Lydia looked to her sister crumpled on the floor and allowed Denny to inch past her shoulder. “If you let the captain take my sister to the hackney, I will go with you. But we must leave quickly. My father will not be far if Lizzy found us so easily.”
Mr. Wickham kept the knife in hand and warned Denny. “Lydia and I shall take the hackney whilst you wait here with Miss Elizabeth. After half an hour has passed, you may escort the lady home. Lydia and I shall be gone by then.”
Elizabeth stood with Captain Denny’s assistance and begged her sister not to go with the horrid Mr. Wickham. “Lydia, can you not see? For once, do not be so silly. He will not marry you. Come with me. Jane and I shall take you home to Longbourn. There is still time.”
Lydia wrapped her arms around Wickham’s neck. “Lizzy, I am not going home to Longbourn without my George. You are only jealous he never asked for your hand.”
“If he loved you and wished to be an honorable man, why did he not ask Father before the militia left Meryton?”
Mr. Wickham pulled Lydia along the hallway away from Elizabeth and Captain Denny. He laughed at Elizabeth and backed toward the stairs. “You would have eloped with me had I given the faintest encouragement. You believed all I had to say of Mr. Darcy without knowing me for more than an hour yet you call your sister foolish.”
His words stung Elizabeth for she knew them to be true. Mr. Darcy had made the same charge when he proposed to her at Hunsford. The shame of knowing she had behaved like her youngest sister filled her with a terrible regret as Captain Denny held her back from going after the ill-fated lovebirds.
“We will not wait for half an hour, captain,” she hissed as her sister disappeared down the darkened stairs.
“Of course, Miss Elizabeth. As soon as they are away, I will see you home. My men are hiding in the street and will follow Wickham wherever he goes. He and your sister will not escape them.”
Elizabeth slumped against Denny’s arm as he led her the way Wickham and Lydia had just gone. “Will you bring her to 283 Gracechurch Street before dawn breaks, Captain? I hoped to save my remaining sisters from the shame but I will have failed if Lydia becomes the gossip of London.”
Captain Denny promised he would have Lydia quietly delivered to the Gardiner townhome. “I will do my best to see she is not exposed, Miss Elizabeth, I assure you.”
As they gained the top of the stairs, Lydia’s screams once again filled the air.
There was the sound of men arguing loudly and soon the hallways filled with Lady Sherston’s girls and their gentlemen callers. Elizabeth could make out her father’s voice and that of Mr. Darcy.
Had it not been for Denny’s broad shoulders cutting a path through the crowd that gathered at the bottom of the stairs, Elizabeth would not have witnessed the end of Mr. Wickham’s plot to ruin her sister.
Lydia kept up her tantrum though Colonel Fitzwilliam had Mr. Wickham in a stranglehold. To Elizabeth’s horror, her father knelt over Mr. Darcy. There was a darkening pool gathering beneath him.
She wanted to scream as loudly as Lydia but Elizabeth knew if she allowed herself the opportunity, she would lose all hope of being useful in this terrible situation. Instead, she knelt on the other side of Mr. Darcy and smoothed the hair from his forehead. His eyes fluttered open and a pained smiled formed on his lips. “Elizabeth,” he whispered.
Tears came unbidden and she rested her hand on his. He was pressing hard against the knife wound Wickham had landed before Colonel Fitzwilliam appeared on the scene.
“Do not speak, we must get you away from here and to a doctor. You must have one you trust, of course.”
Captain Denny and several of his men, alerted by the commotion in Lady Sherston’s house, took charge of Mr. Wickham and Colonel Fitzwilliam turned to Elizabeth.
“Take Miss Lydia and your father to the hackney waiting in the street. Lady Sherston told us you were here. What an obstinate, headstrong lady you are! If you wish to save your family from certain scandal, do as I say.”
Elizabeth stood and embraced the colonel. “Thank you, sir. I cannot tell you how happy I am, for once, to do as I am told. Please see to Mr. Darcy. I have become quite fond of him, you know.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam gave a chuckle. “Indeed, I have known it from the first time we met at Rosings Park. Let us each do what we must before the sun rises and reveals our presence in this house of ill repute.”
Elizabeth went to her father and helped him to his feet. Mr. Darcy was mumbling and wincing in pain. She wished she could stay with him and help the colonel but her aim was to finish the errand she had begun when leaving the Gardiner townhome on Gracechurch Street earlier that evening.
Lydia had ceased her screaming and taken to moaning and whining over the disappearance of Mr. Wickham. “We were to be wed! Where have they taken him? Mr. Darcy is to blame for all of this!”
Elizabeth took her by the arm most unkindly and pulled her close, their faces inches apart. “Not another word, Lyddie. You have much to answer to Father for and Mr. Darcy came to save you from ruin, you foolish child.”
