Page 43 of Until My Last Breath

“No! Elizabeth!”

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In the darkness of the night, Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr Huxtable stealthily moved to the front of the house. A peek through the window showed that there were just the two men in the parlour. Richard nodded to Mr Huxtable. A strange sound, like the chirp of a bird, soon echoed around the house, and from its four sides the soldiers forced the doors open.

Their intention to move swiftly upstairs did not work as planned. As the two criminals exchanged shots with the intruders, it took them precious minutes until they were finally able to overpower the barricaded men and pass through them.

The sound of another gunshot, this time from upstairs, froze Richard and Mr Huxtable.

Richard was the first to enter the bedroom and gasped at the sight before him. The place resembled a battlefield. A chair was broken, and the bed was in complete disarray; near to the door, a bleeding old man was lying on the floor, immobile; further away, another wounded man was on his knees trying to stand up.

“Darcy!” Richard called, running to him.

The entire left side of Darcy’s face was covered in blood; he had a cuton his eyebrow and a bleeding nose, and by the red blur on his shirt, the old wound had reopened.

But instead of acknowledging the presence of his cousin, Darcy kept his moist eyes fixed ahead of him, mumbling and pointing at something in the shadows. Richard squinted and saw the body of another man on the floor.

“Help her, Richard. Elizabeth…”

Richard moved to where the man was, gasping in horror at the sight before him. “Miss Elizabeth!”

He pulled the man from her, but her body remained still, her clothes soaked in blood.

Darcy reached them, kneeling beside her. Taking her in his arms, his words were lost in a sob.

Richard ran to the door and shouted, “Dr Alden, please, this way. Quick.”

He turned and squeezed the door threshold until his knuckles were white. Had he been too late?

A breathless Dr Alden approached, asking Darcy to give him space while he examined Elizabeth’s body. As the seconds crawled by, Darcy and Richard could only observe the doctor’s efforts to find the cause of Elizabeth’s bleeding.

Raising his eyes to the two men beside him, the doctor said, “She is not harmed, gentlemen. She does not have a single scratch on her body. The only thing I could find was a good bump at the back of her head.”

“What?” the two cousins shouted at the same time.

Darcy lean down and caressed her face. “Elizabeth. Elizabeth, please, wake up.”

She moaned and her eyelids opened.

“Elizabeth,” Darcy whispered gently, embracing and kissing her. “My Elizabeth, you are safe now, my love. You are safe.”

As he held her in his arms, Darcy felt her body shaking against his chest. He embraced her tighter, whispering words of comfort. For some time, both of them remained there on the floor, crying together.

Mr Huxtable commanded some of his men to carry Dr Hayford downstairs. Fortunately, the doctor was alive; a bleeding nose, some scratches, and probably one or two broken ribs were the extension of his injuries.

“I am taking Dr Hayford back to the village and those ruffians to the constable. And do not worry about that man,” Mr Huxtable said, pointing to the dead body on the floor beside Elizabeth. “I will prepare a report and inform the magistrate of the circumstances. I am sure there will be no enquires about his death. Colonel?”

Richard nodded, his eyes fixed on his cousin and the lady in his arms.

After their cries subsided, Darcy released Elizabeth from him. “How are you, dearest?”

“I am well, William. I am well.”

“How did you…” But Darcy could not find the words to compose his question. Everything had happened so fast.

“My father,” Elizabeth said with a weak smile. “He taught me how to use guns and swords. I never told a soul about it, but we still hunt and fence together when we have the chance; it is ‘our training’. It seems our little deception bore good fruits, after all.” She cried again. “Oh, William, I killed a man. Oh, God, forgive me...”

Darcy kissed her head. “Oh, my dear and brave Lizzy. We all consider a human soul to be sacred before God, but it was because of your courage that we are alive now. You, Dr Hayford and I. You saved us all.”

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