Chapter 14
Picking up the discarded express off the large oak desk, Colonel Fitzwilliam scanned the words again, before throwing it back on the desk. The express that had arrived a few hours earlier put a damper on his plans. Miss Jane Bennet was becoming very important to him and he wanted to continue to get to know her better before offering for her hand, but now they were being summoned to headquarters sooner than expected. They still had a few weeks leave left, but now they only had two weeks.
Racking a hand through his hair, he sighed and wondered how he was going to tell Michael Lucas the news. He knew the young man was close to offering for Mary Bennet and he wanted to give them as much time as he could, but that was not in the cards anymore. The study door opened and he looked up to find his cousin Darcy entering the room. "Well, hello cousin. Did Miss Elizabeth get tired of you already or did Mr. Bennet run you off the property?" he asked with a chuckle.
Taking the seat across from Fitzwilliam, Darcy shook his head, but Colonel Fitzwilliam could see a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Elizabeth is spending time with Jane. Mrs. Bennet is teaching them a few things in the kitchen, and they did not want any company distracting them."
Locking his hands behind his head, Richard chuckled, "Sounds like Mrs. Bennet is grooming them to become some gentleman's wife real soon."
Leaning back slightly, Darcy asked, "Do you intend to offer for Jane Bennet? You have been spending significant time with her. I would not ask if I did not think it was important."
Richard's eyes flicked to the discarded express before coming to rest on Darcy. Sighing, he said, "I would like to offer for her, but I just received an express stating our leave is being cut short and we will be shipped out for the America's in two weeks. I need to tell Jane and I need to find Michael Lucas to tell him."
Darcy was leaning forward by the time Richard had finished speaking and he whistled low under his breath. "I always hate to see you leave to fight again, but let us make these last two weeks' worth it. We will spend as much time as we are allowed with Elizabeth and Jane. Shall we head out and see if we can find Lucas," Darcy said standing to his feet, jumping when study door was thrown open. Spinning around, he saw a much disheveled Michael Lucas striding over to them.
"What can we help you with Lucas? You look like a ghost has been chasing you," Richard said with a laugh.
Stopping to catch his breath, Michael stood in front of Richard for a moment before speaking. "Remember that young woman my friend had me keep an eye out for?" he asked as Richard nodded his head. "Well I found her today when Mary and I were at the bookstore. Mary was talking to Emily and when I came up to them I was surprised it was her. I need to get her away from the man who is with her, so I can return her to her brother. I did not see a wedding ring on her finger, so I do not think she married the young man who she ran away with."
"Do you have any idea who she could be traveling with?"
"All I know is that he is in the militia and Emily's brother said they were headed this way. He could have joined the militia stationed just outside of town," Michael suggested with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
"Would you like our help trying to find him?" Darcy asked remembering what is was like when his sister Georgianna almost eloped with George Wickham last summer. A sickening feeling rested in the pit of his stomach and he quickly glanced at Richard. "Richard, I have a feeling I may know who Miss Emily is traveling with."
Snapping his attention to his cousin, Richard narrowed his eyes. "We do not even know where he went after what happened last summer, but it could be him. I did tell one of my friends to keep an eye on him, but I have not heard anything as of yet."
Glancing between the two cousins, Michael could feel Darcy's body starting to shake with anger, and he saw Richard's blue eyes darken. "I can tell this gentleman has angered both of you at one point, but I would like to get going as soon as we can saddle your horses."
"Well then let's get going," Richard said quickly making his way outside, not bothering to see if Michael or Darcy were behind him. They quickly saddled their horses and were soon on the road heading to Meryton. Michael kept quiet as they rode quickly through town, following Richard and Darcy as they made their way to where the soldiers were camped. Pulling his horse to a stop in front of the captain's tent, Michael dismounted, and followed Richard in to the tent. Darcy opted to stay outside and hold the horses till they got back.
"I am looking for the captain," Richard said as they walked inside, letting their eyes adjust to the dim lighting.
"Who is asking," an older gentleman asked as he walked forward.
Holding out his hand, Richard said, "Colonel Fitzwilliam sir. I need to talk to you about one of your men."
