Page 44 of Not Without Me, Miss Elizabeth

"Fitzwilliam, you must be famished. Let me call for a proper meal."

"Famished indeed, but I shall come down with you, Darcy," the Colonel said coolly.

The men went below, and Elizabeth hurried to set her hair to rights and straighten her shoes, along with a quick visit to the chamber pot before their return. Her tasks complete well ahead of them, she settled upon the settee to wait, composed as though receiving callers in her own family parlour at Longbourn.

The gentlemen returned, and conversation resumed, Darcy allowing his cousin the settee beside Elizabeth while he leaned against the mantel. They talked on cheerfully until breakfast arrived, whereupon the Colonel set upon his meal with a soldier's precision and speed, making remarkably quick work of the whole spread. Elizabeth privately wondered whether the man had eaten at all in the preceding two days.

Once the meal was cleared, the Colonel turned his attention to more serious business, and he and Darcy fell to discussing their next steps. Elizabeth noted, with some private amusement, that it was Darcy, rather than his cousin, who seemed naturally to direct the conversation, a small, telling confirmation of the man's want of command that she was coming to find rather endearing than otherwise.

It was settled at last that the Colonel would secure a post-chaise to carry Darcy, Elizabeth, himself, a hired lady's companion, and two guards onward toward London, while the remainder of his men stayed behind to track down Wickham. Darcy gave particular instruction, besides, that funds be sent to the farmer whose Welsh pony he had taken in their flight, a sum well more than double the animal's worth, delivered with his sincere apology.

While Elizabeth and Darcy prepared for their departure, she supposed they might yet spend another night to allow the Colonel some proper rest, but he had already secured both a post-chaise and a companion for her by the time they were ready; a young woman, by the look of her, glad enough of the chance to begin a new situation in London, and no less glad of the pay that came with it.

The Colonel knocked once more at their door, and Darcy opened it, ready at last to depart with his Elizabeth. The chaise stood waiting, the companion engaged, and two of the Colonel's men, weary as they were from their own hard riding, made ready to escort them. Once settled comfortably within, the party set off, and Elizabeth leaned back against the seat, filled with a deep and grateful sense of relief at her freedom regained.

CHAPTER 24

Almost as soon as the carriage set off, Colonel Fitzwilliam fell into a deep sleep, entirely spent from eighteen hours in the saddle, changing horses continually to maintain so punishing a pace, as Mr. Darcy had explained to her while they made their way onto the western road toward London.

God bless him,she thought, grateful beyond words for a man who would do so much, and so readily, for his cousin's sake.

The journey to London took five days in all. The lady's maid Fitzwilliam had engaged scarcely spoke a word throughout, plainly overawed by the company she found herself keeping.

The Colonel, however, proved, once a full night's rest had restored him, a thoroughly delightful travelling companion. He conversed easily, and drew out in Mr. Darcy a lighter, more playful humour Elizabeth had glimpsed only rarely before. The two men teased one another and traded stories of their boyhood, and Elizabeth learned a great deal in the process, of Mr. Darcy's parents, of Georgiana, of the Colonel's own family besides.

Their conversation ranged widely over the days that followed, literature, music, the theatre, travel, family, and, not least, the life of a soldier. Elizabeth found herself particularly absorbed by the Colonel's account of his own early service, and of how he had risen, through years of earned merit rather than purchase, to his present rank. It left her all the more grateful for hispresence, and rather ashamed, besides, of how readily she had once judged soldiers as a class, sight unseen.

Growing bolder in his company, she ventured at last to ask his view on why a regiment should have been stationed in so small and unremarkable a town as Meryton. He offered a thoughtful answer.

"Not every soldier is engaged actively overseas. We maintain a great many regiments, rotating men through periods of rest and retraining at home, even our most seasoned soldiers require constant practice to keep their skills sharp. England offers safer, steadier conditions for that purpose, and allows us besides to recruit and train new men while they await their orders." He paused. "It pains me to say it, but we are presently engaged in the East, and require a steady supply of fresh troops to make good our losses there." He hesitated again before continuing. "There is another matter, too, Miss Bennet, one closer to home. We live in a time of some political unease, and stationing regiments about the country serves us in more than one way. It gives us a defensive network, certainly, but it also offers ordinary townspeople a visible reminder of the Crown's strength. Our presence reinforces loyalty to His Majesty, and that matters a great deal to the legitimacy of the sovereign's authority."

"I see, sir. So the militia's presence in Meryton serves training, recruitment, and a visible reminder of the Crown, all at once. A clever strategy indeed, I confess I had not considered it in those terms."

The Colonel nodded, "It is, madam, and I expect it will continue indefinitely."

Each night the party stopped at a coaching inn, Elizabeth lodging with her maid. Sleep did not come easily to her through these nights, her fear of Wickham, and the dread that they might yet be found, pressing upon her still.

After five days upon the road, the party arrived in London at last, to everyone's considerable relief. The chaise drew up before Mr. Darcy's townhouse, and the party descended into a handsome manor, ushered directly into a small tea room. There, Darcy called for his purse and paid the maid generously for both her service and her discretion, before the housekeeper led her below to eat, with an offer of further employment should she wish it. Backin the tea room, Colonel Fitzwilliam urged his cousin to accompany him at once to the authorities, to give a full account of the Wickham affair.

"Sirs," Elizabeth put in, "I should be perfectly content to go to my uncle Gardiner's house, and lodge with them until matters are settled. I am eager, besides, to see my family again after so many days, any family will do."

"Not without me, Miss Elizabeth," Darcy replied at once. "I would rather see you home to Longbourn directly. I shall return to London myself once you are safely restored to your family."

"Fitzwilliam, my family will be forever in your debt for it," she smiled prettily to him.

"I would think of doing nothing else." He turned to his cousin. "Fitzwilliam, you are welcome to remain here. I shall be back tonight, and we may begin our business tomorrow morning."

The Colonel, though plainly impatient at the delay, understood it well enough, and accepted the invitation to stay. Darcy called for Giles to ready the carriage and assign a maid to accompany them.

As the party made ready to depart, the Colonel offered his farewells. "It has been an absolute pleasure, Miss Elizabeth. I hope for the privilege of seeing you again very soon. Until then, God bless you."

"Colonel Fitzwilliam, you are among the bravest men I have ever known. I cannot thank you enough for bringing us out of Wales, and seeing me safely home. God keep you, sir, I am entirely in your debt."

The depth of feeling in her speech left Darcy faintly irked, though it swelled his cousin's chest with visible pride. The Colonel glanced toward him, smiling, before adding, with particular emphasis, "It was a pleasure to rescueyou both." He took her hand, kissed it gently, bowed low, and handed her up into Darcy's waiting carriage.

With tea, refreshment, and a plan all settled, one of Darcy's own maids joined them for the remainder of the journey, propriety thus properly observed. The drive to Longbourn generally took some four hours, but with fine weather and only a single stop to change horses, they arrived in three and a half.

At last Elizabeth caught sight of the familiar maple standing beside the low wall marking Longbourn's boundary. The carriage turned up the drive, and as it drew before the house, the front door flew open, Mr. Bennet the first to reach the carriage. He wrenched the door open, searching the darkness within, before his eyes found their mark.