“Do you suppose your mother would approve?” asked Elizabeth with some mirth. In truth, she was flattered by Miss de Bourgh’s suggestion, as she had not thought her capable of relaxing to that extent.
“When we are once again in my mother’s presence,” said Miss de Bourgh, her tone approaching wryness, “we may revert to the safer option.”
“Then you may call me Elizabeth or Lizzy, as my family does,” said Elizabeth. “Thank you, for I dearly love to make new friends.”
“Friends?” asked Miss de Bourgh as if testing the word on her tongue to see how it tasted. “Yes, I believe I would like that. I shall adhere to the full form of your name. For myself, I doubt you can shorten ‘Anne’ to any degree.”
With a grin, Elizabeth nodded. “Then Anne you shall be.”
A smile settling on her features and making her appear less severe, Miss de Bourgh became more businesslike. “Shall I take your place at the watch?”
“I think it would be best if you did not,” replied Elizabeth. When she turned to look past the building again, she noticed the driver had reached his carriage and was inspecting his horse’s hooves. “Let us avoid any possibility of our quarry seeing you.”
“Very well. Then what is happening?”
Elizabeth described the scene on the street, though nothing of note was occurring at present. Anne nodded and fell silent, trusting Elizabeth to inform her should anything change. For several moments, nothing did, such that Elizabeth wondered if they might not make a bid for freedom.
“My uncle’s home is much closer,” said Elizabeth, thinking out loud. “It is unfortunate we cannot go there.”
“Why is that option not available to us?”
“The most pertinent reason is that my uncle is not home,” replied Elizabeth, pushing the notion away at once. “Mr. Philips takes my aunt to visit his relations in Buckinghamshire for a week or two in the summer—they will not return until next week. Even if they were home, I would not go there unless there was no other choice.”
“Oh? I must assume there is some reason for that.”
Elizabeth grimaced and shook her head. “My uncle is but one man, and the only other who would be present on such a day as this is his clerk, a scrawny fellow only a little taller than me and all spindly limbs and knobby elbows and knees. I could not guarantee your safety against a determined assault with only my uncle and his clerk protecting us.”
Anne’s laugh reached Elizabeth’s ears. “That is quite droll, Elizabeth. Your uncle is not, then, a gentleman?”
“Uncle Philips is a solicitor who lives in Meryton,” replied Elizabeth. “He inherited the business from my grandfather upon his passing, as my Uncle Gardiner had no interest in the law as a profession. Even with all these drawbacks, however, to reach Uncle Philips’s house, we would need to walk back toward Mr. Wickham; I have no doubt we would be observed.”
There was no reply to Elizabeth’s comment, and she turned her attention back to the street. There was still no sign of the libertine, and the driver of the carriage was still engaged in the inspection of his horses. It appeared the time to retreat was at hand.
“Mr. Wickham has yet to appear, so we must take this chance and retreat. If we stay near the buildings, yet do not give the impression of furtive movements, we should have little trouble making the edge of Meryton and the road to Longbourn beyond.”
“I agree,” said Miss de Bourgh, giving her a decisive nod.“Then let us be off.”
Stepping from that alley was terrible to Elizabeth’s feelings, for the moment they came into view she expected a hue and cry to rise behind her. Yet nothing reached her ears other than the typical sounds of horses and people common on any day in the town.
“Keep walking and do not look back,” instructed Elizabeth to her companion.
Anne nodded, allowing Elizabeth to risk a glance back into the town. Of Mr. Wickham, she could still see no sign, though she thought she saw Lydia in the distance. Recalling her youngest and silliest sister brought a grimace to Elizabeth’s lips, for leaving her in Meryton was not what she wished to do. Lydia had come here many times, and could no doubt find her way home, and Elizabeth could not spare the time to think about her now.
Thus, with a resolute step, Elizabeth turned and followed her companion, eager to reach the edge of Meryton and the north country beyond. With any luck, they would escape before Mr. Wickham could take any notice of them.
It was only fifteen minutes before Fitzwilliam came sauntering through the door of Darcy’s study, far too soon for his message to have summoned his cousin from his barracks. Grateful though he was for Fitzwilliam’s quick attendance, he could not help but wonder how he had come so promptly.
“I met your footman near my father’s house as he was passing by,” said Fitzwilliam, interpreting Darcy’s curiosity correctly. “It seems our meeting was serendipitous, given the long face you are showing me now.”
“Aunt Catherine is here,” said Darcy without preamble. “She claims Anne left Rosings and has traveled with a man intending to elope.”
Fitzwilliam frowned. “Anne, elope? Impossible!”
“That was what I thought,” said Darcy.
“Perhaps she finally grew tired of your aunt’s authoritative ways,” suggested Bingley, who was still in the room.
“I apologize, Bingley,” said Fitzwilliam, starting in surprise. “I did not realize you were present.”
