Darkness fell quickly and Richard was tied again after being allowed outside since there was no chamberpot in the cottage.
Miss Davies and Major Wickham disappeared into another room and Richard wondered if they would leave him in the chair for the night. His hands hurt and he grew afraid as not even so much as a candle had been lit.
To keep himself from becoming too scared, he thought of the stories Mr. Darcy had read to him. He wished he had a sword like the pirates in his favorite book. Even a knife like Mr. Harley had shown him would cut the cloth that held him to the chair.
If Miss Davies let him go outside again, he would run. He missed Rose and baby Sophia. He was worried about Mr. Harley.
The major had shot his friend, but Richard thought Mr. Harley could not be hurt. He was too strong and tall and brave for that.
Even though he was scared and alone, Richard eventually fell asleep. He cried out at some point later in the night and Miss Davies came to him. She woke him and loosed his hands and feet. When he meant to speak, she covered his mouth and shook her head.
She led him carefully from the cottage and shook like a leaf in the wind even though it was warm outside.
Miss Davies knelt beside him. Her voice was a ghost of a whisper but Richard listened hard to her words. “I was willing to go with him to be married, but I am not willing to be part of a kidnapping. We must hurry. If he catches me, I fear what he may do.”
She took Richard’s hand and the pair ran into the night and far from the cottage.
Elizabeth was in the parlor pacing before the windows speaking of where they must look next when the dogs and lanterns were gathered for another search.
She was startled when someone began banging on the front door of Netherfield Park. Mr. Darcy left her side swiftly and was the first to reach the door.
He flung it open and looked about. Young Richard appeared at the foot of the stone steps and a figure in the shadows took off down the gravel drive.
Elizabeth rushed out and pulled her son into her arms, hugging him so tight the boy gasped and could not speak.
Mr. Darcy chased the figure down and brought her back to the house. Once in the parlor with Mr. Bingley and Mr. Bennet, the young lady poured out her heart. The story of Wickham and his plans to marry her did not surprise Darcy in the least.
“It is a pattern of his, to take a young lady and woo her away from her family and a decent proposal and wedding. You are not the first he has deceived but I aim to make you the last.”
Elizabeth entered the parlor with Richard and questioned Miss Davies. “You are a cousin of Netherfield’s nanny, are you not?”
“Yes, Mrs. Fitzwilliam, I am. I did not know the major meant to take the boy. I never thought he was so terrible. I brought your son back because I could not be a part of taking a child from its mother. Especially as you are most kind. The major promised to marry me at Gretna Green. He said he loved me and only me, but I would not marry a man who would do such a thing.”
Elizabeth hugged the young lady and assured her of her safety at Netherfield. “You have brought my son home and for that you have my eternal gratitude.”
She took Richard and quit the parlor, leaving her father, brother, and Mr. Darcy to do what they would to Wickham.
Lady Matlock and the earl met her on the stairs. The sight of their grandson returned safely to his home was shocking indeed.
“What has happened Elizabeth? Who found our dear boy?” The earl asked as he stared at Richard.
“Everyone is in the parlor speaking with the young lady who brought him home. Let me see him safely to the nursery and we will speak of it later.” Elizabeth took her son’s hand and led him quickly up the stairs.
Lady Matlock called after her but Elizabeth would not turn back. She and Richard had been through enough for the day. If his grandmother wished to argue, she would have to chase them to the nursery or wait in the parlor.
Rose and Sophia were asleep when Elizabeth tucked Richard into his bed. “Mother, may I come to you if I have a bad dream tonight?”
Elizabeth pushed aside the curls from his forehead and kissed the spot she had kissed since the day he was born. She was surprised there was not a mark or indentation there to bear witness to her particular attention.
“Yes, my dearest boy. But you will not have them because you are home. Never again will you be gone from me.”
She sat with him for a time until he fell asleep. Closing her eyes, she thanked God for his safe return and for Miss Davies. Elizabeth stood and made her way to the parlor dreading the things the Matlocks would surely say now that Richard was home.
Lady Matlock’s voice met her in the hallway outside the parlor and Elizabeth steeled herself. Mr. Darcy would stand by her, and Mr. Bingley, and certainly her father.
Only an hour after young Richard’s return to Netherfield, Mr. Darcy rode with his friend Bingley and Mr. Bennet to the abandoned cottage.
The moon was high but not a bit of light shone in the cottage. When they circled behind the small building, they found a horse hobbled. Major Wickham was surely inside.
Mr. Darcy sent Mr. Bennet to rouse the magistrate and posted Mr. Bingley at the cottage door. He slipped inside and left the door open. He almost wanted Wickham to try and run. Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley in Derbyshire put his hand on the pistol he had got from Mr. Bingley’s collection.
After the attack on Mr. Harley in the woods, he was cautious of the major. The man who would shoot a servant and take a child would do almost anything when cornered. He had seen the desperation of the man in Ramsgate when found with Georgiana when she was but fifteen.
Mr. Darcy’s jaw clenched as he thought of all the suffering the major had brought to his family. Tonight he would be certain the man never got another chance to harm them.
He went slowly about the cottage searching each room for the reprobate. When he came to the last room, he kicked open the door and shouted to wake the dead.
“Wickham! Stand up man and take your punishment!”
Major Wickham flung his arms out and came awake at once. Miss Davies was gone and he cursed as he leapt from the pallet on the floor.
Wickham feigned innocence, it was a tactic Mr. Darcy was well acquainted with from the loathsome Lothario. “I told you when last we met in London your life would not be spared if you hurt my family again.”
The major held up his hands as Darcy lifted the pistol and leveled it at him. “You cannot be serious! It is a crime to kill an unarmed man. Do you think Elizabeth could love a criminal?”
Mr. Darcy moved the pistol a hair’s breadth and fired. Major Wickham jumped and cursed, his voice now shaky and unsure. “Look, the boy is obviously home safe. Turn me over to the magistrate and be done with it. I never meant to harm him, only to force money from you or the Fitzwilliams.”
Mr. Bingley had rushed to the room at the sound of the gunshot and he stood between Mr. Darcy and the major. “Give me the gun Darcy, he is not worth spending your life in prison. You must think of Elizabeth and Richard. The Matlocks will surely take him from her.”
Mr. Darcy hesitated for a moment but handed the gun to his friend. “Leave us Bingley, for if I may not kill him I aim to make him wish he were dead.”
Mr. Bingley strode from the room without another word and shut the door. He would stand guard until the magistrate came. The sounds of a thorough thrashing could not be muffled by the door and Bingley knew it was his friend getting the best of Major Wickham.