For my readers:
I have been getting a lot of encouraging reviews. Thank you. The adventure part of the story has just begun. Many have been concerned about Louisa's safety. I assure you that this story is a HEA for all and I do not plan on having any grief. This chapter will throw light on many of your questions. I am speeding up my writing as requested. I am glad that you all enjoyed the cliffhangers. Thank you for reading and keep the reviews coming. Stay safe.
Chapter 19: The Highwaymen
At the same time, Darcy's carriage left Netherfield, Elizabeth's carriage stopped abruptly on their journey.
The driver of the carriage stopped seeing another carriage stranded on the road. Looking closer, he was shocked to see highwaymen emerging from it. The driver wanted to turn around quickly, but the road was too narrow to aid them.
When the carriage stopped suddenly, the women inside felt the jerk.
Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley gasped.
Elizabeth thought the wheels must have hit something on the road. She peeped outside her window and was shocked to see the highwaymen. All her life in Hertfordshire, she has never heard of any incident of robbery. She tried to count them and saw four of them. She knew they could outnumber them with the footman they had in the other carriage as well.
She looked behind them, and did not to see Georgiana's carriage anywhere nearby.
"Miss Elizabeth, what is it?" Mrs Hurst asked with fear.
Elizabeth was scared to tell her the truth, but she had no choice.
"Mrs Hurst do not panic. I see a few men on the road. I am not sure about them. Let us stay still. Hopefully, our footmen can handle them."
Miss Bingley looked outside the window and screamed.
"Highwaymen! Louisa, there are highwaymen. What can we do now?" Mrs Hurst looked alarmed, she instinctively touched her stomach.
"Miss Elizabeth, I heard that Hertfordshire is a safe country. I cannot believe this."
"I have not heard of highwaymen here either. I do not know. I hope the footmen can defend us. Georgiana's carriage is not behind us. I do not know what happened to them."
Just as they were contemplating. They heard loud noises outside.
Elizabeth saw the footmen being attacked. She looked at Mrs Hurst. She thought about the poor woman, how scared she must feel for her baby. Whatever happens, I should not let her get harmed. She vouched to herself.
Elizabeth thought quickly. She wanted to help Mrs Hurst escape. With her condition, she could not run fast, or far. Elizabeth noticed that there was a space behind the seat in which Mrs Hurst was sitting. It was used to store extra trunks or luggage. She saw that there were only a few picnic baskets there.
She immediately had a plan.
"Mrs Hurst you need to hide. I do not think our men can defend us for long. I can lift you. You can get behind the seat in that trunk space. I will throw a blanket over you. Even if the men get us, I hope they won't search there."
"Miss Elizabeth I can't. I am scared. Can we not stay together? I can give them my jewellery if they want."
"We don't know what their intentions are, there is no certainty that they may not harm us. We can't take the chance. Think about your baby. Hurry up."
Miss Bingley was silently listening to Elizabeth's plan.
As Elizabeth was trying to convince Mrs Hurst to hide, Miss Bingley pushed her sister aside and climbed over the seat into the trunk space.
Elizabeth and Mrs. Hurst were stunned.
Elizabeth was extremely angry. "Miss Bingley what are you doing? Both of you won't fit in there. Come out and let your sister hide. There is no time."
"Stupid girl. This place is not enough for me alone, how can Louisa fit in here along with me." Miss Bingley cried.
"Caroline, are you trying to hide? Leaving us both in danger?"
"Oh, Louisa shut up. In your condition, no man would be interested in kidnapping you. And this uncouth looks like a servant, who would want to lay a hand on her. Look at me, my dress, my beauty. Do you think the men will spare me? Now quickly cover the blanket over me."
Mrs Hurst could not believe that her sister would put her baby in danger. Tears started rolling down her eyes.
Elizabeth tried to argue with Miss Bingley, but she did not listen. She pulled a blanket over her head and kneeled down. She was taller and could not fit comfortably in the space.
Elizabeth could not believe that Miss Bingley could be this cruel to her sister. She comforted Mrs Hurst.
"I will not anything happen to you. Do not worry. Just stay behind me." Just as she was reassuring her, the carriage door jerked open.
"Get out all of you, now." She heard one of the men yell.
Elizabeth got down, Mrs Hurst stayed close to her.
One of the men peeked inside the carriage.
Elizabeth observed the men. Two were tall and well built. The other two were shorter, but bulky. They looked dirty and rough. The footmen were lying down, all unconscious.
The tall man was holding their driver at knifepoint.
Elizabeth understood that the men were ruthless.
"Tell me now, which one is Miss Darcy?"
The driver was silent. Elizabeth was shocked when she heard them mention Georgiana's name.
Who are these people? Why are they asking for Georgiana?
She turned and looked behind her, she was relieved when she saw no sign of the other carriage.
"It must be this one. Wickham did not mention anything about the girl carrying a child." One said pointing to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth froze when she heard Wickham's name. She could not forget that name. Georgiana had mentioned it several times, during her story and even later when they were alone. She made the connection immediately.
Oh! No! That horrid man must have sent these men to take Georgiana.
"Didn't Wickham say there will be many women. How come there are only two. Which of you is the Darcy girl? He said some name, Georgiana. It can't be the pregnant woman for sure"
"Yeh! Getting a woman pregnant is Wickham's job." Said the other and guffawed with a ruthless laughter.
