Page 108 of A Matter of Murder
The shock of finding herself suddenly choked caused Agnes to swing around wildly with the hand holding the knife. White-hot pain seared Lizzie’s hip and side, but still she held on. Georgiana managed to get to her feet, and Lizzie was afraid Agnes would stab her, but then Georgiana smacked the knife out of Agnes’s hand. Now without a weapon, Agnes’s hands flew to her neck, trying desperately to pull away at the rope. Lizzie held on long enough for Sally and Clara to rush forward and each grab one of Agnes’s arms. It was no easy feat, wrestling her to the ground. She kicked and flailed desperately, but when she began to run out of air, she slumped. Lizzie loosened the rope—she wasn’t keen on being the cause of someone’s death, even a confessed killer. Between the three of them, they used the rope from Darcy’s bindings to tie her hands and feet tightly.
Lizzie finally turned when the job was done to find Darcy, one arm slung around Georgiana’s shoulders, hobbling toward them. “Lizzie!” Georgiana cried, and Lizzie ran to them. Darcy’s other arm came around her and he held them both close.
“Thank heavens,” Lizzie murmured. “I was so scared she’d kill you both.”
“You’re bleeding,” Darcy gasped. And then: “Where’s Lady Catherine?”
Just then, the sound of Guy barking furiously reached them. Lizzie tore herself away from Darcy, wincing at the cut on her hip. Her dress was damp with blood, but she didn’t appear to be seriously injured. “Charlotte!” she cried, and began to run in her direction.
She was aware of Darcy and Georgiana following after her, but she didn’t wait for them. When she broke into the clearing where the horse had been, she found Guy standing over Charlotte’s prone form, barking.
Lady Catherine and the horse were gone.
Twenty-Six
In Which Lizzie and Darcy Pursue Lady Catherine, with Unlikely Help
Lizzie screamed and ran to Charlotte. Darcy was certain she was dead.
Lizzie managed to roll Charlotte over to her back and began shaking her friend. “Charlotte, no, no, no! Charlotte!”
His mouth was still dry from the gag, and his head pounded from the blow that wretched Agnes had landed on him the night before. But that was nothing to the emptiness he felt in that moment, watching as Lizzie shook a lifeless Charlotte.
“Lizzie?” came a hoarse whisper.
“Charlotte!” she cried, and Darcy dropped to his knees next to Lizzie. “Charlotte, are you all right?”
Guy pressed into Darcy’s side and whined. He placed a hand on the small dog’s head, and with his other hand he helped Charlotte sit up. She winced at the motion. “She got away, Lizzie. I’m so sorry.”
“What happened?” he asked.
“We didn’t tie her feet, and she ran for the horse,” Charlotte said. “I hesitated—I didn’t want to shoot the horse—and she swung up on his back. She kicked me as she went by, and everything went black.”
“And the pistol?” Lizzie asked.
“I don’t know,” Charlotte moaned.
“I don’t see it anywhere,” Georgiana said, searching the nearby underbrush.
“Never mind that,” Darcy said. His thoughts had felt as though they were all underwater, but they were becoming sharper now. “Where’s Travers?”
“He left me and Sally and Clara in the parlor,” Charlotte said, rubbing her temples. “There was some sort of commotion at the front of the house, and we took the opportunity to slip out the back, in case you needed help.”
Darcy swallowed as he helped Lizzie get Charlotte to her feet. “She might have created a diversion out front. We need to—”
Charlotte swayed a bit but waved them off. “I’m all right.”
“Georgie?” Darcy said, and she came over instantly, slipping Charlotte’s arm over her shoulder.
“Go,” she said.
Lizzie and Darcy ran back through the trees toward the grotto. Sally and Miss Jeffries were still in front of the grotto, Sally wielding the knife Agnes had threatened Georgiana with. “Is everything all right?” Miss Jeffries shouted.
“She escaped!” Lizzie shouted. “Stay put, we’re going for help.”
Darcy reached out and grabbed Lizzie’s hand, pulling hertoward the house. “She has the horse, so she must be headed to the main gate. If we’re lucky, one of the gatekeepers has a horse tied out front.”
Darcy didn’t waste any more breath on talking. They ran toward the house as quickly as the injuries they’d sustained and Lizzie’s long skirts would allow. They entered through a back door and Darcy steered them through the gallery, shouting for help. His voice echoed off the walls, but he saw no sign of any servants—where were they? He reached the front hall and spun in a circle, trying to decide what to do next. Lizzie was wild-eyed beside him, and he knew what she must be thinking—they could not let Lady Catherine slip from their grasp again. They might not survive it.