitzwilliam noticed with interest that Darcy still kept his arm firmly around Elizabeth’s shoulder in a protective embrace.

  “Anne? Why on earth are you looking for Anne?”

  “She went for a walk last night and never returned.”

  Darcy looked horrified. “Are you sure? I spoke with her last night before going out. She was tired and said she would retire early.”

  “She must have changed her mind and left afterwards,” Lady Catherine insisted.

  “Aunt, do you know for certain she did not return last night?” Fitzwilliam demanded. “Did you ask the maid if her bed had been slept in?”

  Lady Catherine opened and closed her mouth, at a loss for words for probably the first time in her life.

  “Come, you must have done,” he said.

  “She did not come down for breakfast…”

  “Is that all? Did you not check her room? For god’s sake, perhaps she slept late?”

  “I know my daughter’s habits…”

  “You should have checked,” snapped Fitzwilliam.

  The entire party stared at him in awe. No one had ever spoken to Lady Catherine like that before. Fitzwilliam strode away to speak to a groom. The man nodded and mounted a horse. The thunder of hooves faded as he galloped toward Rosings.

  “He has gone to Rosings to have Anne’s room checked,” said Fitzwilliam when he returned. “He will return and let us know if she is there or not. If not, we will continue our search. Now, what happened with you two?”

  “Nothing happened with us!” the two said together at once, their colours high. Fitzwilliam raised an eyebrow.

  “What happened to have you locked in this cottage?” he said smoothly. There was a slightly knowing smirk on his face.

  Darcy told them what had happened. He still had not released Elizabeth, and when he came to the part about the gun, he tightened his hold.

  “Mr Darcy was injured while protecting me,” said Elizabeth. She glanced down at his torso before withdrawing her gaze with a blush. “I bandaged it as best I could, but I had no water to clean it. It must be seen to at once before it becomes infected.”

  Fitzwilliam drew Darcy to one side. In his time in the army, he had seen a great many bullet wounds and Elizabeth was relieved Darcy was finally in safe hands. Darcy released Elizabeth slowly to allow Fitzwilliam to examine him while Elizabeth looked on anxiously.

  “Yes, it is a scratch,” said Fitzwilliam in relief. “I imagine the bullet that hit you is the one stuck in the tree over there. It grazed your skin, but it is not deep. However, Miss Bennet is correct. It must be seen to at once, or it will be infected. You did good work in cleaning it, Miss Bennet. We shall call for the physician as soon as we return to Rosings — oh no, I see Mr Jacob is here too. Good morning Mr Jacob. Well, how fortunate our aunt made sure every notable personage in town was on hand this morning,” he added dryly with a hard look at Lady Catherine. “Mr Jacob, would you mind looking at my cousin’s wound?”

  The physician joined them and agreed with Fitzwilliam’s assessm
ent that the wound was slight. He offered to return with them to Rosings to clean and dress it. Fitzwilliam nodded then looked at Elizabeth.

  “Miss Bennet, are you injured?”

  “Not at all,” she said. “They did not hurt me.”

  “Miss Bennet was very brave,” said Darcy.

  Fitzwilliam caught the tone of his voice and looked up at his cousin. He gazed on Miss Bennet with a look of tenderness and pride. Fitzwilliam had often suspected his cousin was partial to Miss Bennet although he had thought it as nothing more than an infatuation with a pretty girl, much like he himself felt for her. Knowing Darcy’s attentiveness to rank and family, it had not occurred to him to see it as anything serious. But for the first time, he realised his cousin was finally in love.

  Well, he could not fault him for his feelings. Miss Bennet was a captivating girl. He smiled to himself. The previous night had placed them in an interesting predicament. His aunt had been most vocal that their night together would oblige them to marry when she believed he was locked away with Anne. She could hardly go back on her declaration now and still save face. It would make her look capricious and self-interested. What would happen with the pair now?