Elizabeth remembered her promise to Darcy in the library. She had assured him that no harm would come to Georgiana. Now she knew it was only a matter of time before the other carriage would arrive and the men would find her. She could not let that happen.
"I am Miss Darcy." She said, bravely.
Mrs Hurst was shocked when she heard Elizabeth declare herself as Georgiana, and squeezed her hand.
"Oh, she is pretty is she not? No wonder Wickham wants her. Come here my darling, we will not harm you. Your man is waiting for you."
"What do you want? My brother will not allow any harm to come to me. Let us go. If he knows of Wickham's schemes he will be in serious trouble." Elizabeth tried to sound unaffected.
"Oh, will he? Will he not give a lot of money to see his pretty sister unharmed? I think he will."
"What about this one, what is your name?" The other man asked pointing towards Mrs Hurst.
"Louisa." Mrs Hurst said in a small voice.
"Are you staying at Netherfield?"
"Yes, I am Bingley's sister."
"Look at her clothes and jewellery. Her husband must have a fat pocket. It would be trying to carry her, but we can take her along. Wickham will never share the entire ransom with us. We can run a separate deal on her."
Mrs Hurst looked as if she may faint.
"You want to take that heavy woman. You jackass." One man yelled at the other.
"Yes, I do. Her husband may pay us enough that we won't have to work for men like Wickham anymore."
"Then you carry her. I did not bargain for this."
The men kept arguing. Elizabeth slowly pushed Mrs Hurst to the rear end of the carriage.
"Listen to me. The men want Georgiana. I cannot allow them to take her."
"But their carriage is not here."
"If I tell them that, they will change their plan and wait for her. We cannot put Georgiana and Jane in danger. Do you see the woods to the right of this road behind our carriage? I want you to try to run as fast as you can and hide behind a tree in that direction"
"What? Miss Elizabeth, I cannot run. They will catch me."
"No, they will not. I am going to distract them by running to the other side. I am sure I can run fast; they will think you are with me. By that time, you can hide in a safe spot."
"What if they catch you?"
"Then they will take me. If the other carriage comes, tell them what happened and I am sure the men will be able to find me."
"Miss Elizabeth, no! I cannot see them take you."
"At this point, all you need to think about is your baby. They look drunk and ruthless. You need to protect your child."
"I am not like you. I cannot do this. I don't have the courage."
"Mrs Hurst, all mothers have it in them to protect their children. You can and you must do this. Don't think about anything else. I am sure our plan will work. They won't see you running, as the carriage will block your sight. Now go".
Elizabeth pushed her and started running on the opposite side of the road, where the trees were scarce. She knew the men could see her easily, she wanted to give Mrs Hurst time to hide.
The men never expected her to sprint off.
The tall man, who was the head of the group was furious.
"Look, that girl is on the run. Wickham said she was meek, I never thought she will try to escape from us."
They ran behind her. None of them suspected that Mrs Hurst was already on the other side of the road into the woods.
Elizabeth ran.
She loved to run on open fields, chasing dogs in her father's farm, and sometimes playfully after her nieces and nephews.
She had not once imagined that she would have to run for her life.
She tried to hide behind a tree. But the men spotted her.
She ran again. Her dress got caught in a bush, and it slowed her down. The men were getting closer to her. She found a big oak tree and hid behind it. She tried to keep as still as possible. She did not hear a sound.
Maybe they left, maybe they are in some other direction. She thought.
She sighed and sat down. To her shock, she was pulled out of her hiding place.
"You minx. You thought you could run away, didn't you? We will never let our fortune slip away. You come with us now and where is that other woman?"
"She ran ahead of me. I think she must be far away." Elizabeth said.
The man slapped her across her face. Elizabeth cried in pain.
"Don't you dare to lie to me. You think I would believe you if you say that. That woman cannot even trot along a horse with that thing in her stomach. Where is she?"
He shook Elizabeth like a leaf.
Elizabeth pursed her lip and closed her eyes, fearing another blow.
Mr Darcy was right. I am indeed poor at lying. Wonder what will happen to me if they knew that I lied about my identity?
"Peter, we only need this girl, let us leave now. We have already spent too much time. Wickham should join us in a few hours. Let us get to the cottage."
They dragged Elizabeth out of the woods. Elizabeth tried to spot Mrs Hurst, she was nowhere to be seen. She knew she could not be far. She wanted to give her a clue about where they were taking her.
"Which cottage are you taking me too? Please let me go. I can ask Wickham to release me when he gets to the cottage in a few hours. It will all be the same, let me go." She shouted in her loudest voice.
"What rubbish are you talking about. Shut up now, and stop yelling." Peter yelled with disgust.
They bound her hands with a rope and tied a cloth around her mouth.
Elizabeth noticed that there was still no sign of the other carriage. She was glad that at least Georgiana was safe. She did not know what would happen to her. Unknowingly tears started dripping down her face.
She was dragged and thrown roughly into an old carriage the men had brought, and the carriage set off.
Elizabeth was not the only one crying. Genuine tears were flowing down the eyes of the person she had helped to escape.
Mrs Hurst saw it all, she saw how Elizabeth was dragged. She saw how she was taken away against her will. Mrs Hurst felt guilty and helpless. In all her life Mrs Hurst had never seen a selfless person like Elizabeth. Yes! Never.