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"No. We have an accident and a report that the passengers live. Let us secure the facts before inventing the rest."

"I do not intend to invent anything," Richard said. "I intend to find out why the carriage left the road."

"Then you shall come with me. Someone must remain here to receive Mother and send for Darcy. We shall take the carriage and change horses at the Surrey posting-house, so that we may reach the farm this evening."

The Earl looked up sharply. "I shall do that. You two must go."

By the time Darcy received the summons at his London lodgings, dusk was falling. He had expected to leave for Ashcombe the following morning; instead he read Saye's note twice, ordered his horse brought round, and rode directly to Matlock House for fuller particulars.

The countess was waiting. She did not attempt to conceal her anxiety, but she gave him the surgeon's latest report with practical precision. Elizabeth had been hurt, though not gravely. Mrs. Ashby was to remain where she was for several days. Saye and Richard had gone to the scene; the Earl was arranging safe conveyance home when the surgeon permitted it.

"May I go to her?" Darcy asked.

"Of course. Richard has sent directions. You will not improve matters by riding recklessly upon dark roads, but I would not insult you by suggesting that you remain here."

He bowed over her hand. "Thank you, Aunt."

The journey seemed intolerably long. He had known terror once before, when Georgiana had stood upon the edge of ruin and he had arrived just in time to prevent a marriage she did not understand. That fear had been terrible enough. This was different. He had told Elizabeth only days earlier that her future would be secure, that he would share whatever burdens lay before her. He could not bear the thought of promises made useless by one careless turn of a wheel.

He rode by the Surrey turnpike, resting his horse briefly at a posting-house where a second mount could be hired for the last miles. He reached the farmhouse late in the evening, after Saye and Richard had already arrived by carriage. The surgeon had advised rest and forbidden any attempt to return to London before morning. Elizabeth sat in a chair beside the fire with her arm supported and a bandage near her temple. She looked pale and tired; when she saw Darcy, her face changed.

"Fitzwilliam," she said.

He crossed the room and stopped before her, conscious of the surgeon, Mrs. Ashby upon a couch, and the servants moving quietly in the passage. He took the hand she offered and held it more tightly than decorum usually permitted.

"You are safe," he said, as though he required her to confirm it.

"I am. A little battered, but safe."

"I have been afraid."

"I know." She looked at his face and understood how long the journey must have seemed. "I am sorry you were frightened."

"You have nothing for which to apologize."

Elizabeth managed a tired smile. "Richard has already informed me that he intends to forbid carriage journeys for the rest of my life. I expect you will join him."

"I intend to spend the next several minutes being grateful that you are alive. I shall consider unreasonable proposals tomorrow."

Saye, who had been standing at the far side of the room, approached.

"We have spoken with the farmer and the groom," he said. "Elizabeth believes the driver left the agreed road deliberately. He abandoned the carriage after the accident."

Darcy looked at Elizabeth. "Is that what you believe?"

"I cannot explain it otherwise. He told us there was a blocked road where the farmer says none existed. I asked him to return, and he hurried the horses instead."

Richard's expression grew hard. "The fellow vanished before anyone could speak to him. We shall find him."

"We shall make inquiries," Saye corrected. "Elizabeth, will you tell us everything you remember tomorrow, when you have rested?"

"I would prefer to tell you now," she said. "I am afraid small particulars will vanish if I sleep upon them."

Saye considered the request. Then he called for paper, placed a chair near her, and asked the questions quietly, without urging answers she could not give. Darcy remained beside her. Richard paced only until Saye informed him that his footsteps were making the furniture nervous.

Elizabeth described the signpost, the driver's explanation, the farmer, the quickening pace, and the backward glance through the front window. She was careful to distinguish what she had seen from what she feared it meant. She would not make an accusation upon a guess, however strongly the guess oppressed her.

When she had finished, Saye read the account back to her. She corrected two details and nodded.