Page 101 of Sketching Mr. Darcy
“Have you lost your minds? How dare you! Mr Darcy lives just across the street and I am sure he can see you this very moment! He would kill you for simply speaking to his wife!”
“Shut your mouth, woman,” one of the men said threateningly. “Ma’am, we have a job to do, and we will do it. You will come with us no matter what. We mean no harm, but we will do what we need to do. It is best you not resist us if you do not want somebody to be hurt. ”
The men’s expressions were stern, and their determination obvious. Elizabeth’s head was spinning, and her heart chilled with dread.
She still could not credit what was happening, but she knew it was entirely her fault. She should not have stopped in the park and dismissed the servants. She should not have walked without escort and recklessly disobeyed her husband again!
But she did, and her thoughtlessness put innocent people in danger: Georgiana, Mrs Annesley, the children who were happily approaching, and the poor servant who certainly had no chance against three armed men.
Only God knew what they wanted from her. She squeezed Georgiana’s hand.
“Gentlemen, could we please settle this without any harm? I understand you have a duty to accomplish for which you have been paid. Mr Darcy will offer you double the sum, without asking any questions, if we could just find a resolution to the advantage of us all.”
“Ma’am, of this we cannot speak, and we cannot make such a decision. We must keep you company to a certain address. For the rest, we are not responsible.”
“Of course you are, you wretched scamps! You shall be hung for this!” Mrs Annesley cried.
“Mrs Annesley!” Elizabeth intervened as calmly as possible. “Please take Georgiana and leave. I will be fine. Tell Mr Darcy. He will find a way to solve this,” she ordered decidedly, praying those men would not find that the girl was Mr Darcy’s sister.
Mrs Annesley seemed to understand her reasoning. She stepped closer to Elizabeth, speaking decidedly.
“I will do no such thing! They may well shoot me, but I will not leave! Georgiana, you should go away at once!”
“Mrs Annesley!” Elizabeth shouted, but the lady clenched her arm with no intention of letting her go. Georgiana was frozen, lost, and frightened .
One of the men yelled angrily. “Are you out of your mind, woman? Do you want to die?”
The second man stepped closer, looked around to see whether anybody was approaching, then took out his pistol and hit Mrs Annesley on the side of her head so powerfully that she fell to the ground.
Georgiana cried out and went to her aid while one of the men took the reins of the horses and the other two pulled Elizabeth into the carriage, which began to move only a moment before Lucky and Titan jumped on the carriage, barking wildly.
“Damn, whose are these crazy animals?” one of them cursed furiously while shouting at the coachman to whip the horses.
Elizabeth felt the small carriage enclosing her.
She knew she should be frightened, but fear raised her spirits rather than paralysing her.
Within a minute, she came to her senses and grew angry with anyone who was doing such harm to their family, and her mind kept asking who that might be while her attention and strength sharpened.
She was grateful that neither the dogs, nor the children, nor the servant arrived a moment earlier, or they would have been in deadly danger. But she found it ridiculous to be kidnapped in the afternoon in the middle of London!
The two horses pulled the carriage at a low speed along the narrow Hyde Park path. The intention was to exit on the main street so they could gallop freely, which would certainly happen within minutes.
Elizabeth watched the man opposite her who had hit Mrs Annesley.
She could easily remember his face any time and would make sure he was punished.
Then suddenly she understood the horrible truth: they did not cover their faces because they did not plan to allow her to ever identify them.
They had no intention of leaving her alive.
Her body stiffened as if trapped in a block of ice. One man attempted to cover her mouth with a cloth. A strange smell made her dizzy and burned her eyes. Through a dirty peep- hole, she noticed Peter and the dogs chasing them along the left side of the carriage.
“That bloody lad is hanging on the back. Get rid of him!” The man sitting on her left took the pistol and leant out the window to reach for Peter.
“Please, he is just a boy,” Elizabeth cried, fighting with him.
He pushed her away and she fell on the floor, near the right door of the carriage.
Her body shuddered with countless chills of fear, panic, and hopelessness.
She tried to kneel, and glanced outside.
