Laudanum was an opium tincture made with ten percent opium and ninety percent alcohol. To drink this would entirely dull her senses.
“Don’t look indignant, missy. All the village gossip says you are a laudanum drinker.”
She had never seen Miss de Bourgh take any, but that explained why Lady Catherine’s daughter always seemed to be in a half-dazed state.
“I have no need of this,” she said primly.
Steamer gave her a chilling smirk around his pipe. “I was not asking. Drink this so you don’t fight us along the way. We want a pleasant ride, don’t we?”
Elizabeth steadied her breathing. She had to stay alert, or as alert as her fear would allow. The laudanum would either make her sleep or not know what was happening if she stayed awake.
She held out the phial and said, “I already agreed to go with?—”
“Drink it, or he shoots your betrothed.”
The man named Colton stepped forward and pressed the barrel against Mr Darcy’s head. He flinched but stood his ground, his gaze boring into Steamer with a righteous fury. Elizabeth saw the futility in any defiance; it would only cost Mr Darcy his life. Without blinking, she stared at Steamer and took a full drink. It was flavoured with cinnamon, but it still had a harsh, bitter taste.
She turned on her heel and marched to the carriage, not looking at anyone. She sat facing the horses, and Mr Darcy was about to sit next to her when Steamer shoved him across the carriage.
“No, you sit there,” he barked, pointing to the other side.
“I will sit next to the lady.”
Mr Darcy’s tone and manner might have worked on most men, but not this one. Steamer pulled out the knife and drew back in a swift motion, and Elizabeth cried out, “Stop! Mr Darcy will sit wherever you tell him to. Mr Darcy”—she gave him an imploring look—“please do not give them a reason to leave you dead by the lane.”
Steamer sat next to her, his bulk filling up all available space, and Mr Darcy sat directly across from her. Colton shut the door, and the carriage rolled as he hopped onto the back.
“You call your cousin and betrothedmister?” Steamer said. “I suspect you’ve not gone to bed together, either?”
Elizabeth felt her cheeks redden and avoided looking at Mr Darcy. She tried to remember how Miss de Bourgh had addressed him, as Darcy or as Fitzwilliam, but she could not recall a single time she had spoken to him.
“You could not expect Miss de Bourgh to address me so familiarly in front of you,” Mr Darcy said in a strained voice. He gave her a quick look and then reached into his pocket. Steamer immediately went for his knife, but Mr Darcy only withdrew a handkerchief and handed it to her. Upon her questioning look, he pointed to his own neck and said, “You are bleeding.”
As she blotted the blood, Steamer laughed. “’Tis nothing.” He pointed to the bottle she still clutched in her hand. “Drink up, missy.”
With a look at his knife, she drank again as the carriage jolted, spilling some of the reddish-brown liquid on her chin.
“Take some more. I hear you typically drink an ounce a day, and Markle might even give you more if you behave yourself.”
“Who is Markle and why?—”
Steamer cut off Mr Darcy’s question by pointing the knife at him. “Village gossip said you were not much for talking, but I might cut out your tongue.” He seemed satisfied by the way Mr Darcy angrily pressed his lips into a thin line. Turning to her, hesaid, “Tie that handkerchief over his eyes before I cut the both of you.”
Although she doubted he would stab her to death since it appeared they needed her, she would not risk Mr Darcy being killed. Mr Darcy slid to the side to make room for her to sit next to him, but she still lost her balance as she tried to move across while the carriage swayed. She landed awkwardly, half on the seat and half in his lap. He caught her by the waist to keep her from falling to the floor while she threw out a hand around his shoulder.
She anxiously looked into his face as he fixed his eyes on her. Elizabeth saw there all the same fear that she now felt settling into the pit of her stomach. He gave her a firm look, and tugged her a little tighter and, to her surprise, it gave her some comfort to know Mr Darcy was with her, that she was not alone in this dreadful situation. She could not smile, but nodded and gave him a steady look as though to say she was as well as she could be.
“None of that now,” Steamer barked.
They broke apart, and Elizabeth shifted next to him, her heart beating too fast. How foolish of her to be sent into a flutter by Mr Darcy’s arm being around her.
“Cover his eyes.”
“Stop provoking him,” she said into Mr Darcy’s ear, tying the knot, “or you will get yourself killed. Why even insist on sitting next to me?”
The blood and laudanum-stained cloth now covered his eyes. He could likely still see the light, but he would have no idea where they were going.And in half an hour I will be too indifferent to care.The swaying of the carriage was already making her feel sleepy.
“You just drank enough laudanum to knock you down, and you were getting into a carriage with a man who pulled a knifeon you,” he whispered, although she knew Steamer could hear. “I had to be near enough to prevent anything worse happening to you while you could not defend yourself.”
