Page 18 of Darcy in Distress (Pride and Prejudice Variation #17)

The room was dim, lit only by the sunshine filtering through a cobweb covered window. Shapes loomed in the darkness: broken furniture, leaning bookcases in various states of disrepair, even an old spinning wheel.

“What is this place?” Georgiana whispered to Elizabeth as she looked upwards fearfully. Both girls could hear male voices shouting and the reverberations of many feet, but it was quiet down here in the bowels of the house.

“It is an old store room,” Elizabeth murmured. “It was largely abandoned when the kitchens were shifted to another part of the house, long ago, before I was born.”

“Do you think we will be safe here?” her companion asked nervously, looking upwards again.

“Probably, but we have another, better hiding place. Do come here.”

Georgiana watched, wide eyed, as Elizabeth carefully pulled an old wooden set of empty shelves away from the wall, revealing an ancient door behind it, which she pushed open.

Georgiana stepped into the next room cautiously; the new room was dusty and lit only by the sunshine filtering through another grimy window.

Elizabeth followed her, taking the time to pull the shelves back in place before shutting the door carefully behind them.

The girls walked deliberately around additional furniture, plus three large casks, until they came to the far corner of the room away from the door.

Elizabeth sat down and pulled the younger, taller girl down next to her.

Their breathing was loud in the room, which was otherwise deathly silent.

“What is this place?” Georgiana whispered.

“It used to be a room for storing potatoes,” Elizabeth murmured back.

“It is too far from the current kitchen, so it became another storage room, and at some point was largely forgotten. Jane and I found the door when we were playing hide and seek with the Ripley children, and no one ever discovered us. It was our own special secret.”

Georgiana wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. “It is cold.”

“I know,” Elizabeth murmured apologetically. “I do not think I was ever down here in the autumn. It is more pleasant in the summer. Here, do take my pelisse.”

“Oh, no! You will be cold!”

“I am wearing a warm dress underneath since I was out walking. I fear my garments are rather small for you, Miss Darcy, but they are better than nothing.”

Georgiana was too chilly to demur more, and within a minute she was wearing Elizabeth’s warm outerwear .

“Ought we to be silent?” she whispered.

“It seems unlikely that we will be heard but yes, for safety’s sake, we should probably be quiet.”

The two young women lapsed into silence. Elizabeth sighed in the darkness. It was remarkable that a simple decision to go for a vigorous walk had transformed into a madcap rush down the servant’s stairs, through several dim cellars, and finally into this hiding place.

A moment later, she heard sniffling to her right, and she realized that her companion was crying.

Elizabeth hesitated briefly and then allowed compassion to outweigh etiquette.

She turned and wrapped her arms around the younger girl, running her hand down the other girl’s curls, and whispering, “It will be all right, Miss Darcy. I promise it will be all right.”

She felt the slender body quiver and a moment later, she heard a muffled question, “Will you not call me Georgiana, Miss Elizabeth?”

“Only if you will call me Elizabeth, my dear.”

/

“Mother? Georgiana?” Darcy bellowed as he rushed up the stairs and flung open the front door into Netherfield. “Mother!!”

He rushed in and looked around frantically. Bingley’s butler was not in evidence, but he could hear pounding from somewhere in the house.

“Where are they?” Richard Fitzwilliam demanded as he dashed into the house. “Where are Lady Anne and Georgiana?”

“I do not know!” Darcy returned in anguish, looking around wildly.

“Calm down, Darcy, Fitzwilliam,” Wickham ordered. “Darcy, please go upstairs and check Lady Anne and Georgiana’s rooms. Fitzwilliam, check the main living areas, and I will go to the kitchen and servant’s quarters.”

“I must find my wife,” Hurst declared, his usually placid face tight with worry. “She was not feeling well this morning, and I left her in bed.”

Darcy took a deep breath and, calmed slightly by his friend’s decisive instructions, ran quickly up the stairs with Hurst in pursuit. It took him only two minutes to check the bedrooms. All were empty, and all bore signs of a quick search with closet doors opened and blankets askew .

