The carriage drew to a halt and one of Darcy's black-clad footmen opened the door. Darcy quickly exited, pulling Elizabeth firmly after him. She shivered as the cold sea breeze blew through her thin muslin, and Darcy pulled her closer as he hurried them toward a long, freshly timbered dock. Elizabeth struggled to pull away, to dash toward the safety of the town. Darcy tightened his hold on her arms and looked pleadingly into her eyes.

"We must do this," he said in low but urgent tones.

The footmen hurried ahead with their baggage, the clomping of the footmen's boots on the wooden planks drowning out the sounds of carousing from the inns near the harbor. To her eyes, the harbor seemed dense with ships. She let Darcy lead her after the footmen, exacting a small revenge with an elbow to his ribs as he guided her to the gangway. He muffled an exclamation of pain, and Elizabeth allowed herself a small smile of pleasure.

"Mr. Darcy, welcome back aboard the Spaniel," cried an officer, doffing his hat to Elizabeth as Darcy brought her on board.

"Lt. Golding, how do you do?" Darcy greeted him. "May I introduce my fiancée Miss Elizabeth Bennett? Miss Bennet, Lt. Samuel Golding of the HMS Spaniel."

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Bennett. How do you find Portsmouth?"

Long habit wrested courtesy from her.

"Very well, Lt. Golding."

"I'm so glad, Miss Bennett. May I escort you to your cabin? Mr. Darcy, I believe the captain would like to have a word with you before we set sail."

"Of course," Mr. Darcy said, handing Elizabeth off to Golding, who took the lieutenant's arm with as much good grace as she could muster.

"Captain Newbury, I thank you for accommodating us at such short notice."

A frown warred with a smile on the captain's face.

"I could scarce believe your letter when your messenger brought it an hour ago," Newbury said. "Darcy eloping to Guernsey with some country chit? It's hardly to be believed. Have you taken leave of your wits? Who is this girl?"

Darcy's face flushed darkly. "I assure you she is a respectable young lady. Her family is of no position, but we are in love and I could not bear what my family would make of our connection. I thought it best to act and then present them with a fait accompli. My relations may then avoid Pemberly and us if they wish, but cannot attempt to prevent our union."

The frown won its battle with the smile.

"You are out of your head, Darcy. If I had not such a respect for your persistence I would put you off and send an escort to return your respectable young lady to her family. As it is, I'll be quickest shut of you to take you to St. Peter's Port. The winds are with us, so it should be no more than two days. You're as lucky as the devil that we made this milk run, else you'd be having your wedding voyage on some wallowing pig of a transport ship."

"Thank you, Captain Newbury. I am indebted to you."

The smile reappeared.

"You madman. Have you any idea what your Lady Catherine will make of this? Does your fiancée know what she's getting herself into?"

Darcy looked down.

"She cannot. But I thank you again for your indulgence."

Newbury waved his thanks away.

"It's little enough for all you've done. Now, I'll have White show you to your cabin. It's quite near your fiancée's." He grinned at Darcy's discomfort. "Come now, man. In less than a week you'll be married. Aye, and bedded, too. No need for such scruples in front of an old sailor."

The captain gestured to a midshipman. "Off you go."