Good morning and happy Thanksgiving weekend to all my fellow Americans! I am honored that you would take time on this busy day to read the newest chapter in this story! I hope you enjoy it! Let's just dive right in.
Chapter Forty One
Four days later, in the middle of the morning, Elizabeth stood on the doorstep of 24 Rue _in Paris. Her heart pulsed madly in her throat as she knocked. Darcy was almost certainly somewhere inside this building, only feet away. Could he feel her presence? Did he know that she was nearby, and that she was risking everything, taking her life in her hands, in order to see him again? She glanced across the street at the impassive buildings with their darkened windows, wondering how many eyes were watching her.
The door was opened by a young soldier who looked at her in stern disapproval. Elizabeth kept her chin high. "I am here to see Monsieur Wickham."
"Who might you be?"
"I am Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy. Tell Monsieur Wickham that I have arrived and that I wish to see my husband at once!"
The soldier gave her a skeptical look. "Wait here." He disappeared into the building briefly while Elizabeth looked about her, taking in the bleak city streets and the gray sky overhead. None of the dozens of people passing on the sidewalk made eye contact with her; they scarcely even lifted their gaze from the pavement. Paris, once so gay, was a city of fear. In the distance she heard the shouting from the Plaza de la Revolucion, as unfortunate victims faced their final end. She shivered involuntarily. Had it been a mistake to answer Wickham's summons? She would know very soon.
There was a noise of footsteps from inside the building while Elizabeth waited. Then, after what felt like an eternity, the door opened to reveal Wickham.
"Elizabeth, what a pleasure to see you." He gave her a cynical smile. "I knew you would come."
She let her eyes rest on him scornfully. "How perceptive of you. Most would think my arrival a foregone conclusion, considering that you have my husband and family under arrest."
"Such hostility!" Wickham answered smoothly. "Your family is safe in my custody. Let us hope they stay that way."
"You mean that they are safe as long as I do what you want."
"How cynical you are. Am I not merciful? I could have you arrested right now, with just a snap of my fingers." He waved his hand in the air.
"I rather think that if you wanted to have me arrested, you would have done so already."
Wickham's mouth twisted. "You always were rather too clever for your own good. Come inside."
Without waiting for an answer he turned and went into the building. After a moment's hesitation, Elizabeth followed. She trailed behind him through the entry and down a narrow hallway, the walls seeming to close in on her as if they were living things. Wickham opened the first door on the left, revealing a smallish storage area that had been made over into an office. A plain carpet covered part of the floor and on it were set a desk, a chair, and another chair facing the desk. Wickham closed the door behind her, then sat down behind the desk and nodded for Elizabeth to take the seat across from it. Elizabeth faced him with her head held high.
"You said I could see my husband if I came to Paris, and now here I am."
"I will take you to him shortly. But there are certain rules you must follow, and certain conditions you must meet."
"Rules? Conditions? Your message said nothing of these things."
"You are in no position to argue, Elizabeth. Rather I am the one who should be angry with you. Weren't you the one who went back on our agreement at the ball? Imagine my hurt when I discovered how you had betrayed me!"
Elizabeth made a scoffing sound. "An agreement made under duress is no agreement at all. If you brought me here hoping for an apology you are destined for disappointment."
Wickham leaned forward suddenly, his face grim. "The man you warned away from me is a criminal! He is an enemy of the French people."
"My husband is not a criminal. He is brave and noble, and I am happy that I was able to warn him away from you."
"Darcy is an aristocrat! His kind of people, with their money and titles and notions of privilege, are on the way out. Soon they will be no more. There is a new order coming into being."
"I would choose my husband's noble ideals over your new order any day! He is the bravest man and the truest gentleman I have ever known!"
There was a pause before Wickham spoke again. Then he said, with a more compassionate expression, "There were feelings between us once, Elizabeth. I cannot believe they are gone completely."
She leaned back in her seat, putting distance between them. "You are speaking to a married woman, Mr. Wickham. I will thank you to keep that in mind."
