Netherfield Park Quarantined

by Schertz, Melanie

  Lady Catherine rounded on her nephew. “Does not care about you? Why, Anne has known since she was a small child that you were her future husband. She has planned her entire life around becoming Mrs Darcy of Pemberley. And she has nothing but love and compassion for you. You ignore her to chase after harlots.”

  “Harlots? Darcy has never been with another woman until Elizabeth.” Richard supported his cousin’s choice. “Unlike my father, my brother, Sir Lewis, and yes, even me, Darcy saved himself for his wife and only his wife. Uncle Gerald was a man of deep convictions. He instilled them in William. Even when he was teased mercilessly, William did not falter. He held strong to his beliefs and kept to his celibate lifestyle. I have seen William with Elizabeth, and I can honestly say that they are truly in love. How dare you attack his morals when your own are far more questionable than his?”

  “Son, I will not allow you to treat your aunt in such a manner, not in my house. If you cannot be civil, I will ask you to leave.” Darcy turned toward Lord Matlock. “If Richard leaves, so do I. Remember that, Uncle. It is only out of respect for him that I came here tonight.”

  “Darcy, it is ridiculous for you to behave so irrationally. You were engaged to your cousin, and left her alone to face the world. You married a nobody, a daughter of some poor country squire. Her mother’s family has no connections, only a solicitor in the small neighborhood near her father’s estate and a man in trade. When society learns of this, your little chit will be disgraced and laughed out of London.” Lord Matlock attempted to make his nephew see reason.

  “I do not care what society thinks. I would be more than pleased to remain the rest of my life at Pemberley, with Elizabeth by my side.” Darcy replied.

  “But what of your sister?” Lady Catherine asked. “If you will not protect her from the scandal which will arise from your foolish behavior, then it is up to me to take matters into my own hands. I will take custody of Georgiana, raise her properly for her introduction to society.”

  “You have no right to take Georgiana from William or myself, for that matter. Uncle Gerald placed William and myself as Georgiana’s guardians, not you. And what do you know of society anyway? When was the last time you attended a ball or were, even, in London for the season? Anne was never allowed to come to Town, so she has no knowledge of what a season is like.” Richard stated.

  Lord Matlock shook his head. “I thought it was peculiar for my brother in law to leave Georgiana in the care of two young men, both of which were unmarried and had never raised a daughter of their own. Our solicitor feels we stand a good chance in court to remove Georgiana, only to protect her from further harm Darcy’s marriage will bring. We can have the two of you declared unfit to be her guardians, and, in doing so, we set the groundwork to rid the family of the fortune hunter wife with whom he is saddled. Since you both refuse to see reason in the matter, I will speak to the solicitor tomorrow to begin the process.”

  “I will go to your townhouse tonight to collect Georgiana and take her to Rosings with me. Anne and I will be perfect role models for such a young lady.” Lady Catherine took a step towards the door of the drawing room.

  “Take one more step, Lady Catherine, and I will be forced to make public the journals of your late husband. I believe you will be the laughing stock of all England when they learn of your finding mistresses and maids to keep your husband from your bed after you found you were with child. You knew there were no restrictions on a female child being able to inherit, so you made sure you only endured Sir Lewis until you had your required heir. And I found it interesting that Sir Lewis had in his will that Anne inherited Rosings at the age of five and twenty. You inherited nothing but your widow’s portion. If Anne married me, since I had my own estate, she would move to Pemberley and leave Rosings for you to enjoy. That is the reason you are set on my marrying Anne.”

  “Lies, all of it is lies. From where did this alleged journal come?” Lady Catherine was turning red with fury. “When Sir Lewis knew he was dying, he called for my father to come to him. He gave the journals to my father. My father gave them to me, as he knew you would try to force me into a marriage with Anne. Father wished for me to have the truth rather than your version.” Darcy smiled as he watched his aunt stomp her foot in anger.

  The butler came to the door of the drawing room, waiting for the conversation to halt before he drew attention to himself. Lord Matlock noticed him and inquired. “What is it, Jackson?”

