Follies and Vices

by Emily Russell

  Darcy’s heart almost stopped. His chest squeezed.

  “What are you saying?”

  Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth looked up at him. “I am saying that your declaration makes me happier than I know how to express and that I return your feelings and wishes with all my heart.”

  Darcy stared at her in disbelief before his face broke into a smile almost broader than the one growing on her face. He sighed and rested his forehead against hers.

  “I felt a cad for taking advantage of you yesterday. You would have had every right to have me called out for it.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “I worried about what you might think of me. I was afraid I was shameless, and my behaviour appalled you. I hardly knew how to look at you.”

  “Is that why you were so grave and quiet afterwards?”

  Elizabeth nodded. Darcy smiled again and wrapped his arms around her. “Then allow me to put your fears to rest. I was more than pleased by your shamelessness, as you call it. And I hope you will be even more shameless after we are married. I hope to experience your shamelessness to the fullest, and I will take great delight in it. Does that make you feel better?”

  Though Elizabeth’s colour deepened with every word he said, she could not resist smiling.

  “Mr Darcy, I am shocked to hear such talk from you. And to think, not so long ago, I thought you were a stuffy, stick-necked gentleman without a sense of passion. I had never suspected you capable of such feelings.”

  “They were there when I met you,” said Darcy firmly. “I might have appeared aloof and cold, but believe me when I say they were very much there.”

  He lowered his head to kiss her. When he released her, Elizabeth could hardly stand, and Darcy did not look much better. He wrapped his arms around her and enveloped her in a hug.

  “I think we had better stop there,” he said as he kissed the top of her head before resting his chin there. “I am determined we shall wait until we are married properly so as not to dishonour you, but if I keep doing that, my resolve will weaken.”

  Right then, Elizabeth could have argued that she would not have minded if his resolve weakened. But he was right in that they had no idea of their marital status. Besides, they had the rest of their lives together. The rest of their lives to enjoy a happy, loving marriage where they would see one another every day and be together as much as they liked. She sighed with contentment and nestled closer against him.

  “I suppose if we are to discover where we stand, we will not do so any sooner for standing about here,” she said.

  “I suppose we won’t,” said Darcy. He pulled her against him even tighter. Elizabeth buried her head under his neck, gripping him tighter.

  “The day grows shorter,” said Darcy.

  “It does indeed.”

  And still, they did not move. Eventually, Darcy sighed and released her. At once Elizabeth felt a rush of cold. She missed his warmth. But he took his hand in hers and together, they walked on. As they did, they discussed who would be most surprised to hear of what happened.

  “My father,” said Elizabeth. “He will be all astonishment. He will think I am teasing him when he learns we were abducted and then married and happily plan to stay that way.”

  “What will he think of your husband?” said Darcy. “Will he be happy you are not marrying Mr Collins? Or is he aware of your, hopefully former, dislike of me?”

  Elizabeth winced. “Former. Definitely former. I think I have proven that by now.” She gave him a shamefaced look. “And — er — yes, he might know something of my extremely former dislike of you. I can be quite vocal about my opinions sometimes. But I will be just as vocal about assuring people how they have changed. Who will be most surprised by your announcement? Mr Bingley?”

  Darcy rubbed his jaw and grinned down at her. “No, not Mr Bingley. He suspected I had a partiality for you, though he never realised how far it went. He told me in not so many words that he approved of it. He will be one of the first to congratulate me. If I had to think who would be most surprised, I would have to say, my aunt, Lady Catherine.” Darcy looked down at her. “She will be difficult. I will shield you from her, but I cannot prevent you from knowing of it entirely.

  “I think the wife of Mr Darcy must have such joy at her disposal to make her endure with fortitude the anger of his family,” said Elizabeth with a flash of her dimples. “And I am sure your aunt will be surprised if she expects you to marry her daughter.”

  Darcy sighed. “I suppose it should not surprise me Wickham has been spreading such rumours.”

