Page 25

Darcy had been enjoying the peaceful fall weather and the time away from Caroline Bingley.

Now he was watching a terrifying confrontation unfold before him.

He had been so absorbed in his love of nature he did not know anyone was in the area until he heard Miss Elizabeth.

Wickham’s unsteady movements and incoherent speech suggested he was drunk, if not insane.

He wanted to step in, but with the pistol in motion, it was not yet safe to do so. He would have to bide his time.

He had chosen to stay put until Wickham had seized Elizabeth and shook her.

He knew that Miss Elizabeth was often so animated and enthusiastic she seemed larger than life, but now, watching the encounter, he saw how small she was.

Though taller than Miss Mary, she was still of a much slighter frame than a full-grown man.

Yet she had, if his suspicion was correct, confronted him on her own.

What had she said yesterday about her courage rising to the occasion?

Immediately jumping off his horse, he dashed to where Miss Elizabeth was in danger.

Wickham had her by the arm and was shaking her back and forth.

She seemed to have less substance than a ragdoll he had once seen his sister play with.

Knowing she could not withstand much more, Darcy knew he had to get Wickham’s attention away from Miss Elizabeth so that she could get free.

The pit of his stomach seemed to drop when he realized how close they stood to the edge.

There was more at risk here than Wickham being drunk and dangerous—one wrong move and either or both of them could fall.

The urgent need to help Miss Elizabeth pushed Darcy to make his move and speak.

“Wickham, were you by chance looking for me?” At the back of his mind, a gentle thought echoed that there was something beyond altruism at work here.

But he did not have time to listen to that little voice.

He had to make sure Miss Elizabeth was safe.

“Darcy, I was forgetting something, and I think it was you.” Wickham forced his eyes to focus on the man who was responsible for so much of his hate.

There had been a plan that involved Darcy.

That was before the impertinent one had distracted him.

Peering down at her and then at the gun in his other hand, he tried to connect the dots.

“I think you were looking for Mr. Darcy. I am ever so sorry I distracted you.” Elizabeth uttered the lie, her jaw locked to keep the pain inside as his fingers dug into her wrist. When she looked over her shoulder, she noticed she was near the brink.

“That’s what happened. I was trying to shoot Darcy and you…you impertinent one… You confused me,” he growled.

“Wickham, I will talk with you, just the two of us, if you let Miss Elizabeth go. She has nothing to do with a quarrel between men,” Darcy spoke up, hoping he would fall for this ploy. Elizabeth was dangerously close to the edge. Darcy did not know how far the drop was and did not want to find out.

“I did not want to talk to you, Darcy the Dull. I just wanted to do this.” Bringing up his gun, he tried to shoot, only to be stopped by a blinding pain.

Elizabeth saw Wickham’s intent, and everything seemed to slow. “No!” In desperation, she bit down on the hand holding her wrist, forcing him to let her go and causing enough distraction that the shot went wide and missed Darcy.

“Why did you do that? I had a good shot!” He reacted with rage, his gun hand lashing out and delivering a harsh slap across her face. The sheer force of the blow knocked her off her feet, and before she knew it, she was tumbling over the edge.

Elizabeth experienced the oddest sensation of being weightless.

The cloudy sky, a mix of dark blue and gray above her, filled her vision.

Even though she tried to reach out and grab at something, anything, she seemed unable to slow her fall.

Flashes of green interspersed with brown and everything moving so fast that her thoughts were as hard to grasp as what she needed to slow her plummet.

Then there was a great flash of unbearable pain and then… nothing.

Darcy’s entire world seemed to freeze, and he saw nothing but the look on Elizabeth’s face as she flew over the edge.

Her green eyes, normally expressive and joking, had gone wide with alarm, her eyebrows raised high on her face.

Her typical smile or smirk had no place on a face full of fright.

It was a high-pitched wail from behind him that finally spurred him into motion.

“Where did she go?” It astounded Wickham that Miss Elizabeth had apparently disappeared. She was there, and then not.

“You knocked her off the edge, you drunken wretch. You are a blight on society and if I was not the man I am, I would kill you where you stood.” Shoving Wickham away from himself and the edge, Darcy tried to formulate a plan of descent.

