Page 62 of Eavesdroppers Never Hear
Elizabeth wanted to smack her forehead in frustration but suspected it would be pointless. She looked around for Darcy and saw him happily dancing with Georgiana. She did not want to kick up a fuss, but she was not wild about spending a lot of time dragging Lydia away from Mr Wickham. She could not imagine he was doing anythingtoonefarious, but simply meeting Lydia in the garden alone would cause trouble enough. Discretion was necessary.
“All right, here is what we shall do. It is imperative nobody knows what a dunderheaded move Lydia has made. All our reputations can be damaged by her stupidity. I know she is playing the hero, but she is doing something inordinately dangerous.”
“Might he hurt her?” Kitty asked.
“I doubt it. He is a militia officer, not a common criminal. She will be fine if nobody knows where she is and with whom,” she said with more confidence than she felt. “The most important thing for you is to keep your mouth shut.”
Kitty nodded vigorously, and Elizabeth thought there was at least some chance her younger sister might keep her tongue in her head.
Elizabeth looked again. “Let us do thisquietly!We do not want anyone to know what we are about… most especially our mother.”
Kitty nodded again.
“We do not want to sow panic. This dance ends in a few minutes. Wait for it to end, isolate Mr Darcy from his sister, and tell him what you told me.”
“What if Mr Wickham is telling the truth?” Kitty asked nervously.
“It is very unlikely, but if he has some actual proof, I will have seen it by the time Mr Darcy arrives and deal with it appropriately.”
Kitty looked dubious but willing.
“Isolate him from his sister, send him out to find me in the gardens, then spend the next dance talking to Miss Darcy.”
“All right, Lizzy,” Kitty said, becoming more dubious by the minute.
~~~~~
It took a quarter-hour to wander through the gardens calling Lydia’s name softly to find her missing sister, and what she found did not fill her with confidence.
They were at the folly at least a hundred yards from the house, arguing vigorously and in voices that would carry if anyone were in the gardens to hear. The only thing saving them was that it was November, and most people had enough sense to stay indoors.
“Lydia, what are you doing?” Elizabeth said with the sternest voice she could muster.
When the pair heard her, Lydia snapped her head around to look, while Wickham gave a very ungentlemanlike sneer. “Miss Lydia and I are engaged!”
“We are not!” Lydia screamed hysterically.
He laughed. “We most certainly are. I told several comrades in arms we were meeting here for a clandestine elopement, and you have been alone with me for a half hour. You are compromised, my dear.”
Elizabeth snapped, “She absolutely is not. I was with her the whole time. Do you seriously believe your word will beat mine?”
“It matters not. Ladies’ reputations are as brittle as they are beautiful. Just the whiff of scandal will be enough to send your beau packing. You will be neither the first nor last lady he has abandoned to her fate. I am only wondering if he has your virtue yet. Tonight would be right on schedule if he keeps to his usual form.”
“He most certainly will not!You cast aspersions on his character, yet it isyoutrying and failing to abscond with my sister.”
The look in the man’s eyes finally convinced Elizabeth she was dealing with a truly dangerous man. She had never been exposed to one so found herself unprepared to even accept the possibility—much to her regret.
“We shall see,” said he, and grabbed Lydia by the forearm in a vise-like grip and started dragging her towards the drive thirty yards away.
Belatedly, Elizabeth saw a coach waiting. She recognized neither the coach nor the driver, so it was not a local she could work on.
Lydia let out a muffled scream as the man started dragging her backwards toward the coach. The ladies were so shocked, that for the time it took him to drag her halfway, neither got their wits about them enough to even struggle.
Elizabeth abruptly came to her senses and sprinted across the intervening distance to grab hold of Lydia’s other arm. For a moment, they played tug-of-war until startled by a loud voice shouting menacingly.
“Wickham!This is the last straw. Walk away if you want to live!” Darcy bellowed from a dozen yards away.
Elizabeth yelled, “William!” in great relief.
