Page 15 of Till Death Us Do Part
“If you know what you are doing, you can disappear forever in the city. If you do not, it is child’s play to find you. No offence, but you do not look like the sort of woman who knows how to hide.”
“Why are you not searching London right now?”
He just chuckled. “Your father and friends think you are very clever. Prove it.”
Elizabeth thought for several minutes, long enough to finish her stew and get a piece of pie. There was no need to pinch pence after all. She would soon be one of the richest wives in England, and Mr Baker had no objection.”
It took a few minutes before she exclaimed, “Aha!”
Baker just looked at her with a smirk.
“Charlotte Lucas!” she grumbled.
“Thought you would figure it out. She was privy to your plans all those years ago, no? She thinks you are being, and I quote, ‘exceedingly selfish and stupid.’ She would happily kill to have what you want to throw away.”
“I would happily give it to her, but that is not to be, I suppose.”
“No ma’am, I suppose not.”
Mr Baker called for tea, and when they finished, he said, “We must make best time, so we will leave just before dawn. I will knock on your door and have a basket to take with us. Will I find you there, or must I start my day being disagreeable?”
Elizabeth just nodded, reckoning there was not the slightest chance of escaping the man.
“Believe it or not, your reputation is still intact. Your father kept your two youngest sisters ignorant of your absence. They believe you to be shopping for your trousseau. Right idiots, those two.”
Elizabeth snorted and nodded in agreement.
“He kept the circle very tight. I happened to be in town just finishing another task that I left to the magistrate, so I was available to hire a few more trustworthy men. It was tight, though. If you had made it to Manchester, and been clever about hiding for a few days, I might not have found you until it was too late.”
“Lucky you,” Elizabeth grumbled.
Baker was accustomed to such sentiments, or worse. “I want to keep your reputation pristine, so I will engage a maid to ride with you, and I will ride with the coachman. We leave early, so be ready.”
Elizabeth looked at the valise containing all her worldly possessions. “I will be ready.”
“Wait here,” Baker said, then walked over to speak quietly with the innkeeper, and returned a few minutes later.
“I arranged for a bath and a maid. I will get your dress brushed.”
Elizabeth detested the matter-of-fact way the man suggested she would have to run in her nightclothes if she wanted to run at all but agreed he was being sensible.
“Unlock your door a half-hour before first light. Your maid can help you dress if need be. We will travel hard. We need to be back at Longbourn within two days. Your father is doing his best to keep this whole thing quiet until it no longer matters. The intent is for nobody except the half-dozen people who already know it to become aware. Even your mother is in the dark.”
Elizabeth frowned. “Thank goodness for small favours. I must correct you on one particular, though. He wants to keep it quiet until it no longer mattersto him.”
“That is what I meant.”
“I suppose we may as well get on with it. You win.”
9.Alternate Arrangements
“Lady Catherine de Bourgh is here, sir.”
“Thank you, Clarke. Pray put her in the Blue Parlour, serve her refreshments, and tell her I am presently engaged in crucial business, and will attend her within the hour.”
Aaron Clarke, normally the most staid and unperturbable butler that ever lived, gave a small chuckle. “Yes sir, I can see you are engaged.”
Admittedly, butlers were known for their unflappable countenance, but since the young Fitzwilliam Darcy had spent considerably more time riding around on the shoulders of the man that would one day become his London butler than his own father’s, they enjoyed a camaraderie different from the usual master-servant roles. Of course, not a single person in the world, save his two equally important housekeepers, his cousin Fitzwilliam, or his friend Charles Bingley were aware of the fact.