  “A footman has come from Darcy House with an important message for Mr Darcy.”

  Darcy quickly crossed the room, and seeing Alfie behind Jackson, the Master of Darcy House moved to his servant. “What has happened, Alfie?” “Sir, a boy came to Darcy House a few moments after you and the Colonel left. The boy claimed you had been in a terrible carriage accident and were injured. Mrs Darcy ran out of the house, following the boy. By the time Mr Crossman gathered some of us footmen to go after her, Mrs Darcy had vanished. We have been searching for some time, with no sign of her. And, as you and the Colonel are not harmed, the boy lied to Mrs Darcy to get her out of the house.”

  Richard had moved to stand behind his cousin, and had heard what the footman told him. “We will deal with Father and Lady Catherine later, William. Let us return to Darcy House and begin the investigation.”

  ~~~~~~~ ** ~~~~~~~

  Chapter 10 With her hands tied behind her, her feet bound and a gag in her mouth, Elizabeth knew she could make no escape or call out for help. She knew she was lying on the bed of a wagon, covered with blankets and the heavy fabric her uncle used in his warehouse. The wagon was still moving, and had been since the man and woman came up behind her on the road. The woman held a pistol, pointed directly at Elizabeth’s heart. With Elizabeth’s cooperation, the man bound her with rope and then gagged her before lifting her up and tossing her onto the wagon bed. It was all done so quickly, all the while Elizabeth was still concerned for Darcy’s welfare. She had not thought twice about following after the young boy, the only thing that went through her mind was finding her husband alive.

  A hole in the road caused the wagon to bounce hard, flinging Elizabeth up before she crashed back on the bed of the wagon, striking her body on an object that was also on the wagon bed. A searing pain coursed through Elizabeth, and she felt something warm flowing down her side.

  Another hour passed by before the wagon came to a halt. The man jumped down from the driver’s seat to make his way to the bed, pulling the bedding off the top of his captive. Flinging her over his shoulder, the man carried Elizabeth inside a ransacked house on the outskirts of Town. Suddenly, Elizabeth found herself being tossed onto a bed in the back room. Crying out from pain, Elizabeth could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

  “George, why is there blood on your coat?” the woman asked. “Were you injured?” “No.” Wickham said as he checked himself for any wounds. “She must be bleeding from some injury. Blast, we were to see she was taken and kept safely in the house in Ireland until we heard otherwise.”

  The woman walked over to the bed and began to look Elizabeth over. “Here, on her side, there is a cut. From the looks of it, she must have cut herself on one of the farm tools on the wagon.”

  “How bad is it?” Wickham asked, anger at the situation was apparent. “Can you take care of the wound?” Mrs Younge nodded her head. “It is not too bad, but I cannot be sure how deep the cut is. I will clean it up and wrap it. How soon before we leave for Ireland?”

  “Tomorrow morning. We will make it north to Liverpool. From there, we will take a ship across to Dublin. I have the directions to the estate we are to go to from Dublin. Then we wait and keep the two ladies secure there until the gentleman who has purchased Mrs Darcy arrives. Then we will take Miss Darcy back to England, and collect the ransom for her.”

  “For all of this, we will receive twenty thousand pounds?” Mrs Younge smiled. “I cannot wait until this is all over and we travel on to the Americas. We will be able to start a new life together
with such funds available to us.”

  “Of course, my love, and we will be a wealthy married couple when we begin our new life. We could have a fancy townhouse in New York, or travel to the southern section, and have what they call a plantation. There are fancy estates like we have here in England, with large, beautiful houses. What sort of life do you wish?”

  “As long as I am with you, George, it does not matter. I should check on our other guest.” Wickham accompanied Mrs Younge from the room, going to his bedchamber while she went to check on the young girl they had secured down the hall.

  ~~ ** ~~ Darcy and Richard returned to Darcy House, speaking to everyone who was involved in the search for Elizabeth. Knowing Wickham would be ruthless with Elizabeth, even more so than with Georgiana, Darcy’s heart was racing with fear. Wickham knew that Elizabeth was Darcy’s wife, that she was his lover and the woman the Master of Pemberley had given his heart to. To someone of Wickham’s lack of morals, this was a great treasure. He knew Darcy would do anything to get Elizabeth back, and anything the villain did to her while she was in his grasp would be a knife in Darcy’s heart.