He thought he could see Elizabeth’s blue dress about fifteen feet below where he was now.

He would have to be very careful to not dislodge her or send debris onto her.

Wickham looked down at where Darcy knelt and thought of how easy it would be just to shove him over. His liquor-fogged brain had still not processed how the woman had disappeared or why Darcy was so upset. Before he acted on his thought, pain in his shin erupted and rattled his thoughts once again.

“Miss Elizabeth!” Voice hoarse with terror, Kiernan came running up the path from where he had been hiding. When he saw the soldier who had knocked Miss Elizabeth off the edge lean over to push Mr. Darcy, he kicked the coward in the shin with all his might.

“Why would you do that?” Wickham fell over backward, away from the edge.

With a deep breath, he pulled himself up from the ground and limped towards Darcy’s horse.

He made a grab for the reins that hung loose.

It surprised him when the horse jerked them out of his grasp.

With a growl of anger, he tried again, only to have the giant creature snap at him, just missing his hand.

The horse made a show of his displeasure, his nose flaring and feet stomping.

No one wanted to help him, not even the horse.

Wickham tried to put as much distance between himself and the area as possible.

His unsteady legs carried him away from the scene.

Kiernan ignored the man as he retreated and flung himself to the ground beside Mr. Darcy.

He had stayed behind, as Miss Elizabeth told him, and he hated himself for it.

Tears leaked from his eyes as he searched desperately for the woman who he viewed as his sister. He knew she was down there, but where?

“Kiernan, I wondered if you were here somewhere.” Darcy tore his eyes from that scrap of blue cloth that he could see and to the boy beside him.

Kiernan’s face was awash in tears, and he had gotten mud all over himself, probably when he hid.

His breath was coming in quick pants. The poor boy had seen everything, and he cared so much for Elizabeth.

Such an event had to have terrorized him horribly.

With just the two of them, they would have to work together to fix things.

“Miss Elizabeth told me to stay hidden and not to come out. You didn’t see it, but he was gonna shoot you and she stopped him, but now she fell.

He was still here, but I kicked him. What are we going to do, Mr. Darcy?

” Kiernan felt like his mind would not stop spinning and his heart was running as fast as Crumpet could.

“Kiernan, we are going to have to work together to save Miss Elizabeth. I need you to take a few deep breaths with me. In and out. Nice and slow.” Darcy pulled Kiernan’s hand to his chest so he could feel him breathing.

For a few moments, it felt like time had stopped, but eventually Kiernan’s breaths calmed, and they could both concentrate.

“All right, what do we need to do next?” He swiped his tears away with his sleeve, his attention now on the task in front of them. They would save Miss Elizabeth.

“We need help and a long rope to get Miss Elizabeth back up. I need you to ride to Netherfield, get Bingley and maybe some stable hands, and we need rope.” Darcy could not force himself to leave Elizabeth, not when she needed him.

He could not let a child try to climb down to her.

It would be too risky. He would do it himself once he got Kiernan on Cadmus.

“You want me to ride Crumpet? To Netherfield? What are you going to do?” Kiernan looked over at Crumpet. The horse had not wanted the soldier to ride him, but had been fine with Kiernan riding him before.

“Yes, you rode him before, and it was fine. He likes you and he knows the way back to Netherfield. Do you know your way to Netherfield?” Darcy got up and walked over to Cadmus, soothing him with a caress.

“I know the way. I will get help and bring it back. Tell Miss Elizabeth I’m coming back with help.

” With a determined breath, Kiernan stood and ran his hands along the velvety texture of Crumpet’s nose.

He was friends with Crumpet and together they would get help.

Mr. Darcy hefted him onto the great towering horse, and he grabbed chunks of the horse’s luxuriant black mane.

“Kiernan, here are the reins. They help lead him where you want him to go. He probably will stay at a walk unless you try to get him to go faster. I do not want you to go too fast or else you risk falling off.” Darcy looked the boy over.

He had a good natural seat, and he prayed the boy made it to Netherfield swiftly and without incident.

“I will bring back help, Mr. Darcy.” Kiernan clicked his tongue like he had seen other riders do and was off.