The evening before Elizabeth was to leave for Pemberly her mother came to her room. "I am sorry, my dear Lizzy that you must go so far away with that disagreeable man all by yourself, but you will be able to visit us as soon as Phrosy is big enough to ride, and remember Mr. Darcy is likely to be very often in town or busy about his estate, you may not have to see him except once in a while. But my dear Lizzy, your being at Pemberly may very well throw you into the way of other rich men and you must make the most of it. You have Phrosy to think about now, you must not be too nice."

"Phrosy's welfare is always on my mind."

"Well then. You must write to me very often and tell me all about Pemberly. Do not depend on your father to share what you write to him."

"I will enclose his letters in yours so you may have a turn teasing him."

"Oh, I did not mean, but however, that would be…"

"A welcome change?"

Her mother's eyes teared up as she patted her on the cheek. "Take care of yourself, my love. Write to me often and visit as soon as you can fly. Promise me you will."

Elizabeth was touched and made the requested promise, silently resolving to enclose the first three or four of her Father's letters inside her Mother's.

(0)V(0)

Darcy spent the night at Netherfield and arrived at Longbourn early the next morning. He spoke briefly to Elizabeth's father, said barely five words to her Mother and they were on their way. Rachel had left even earlier to travel ahead with Mr. Wilkes and Elizabeth was glad to have Harriet's company. Without her Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy would have been sitting in silence but Hariett was able to introduce some discourse and between her and Elizabeth a conversation was carried on. Harriett occasionally spoke to Mr. Darcy mentioning some of their mutual acquaintances or trying to draw him into the conversation but he seemed lost in thought. At length, he must have recalled himself and said to Elizabeth, "I left the Gardiners in good health two nights ago."

"You saw the Gardiners?" Elizabeth asked in surprise.

"Yes, I dined with them." Then, seeming to realize his answer was inadequate, he added, "I had some business earlier in the week with Mr. Gardiner, and he invited me to dinner."

This time Elizabeth managed to repress her surprise. "And did you see the children?"

"I did. I was particularly eager to see how Edward was progressing with his flying."

"And how does he get on?"

Mr. Darcy smiled, "Very well indeed. He assures me he is staying off the ground much longer than when I last saw him. Though I admit my memory is poor, and to my untrained eye, it looked about the same."

"My young cousin," Elizabeth explained to Harriet, "is determined to learn to fly.

Harriet looked wistful, "Anything seems possible when you are a child. How old are your cousins?"

The conversation continued, and Elizabeth forced herself to attend to it, leaving it until she was alone to ponder Mr. Darcy having dined with her aunt and uncle. At Longbourn this morning, he had hardly spoken at all. But perhaps he could not, in her parents' presence, be what he was before her uncle and aunt. It was a painful, but not an improbable, conjecture.

She was glad when they stopped for the night and, after a cup of chocolate with Harriet, she was able to retire and consider everything at her leisure.

(0)v(0)

"Mr. Darcy?"

Darcy woke from a start from a deep sleep at the sound of an unfamiliar female voice. He squinted trying to adjust to the candle she was carrying gradually making out her features. "Rachel?"

"Mr. Darcy I am sorry, I do not know what to do, something is wrong with Miss Bennet. Mrs. Younge[i] is not in her room and Euphrosyne, I can not find…I do not know…"

Darcy was on his feet in a moment. "Euphrosyne is missing? She is not with Miss Bennet?"

"I…"

Darcy took a deep breath, he did not want to terrify the girl, "You were right to wake me. Go to Wilkes, tell him to arrange a horse and meet me outside, and then meet me in Miss Bennet's room as soon as you can."

"Her room?"

"We need to act quickly."

Rachel rushed off and he hurried to Miss Bennet, ignoring the impropriety.

No wonder Rachel had been so frightened. Miss Bennet was sitting up in bed, her eyes wide open but unfocused, her pupils oddly dilated. She seemed to be screaming but was barely making any sound.

He took hold of her shoulders and gave her a ruff shake, "Miss Bennet. Name five things you can see."

She blinked, "Mr. Darcy?" Her voice was slurred.

"Yes, take a deep breath and tell me five things you can see."

"Whaaa.."

"For Euphrosyne's sake, five things you can see."

"I see… you."

"Go on, what else?"

"The window… and the candle"

"Two more."

"Why?"

"Trust me. Two more things you can see."

"Did I say window?"

"Yes."

"The fireplace."

"Good. One more."

"The table."

"Now name four things you can touch or feel"

"I feel," she ran her fingers over the blanket. "The blanket. Your hands on my shoulders."

"Good two more."

"The chill air on my face and…" lifting her hand, "my hair."