He sighed, his face hardening again. "Enough. I can see that this is a pointless discussion. You came to see your husband and your family. I will allow you five minutes with your aunt and uncle."
"How generous of you."
"You should be grateful that I am allowing you to see them at all."
"Grateful that my family is under arrest and in danger of their lives? Of course I am beyond grateful." She let him absorb the impact of her words before continuing. "My uncle is ill and in need of medical attention. Will you allow a doctor to see him?"
"He can see a doctor after he leaves this place, not before. Once you have spoken with your aunt and uncle I will take you to Darcy. I suggest you make good use of the limited time you have left with him."
Wickham's words made her stomach twist, and her brave face disappeared. She let her gaze drop to the floor. Wickham stood and came around the desk to speak to her more directly.
"Elizabeth, Darcy is a traitor to the state. There is nothing I can do to help him. In two days he will appear before the revolutionary council for his trial, and he will be found guilty."
There was a dreadful pause. Her worst fears had come true. "Can you do nothing for him?" she asked pitifully, her voice nearly a whisper.
"His fate is sealed; there is nothing that can stop what is going to happen. But you can help yourself and your family."
She forced herself to meet his eyes. "How?"
"Robespierre wants results. He demands them, in fact. If I do not produce enough for him my own standing may be in jeopardy."
"In that case you ought to choose your employers more carefully."
He ignored her. "I know that the Fleur de Lys is more than just one or two men working together, that there is a much larger group. Colonel Fitzwilliam is undoubtedly one of them, and that dull Bingley fellow as well. But there are others. I need to find out who they are, and if they are still in the country."
"What do you intend to do with them if they are?"
"I think you can guess that. But Darcy must give me this information."
"And you think he will just volunteer this to you? That he will hand over his friends simply for your convenience?"
Wickham waited half a heartbeat before answering. "If he does not, then all of you will share Darcy's fate."
His words hit home at once and she looked at him in horror. "You would turn my aunt and uncle over to the council? You would turn me over?"
"That is entirely up to you . . . and to Darcy."
Elizabeth rose to her feet, her face pale. "I thought I already knew how despicable you could be. I was clearly wrong!"
"This is a business arrangement, nothing more. Darcy's companions for your life, and the lives of your family."
"You are no gentleman," she refuted. Her voice was thick with contempt. "You never were. You are a coward."
Wickham's amiable facade dropped as he abruptly stood to his full height. "If you were a man I would call you out for such an insult!"
"If you were a man, I would accept!"
"Nevertheless, I will get what I want! Agree to my terms or face the consequences!"
"I could never force my husband to make such a choice, to have to pick between me or his ideals! I would rather die along with him!"
"Perhaps. But you also have to consider your aunt and uncle, as well as that brat." He paused for half a heartbeat. "What do you think of Darcy's ideals now?"
Elizabeth wrung her hands. "The colonel was right. You only told me to come here so that you could entrap me! Why did I not listen to him?" Wickham did not answer, merely watched her with a smug smile of satisfaction on his face.
She paced across the room, aware of Wickham's eyes watching her every movement. "I cannot ask him to do this! Wretched, impossible choice! And yet," she stopped pacing to look at Wickham, "I suppose, if I refuse, your threat still stands." Wickham acknowledged this with a slight shrug, as if the outcome did not greatly matter to him.
She took several more turns around the room, then finally faced Wickham. There was more despair than defiance left in her manner. "My husband's decision will have to be his own. I will tell him your proposal but that is all. I can offer you no more. Now, take me to my family!"
The door to the room that presumably held her aunt and uncle swung open slowly, revealing its contents gradually. One window, a slit high up in the wall, was the only source of light. Fortunately the morning sun's rays were strong enough to show the room and its inhabitants clearly. The narrow room contained two beds, a cot and a small couch. Gardiner lay on one bed, his eyes widening as he took in Elizabeth's form. He struggled to push himself up to a sitting position. Beside him Mrs. Gardiner rose to her feet with her hand clapped over her mouth. Despite their captivity, Elizabeth was relieved that neither appeared to have been ill treated. They were pale and her uncle looked thinner than she remembered, but they were unharmed.