  “Yet another of his lies.”

  “One with an element of truth in it.” When Elizabeth gave him a horrified look, he laughed. “No, not like that. I already told you I am not engaged to Anne. My aunt has determined we shall marry since we were in the cradle. Wickham would have heard her speak of it when he was growing up at Pemberley. He often teased me about it. But I do not recall agreeing to any such thing and Anne, and I have never intended to marry. No one in my family expects us to marry but my aunt.”

  “I am glad to hear that,” said Elizabeth as Darcy brought her hand to his lips. “At least I will not have to contend with an angry cousin. Miss Bingley will already be enough of a challenge…” She burst out laughing as Darcy caught her to him.

  “Teasing wench,” he said. Elizabeth tilted her head with a look of mock contrition.

  “A thousand apologies. I will refrain from such impertinence once we are married properly.”

  “You had better not, or I shall divorce you. I find your impertinence charming. I expect to be teased and teased often.”

  “I think I can manage that.”

  They spoke so long about their plans for the future that they did not notice night was falling.

  “Look at that,” said Elizabeth in dismay. ”It shall be dark soon. What shall we do?”

  “We shall either find somewhere to stay, or we shall find shelter. I have high hopes we have no more than one night left on the road. By tomorrow, we shall be at Darcy House.”

  Chapter 29

  There was little shelter from the snow in this wild, scrubby expanse of land. Elizabeth shivered, and Darcy wrapped his arm around her to hold her close, though it meant slower walking for them.

  “Think about tomorrow,” he said bracingly. “Think about warm fires, good food, a bath, a soft bed — we do not have much further to go.”

  “I am thinking about that,” said Elizabeth with a little laugh. “I am thinking of it so much I am tempted to walk through the night so we might be there that much sooner.”

  “I know how you feel. I am afraid that would not be possible. The temperature is freezing. We must find somewhere to bed down for the night.”

  “Where do you think we are?”

  Darcy was silent. Elizabeth glanced up at him. He looked about the vast area and swallowed.

  “I suspect we are on Hounslow Heath,” he said.

  Elizabeth gasped. “Are you sure?”

  “Almost definitely. We are in the right area for it. I hoped we would pass around it, but there is no point in complaining of it now.”

  “Hounslow Heath,” Elizabeth repeated. She looked about her. The night had almost fallen. The outline of trees was black against the dark sky. A breeze moved them with an ominous creaking. She shuddered. “I have never been here before. We always avoided it if we had cause to pass through this direction.”

  “I passed through here once before my father died. I must admit the excitement of travelling through one of the most dangerous parts of Britain thrilled me. Once I had to care for my sister, I was no longer eager to take such a risk.”

  “I cannot believe we have escaped thieves only to find ourselves right in the hunting ground of highwaymen,” said Elizabeth. “There is so much about these few weeks I can never tell my mama. If she even hears the word Hounslow, she shrieks and behaves as though a villain is hiding under her bed.”

  Darcy smiled. “An advantage of this weat
her is that few people are likely to travel abroad so there will be little work for highwaymen. I should think we shall have most of the heath to ourselves tonight. And once we find the Great West Road, it will be much easier to walk. Be of good cheer, my love. Though we are in a dangerous place, it is a sign that our travels are almost at an end.”

  “I am sure we look too poor and wretched by now to be of any interest to rogues.” Elizabeth smiled. “Or rather, we are the ones who look like the rogues. And with this cold, I do not mind telling you that if I see a carriage travelling toward London, I will be quite tempted to hold it up myself and commandeer it for ourselves.”

  They trudged onwards, shivering in their coats. The temperature dropped even more. Though Elizabeth did not complain, Darcy was worried about her in the frigid temperature. Elizabeth was slight and would feel the cold easily. He was growing more concerned and wondering how to insist she take his coat as well as her own when he spotted something that made his heart lift. Peering through the dark, he saw the outline of a house. He pulled Elizabeth closer to him.