  “Come, I think you are fine to move,” he said as he rebound Darcy’s wound. “Can you manage the walk back to Rosings Park?”

  “I am sure I can,” Darcy said, his tone slightly grouchy. “I did not lose a limb, you know. Fitzwilliam, can you retrieve my coat from inside?”

  For some strange reason, Miss Bennet’s face flamed. “I will retrieve it,” she said quickly.

  Fitzwilliam could not resist the mischievous impulse to see what caused her embarrassment. As she went back inside the cottage, he followed her. Darcy’s coat was on the ground in what had clearly been a makeshift bed. Just one bed for two people. Elizabeth turned around and saw him. She coloured again but held her head high and pushed the coat into his hands. Fitzwilliam followed her out, feeling more and more intrigued by the whole situation.

  The groom returned to tell them Anne was at Rosings, having retired early the night before. Lady Catherine looked furious.

  “But surely you are happy your daughter is at home and passed the night safely in her room, Aunt,” said Fitzwilliam with feigned innocence. “You would not wish your daughter to pass such a night as Miss Bennet did? Come, I know you must be eager to see her and know she is safe.”

  Lady Catherine’s face was white with two high spots of colour on her cheeks, but she could not argue with her nephew. She looked as if she were about to explode, but instead, she gave Fitzwilliam a tight nod.

  Mr Collins cleared his throat nervously. “I will take my cousin home,” he said. “My wife will have no peace until she knows she is safe.”

  Elizabeth stood there without a shawl or fichu and her dress torn from where she’d used it to bandage Darcy. She felt exposed in front of such a large crowd, all staring at her. Two ladies whispered to one another in excitement, their eyes fixed on her. She had the uncomfortable feeling her and Darcy’s escapade would be all around the county by dinnertime.

  She shivered as the same thought she had pushed aside the night before struck her once again; what was to be the outcome of this? They all knew she had spent the night alone with Mr Darcy. Was her reputation compromised beyond repair?

  Seeing her shiver, Darcy stepped forward at once, offering her his coat. The crowd murmured with interest and Elizabeth, who had been about to accept, stepped back to decline.

  “I am well, sir. It is not far to Hunsford,” she murmured, so quietly he could hardly hear her. Darcy stared at her with a look she could not decipher.

  “Collins, you will take good care of your cousin,” he said. The clergyman ran to his side at once.

  “Of course, Mr Darcy. Miss Bennet is in good hands, you will see. We will do all we can for her, and…”

  “I will come to see you later to hear how you do,” said Darcy to Elizabeth, ignoring Mr Collins.

  “Out of the question,” Lady Catherine snapped. “You are injured, and you must stay at Rosings where you can be cared for. There is no question of you leaving. You must be among your family now.”

  “I will come to you later,” Darcy repeated in a steady voice as if his aunt were not there.

  Elizabeth did not know what to say. Her mind was in a whirl from all that had taken place, and she could not think straight. How had a simple walk, something she did all the time, lead to such an event that would have who knew what consequences for her? She could hardly take it all in. She dropped him a curtsey without speaking and walked away as her cousin hurried to catch up with her.

  Chapter 10

  The rest of the day at Rosings Park was a whirlwind. Lady Catherine was furious, and Colonel Fitzwilliam took great delight in needling her. Darcy was seen to and bandaged, but he refused to spend the day in bed as his aunt tried to order him. Anne came to see him and cried out in horror when she heard what had happened. Lady Catherine rounded on her daughter at once.

  “Where were you? It was my express desire you should walk last night and instead you disobeyed me. Insolent, headstrong girl. You forget what duty you owe your mother.”

  Anne’s pale cheeks flushed as she hung her head. It was as if her mother’s harsh words deflated her and left her with little will to fight. The energy she had shown in her concern for Darcy drained away at once. Fitzwilliam noted the change with concern. Anne would never have a life while Lady Catherine tried to dominate every aspect of it. Fitzwilliam wondered how his cousin would fare away from his aunt. What would she be like without her mother smothering her and draining her life away?

