Page 62 of Triumph at Pemberley

Stunned, she asked, “Can he keep doing it? He is only one man.”

“He may not be able to get to every battle, but if he can destroy even a few landing forces, it could change everything. We can fight some French troops, just not the entire Grande Armée. And he has already destroyed a fair amount of that!”

Silently she sent to Cerridwen, Perhaps I will not need to open a Gate after all!

She could sense Cerridwen stiffen. A sudden wave of pain and horror rolled through her dragon’s aura. Another vision, almost certainly, and a bad one.

Elizabeth did not even need to ask what it was, not when it had been induced by what she had said. Apparently Jack alone would not be able to stop Napoleon, no matter how amazing his King’s Bond might be.

It was still going to come down to her ability to open Gates.

Darcy must have felt the change in Cerridwen’s aura, too. He took a deep breath. “At the very least, Jack’s efforts will slow Napoleon down substantially,” he said defiantly.

Surely they deserved that much grace.

Chapter 25

Darcy stared down at his desk, but his mind was far away. It had been three weeks – three hellishly long weeks – since his sister had vanished. The trip with Coquelicot and the news of Jack’s successes had buoyed him briefly, but he could not forget the price Georgiana had paid for his freedom.

Jasper had not given up hope. He was still camped outside the tower, refusing to leave before Georgiana emerged, even though she was likely long gone to Faerie. Darcy sent messengers every two days with supplies. After the first day, there had been little enough hope, and now there was none.

Except he could not stop himself from hoping.

And wondering when he should tell Jasper it was time to stop waiting.

He had taken to retreating to his study, where he did not have to pretend to a serenity he did not feel. Elizabeth was worried about him, he could tell, but how could he forget that his little sister had disappeared into the hands of the Wicked King? Especially when it was his fault.

Then he heard Jasper’s cheerful voice outside the door. “Yes, I do realize I am filthy, and no, I do not want to refresh myself first. I want to see Darcy this minute.”

His butler murmured something in return, but Darcy was already on his feet and opening the study door. A mud-covered Jasper stood outside it, his hand raised to knock. He stank of sweat, horses, and peat smoke.

Behind him stood Georgiana. Alive, and apparently well.

Relief flooded through him. He pushed past his cousin to embrace his sister, holding her tight against him as if it were the only way to prove that she was truly here. That he had not lost her completely. She clung to him, too, like a shipwrecked sailor to a floating spar.

“I am so sorry,” he murmured in her ear, words far too inadequate for his guilty conscience. “So, so sorry.”

Georgiana stepped back and put her hand on his cheek. “What do you mean?” She sounded puzzled.

“I was the one who asked you to come to the tower. You would never have gone without me,” he said wretchedly.

She waved a hand. “Oh, that! You did the only thing you could. He would have found me sooner or later, and this way you were safe.”

“Darcy,” Jasper broke in, his tone somber. “It has been over a year for her.”

“No,” Darcy breathed, his heart aching. How could it be? She was wearing the very same dress as she had before.

“It does not matter. Are you well? And Jenny? I have missed her so much, every single day.” Her voice shook.

“I could not be better, now that you are here. Jenny will be glad to see you. But you – what happened? Are you able to stay here?”

“A great deal, much of which I cannot tell you, but I am permitted to remain with you. At least for now.”

He hugged her again. “That is the best news.”

“Please, may I see Jenny? Has she forgotten me?”

“Of course not,” he said firmly, though he had no idea what the infant remembered. “I will take you there right now.” A niggling voice inside him warned him to tell someone else first, preferably Elizabeth or one of the dragons, but he ignored it.