  Darcy continued to pace, waiting for the letter from Wickham to arrive, waiting for the demands that would be issued. Each tick of the clock was an eternity, dragging slowly and straining Darcy’s sanity.

  But no word arrived. Wickham did not make demands of Darcy, not even a letter taunting his nemesis with the fact of his wife being in Wickham’s grasp. This caused torment for Darcy, and for Richard, who wished to put an end to the scoundrel.

  ~~ ** ~~ Wickham had two trunks made special for traveling with his… guests…to eliminate the possibility of their escape. So far, the two had been kept apart, though each knew they were not the only hostage. Learning that her captors were George Wickham and Mrs Younge, Elizabeth was certain the other hostage was her new sister, Georgiana Darcy. Georgiana had no notion as to whom the other hostage was, though she feared for all of her loved ones.

  The first day of travel, Wickham came into Elizabeth’s room and explained to her the options before her. “You may remain here, alone, bound and gagged, to die slowly, or you can go with us. If you go with us, you will be kept tied up and gagged, and will be inside one of the trunks. Do not fear, the trunks have holes drilled in them for air, so you can breathe. We will be traveling by private carriage and staying at private houses along the trip, so do not think you will be able to escape from us. If you cooperate, you will be fed, given a comfortable bed, and treated fairly. If you misbehave, we will first punish the other hostage, then you will be punished.”

  The gag had been pulled down from Elizabeth’s mouth to allow her to take a drink from the cup Wickham held to her lips. “Where are we going? Why would you take us anywhere? William will pay you what you wish, then you can disappear.”

  “Do not worry yourself over the hows and whys. Just know, you will not be seeing your beloved Darcy again. Our other hostage may be returned to Darcy in time, but you will spend the rest of your life without him.” Wickham said with a gleam of pleasure. “And if I know your husband, it will be the worst torture imaginable.”

  Elizabeth began to fear for her safety. From the sounds of it, there was no reason to keep Elizabeth alive, and only if she complied would she be allowed to continue breathing. And her cooperation would also keep Georgiana from harm. She would do anything to protect the young girl, her husband’s beloved little sister. If there was a way to ensure Georgiana would be returned to William, she would do whatever was asked of her.

  ~~ ** ~~ Entering the study of Darcy House, Richard found his cousin seated at his desk, with his head down on the desk, and an empty bottle of port near the overturned glass near Darcy’s head. It had been a week since Darcy had seen his wife, a week with no word from Wickham and no leads as to where the scoundrel had taken not only Elizabeth, but Georgiana as well. Each hour which passed with no word, Darcy had slipped further into melancholy, and finally shut himself in his study to begin drinking. The last time Richard had seen his cousin in such a state, Gerald Darcy had just died.

  No one could understand Wickham’s silence. It was not like the man to disappear without his goal, and in this case, the goal was extorted funds from Darcy. They knew Elizabeth had no money upon her, she did not even have her reticule or spencer. And Georgiana rarely kept more than two pounds in her reticule. Darcy was concerned Wickham might take the ladies to the bank and have them withdraw the money without him, but no one had shown up at the bank to retrieve funds from any Darcy account.

  Richard knew he needed to snap his cousin from the hole into which he was falling. If it was allowed to continue much longer, Richard feared for Darcy’s safety.

  “Darce, wake up.” Richard said in a normal tone. He stepped closer to the desk and raised his voice slightly. “William, wake up.” Still no response from his cousin. Finally, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam used his commanding officer voice. “Fitzwilliam Gerald Darcy, you will wake this very moment or you will be cleaning all of the necessary rooms in the house.”

  Darcy’s head came up off the desk, though pain beat loudly in his ears. “Richard, go away. I am in no mood to listen to you.” “I do not care if you are in a mood to listen or not. You will get yourself up from your desk, march yourself upstairs to clean yourself up, and be ready to leave here in an hour.”

