Chapter 2
Elizabeth was hidden behind the trunk of the tree, praying that the hateful Mr. Darcy had not seen her, but unfortunately, he saw her and immediately approached. He asked her about her health, she was visibly upset, and she replied curtly and irritated. She was very confused because he looked very nervous and didn't say anything for a long time.
Suddenly, he began to speak, saying that he had in vain fought against something, but Elizabeth was more concerned with the two strangers approaching them threateningly. She tried to say something to Mr. Darcy, but he was so focused on his speech that he didn't listen to her.
It was clear that the strangers had not seen her, only when they hit Mr. Darcy on the head, and he fell unconscious to the ground, the two men saw her. She tried to run and ask for help, but one of them took her tightly and put a cloth with alcohol on her face that made her faint and fall into a profound sleep.
The two men tied Mr. Darcy's hands tightly and waited for the carriage to take him away from there. They did not know what they would do with the woman. That decision had to be made by the one who had hired them.
They had been waiting for Mr. Darcy at the time and place agreed, but when he did not arrive, they decided to explore and see if something was wrong. There, they saw a man who perfectly fit the description of the man they were to catch. He was standing next to a tree trunk; he seemed to be resting. In order not to risk losing their prey, they decided to attack him. They only saw that he was accompanied and agreed to use alcohol, which they had prepared in case something went wrong when trying to capture Mr. Darcy. Now, they just had to wait and see what they would do with this intruder.
The carriage with the Darcy family crest appeared at that moment, and George Wickham descended from it.
"We're sorry, sir, but this woman was with the man when she saw us attack him; she tried to scream and run for help. So we put her to sleep with the alcohol you gave us," explained one of the thugs.
Wickham approached the woman, and when he realized it was Elizabeth Bennet, he was somewhat impressed, but immediately an idea crossed his mind, he smiled and told his accomplices. "Put her in the carriage with him, and make sure they are imprisoned together." After giving that order, he moved away on his horse while the kidnappers placed both inert bodies in the carriage.
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In Rosings, Lady Catherine was very nervous. Perhaps for the first time in many years, she had spent more than two minutes without saying anything. Then, after the guests left, she hurried to her room and stayed there for the rest of the day.
Colonel Fitzwilliam asked about his cousin Mr. Darcy, but no one had seen him; that is why he supposed he had locked himself in his room. For the last few days, he had been acting very strangely. It was likely that he had one of his famous headaches, and he was trying to rest and sleep, or he just couldn't stand his aunt one more minute and decided to go to his room to avoid her.
When Charlotte, Maria, and Mr. Collins returned to the parsonage, they found the house in complete silence. Only in the kitchen could the conversation of the servants be heard. Charlotte assumed her friend had fallen asleep, and after seeing her so upset a few hours ago, she decided to let her rest. The next day, she would ask her how she felt.
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Elizabeth woke up with a severe headache, very dizzy and confused. Every time she tried to stay awake, she fell asleep again. She didn't know how long she was like this, but she remembered seeing the light by day, then darkness, and then light again. She had probably been in the carriage for two days traveling in an unknown direction. When she was finally able to recover enough to think rationally, she saw that in front of her, a man was sleeping.
Elizabeth realized that the man was Mr. Darcy, and she remembered what had probably happened two days ago when he was speaking to her, and two men attacked them. She supposed they had somehow been kept drugged and asleep. Her head ached badly, and with the bit of light coming through the curtains, she could see that Mr. Darcy was still sound asleep.
For his part, Mr. Darcy was dreaming. For some strange reason, in the dream, his head hurt, and he was with his beloved Elizabeth at his side, but not in a happy situation, something terrible was happening, and he did not know how to solve it. Every time he tried to wake up from that bitter dream, he fell asleep again.
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Mr. Wickham had arranged to meet Lord Matlock in a small private room in the same clandestine club they met a few months before.
"I hope you have done everything as I asked Wickham. The future of my family, and your own future, depends on the success of this operation," Lord Matlock said to his accomplice in this crime.
"We had a little mishap, my Lord, but I think it was a blessing in disguise," said Wickham with a smile.
