Page 28

Streets of London

The day outside was chilly, with steam curling up from the horses they passed and the breaths of careless shoppers who had forgotten their scarves and mufflers, but inside the carriage it was comfortable. Warm bricks sat at the feet of the several passengers, and rugs were spread across their laps. Miss Darcy sat between Mrs. Annesley and Lydia, while Elizabeth huddled with her mother and Jane. The six women had spent the morning at Miss Channing's shop, and Elizabeth was pleasantly tired. Miss Channing was a most gifted milliner, and the hats and bonnets she had displayed in her establishment showcased her talents. Georgiana and Lydia had drifted through the shop, admiring the wares, as Jane and Elizabeth discussed wedding hats with their mother. It was a pity that Kitty had not been able to come, but her sister had woken with a bad headache, and it was decided that she needed a quiet day at home to recover instead of dashing around London.

Their time at the milliner had been enjoyable, but Elizabeth was glad to be getting back to Curzon Street and their comfortable rented house. Clouds hung low and gray across the sky, a few hues paler than the smoke that rose from countless London chimneys, to hang in a pall over the city. Only a few gaps showed watery blue sky, the sun peeking through before hiding away again, as though unimpressed with what it saw. Much of the color had been leeched from the world by the drab chill day, and even the shops passing outside the window seemed muted and duller than they did in the full sunshine.

Elizabeth watched them absently, paying little mind to the dim colors and flurrying shoppers. She was thinking of the sermon yesterday, in the beautiful cathedral where the Darcys worshipped when in Town, and of the stunning stained glass, and the uplifting hymns. It had been a lovely service and a balm to her soul, which remained troubled. Nuncheon afterwards had been thoroughly enjoyable, too, as the entire party had repaired back to Darcy House for the meal. The food itself had been delicious, but Elizabeth remembered more the conversation between herself and Mr. Darcy. They had spoken of books, and history, and far away places, and Elizabeth had basked in his knowledge.

Later, Georgiana had eagerly invited Mary to come to the music room and play with her for a short time, and Darcy's eyes had rested fondly on his sister as the two girls exited the room. Elizabeth, watching him as he watched his sister, had felt her heart warm. Her fiancé was a good man, and a good brother, who plainly treasured his sister .

A man who cherished his sisterwould likely be a man who cherished his wife. Elizabeth knew that he spent hours a day comporting the business of his estate, via correspondence and even expresses. His tenants were well cared for, and his land stewarded with all diligence, his responsibilities executed with a clarity and gravity of mind that lit the fires of her admiration. Mr. Bennet was not a cruel master or father, but he could not be called by even the most generous observer a diligent one, and Elizabeth could not help but draw the stark contrast. She was grateful for Mr. Bennet’s newfound attention to his family, but she did not trust that it would last while Mr. Darcy had proven himself conscientious toward his duty. He had given her every reason to believe that his attentions to his wife would be no less.

She felt a sudden throb of affection toward her fiancée and smiled at the change in her own heart. It was not even a month previously that she had despised Mr. Darcy, and now she believed that she was genuinely in love. She should tell him soon, maybe even today? He intended to visit Curzon Street directly after visiting Miss de Bourgh’s solicitor, and possibly she could snatch a few minutes of privacy with him. Jane would be available to arrange such a tête-à-tête, as Mr. Bingley was in Hertfordshire for the day dealing with a problem at the Netherfield Estate. Perhaps after tea, she and Fitzwilliam could find a quiet corner .

“I have never trimmed a hat myself,” Georgiana said, drawing Elizabeth’s attention to the younger woman. “Do you add ribbon, or … or…”

“Ribbon, yes,” Mrs. Bennet said, beaming at the younger girl in a motherly fashion. “Also feathers and furs and flowers, though not real flowers, of course. It is most enjoyable, Miss Darcy, and we would be pleased to show you how it is done. Kitty and Lydia are particularly skilled.”

Georgiana, to Elizabeth’s relief, had accepted Mrs. Bennet and her manners with far more ease than she anticipated. But then again, Mrs. Bennet, with two daughters engaged to wealthy men, was noticeably calmer now than she had been for the last decade.

“Do say you will,” Lydia said eagerly. “We will have such fun!”

“I would like that,” Georgiana said with a shy smile, “though I suspect my cousin Anne would enjoy it as well. Perhaps tomorrow or Wednesday we could visit you? By that time, we will be well established at the house on Queen Street, and it will be the work of but a few minutes to travel from there to your house on Curzon Street.”

“That would be delightful,” Jane said kindly, though Elizabeth noticed that her elder sister’s eyes were a trifle vague, no doubt because the eldest Miss Bennet was dreaming of Charles Bingley. Without a doubt, Jane’s view of Charles was substantially different from Elizabeth’s view of Fitzwilliam Darcy. Jane and Charles were besotted with one another, full of dewy-eyed enthusiasm and a glorious confidence that their future would be full of sunny skies and cheerful cohabitation. Elizabeth, with a very different personality, was aware of Darcy’s flaws, but then she was never going to look at a prospective husband with the placid calm of Jane. Indeed, for her sake and for Darcy’s, she hoped that both would regard one another through clear eyes and an active mind. They were clever individuals and needed to approach courtship and marriage through the lens of intellect as well as passion.