  “Surely you are not angry with Anne, Aunt. I would have thought you would have been overjoyed she retired to her room and was spared the ordeal Darcy and Miss Bennet went through. You would not have liked her to be handled roughly and locked away for the night, surely?”

  Lady Catherine pursed her lips and glared at him as if she could turn him to stone. It was all Fitzwilliam could do not to burst out laughing.

  “Come, now,” he continued. “It all turned out well for Anne. She is not used to walking as you have always insisted it would tire her out. To expect her to go from short turns about the lawn to walking alone in the woods in the evening is too much to ask for all at once. You have always taught her the necessity of guarding her health and not overexerting herself. She merely followed what you have expected of her all her life.”

  Anne raised her eyes and flashed her cousin an appreciative look. He grinned and winked at her when Lady Catherine turned away from them as if she could no longer endure the sight. Fitzwilliam turned back to Darcy.

  “The magistrate will return later to see if you remember anything else about the men who attacked you,” he said. “Can you recall anything else about their appearance that might stand out?”

  Was it his imagination or did his aunt tense up at his question? She looked at Darcy rather sharply. The suspicion that had been growing in Fitzwilliam ever since he learned of his cousins’ disappearance grew even sharper.

  Was it possible? Was this a depth even she was prepared to stoop to? No, surely not. If it had gone wrong, it might have resulted in the death of her daughter and nephew. Surely even she would not — would she?

  Fitzwilliam was dismayed to discover he could not know for sure. His aunt was ruthless about getting her own way and saw others, even family members, as mere pawns who existed to carry out her will. Uncomfortable as the thought made him, he knew he could not say with complete confidence that his aunt was above such a scheme.

  “Nothing more than what we have already told him. Just descriptions of their height and builds. I am afraid we did not get a good look at their faces,” said Darcy. “They wore hats and kerchiefs pulled low. There was five of them.”

  “Five!” exclaimed Lady Catherine in alarm. “So many?”

  “If they already had their faces covered, they did not happen upon you by accident,” said Fitzwilliam. “They took
the time to make sure they would not be recognised.”

  Darcy shrugged. “It is possible they heard our voices and saw an opportunity. Either that or they had realised my habit of walking in the woods and had watched for me to return.”

  “Thank goodness they did not come upon Miss Bennet alone,” said Fitzwilliam. “Or this might have had a far darker outcome.”

  “One of them held a gun to her head to prevent me fighting,” said Darcy. His voice was grim, and his face whitened with anger as he recalled the memory. “He threatened to drag her away. Miss Bennet was braver than anyone else would have been, but she was unsettled all night about them returning. I am certainly glad I was there.”

  Anne gasped at his words, and even Lady Catherine looked stricken.

  “When did they shoot you?” she asked in a strained voice.

  “The man who held Miss Bennet fired a shot as I was fighting with the others. It grazed me, but I knew then they were willing to kill us if necessary. Then, he held the gun to Miss Bennet to prevent me fighting. At that point, I was relieved they locked myself and Miss Bennet away and left. I believe if the cottage had not been nearby as a convenient place to imprison us, they might have killed us to prevent us from reporting them. The cottage allowed them a chance to escape.”

  “A robbery that might very easily have gotten out of hand,” said Fitzwilliam. “Now, Aunt. Having heard all that, are you not glad your daughter did not obey your wishes and retired instead? You would not wish her to be exposed to such an ordeal in service of your commands?”

  Lady Catherine looked tightlipped. She merely nodded and looked away.

  “Well, the matter is done now, and my nephew and Miss Bennet are safe. Darcy will heal, and if the villains are not caught, they are at least far away. We can put this matter behind us and say no more about it. Indeed, I insist we put it behind us at once. It was a terrible ordeal for a loving mother and aunt, and I will not be reminded of it again.”