  “Look over there. Perhaps they will shelter us, or at least there might be an outhouse where we can sleep.”

  Elizabeth raised her exhausted head.

  “I will take whatever they can offer us. As long as there is warmth, I am happy to sleep with the pigs.”

  “Let us not hope we might have that much good fortune,” said Darcy. He rubbed his hand up and down Elizabeth’s arm to keep her warm as they trudged across the uneven heath toward the shelter.

  “Either everyone is asleep, or no one is home,” he observed as the drew nearer. They looked up at the dark windows. The house was two storeys high. They walked around it, looking for some signs of life. Darcy peered through the window.

  “I see no dying fire or glowing embers in the hearth. I think it is empty,” he said.

  “I think so too,” came Elizabeth’s distant voice. Darcy looked around, and his heart thudded when he saw no sign of her.

  “Elizabeth —“ he said.

  “In here.”

  Darcy walked around and saw the front door open. He entered and saw Elizabeth leaning over the cold hearth. He released a breath.

  “Do not run away like that again.”

  “I did not run. I walked.” She gave him that arch smile he adored and came toward him, her hands outstretched. “Is this not perfect? We have this house to ourselves. We shall be warm tonight and can leave for London in the morning, well-rested. How many miles do we have left?”

  “I should say about ten.”

  Elizabeth winced but recovered quickly. “Well then, we had best sleep. Come, let us see what we can find.”

  The stairs were old and creaky. Tables and chairs scattered around the room and a thin rug lay before the hearth, but there was nothing that suggested a family lived here regularly.

  “Perhaps it is kept for its owner when they pass through,” said Elizabeth when Darcy remarked on it. “Someone uses it, but they have not done so for a while. How considerate of them to leave the door unlocked.”

  “How careless of them considering where we are,” said Darcy.

  At the top of the stairs ran a small passageway. Elizabeth tried some doors and made a face. Darcy looked in after her.

  “What is wrong with these?” he asked, seeing two narrow beds in one of the rooms Elizabeth rejected. Instead of answering, Elizabeth gave a triumphant cry.

  “How lovely. We shall be cosy here tonight.”

  Darcy followed her. He wrapped his arms around her and leaned his chin on her head as he looked at the room she had chosen. A wide bed stood near the window. A bed large enough for two people. Darcy smiled but said nothing.

  “Well, it will be a very cold night,” said Elizabeth, with just a touch of defensiveness in her voice. “We have no fire or tools to create one. We have some food but nothing hot to warm us. I just thought this is the best…”

  “Oh, it is the best,” said Darcy. “I commend your choice, Mrs Darcy.”

  After they had finished the last of their food and made blankets from a spare blanket and their two coats and curled up under them together, Elizabeth gave a contented sigh.

  “Is it strange to say a part of me will miss all this once we are in London?”

  “That is strange to say,” said Darcy. Elizabeth heard the smile in his voice. “And I am relieved to hear you say it because I have been thinking the same thing.” He pulled her closer. “What a story we shall have to tell our grandchildren.”

  In the warmth and with the promise of soon ending their journey, Elizabeth and Darcy soon fell asleep. Darcy did not know how long they slept when something woke him. He lay still, Elizabeth still nestled in his arms, as he frowned at the ceiling, wondering what had pulled him from such a deep sleep. He looked toward the window. There was still some time before dawn, but it would grow light in a few hours. Elizabeth sighed and snuggled in closer against him. Darcy smiled and brushed his lips against the top of her head. He could not wait to experience night after night of this at Pemberley. He yawned and was about to allow himself sink into sleep once again when he heard something moving about in the room below them. Darcy froze and listened, trying to figure out what it was and hoping it was an animal. Had they shut the door? Perhaps it was a fox seeking shelter from the cold. Though Darcy was warm under the blankets with Elizabeth in his arms, he could feel that the temperature outside the room was freezing.