The carriage came to a halt, and she realized they had arrived at the house on Curzon Street. The door was opened by a footman, who handed out Mrs. Bennet and Jane and Lydia, with Elizabeth last, as the carriage would be carrying Georgiana and Mrs. Annesley home.

She stepped onto the paved street and turned back toward the interior of the carriage. “Thank you for coming with us today, Georgiana, Mrs. Annesley. It was wonderful having you join us.”

“I enjoyed it very much as…,” Georgiana began, and then her eyes abruptly widened, just as there was an odd thump from behind them .

Elizabeth turned about in confusion, only to see, for a second, a gloved fist aimed at her head, and then suddenly everything was a confusing, agonizing mix of pain and dizziness.

***

In the Darcy Carriage

En Route to Curzon Street

“Are you satisfied, Anne?” Richard Fitzwilliam asked.

Anne tilted her head, considered, and then said, “Yes, well enough, I think. He is obviously afraid of my mother, but I believe he will carry out his duties appropriately.”

“I believe him to be an honorable man,” Darcy remarked. “Sir Lewis trusted him entirely, and your father was both intelligent and sensible.”

“He was,” Anne said with a sigh, “and I dearly wish he had lived long enough to oversee my young adulthood. Alas, such was not to be. In any case, I am looking forward to taking the reins of Rosings into my own hands. The estate has been suffering under my mother’s leadership for too long.”

Darcy, recognizing the determined set of his cousin’s jaw, could only nod in approval. It was true that Lady Catherine had always spent too much on her own pleasures and too little on the needs of the estate itself, and he was relieved that Anne would soon be attacking many of the problems which were so painfully evident.

***

Outside the Bennets’ Hired House

Curzon Street

“Thank you for coming with us today, Georgiana, Mrs. Annesley,” Elizabeth said, her cheeks pinking in the cold of the day, “It was wonderful having you join us.”

Georgiana smiled at Elizabeth Bennet. The morning had been thoroughly enjoyable, and she looked forward to trimming hats with the Bennet ladies soon in the cozy house on Curzon Street.

“I enjoyed it very much as…,” Georgiana began, only to have her breath seize in her throat as two men su ddenly appeared behind her friend, both dressed in dark clothing, both with black handkerchiefs tied over their noses and mouths. One of the men lifted a club and slammed it into the head of the footman, who collapsed with a thump.

Elizabeth turned around, only to be punched in the face by the second attacker, and Georgiana screamed in horror, even as her brother’s beloved was grabbed about the torso and dragged away.

Her brother! He had worked so hard and suffered so much and his darling Elizabeth was … was…

Georgiana leaped out of the carriage as Mrs. Bennet began to scream at the top of her lungs. She looked around and observed that the driver of the carriage was now battling with one of the assailants, the one who had struck the footman, while the other villain was dragging Elizabeth, apparently barely conscious, across the street.

She ran toward Elizabeth and her captor, propelled by terror, and caught up with the pair a few yards from another carriage, which was waiting on the other side of the street. She grabbed at Elizabeth’s arm in an attempt to yank her away from the villain, which provoked the masked man to turn and slap Georgiana across the face, causing her to stagger and fall to her knees. She reached out to grasp Elizabeth’s ankle, grimly determined to prevent her from being pulled to the carriage just as there was a howl of anguish from above her, and the man’s pull on Elizabeth ceased.

There were, by now, shouts and screams coming from everywhere, and Georgiana lifted her head just as Elizabeth sank to the ground next to her, her eyes fluttering. Again, there was a masculine howl, and Georgiana turned her head to observe Lydia Bennet leaning over Elizabeth’s former captor, a hat pin in her hand, which she drove without compunction into the man’s thigh, which provoked yet another scream.

“Go, go, go!” a different male voice shouted, and Georgiana sat up and watched with starting eyes as the man who had attacked the Darcy coachman rushed over to the carriage and leapt in, and moments later, the carriage was in motion taking two of the captors away.

“Stop, Lydia!” Jane cried out as Lydia lifted her hand, with the wicked six inch hat pin, to strike the lone remaining villain again. “Stop, that is enough!”

Georgiana heard a moan from her left and turned toward Elizabeth just as Mrs. Bennet, heedless of her gown, fell to her knees next to the injured lady. “Lizzy, oh Lizzy! Are you all right? Oh Lizzy!”

“I am all right, Mamma,” Elizabeth said hoarsely. “I am all right.”

Georgiana swayed in place, faint from relief, not unmixed with horror. How could it be that such a dreadful thing could happen, that ruffians would attack here in the very heart of Curzon Street?

“Lizzy!” a male voice exclaimed, and Georgiana turned as Mr. Bennet, with Miss Kitty behind him, ran toward them. “Lizzy!”

“I am all right, Papa,” Elizabeth said again, just as there was a squeal of from Georgiana’s right. She turned to observe Lydia Bennet, who was looming over the fallen abductor, eyes wide and mouth drooping with shock. Georgiana lowered her gaze to the man lying on the ground clutching his stomach with one hand and his leg with the other, and then her eyes fixed on the man’s face, now exposed with the loss of his mask, and she felt as if she would be sick.

“Wickham,” she whispered.