The light streamed through the window, making Lizzie groan and roll over in bed. Frowning, she turned her head to see where she was. Her head throbbed, and she winced, digging the palms of her hands into her eyes.

"Jane, I had an awful dream. It was great up until I was practically hogtied by that cow pie, Darcy. Then these men were buying me drinks, not even knowing I was a girl. After that, it's a little fuzzy, but I think I was walking with this cute guy and we watched the stars..."

Darcy laid on his bedroll, a corner of his mouth pulled up with a smirk as he listened to Elizabeth recount her last evening.

So, she thought him a cow pie at one point and then a cute guy the next. He was glad she was so out of it and was just lying in the bed instead of getting into trouble early in the morning.

It gave him time to read some of his book while she was out.

"Jane? Jane are you even listening to me?" Lizzie pulled the second pillow next to her off the bed and threw it, knocking the book out of Darcy's hands.

Darcy threw up his hands in annoyance and turned to look at the young woman still lying there in bed.

"Jane?" she called again.

"Your sister isn't here right now, and I believe that all of those things in your dream did happen and that you've been retelling your story to the cute cow pie guy," Darcy finally made his presence known.

He was slightly amused as she pushed herself up quickly on the bed in alarm, scooting to the furthest side of the bed. There was a bit of offense when she looked herself over as if he was the kind of man who'd take advantage of an intoxicated woman.

"Relax, nothing happened last night," he murmured, "As you can see, I'm on the floor."

Lizzie didn't seem convinced, noting her missing coat jacket.

"And did I also just take off my coat jacket as well last night?"

"No, you had a bit of a hard time and was complaining of hit after you had been sleeping for a couple of hours," Darcy cleared his throat, a little uncomfortable, "I figured since it was just the jacket, it wouldn't matter."

"Pervert," Lizzie muttered as she pulled herself out of bed and picked up her jacket. She paused and turned to Darcy who was still lying on the comfortable floor, "Can I have some privacy to change, or are you going to watch me?"

Darcy pulled himself up off the floor, taking his book with him. His eyes didn't break contact with her's until he opened and closed the door behind him.

Will wasn't sure what he was expecting from her in the morning. Apparently, her pleasantness only lasted as long as the alcohol did. There were no plans for today other than to rest and then head out of town at night. He could also check to see if Charlie got his telegram. Darcy wasn't sure when he was planning on bringing Ms. Elizabeth back, but hopefully sooner rather than later. The last thing he had to be wary of, was Wickham's brother. He would be lurking nearby. The twins were never that far apart. The problem was not being in a position where he was caught off guard. Especially now that he had Ms. Elizabeth traveling with him.

A sound from inside the room made Darcy frown and cross the short distance to the other side of the hallway to knock on the door.

"Elijah?" Darcy waited for her to respond but was answered with silence.

He opened the door and found the room empty, the window open and the curtains slightly blowing in the soft breeze. Darcy cursed under his breath as he left the room to catch her downstairs.

Lizzie never felt so free and filled with giddiness as she escaped the room and the grumpy Mr. Darcy. She had climbed onto the overhanging roof and found a safe place to jump down from. There were a few people who saw her escape but didn't remark on it. Keeping the brim of her hat down to shield her face from anyone who might recognize her, Lizzie made her way to the livery.

With triumph, she slipped into the wooden structure and made her way to Sal's rented space. As she was walking down the wide hall, a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her into an empty stall. Lizzie kicked at the person, catching their shin. They grunted but only tightened their grip on her before heaving her up over their shoulder.

"Let me go!" she demanded, wishing that she had an actual weapon right about now.

The person carrying her tossed her into the pile of hay and she finally saw the pissed face of Darcy.

"Oh," she gave an uneasy laugh and tried to smile, "I was just uh... paying Sal a visit."

Darcy crossed his arms over his chest and just looked down at her, not believing a word she said.

Lizzie sighed and threw up her hands in exasperation, "I mean can you blame me for wanting to run. Your hovering is almost as bad as Collins. Except he wasn't creepily watching me sleep from a few feet away."

"Despite appearances, I am a gentleman and I am honorable. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be out here making sure you didn't get yourself into any trouble."

Lizzie crossed her own arms, "As far as anyone else knows, I'm a young man traveling."

"A foolish one who could've easily been discovered last night when you were drunk if I hadn't interfered."

"Fine then, I won't drink. The stuff tastes awful anyway. Don't know why men drink it in the first place."

"You're coming back to the room with me. We won't be able to leave until dark."

Lizzie lifted an eyebrow, "Why not now when there's light?"

"To prevent anyone who might recognize you from notifying others."