The sky was still beautifully coloured just as it was a few minutes before the nightmare began.
Her heart nearly stopped then beat wildly, and her eyes shadowed with tears when she saw her husband running desperately along the path on the right side of the carriage.
The man on her right took out his pistol, and suddenly her own life meant nothing compared to her unbearable desperation that something might happen to Darcy.
And there, in that tremendous, horrific moment, she realised that she had never told him she loved him!
She had never told him those three words that he so wanted to hear.
Her only remaining thought was that she would gladly exchange her entire future for the chance to spend only a moment longer with him.
Then she lost consciousness as her mind was a tumult of sounds: strange noises, cries, barking, and neighing. A terrible jolt knocked her against the bench—and all was darkness and silence.
***
Darcy had spent the afternoon at home, meeting with Mr Aldridge while Bingley accepted his invitation to rest in a guest room. He seemed reluctant to go to his own house—and considering his sisters’ likely hostile reaction to his news, Darcy could easily sympathise .
In the afternoon, Stevens had asked his permission for the dogs to run in the park with the children and a footman, which Darcy easily approved.
As time passed, he eagerly checked his pocket watch, wondering when Elizabeth would return. When he heard the carriage in front of the house, he hurried outside and was displeased to see only the servants, who informed him that the ladies were across the street in the park.
Darcy hastily grabbed a coat and hurried to the park without even putting it on.
A sharp claw pierced his chest when he saw three men speaking with his wife.
He did not need to hear the words to know that something was terribly wrong.
He threw down the coat and increased his pace.
He was frozen in shock when he saw from afar Mrs Annesley thrown to the ground and Elizabeth pushed inside a carriage that started to move off.
His mind ran faster than his feet, and he immediately understood that he only had a chance to stop them while the carriage was still in the park. Once it reached the main street, it would be easily lost.
Not for a moment did he consider the danger. He knew he had no time to call for help and was ready to trade his life for hers in a heartbeat.
While he gathered the last drop of his strength in his attempt to chase the carriage, he thought he spotted Elizabeth falling down inside and Peter gripping the back of the carriage.
He was getting closer as the dogs barked and ran through the feet of the horses, which suddenly stopped and reared, then straightened and attempted to run to the right to escape them.
Darcy threw himself ahead and grabbed the reins while the horses dragged him down, trying to get free.
The carriage hit a tree, then another one, and crashed while the horses pulled free and escaped, throwing Darcy to the ground so forcefully that he remained motionless, his head aching sharply and his body refusing to obey him.
As if in a dream as he lay there, Darcy saw another carriage stop nearby. A man helped the three villains out of the damaged carriage and into a second one, which sped out of the park.
He cared little for that, though, as he tried to ignore the pain enveloping his body.
His mind and his heart wailed from only one sorrow, and he called Elizabeth’s name—then once again, louder.
He heard nothing but Georgiana’s cries, Libby’s call for her brother, the servant’s worried voice, and the whine of the dogs as they circled around.
And then, his blurred mind caught the sound that he had yearned and prayed for—weaker than a whisper but strong enough to allow him to breathe again.
“William, I am well…”
Darcy slowly rose from the ground, carefully seeing whether he was hurt. The servant who was with the children in the park came to help him. He was finally on his feet, looking at the carriage. It was broken but not in small pieces due to the low speed at which it had travelled.
He saw Elizabeth on the frozen ground a few steps away from him on the right side of the carriage, calling his name.
He breathed in relief, and a sharp pain struck his torso.
He was certainly hurt, but it mattered little.
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, as she could not see him well although he was near her then, carefully searching her face, her arms, and her legs for any injury.
“My love, how are you? Can you speak to me? Are you in pain?” He gently kissed her hands, incredulous that she seemed unharmed. Her eyes, however, were blurred and her eyelids tightened as she tentatively returned the caresses, trying to be certain he was not hurt.
“I am fine…My head hurts and my eyes are burning so…How are you, my love?”
She held his hands, tried to stand, but fell against him and then forced herself to stand again. Georgiana ran to them, crying in apprehension and gratitude as she saw them both walking .