In the next instant Elizabeth felt a pair of small arms encircle her waist. Jules had thrown himself against her. "Elizabeth!" he cried. "Elizabeth! You are here! You have come!" She smoothed his blond hair as he clung to her and burst into tears.
"Elizabeth!" Mrs. Gardiner echoed, stepping rapidly around the corner of the bed. "Has Wickham captured you too? What are you doing here?" She embraced Elizabeth, or perhaps fell into Elizabeth's arms, weeping. For a minute or two the women could only cling together helplessly as their emotions came to the fore. For her aunt's sake Elizabeth held back her tears to the best of her ability, but she could not avoid them entirely. When she finally stepped back she made an effort to keep her tone light.
"No, Wickham has not captured me," she answered, brushing at her tears and giving a bright smile. "I came here to take you home!"
"We are going to England?" her aunt asked in disbelief. "Wickham will let us go?"
Elizabeth glanced towards the door of the room, which had closed behind her. Was Wickham listening? "He tells me so."
"I see," her aunt answered after a moment, doubtfully.
"What sort of bargain did you make, Lizzy?" her uncle demanded from his place on the bed. "Wickham would never just let us go, not after keeping us captive here!"
"Never mind that now," Elizabeth answered. The question demanded a lengthy answer, or none at all. "Are you well enough to travel?"
"Forget about me, Lizzy. If Wickham is willing to let you go, take your aunt and Jules and leave at once! You must not waste this chance."
"We will not leave you behind!"
"Then point me to the carriage and just try to hold me back!"
Elizabeth could not answer. Any words she might have spoken would have been drowned out by Jules' sobs, which had become louder. "What is the matter?" she managed to get out, loudly enough for the boy to hear.
"It is my fault. That bad man caught maman and papa because of me!" Jules' sobs broke out again and Elizabeth looked at her aunt questioningly.
"Wickham tricked Jules into revealing Darcy's true identity," her aunt explained. "He has been inconsolable since then."
Elizabeth tried to comfort the child. "This is not your fault. Wickham has deceived many people, including me. And you and your maman and papa are going to leave Paris soon and go to England, and then you will never have to worry about that bad man again!" She wished she had more time to soothe the boy's nerves, but time was precious. "Have any of you seen Darcy?"
Mrs. Gardiner shook her head. "Not since the day he was captured. We saw Wickham leading him away, but we had no chance to speak to him. We do not know where he went or what happened to him. My dear niece, why did you come back to this terrible place?"
Elizabeth dared not answer, since no response she could give would satisfy her aunt and uncle. Now was not the time for lengthy explanations.
She continued to speak with the Gardiners and Jules for several minutes, reassuring and comforting them, before she heard a knock on the door. Her short time with them was over. She pressed her uncle's hand firmly and gave her aunt and Jules a final embrace. Then she had to turn and leave them behind.
When she stepped into the hallway Wickham was waiting for her, flanked by two of his soldiers. He motioned her down the hall and to another door, which one of his soldiers unlocked. "Make the most of your time with him, Lizzy," he warned.
Elizabeth nodded wordlessly, waiting to take the few steps that would take her to her husband's side. Though she appeared calm outwardly, her heart thumped painfully and breathing was difficult. In moments she would be reunited with Darcy. How would he react to her appearance? Had he truly forgiven her for her betrayal, or would he push her away in anger, remembering her concealments and secrets? She could not bear it if he rejected her now!
The soldier stepped aside, allowing her to pass. She put her hand on the doorknob and pushed the door open.
How will Elizabeth and Darcy reunite? Can they find a way out of the trap that Wickham has devised? You will have to come back in three weeks to find out the answer! In the meantime I hope you enjoy the start of the holiday season and that you enjoy your time with your loved ones! See you in three weeks! -Elaine