"Good, now tell me three things you can hear."

"Your voice, asking me what I hear." He smiled. She was sounding more herself. "The fire crackling, and…a branch scraping the window."

"Now two things you can smell."

She sniffed, "Your soap and the smoke from the fire."

"Now one thing you can taste."

She frowned, "A sharp metallic taste with a hint of chocolate."

"Very good, you are doing well. Now you must continue to dwell within what you can see, touch, hear, etc. I know it is difficult but you must not let Euphrosyne's panic overwhelm you or you will be no use to her."

"I could feel her being pulled from me but I could not wake up. I was trying to scream."

"You must have been drugged. [ii] It would explain the taste and it is the only way she could have been taken from you. Rachel says Mrs. Younge is missing too."

"Phrosy is so frightened, so far away. It hurts."

"I know. We need to get you to her. You will need to ride Georgiana. I will follow as quickly as possible.[iii]"

"Ride her!"

"I do not like it but it is the only way to get you to Euphrosyne fast enough."

"I have never ridden a Griffin. I do not even ride horses."

"It is easier than a horse. Your courage will rise to the occasion."

He knew she would do it, knew in her desperation to get to her bonded she would risk anything. He hated himself for sending her, into God only knew what, ahead of him but it was the only chance. He did not know how long she could keep her wits about her and if she became too ill to act they would have no chance of finding Euphrosyne.

"Will Georgiana allow me to ride her?"

"I will speak to her."

Darcy turned to Rachel who had joined them by now, "Dress her warmly and bring her to the roof as soon as possible."

As he spoke he stood and turned away from Miss Bennet. She grasped his hand squeezing tightly as if she did not want him to leave her. He turned back and she looked at him so pleadingly it broke his heart to leave her but he must. "I will follow as quickly as possible."

She nodded and let go of his hand.

Darcy returned to his room and pulled on whatever of his clothing came easily to hand, forgoing the stockings and cravat, and hurried to the roof, where he made Georgiana acquainted with the situation. She was already highly agitated, having sensed that something was wrong. "You must not put yourself in danger, do you understand? Deliver Miss Bennet and return to me. She will know what to do for Euphrosyne. No matter what you find do not try to defend her. Do not fight." She made a small chirping noise. Never would Darcy have been so glad to believe it could be understood as assent. He thought she would do as he asked but they were both experiencing so many emotions he could not be sure."

Miss Bennet arrived and approached him. Her skirt had been cut and hastily stitched in a way that vaguely resembled loose britches. He was impressed she or Rachel had thought of this. She said, "Is it safe to send Georgiana?"

"No less safe, I think, than allowing her fledgling to come to harm. Please, please do your best to keep her from harm." And then imploring both of them, "Please take care of each other."

Elizabeth nodded. "How do I let her know which direction?"

Darcy had not thought about this. He and Georgiana had always been aware of where the other wanted to go. But Bingley had taught his wife to ride Eleos. There must be another way. He ran through their flights in his mind trying to think what he normally did.

"You will sit between her wings, with your legs hooked around front of her wings, hold on with your knees and you will lean forward and put your arms around her neck. Lean your body in the direction you wish to go and she will adjust her flight accordingly. That should work."

She raised an eyebrow, "Should?"

"Of course, you may also give her verbal directions."

"Very well, I am ready."

He helped her climb onto Georgiana's back and made sure she was seated properly. He only paused a moment to watch the two women he loved fly away from him before running down the stairs praying they would not be harmed.

When he got outside Wilkes was waiting for him with two saddled horses and riding one himself. "I hope I have not been presumptuous Sir."

Darcy mounted the other horse feeling strong a rush of gratitude to his valet but could only manage to say, "I… Thank you."

As they started off Wilkes said, "I paid three times what they ought to have been worth."

"You did well. You were right to get them at any cost."

Wilkes could have told him he'd traded Pemberly for the horses and Darcy would not have objected.

i Harriett Younge

ii During the Regency era, chocolate was typically drunk at breakfast or before bed. It was expensive and difficult to make. It was prepared in a special pot and had to be served quickly or it would clump. It was different from the chocolate we have today, thick almost syrupy and the taste could vary a great deal between different houses. Mrs. Younge probably went to the trouble and expense for it because it would best hide the taste of the drug.

iii Elizabeth's bond would guide her to Euphrosyne and Darcy's would guide him to Georgiana.

Whew! That may be the most stressful chapter I've ever written!

I know some of you guessed who Harriet was but I hope you weren't so sure that it wasn't satisfying to find out you were right. To the rest, I know it was a nasty trick but it was the only way to avoid spoilers.

Thank you all for reading, favoriting, and for the reviews!