  Looking at his cousin, Darcy could not help but be confused. “Why do we need to leave here in an hour? Has something happened?” “If you had remained sober, you would already know the answer to that question.” Richard stated in a matter of fact manner. “But, yes, I received word from one of my men. It appears Wickham had some trunks made special. My guess is they were made to transport people inside. And he had two of the trunks made, so I am sure he has both Elizabeth and Georgiana. That is good news, they must be alive if he was transporting them wherever he was going.”

  “But where was he taking them? Do we know that?” Darcy spat out in disgust. “As a matter of fact, Wickham finally slipped up. The man who made the trunks overheard Wickham speaking with a woman. From the description, I believe it was Mrs Younge. They were speaking of Liverpool. I have already called to have a carriage prepared, hence the need to be ready to leave in an hour.”

  Darcy jumped up from his seat, before grasping his head between both of his hands. The obvious effects of too much indulgence of port could be seen on the young man.

  “Your valet has strong coffee in your room, as well as a hot bath and a razor ready to shave you. Hurry along and be back down here in an hour, or I will leave without you.”

  ~~ ** ~~ Charles Bingley was visiting Longbourn daily, spending as much time with his angel as possible. The more he knew of Jane Bennet, the more he wished to be with her. This morning, Bingley had made the decision to speak with Jane about his dreams for the future.

  The day was pleasant, and shortly after Bingley arrived, he asked Jane if she would care to take a turn in the gardens. Jane gratefully accepted, wishing to be away from her mother, who had decided she was well enough to come from her rooms that morning.

  Once outside, Bingley became frantic to find the words he wished to convey his feelings to the lady beside him. Nervous, he began the conversation poorly.

  “I received a letter from the physician who is tending to Caroline. She is making no signs of improvement, though the physician wishes to try several other treatments to see if one of them would be affective.”

  “It is sad that your sister was so struck by the fever. Is your other sister devastated by Miss Bingley’s lack of improvement?” Jane asked cautiously. “No, in a way, it has been a blessing for Louisa and Hurst, as their marriage suffered whenever Caroline was with them. Miss Bennet, I wish to inform you of a family secret. I feel you must know this information, so you will be better able to decide the future. Caroline is my cousin, not my sister. And her mother was disturbed, as Caroline is now. Fortunately, Caroline’s mother was only a half-sister to my father, they shared a father. T
he illness of the mind came from her mother’s side of the family.”

  Jane was puzzled as to how this information would affect her own future. “I am sad for your family. Does Miss Bingley know of her true mother?”

  “No, the information was entrusted to me when I became the head of the family. I tell you this information, Miss Bennet, as I wish for you to know that the illness Caroline suffers is not one anyone in my direct family line has suffered.”

  “That is good news for you, Mr Bingley, though I do not understand what difference it makes to my future.” Jane said, her naïve behavior was obvious.

  “It makes a difference to your future if you were to accept my offer for your hand in marriage.” Bingley said as he came to a halt. “This has been a pitiful way of proposing, what a fool I am.” Letting go of Jane’s arm, Bingley walked over to a nearby bench and sat down.

  Realizing what was happening, Jane walked to the bench and sat beside Bingley. She lifted his hand in her own, bringing it to her lips and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it. “It was not the proposal of my dreams, I admit to you, but it was made by the man of my dreams. Since I met you, I have come to know you to be the knight in shining armor I used to pretend would come to rescue me from all the evils in the world, the man who would win my heart and make me the happiest of ladies. Mr Bingley, you are a kind, good natured, caring man, and I find it an honor to have you in my life. It would bring me the greatest joy to be at your side for the rest of my life, as your wife.”

  “Jane, Jane, you are the best lady I have ever known. You just proposed to me in the manner I had wished to do. I would be honored to be your husband, your knight in shining armor, the defender of your heart. Miss Jane Bennet, would you be my wife?”