"Afraid you'll be labeled my kidnapper," she chuckled, a smile appearing as she stood to her feet.

Darcy continued to remain stoic, "Out of the two of us, I'm receiving the most abuse."

She snorted, "As if, I rode half a day across my saddle on my stomach."

"And you are trying to prevent me from walking normally and having children. I'd say you're the abusive one in this relationship."

"Please, Darcy. If you actually admit something like that to anyone, you'd be sacrificing your manhood."

Darcy took Elizabeth back up to the room and made sure she would stay there this time by using handcuffs. He connected the other end to the bed and gave her a couple of books she could read to pass the time while he was out.

The first thing he did was go to the telegram office to see if he got anything from Bingley.

The question was expected. Unfortunately, he didn't have an answer for that yet. Darcy decided a window of a month wouldn't be too bad. Enough time for Ms. Elizabeth to see the world more, and to grow tired and homesick... if he was lucky. Maybe if he was really fortunate, she would tire out even before that date. Wickham's brother he still wasn't sure about. No doubt he was around and just hadn't shown his face yet. George didn't seem to know, or at least hadn't said anything about Anthony yet. Their relationship always confused Darcy. Neither acting like twins, though they were. There were more different than they were similar, with the only thing they had in common being that they both liked to get into trouble.

After sending his reply to Charles, Darcy made his way to the general store to pick up some trail food for later on. The space was dim, the only source of light coming through the windows. The aisles were narrow and he had to tread carefully so as not to knock something off a shelf. As he found what he was looking for, he heard a woman talking about a missing girl.

"My sister knew that her daughter was going to get herself into trouble one day. She was just hoping to marry her off before then. Now she's either run off or was kidnapped. Lord only knows where she is. There will be no recovering her even if someone was to find her. That girl is no doubt lost to her family now and is probably with child. Oh, my poor sister."

The woman's dialogue was exhausting to Darcy and he felt a level of disgust for a woman who would so easily throw aside her relation and talk bad about them. Ms. Elizabeth didn't seem the type who wouldn't put up a fight if she were captured. Hadn't she proved that twice when she lashed out at him? He didn't know a single girl who would do the same in her case.

She never gave up or gave in. The fire in her eyes and the determination was something he could admire in her.

Buying his items, he went back into the building where he was renting the rooms. He gave a courtesy knock before entering the room where Ms. Elizabeth was hopefully still inside.

When he opened the door, he found her lying on the bed on her stomach, a book open and one hand propping up her head. At his entrance, Lizzie turned her head slightly to look at him.

"Saw your aunt," he said in a way of greeting as he closed the door behind him.

"Aunt Phillips? What did she want?" Lizzie screwed up her face in annoyance.

"Well, she didn't necessarily want anything. She was talking about you and your disappearance."

"No doubt really worried about me," Lizzie scoffed before resuming her reading.

Darcy rose an eyebrow, "Do you not get along with your aunt?"

"I don't technically get along with my mother or my Aunt Philips. I never turned out to be the woman they wanted me to be."

"And that would be?"

"Obedient," she gave him a cheeky grin which caused him to return it with a smile of his own.

"What did you pick to read?" Darcy asked, stepping closer to the bed to unlock the handcuffs.

"Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn."

"How am I not surprised," he shook his head as he grabbed a seat for himself.

Lizzie finally sat up, rubbing her now free wrist, "You presume to know me now?" She arched an eyebrow in challenge.

"I wouldn't dare," Darcy smirked.

Lizzie moved to sit cross-legged on the bed and produced a deck of cards, "George brought them over for me. We played a couple of games before he went down to find a game of poker."

"Yeah, I think I saw him go into the saloon."

Darcy wasn't sure how he felt about George being in the room with Elizabeth, especially when he had handcuffed her to the bed. He basically left her defenseless and stuck.

Not a smart move, Darcy.

"Want to play checkers?" she smiled, "I figured, since you're keeping me in here until night, you ought to entertain me with at least a few rounds."

"Checkers? That's not a card game," Darcy pointed out.

"I know, but there are two colors; red and black. We can pretend they are the chips. Use your imagination, Mr. Darcy," she chuckled.

Darcy stood up and took a seat at the foot of the bed. He looked at the quilt he was sitting on and found that it was a checker pattern.

He was given a stack of clubs and spades while she held the hearts and diamonds. After setting up their makeshift board, they began.

Again Darcy wondered about the woman he was with and how in such a short acquaintance, he felt more alive than before knowing her.

His staring at her was finally caught by her looking up from the game. She gave him a mischievous smile before taking two more of his cards.

Darcy needed to be careful. Letting her capture his pieces was one thing, but letting her capture his interest was something else entirely, and not what he needed.