  The thumps came again. Darcy swallowed. That was not an animal unless a bear had escaped from the Tower menagerie and sought shelter. There was no animal on this heath that could make such a noise as it moved about, apart from…

  “Did you get the brooch?” a muffled voice asked. Darcy went very still.

  “I did. Here, throw it in with the others.”

  The first voice laughed. “I would have demanded his daughter as well if she were more comely. Still, it was thoughtful of her to carry a purse under her bodice. It was an excellent idea to come out tonight after all.”

  The second voice had a smug note in it. “Aye. The old man was as shocked as anything. He had been counting on it being too cold. I thought at one point he was right, but I am pleased it was worth the effort. These little beauties will see us right.”

  “Elizabeth,” Darcy whispered. He nudged her gently.

  “Mmmm…” Elizabeth murmured before leaning in closer to him. Darcy called her name again. As she opened her eyes, he placed a hand over her mouth. Elizabeth’s eyes flew wide in alarm. Darcy pressed a finger to his lips before releasing her. He pointed to the floor. Elizabeth looked at him in confusion before a voice spoke again.

  “Harry left some stuff upstairs since he was last here, did he not?”

  “What kind of stuff?” the first voice asked, hopefully. Darcy thought it sounded familiar, but through the floor, it was hard to tell.

  “Nothing like that so calm your greedy little mind. I am talking about beds and blankets.” the voice cursed. “I have never known such cold. What a wretched night to be abroad. We should have kept going until we reached The Bell. It is not as though we cannot afford to pay for proper lodgings now.”

  “This is closer. Stop your complaining. You said it yourself; we have enough to see us right for a few weeks at least and for very little trouble. Yes, there are beds upstairs. I am taking the largest one. You can shift for yourself.”

  Footsteps started toward the stairs. Elizabeth’s eyes were wide as she looked at Darcy. He released her and rose from the bed. She climbed out to stand beside him.

  “What shall we do?” she whispered. “If they find us here…”

  “You will hide under the bed,” said Darcy. “There is enough room for you. I will fight them…”

  “You will not. There is more of them than you. I will not watch you die…”

  Elizabeth pulled herself free from his grasp. She hurried toward the window.

  “It is too high to jump,” said Darcy. “Elizabeth, what are you doing?
”

  Too late, Darcy realised the footsteps had stopped right outside the door. He took a deep breath and moved to place himself in front of Elizabeth.

  The door opened, and two men entered the room. They stopped short when they saw Elizabeth and Darcy. Elizabeth’s heart stopped. She knew those faces. It was those men from the inn, the one who had come upon them again in the woods. She rummaged through her coat.

  “I know you,” said Platt. He pointed at Darcy. “You’re the man who had that wench in the woods.” He pointed at Elizabeth. “And you’re the wench in the woods. What are you doing here?”

  Smith walked toward them and held up a candle to peer at Elizabeth. He frowned as though struggling to think of something. Elizabeth’s face fell as his cleared.

  “I remember you. You’re that girl Jerry had at the Stag. The one he wanted to ransom.”

  Darcy froze and reached for Elizabeth. Platt burst out laughing.

  “No! And we had them in front of us, and we let them leave. Remember how Jerry wouldn’t let us take part in it? And they walked right into our arms.”

  “We have nothing for you,” said Darcy coldly. “Allow us to leave.”

  “I don’t think so, mate. Well, this really is our lucky night, eh? Where is Jerry? Did you give him the slip?”

  “I have no idea where he is.” Darcy sized the men up. They were smaller than him and rather thin. Could he attack both? Platt and Smith were looking at one another.

  “Do you have any of that rope left?”

  “Aye. It’s on the table. We need to take them somewhere further, though. We are a little close to London for my liking. Perhaps we can move them to…”

  “Move to the back of the room,” said Elizabeth. The two men continued their discussion for a moment longer while Darcy stared at Elizabeth in utter amazement.

  “I’m not getting close enough to him to tie him up. Look at him. He’s like an ox. You can tie him up.”