Darcy gathered his thoughts. He could not distress the boy, but he also needed his help. “Kirby, what does your uncle intend for Miss de Bourgh and me?”
He toed his boot against the cobblestones. “Don’t know.”
“You may not know for certain, but you are an intelligent boy and can guess. Miss de Bourgh and I have done nothing to deserve what your uncle’s gang intends for us.”
Kirby gave him a pained look. “Maybe, maybe if that other lady pays…”
Darcy held his gaze for several seconds until Kirby looked away. “After he has extorted all he can from Lady Catherine, Markle intends to kill us both, does he not?”
“Yes” was said in a mumbled breath.
“Do you want to be a party to murder, Kirby?”
“No!” he cried, drawing the attention of the ostler who led away their team. “I am just driving the horses. I have nothingat all to do with whatever happens later.” His shoulders fell, but then he gathered his confidence as he said, “Now tell me where is Steamer?”
“About four miles before you enter Dartford. We threw him from the carriage.”
Kirby looked between the two of them, shaking his head in disbelief. “I have to find him! Is he hurt?”
“I think one of the wheels might have run him over, but he was alive when we tossed him out, which is more than I can say for Miss de Bourgh and me when we get to Gravesend. Now, I need you to leave Steamer?—”
“I cannot!”
“—and go on to Gravesend as planned. Tell your uncle that you never looked into the carriage when you exchanged the horses and no one ever got out. Tell him you drove the horses as you were bid and were shocked to arrive and find the carriage empty. You are not an experienced driver and could not tell there was a weight difference.”
“No, I cannot lie to him!”
Kirby started pacing restlessly. Darcy looked at Elizabeth. He had no idea how to reason with the boy. He was a good-hearted child, and certainly did not want anyone to be murdered, but he was terrified of his uncle.
Elizabeth gently put her hands on Kirby’s shoulders. “He is going to kill me.” Kirby looked away. “And I will probably suffer before he does. You don’t want to be a free trader for many reasons, but this is one of them. You do not approve of their violent methods, do you?”
He shook his head but would not look at her.
“Kirby, Mr Markle and his gang will murder me, and you will feel guilty about that for the rest of your life.”
“I know.” The boy rubbed his knuckles across his eyes. “Very well,” he muttered. “I, I can go to the house in Gravesend, and,and just be surprised that the carriage is empty and tell my uncle I did not know what to do, so I waited for him to come.”
“Can you convince him?” Darcy asked. “He is a shrewd man, and we do not want you hurt.”
He blew out a long breath. “I can convince him. It would make sense for you to not get out of the carriage when we stopped here. But as soon as my uncle arrives in Gravesend, he will trace you back to Dartford.”
“Perhaps your uncle will simply want to find Steamer, and give up looking for us,” Elizabeth said.
Kirby gave Elizabeth that adolescent look that was both pitying and conveyed that he thought her stupid. “He thinks your mother disrespected him. He will find you to kill you, even if it means he does not get any ransom for you.”
Elizabeth looked shaken to hear the truth laid plain, but it was as they had suspected.
“When shall you see Markle?” Darcy asked him.
Another vague shrug. “Sometime today. He might arrive first thing in the morning if all went well with the cargo, or at midday if it did not.”
“That does not leave us much time to be gone from Dartford,” Darcy quietly said to Elizabeth.
“It is better than Kirby finding Steamer right now or explicitly telling his uncle that he left us here.”
Darcy hated the idea of sending the boy back to his savage uncle. “Do you want to come with us, Kirby?”
“What?”