Lydia pulled hard against Elizabeth but Mr. Bennet had gone to stand behind her. “You will do as your sister says, young lady, and be happy for the love and care of your family after such a terrible display of propriety on your part. We are off to Longbourn on the morrow.”
The Bennet family quit the establishment and crept into the hackney chaise without further notice from anyone upon the streets. That crowd had all followed the cart which carried Mr. Wickham away with a retinue of redcoats.
Exactly a fortnight after the terrible night at Lady Sherston’s house of ill repute, Elizabeth paced the Gardiner’s parlor and looked to the clock for the tenth time in as many minutes. Jane called to her as she sat calmly upon the sofa. “Lizzy, do cease your nervous turns about the room. The colonel will arrive soon.”
Ignoring Jane’s attempt to calm her nerves, Elizabeth smoothed the skirt of her new dress. “Do you think it is too happy for a visit with Mr. Darcy? I do not wish to appear foolish.”
Jane patted the seat beside her. “Mr. Darcy would not care if you came dressed in a sack. Mr. Bingley said he has put forth much effort in his recovery so that he might see you all the sooner. He must have a very important question to ask to send the colonel today.”
Elizabeth had been meaning to sit with Jane but began pacing again at her sister’s tease. “He cannot mean to ask for my hand again, Jane. It was because of our sister that he was injured in a brothel, you know. Whatever hope I may have had of making amends with him are dashed, thanks to Lyddie.”
“I would not be so certain, Miss Elizabeth.”
The colonel’s voice boomed across the parlor and Elizabeth whirled to face him, her countenance a bright pink. Placing a hand over her racing heart, she admonished him. “Colonel, you must not eavesdrop on the conversation of sisters. It is not wise nor proper.”
“Miss Elizabeth, did I mind my manners as I ought half my family would be in shambles for it is I who saves the day when they have muddled everything beyond hope.” Colonel Fitzwilliam advanced into the room and opened his arms to his friend.
Elizabeth hurried into his embrace. “I knew the moment we met you would become more of a brother than a friend. I am grateful you do not mind your manners, sir.”
“I am of the same mind as Miss Jane. My cousin does not place blame upon your sister for Wickham’s behavior. Though he is quite moody since he has not seen you for some time.”
The colonel’s words were meant to soothe Elizabeth but again, as with Jane’s conjecture regarding Mr. Darcy, she grew quite nervous and stepped away from the circle of her friend’s arms.
“I want to go to him now but I cannot think he wishes to see me for any other reason than to say we must never be more than mere acquaintances.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam took her hand and nodded to Jane. “I have been instructed to return with both Bennet sisters under my care. Mr. Bingley is with my cousin and I believe he and Darcy have planned this afternoon. Let us go before either of you may think better of it.”
Jane stood and placed a hand upon her hair and then looked down at her day dress. “I did not know I might be required to pay a call to Darcy House today. Will you spare a few minutes Colonel? I wish to go upstairs for a moment.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam gave a slight bow. “Take all the time you must, Miss Jane, though I say you are most lovely today just as you are.”
Elizabeth giggled at her sister’s sidelong glance at the dashing colonel. Her heart was most decidedly given to Mr. Bingley but the handsome soldier managed to bring a blush to her sister’s cheeks. “You must not tease her so, Colonel.”
“It is no tease, I assure you. Miss Jane is a handsome young lady and Bingley is immensely fortunate he won her heart before I met her.”
The colonel’s words did not surprise Elizabeth. Her sister was beautiful, kind, and amiable but she could not see the colonel with a woman quieter than himself. He seemed to need a challenge in life and Elizabeth thought he would also need one in the woman he chose to marry.
“Mr. Bingley nearly missed his chance, did you know?”
The colonel gave a nod. “I gathered it was your sister Darcy warned him against after we had left Rosings. I still feel shame to have bragged about it to you that last day when we walked together.”
Elizabeth took his hand and led him to the sofa. “Mr. Darcy has explained himself on that score and though I cannot forget the pain it caused Jane, I can allow Mr. Darcy to redeem himself. He promised if Mr. Bingley proposed to her, he would not interfere again.”
The colonel shook his head. “It seems I cannot depend upon any of you to sing my praises to Miss Jane.”
“I have told her of your kindness and bravery, sir. But I cannot steer her heart from the one she truly loves. I do have three more sisters at home, though.”
Elizabeth laughed as she spoke the words knowing Kitty and Lydia would never do for the dashing military man, nor Mary. Especially not Mary. She was as serious as the younger girls were silly.
Jane met them in the parlor, her dress changed from the sensible beige to a lovely rose silk that caused her cheeks to glow delicately. Her hair was pinned again and Elizabeth knew it was her sister’s favorite style. It showed her features and graceful neck to their best advantage. Poor Richard Fitzwilliam! He looked as though he might drop to one knee here in the parlor!
Instead he offered an arm to each sister and escorted them to the carriage awaiting at the front door of the townhome on Gracechurch Street.