Clasping his hand, Colonel Foster shook Richard's hand and frowned. "Which one of my men do you need to talk to?"
"George Wickham. We believe he is new in camp and is stationed here."
Nodding his head, Colonel Foster replied, "He just arrived in camp this morning and I must say that is has been an eventful morning already. Claims he has a sister staying in town and needs to stay with her at night and then come back in the morning, but I would not allow it. That was before some of the other men started asking a few too many personal questions about his sister and it ended up coming to a pretty bad fist fight. He is in the furthest tent to the north. I will leave you to your business." Shaking their hands one more time, Colonel Foster went back behind his desk to finish paperwork.
Striding out of the tent, Michael asked, "Shall I leave you and Darcy alone with him or do you want my company?"
"Stay with the horses while we take care of this matter. We will only be gone a few minutes," Richard said as he motioned for Darcy to follow him.
Leading the way to the area Colonel Foster said Wickham was staying, Richard could feel his anger growing and growing with each step they took. First he had the nerve to go after his cousin last summer and now he was going after another young lady. Raising a finger to his lips, he motioned for Darcy to keep quiet. Lifting the flap of the tent, Richard barged his way in, startling the two occupants inside.
"Hello Wickham," Richard said with a smirk.
Startled, Wickham fell back in his chair, while his companion stood to his feet and dashed out the open flap where Darcy was standing. Climbing to his feet once his surprise wore off, Wickham asked, "What can I help you gentlemen with today? It has been so long since we have seen one another." Grabbing his chair, Wickham righted it, trying to stall long enough to think of a plan.
"Where is the young lady Wickham?" Darcy asked as he advanced further into the tent. "We know that you have been traveling with Emily Sidle and we are here to take her back home."
Barking out a quick laugh, Wickham grinned at the two of them. "And now why would I tell you wear that delicious woman is? She has already been traveling with me for a few days now and her reputation is ruined. I was not able to get away with taking Georgiana from you, but I can take another young lady away from her family."
At the mention at what he nearly did to his sister, Darcy rushed forward, pinning Wickham against the beam holding the tent upright. Pushing his arm harder against his childhood friend's neck, Darcy felt him start to struggle underneath him. "Where is she Wickham?"
"I will not tell you," he laughed but the sound struggled to come out as he was loosing air.
Richard walked closer to the pair, putting his face close to Wickham's, "You will tell us where she is or else I will send you away. I do have connections in places where you would not want to be sent too."
Thinking about the places Richard Fitzwilliam could send him, Wickham wondered if it would be best to tell them where Emily was staying. He did not want to spend the rest of his life in another country where men like him did not last very long or to be stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean. "I will tell you if you let me go," he said with a gasp.
Looking into his eyes, Darcy wanted to get satisfaction for his sister, so he did not loosen his grip right away. Laying a hand on his arm, Richard gripped Darcy's arm so he knew to release him.
"Darcy you need to let him go. He has told us what we wanted to know."
Letting go of Wickham, Darcy watched as he crumpled to the floor of the tent, reaching up to massage his throat.
"She is staying at the inn by the stagecoach station. You may be able to save her from me, but you will not be able to save her reputation."
Walking over to stand over Wickham, Richard grinned. "We will see about that." Raising a fist, Richard punched Wickham in the nose, before striding out of the tent, Darcy hot on his heels. They quickly made their way to where Michael was waiting with the horses.
"Did you find where he is keeping her?" Michael asked as they mounted their horses.
"She is staying in the inn in town. Let us go and get her and bring her back to Loughbourn where she will be safe," Darcy said as they kicked their horses into a trot.
"I am sure Mrs. Bennet will make a fuss over Emily once we get her there," Michael said with a smile. He wondered how the rest of the Bennet woman would welcome Emily into their home until he could get ahold of her brother. "Hopefully she will only be with them for a short while, just long enough for me to get ahold of her brother and let him know where she is at and that she is safe."
"Let us hope that she is still where Wickham left her. We will also have to get her out of there as quietly as possible," Richard said as he glanced back at his companions.