When he arrived at Mrs. Hurst’s sitting room, he found the door open and Mrs. Hurst on her bed, her face wet with tears.

“They locked her inside by jamming a wedge under the door,” Mr. Hurst said, his face darker than Darcy had ever seen before.

“Are you harmed in any way, Mrs. Hurst?” Darcy asked.

“No, I am not hurt, but I was so frightened when I could not get out…”

“Do you know where Lady Anne and Miss Darcy are?” he interrupted. He knew he was being rude, but he was terrified.

“I am sorry, no,” Mrs. Hurst said and began sobbing. “I was asleep and did not know anything about the invasion until an uncouth stranger appeared…”

Darcy turned on his heels and rushed down the stairs. They must be somewhere in Netherfield! They must!

“Mrs. Lockwood!” he exclaimed as the door to the drawing room opened and the woman came out with Colonel Fitzwilliam supporting her. “What happened?”

The woman was pale, and a bruise was rapidly darkening on her cheek. “Mr. Darcy, I am so sorry. Matlock came with two dozen men, and there was nothing I could do. I begged him to let me accompany Lady Anne, but he would not permit it.”

“My father hit her,” Richard declared and Darcy, even in the midst of this emotional moment, was startled at the level of fury in those usually steady brown eyes.

“What of my sister?” Darcy asked breathlessly. “Did Matlock take her as well?”

“I am not certain,” Mrs. Lockwood said, rubbing her left thumb over her wrist. Darcy saw, now, the red bruising around the lady’s wrists, indicating that she had been bound.

“Miss Elizabeth said she had a safe hiding place for Miss Darcy, and Matlock seemed angry when he departed with Lady Anne, so I doubt that he had discovered her. I told him that Miss Darcy was visiting a local family and…”

“Brother!”

Darcy spun around and rushed forward as Georgiana, her face white, dashed toward him and then jumped into his arms. He clutched her, kissing her blonde head, as she in turn wept into his chest.

“Thank God,” he murmured into her curls. “Thank God.”

“Oh Fitzwilliam! Where is Mother? Where is she?” Georgiana wailed .

Darcy drew a deep breath and looked down into his sister’s anxious face. “Our uncle has taken her, I fear, but I rejoice that you are safe. Where were you hidden?”

Georgiana took a deep breath and mopped her face with her handkerchief.

When she had recovered sufficiently, she stepped back and gestured toward Elizabeth, who was standing solemnly by Wickham’s side.

“Elizabeth hid me in a disused room in the basement. We heard my uncle’s men shouting and hunting, and one of the men even came into the room next to where we were hidden, but we remained undiscovered. ”

Darcy felt his own eyes well with tears, and he turned to gaze at his sister’s savior. “Miss Elizabeth, I cannot thank you enough. Your quick thinking has saved my sister.”

“It was, of course, my pleasure,” Elizabeth said. “May I suggest that Miss Darcy be given some tea with honey, and perhaps some biscuits? She has had rather a shock, and it was cold in the cellar.”

“Of course,” Bingley said, coming up behind Wickham and Elizabeth. “You must also warm yourself by the fire, Miss Elizabeth.”

“I really must be getting back to Longbourn,” Elizabeth said uneasily, consulting the watch hanging on a gold chain around her neck .

“Oh, please, do not leave, Miss Elizabeth!” Georgiana pleaded. “I beg of you!”

“If at all possible, it would be advisable for you to stay a little longer,” the colonel said gently.

“You deserve an explanation for what has come to pass today, and certainly it is not safe for you to walk home alone given the events of the last hours. Might we send a message to Longbourn indicating that we will be hosting you for tea, and that we will send you home by carriage later?”

Elizabeth hesitated briefly and then, in response to Georgiana’s imploring countenance, nodded and said, “Yes, I would be honored.”

“Miss Darcy, Miss Elizabeth,” Mrs. Younge said as she joined the group.

Darcy noted, distractedly, that she had managed to run upstairs and change into fresh clothes after her wild ride for assistance only an hour previously.

