Mr Sullivan met his eye with a quick nod. “Very well. You may come, but you follow our directions. The eight of us will assemble at Narrow-Wall Road and move into the timber yard.” He looked up from the map, giving it a final tap. “Half past eight, bring a brace of pistols, and follow my orders.”
He gave a quick bow and strode from the room, presumably to set their attack into motion.
Darcy exchanged a look with Fitzwilliam as they too left the office. “Curious man,” Fitzwilliam muttered.
Mr Sullivan seemed in constant motion, completely unable to be still, with his mind moving nearly as quickly. “Yes, but he appears competent, and arresting a criminal might be more suited to his talents than sitting indoors accounting for excisable commodities.”
They made their way outside to hail another hackney when someone called his name. Darcy turned to see his footman George loitering nearby.
“They said in Charles Street that you were here,” he said, slightly out of breath as he got down from one of Darcy’s own horses.
“Why are you here?” he asked, immediately alarmed. “You are supposed to be one stage to Sheffield with Kirby by now.”
“Somehow, I let him slip, sir,” George cried. “We were at the coaching inn. Everything was settled and I thought he was in the carriage, but when I went to get in after I checked the trunks, he was gone!” His footman looked beside himself with anxiety.
Kirby was now missing. “Was he abducted?” Darcy asked, fearing the worst.
“I don’t think so. I searched the inn yard, questioned everyone. A groom saw him running down the street away fromthe inn, but no one saw him since. I went back to Curzon Street and Charles Street, but he never returned.”
While Darcy was thinking about what might be done to recover him, George held out an envelope. “This came in the four o’clock post.”
He opened it to see a lock of brown hair. “It says”—he struggled to swallow—“it says that unless I bring Kirby when told to do so, the next time Markle will send me a finger wearing a diamond and sapphire ring.”
If he did not intend to get Elizabeth tonight, if he did not know where she was, Darcy knew that this would be the moment he would break down. He had thought he could endure Elizabeth’s scheme, that since it was rational and that she was willing, that since they had no better way to preserve Kirby or Georgiana, that since he would not let her down, he could endure his trepidation for her. This was so much more terrifying than he had anticipated.
He felt the others looking at him, but Darcy could focus only on breathing in and out.
“George, you can return to Charles Street,” Fitzwilliam said. “Tell Mr Easton to oil and load every pistol in the house.”
When the footman left, Fitzwilliam said in a kinder tone, “Put that away now so we can go get her back.”
Darcy realised then that he had been holding the lock of hair, staring at it a few inches from his eyes. He tucked it into the envelope and put the letter in his pocket, then allowed Fitzwilliam to lead him to where they could hail another hackney.
“He seems to have forgotten about my sister, but Kirby’s safety is now compromised,” Darcy muttered when they were inside. “This is the last thing I need.”
“Why are you worried about him?” Fitzwilliam cried. “I think his uncle sent Kirby to you in the first place.”
His mouth fell open. “No, if Markle sent Kirby to harm me, he had plenty of chances. He could have let Markle’s men into the house to kill me in my bed any night this week.”
“Then why did Kirby flee as soon as he was out of your sight? It is highly suspicious.”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Kirby was eager to go to school, and he is terrified of his uncle.”
Fitzwilliam swore. “You have played into his hands.”
“To what purpose?” he cried. “Kirby asks for my help, and then leaves before he gets it? How does that aid his uncle?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t trust him.” After thinking a moment, his cousin said, “Does Kirby know what you have planned with Miss Bennet? Would he tell his uncle your scheme?”
The first inklings of concern settled into his heart. “He overheard me and Elizabeth planning.” As quickly as the fear came, it then vanished. “No, Kirby said he wanted to stay and help, but I told him to go to Sheffield. He isnotaiding Markle. The boy came back to help us.”
“Damn it, Darcy! Kirby was sent by his uncle to cause you what further harm he could. Now Kirby has returned to his uncle to tell him Miss Bennet set him up and that we are coming.”
“I refuse to believe that,” he said calmly. “The boy came back because he wants to help.” There was nothing Kirby could do now but be another thing for Darcy to manage in a disastrous situation.
“You refuse to believe it?” his cousin repeated. “Not even the possibility of it? Is that because that would not fit into your perfect little plan?”
“It is because he is an abused child who asked for my help.” Truthfully, he had offered to aid Kirby several times before he had been accepted. Steamer’s savage death was what pushed Kirby to flee. “You have not seen his fear, his bruises.” Darcyshook his head. “Kirby would never return to Markle after he was finally free.”