"Our safest move might be to let Lucas go in and get her. The innkeeper should know that he is a local and hopefully he will not ask too many questions," Darcy stated with a nod. He wanted the least amount of attention drawn to them as possible.
Kicking his horse into a canter, Richard wanted to get in to town faster so they could find Miss Sidle and make their way back to Loughbourn. He still needed to tell Lucas about the express he received. Soon they were pulling their horses to a stop in front of the inn Wickham had described. Taking in the meager establishment, Darcy shook his head at the state of it. Tieing their horses to the hitching rail, Darcy motioned for Lucas to come over. Whispering quietly to him, he explained what he thought was a good idea to get Miss Sidle out of the establishment.
Nodding his head, Michael glanced at Richard once before making his way inside. Letting his eyes adjust to the dim lighting, he gave Adam a smile when he saw him come out of the back of the inn. "Good afternoon, Adam. I was hoping you could help me find someone," Michael stated lazily as he walked forward and shook hands with the older gentleman.
"What can I do for you? I hope no one is in trouble? I do not like bringing unwanted attention to my establishment. It is very bad for business you see," Adam said as he finished wiping his hands on the already dirty dish cloth.
"I am looking for a young lady. She came in here earlier today with an officer. He has sandy brown hair, blue eyes."
Waiving away his description of the officer, Adam shook his head, "No need for you to described him to me, Lucas. He came in here earlier on the stagecoach and requested two rooms. One for him and one for his sister, but I had my suspicions that they were not related. When she walked in front of him upstairs, I noticed that he was well….looking places no brother should look at his sister," he said with a grunt as he grabbed the ledger from beneath the counter. Flipping to today's date, he quickly scanned the page to see what room he had given her. "She is in room five."
Tipping his hat, Michael thanked him quickly, before taking the stairs too at a time. Knocking on door number five, he heard some shuffling, before the door opened a crack. "Will you please let me in Miss Sidle so we can talk?"
Emily narrowed her eyes at him a moment, before finally sighing and motioning for him to enter. Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, she waited for him to speak. There could only be one reason he was here and she wondered if it was what she wanted.
"We have found the man you ran off with, a Mr. Wickham and he told us where to find you. I came here today to see if I could get you to come with me and eventually go back to your brother."
"How did you know I would even be in Meryton?"
"Your brother wrote a letter to me a while ago asking for me to keep a lookout for you. He is a good friend of mine and I would like to see you safely home if that is at all possible. Will you come willingly or do I need to carry you out of here kicking and screaming?" he asked but really did not want to throw her over his shoulder.
"My reputation is already ruined. There is no hope for me," she said as the reality of what she had almost done started sinking in. sniffling back the tears that threatened to overflow, she glanced up when a handkerchief was pressed into her hand.
"No one in Meryton knows who you are or where you came from. The only people that know why you came here around outside with me and you have my word that we will not say a word, I promise."
"What about Mr. Wickham?"
"He will not be bothering you again," Michael said as he walked to the window. Looking down, he saw Richard and Darcy talking near the horses watching the street. "We should get going Miss Sidle," he said turning back around, finding her standing by the door holding her carpetbag.
"I am ready to go, but I would like to write to my brother if you do not mind." Opening the door, she led the way down the stairs and out in to the street.
Stepping forward, Richard held out his hand, "You can ride my horse, Miss Sidle. I will walk beside him."
"I would not want to impose. I can walk beside you gentlemen if someone takes my carpet bag," she said motioning to her bag.
"I can take that," Darcy said gripping the hand. Settling it behind his saddle, he quickly mounted, and waited for the other three to sort out their predicament.
"I will not having you walk Miss Sidle," Richard said going into military mode. "You can ride behind me then if that makes you feel more comfortable."
Nodding her head, Emily waited for Richard to mount before allowing Michael to help her up onto the horse. Settling her skirts around her, Emily glanced at the inn one last time before they started out of town. She thought she was making a good decision when she decided to run away with George, but as the day wore on she was starting to have doubts as to his intentions. He had left her without a word and had never stopped in through out the day to check on her and make sure she was still waiting for him. Watching the countryside move by as they rode out of town, she wondered where her life was headed now.