Then, he told him that when they went to catch his nephew, Miss Bennet appeared and saw everything, so they had no choice but to kidnap her with Mr. Darcy. But that would give them a better excuse for Mr. Darcy's disappearance than simply saying that he ran away to avoid his aunt.
Finally, Wickham told Lord Matlock that the new plan was to make everyone believe that Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennet had decided to elope to Scotland together to get married in a fit of love.
"Is that Miss Bennet pretty, at least? Because my nephew is well known for his moralistic principles, no one will believe that he decided to elope with an unappealing woman. If he did something like that it would be because he was extremely infatuated," Lord Matlock said worriedly.
"She is more than pretty. She has a beautiful face and eyes, a voluptuous body, and a charming personality. But she is also intelligent and witty," Wickham explained. But, of course, he did not say that Elizabeth hated Darcy and was in love with him because he felt it was unnecessary.
Lord Matlock didn't like the idea at first, but after thinking it over, he realized that it was a better plan than the original. "And how long has my nephew known this woman?" he asked.
"They know each other from Hertfordshire. They spent a few months meeting at different social events, assemblies, and even a ball".
Wickham proceeded to tell Lord Matlock what the new plan was. Once they reached Scotland, they would fake an accident. Then, they would look for some river where to throw the carriage and make-believe that the bodies had disappeared in the water. From there, the two prisoners would be transferred to the castle, where they would remain until a year had passed.
"Perfect. Keep everything going according to this new plan and keep me informed," concluded Lord Matlock.
"Of course, my Lord," replied Mr. Wickham.
Wickham said goodbye to Lord Matlock and stayed there for a few more minutes. What he hadn't told the old Earl was that once Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth were locked up in the castle, they would be abandoned, and no one else would ever see them again. It was a shame, not for Darcy, but for the exquisite Elizabeth, one of the most attractive women he had ever known, and like so many, she was madly in love with him.
Under other circumstances, and once in possession of the Darcys fortune, he had made her his mistress to brighten his life because surely the insipid Georgina was incapable of satisfying a man of refined tastes like him.
Another thing Lord Matlock did not know was that he had no intention of giving him a penny and that he would take complete control of his wife's entire estate, the sole heir to the immense Darcy fortune. Just thinking about how rich and powerful he would be in just a month made him want to celebrate for days by drinking and visiting one of his beautiful female friends. But he knew he had to stay cool and calm to make the best decisions. He would have time to celebrate in the future.
It gave him an infinite joy to think that he would beat the perfect Mr. Darcy this time. "At least dear Fitz, you will die next to a woman you like. More than once, I saw you were looking at her like a fool. What a shame for you that she loves me and hates you so much." And so, he went on for a long time, making plans for the glorious future that awaited him.
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Elizabeth was very concerned when she saw that Mr. Darcy did not wake up. She was afraid that the blow to his head had more significant consequences. However, now that she had recovered a bit, she remembered that they had made a few stops, that she and Mr. Darcy had eaten something and had a chance to freshen up. It was like they woke up to meet their basic needs and then went back to sleep. It was clear to her that they had been kept drugged for at least two or three days.
"Mr. Darcy, please wake up," Elizabeth was trying in vain to bring Mr. Darcy to his senses. Elizabeth had moved to sit next to him; it was difficult to maneuver with her hands tied behind her back and the little light coming in through the closed curtains.
But still, Elizabeth could look at his face. He was undoubtedly a very handsome man, and he looked much younger when sleeping. Yet, seeing him so helpless, Elizabeth couldn't help feeling distressed. That man was not on the list of her favorite people. But at this moment, all that mattered was survival, and they were together in this ordeal.
After continuing to try to wake him up for a few more minutes, Mr. Darcy began to react until he finally woke up; very confused, he began to look around, and when he saw Elizabeth, he said concerned, "My love, what has happened ..."
Elizabeth was shocked to hear such intimate words addressed to her, even more so from Mr. Darcy, but she attributed it to the confusion created by the past few days' events.
For his part, Mr. Darcy, who could barely see Elizabeth's face, sensed that his words had made her feel uncomfortable. This was certainly neither the time nor the place to continue the conversation about their relationship.
"I am sorry, Miss Bennet, I'm still a bit confused. Could you please explain what happened? The last thing I remember is that we were talking on one of the trails in Rosings, that I was telling you ... Well, you know."