“Please, will both of you not come into the east sitting room with me? It is quite the warmest room in the house. Mrs. Lockwood, Amanda will accompany you upstairs and will draw a bath; then you should get between clean sheets and rest.”

“Yes, Mrs. Lockwood, you need refreshment and rest,” Darcy agreed. The four gentlemen waited while the ladies scattered, and once the corridor was clear, Darcy asked urgently, “Were any of the servants harmed, Bingley? ”

“There were a few bumps and bruises but no, none of them were harmed. Several of Matlock’s minions were carrying pistols, so there was little they could do.”

“Especially since some of the male servants were busy working on the fencing around the more distant horse paddock at the time,” Richard said grimly.

“Yes,” Darcy said, his hands clenched in anger. “Furthermore, John and Jacob were in Meryton at the farrier with the two mares that my mother and sister have been riding. My uncle picked the perfect moment to descend on the house. Perhaps someone was spying on Netherfield and saw us riding out.”

The colonel blew out a breath and said, “Possibly; another consideration is that one of your servants is working for Matlock.”

Bingley looked miserable and said, “That is a possibility, certainly, though a horrifying one.”

“It might be as well to speak with Miss Elizabeth about the servants,” Wickham suggested. “You hired many of them locally, did you not, Bingley?”

“Yes.”

“Given her knowledge of the Lanyons, it seems possible that she will know of the characters of the servants you hired,” Darcy agreed .

“Do you intend to take Miss Elizabeth fully into your confidence, Darcy?” Bingley asked.

“I believe I must,” Darcy said. Oddly enough, he felt no fear at revealing his family’s struggles with Miss Elizabeth. He knew, in his heart of hearts, that she was a faithful, honorable woman.

/

“Oh, Mr. Darcy, that is absolutely dreadful!” Elizabeth said, reaching out a hand to clasp Georgiana’s cold fingers in her own warm grasp. “Poor Lady Anne! Nor can I imagine such cruelty on the part of your uncle!”

“He is desperate,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said gloomily.

“He has long been a spendthrift and has raised both my brothers to live extravagantly. The Matlock estates are heavily mortgaged, and my father has decided that his only hope for relief is to obtain funds from other members of the family. Sadly, the Earl is willing to behave in a vicious and immoral manner to extract money from the Darcy coffers.”

Elizabeth stared at Richard in wonder and sighed. “It must be difficult for you, Colonel, since it is your own father who is behaving in such a despicable way. ”

“That is, I fear, another way that Darcy and I are alike. Neither of us was blessed with a godly father.”

“What of Lady Matlock? What is her view on all this?” Wickham asked shrewdly.

The colonel groaned and shook his head, admitting, “I do not know. I visited Matlock House early when I met with the Earl, and my mother and sisters were not yet out of their bedchambers. I suspect that my mother may disapprove of my father’s actions, but she will hardly do anything; firstly, because she has not the power, secondly, because she has a gentle nature, and thirdly, because she is most anxious that my sisters make good marriages, which will require funds.

I have no doubt that my sisters’ dowries have been depleted along with everything else. ”

“Will my uncle hurt Mother?” Georgiana asked in a small voice.

“No, no!” Darcy exclaimed in distress. “My dear, do not worry about that! She is his own sister!”

“He will not harm Lady Anne in the physical sense,” Wickham agreed, his brow furrowed, “but I fear he may well dose her with laudanum again.”

“No!” Georgiana cried out. “She has worked so hard for months and months to be free of that vile drug!”

“We will get her back, Georgiana. I promise you that,” her brother said vehemently.

“Now come, my dear, you have had a long, exhausting, and wearying day. Please, will you not lie down in your bed and rest? We will arrange to have John and Jacob stand guard outside your door, so you need not worry about being disturbed.”

Georgiana rose to her feet, took a step toward the door, and then turned back to look piteously at Elizabeth. “Please, will you not stay here until I return?”

Elizabeth opened her mouth but Darcy interjected, “We will see if we can arrange for that, Georgiana. Please rest upstairs, my darling.”