Elizabeth did not quite understand what Mr. Darcy could remember, but it was clear that he was still confused. She told him what had happened on the trail at Rosings, that she guessed that they had been traveling for at least two or three days and that they had been kept drugged somehow.
"You were explaining to me that you were struggling with something, that you had a problem when those men hit you on the head. I tried to defend you and seek help, but they caught me, and here we are who knows where," Elizabeth finished.
"I see," it was all that Mr. Darcy said. At that moment, he realized that he had failed to declare his love to Elizabeth and ask her to be his wife. He knew that he must wait. They should both postpone sharing their love until a more appropriate time.
Elizabeth couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Darcy, why do you think those men wanted to kidnap you?"
"Probably to ask for a ransom from my family," he replied quickly.
"And what will happen to me? Unfortunately, my family has no money to pay for a ransom," said Elizabeth, very concerned.
"Miss Bennet, please do not be distressed, you are under my protection, and I will pay whatever it takes to keep you safe. You have my word."
"Thank you, sir," Elizabeth felt a little calmer, but she did not know if Mr. Darcy's word was reliable; what he had done to Mr. Wickham and her sister Jane was not a display of honorable character.
At that moment, the carriage door opened, and the men forced Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy out of it. Mr. Darcy tried to ask a few questions, but the men never replied or spoke to him.
After ten minutes of silence, one of them said, "Now we will leave this luxurious carriage and continue on that wagon to our final destination. You will travel in the back lying down and covered with that tarp. We will keep you awake, but you better cooperate and behave, or we will be forced to put you back to sleep."
The men unhitched the carriage horses to connect them to the wagon and began to push the carriage into the river that ran parallel to the road.
Mr. Darcy, seeing what they were planning, told them, "There is a bottle of one of the best French Brandy in the drawer under that seat," he said, indicating the place with his head.
The men took out the bottle, which was almost full, and immediately tasted it. "This is how the rich drink! Very soon, we will have enough money to be able to indulge ourselves like this whenever we want," said one of the men while he laughed.
Before hiding them in the wagon, they were given a few minutes to freshen up, drink water and eat something. Once they were forced to lie on the back of the wagon and covered with the tarp, Mr. Darcy whispered to Elizabeth that he had a small penknife in the right pocket of his waistcoat. "Miss Bennet, if you can take it out, you will be able to cut the rope from my hands."
"I understand, Mr. Darcy. I will do my best," Elizabeth whispered back.
She immediately did as Mr. Darcy asked and was very grateful that they were covered and he couldn't see her face. Unfortunately, that action required her to turn her back to him and, with her hands, touch much of his torso until she could find the pocket where her penknife was.
For his part, Mr. Darcy was trying to remain calm and told himself that it was neither the time nor the place to think about such things. After nearly two hours of effort, Elizabeth finally managed to find the penknife and cut Mr. Darcy's ropes.
The kidnappers had stopped the cart. It was already dark, so they couldn't continue traveling. They made a fire and began to drink the bottle of brandy. Meanwhile, Mr. Darcy, who had his hands free, used the pen knife to cut Elizabeth's ropes. When both were free, the kidnappers were asleep and presumably drunk, so they did not realize that their abductees were free and were walking away from them. The kidnappers were heavily armed, so they had to flee, avoiding making any sound. They couldn't risk waking them up and being captured again.
"Mr. Darcy, what shall we do? It is completely dark", Elizabeth murmured worriedly.
"Miss Bennet, we will follow the path that runs parallel to the river. Take my arm, please. We will walk as much as possible tonight, and when we are exhausted, we will find a place to sleep. Then, tomorrow with daylight, we can think better about what to do". Mr. Darcy knew it was best to get as far away from these men as they could before they woke up and realized they had fled.
"You're right, Mr. Darcy," said Elizabeth taking the arm of the man, who a few days ago, she detested more than anyone in the world.
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To my dear followers and fans,
This story is now available to read on K and KU (under the pen name of Miranda Flan) for all of you who want to read it or re-read it
All the funds from this story will be going towards my daughters summer studies abroad.
Thank you for your kind support!
Yo