Page 68 of Undone

Colonel Fitzwilliam moved instantly. "Stop!"

Hale paid no heed. Before his hand could close upon the weapon, the sergeant seized him by the back of his coat and dragged him violently away. Hale struck the floor with a curse, while Colonel Forster kicked the pistol beneath a heavy cabinet.

Mrs. Vane did not so much as flinch.

"Hale," she said with quiet contempt, "you have always mistaken desperation for courage."

The sergeant hauled him to his feet and bound his hands securely behind his back.

Colonel Forster turned towards the door. "Take both men outside. Keep them apart."

Wickham looked towards Darcy as he was led away.

"You will remember our agreement."

"I shall remember everything," Darcy replied.

Whatever reassurance Wickham had hoped to receive was absent from the words. His countenance fell, and he allowed himself to be led from the room without further protest. Hale followed, still breathing heavily from his struggle.

Mrs. Vane reached for her reticule, but Colonel Fitzwilliam stopped her.

"It must be searched."

For a moment Darcy thought she might resist. Instead, she released the small bag and allowed him to take it. Her dignity seemed almost incongruous amidst the splintered door and the armed men, yet she clung to it as though it were the last possession no one could take from her.

As Colonel Forster approached, she looked once more at Darcy.

"You believe this is ended."

"It is."

"You cannot know that."

"I know you will never again come near my sister."

Mrs. Vane's expression remained composed, yet he detected the truth of her defeat in the slight tremor of her gloved hand.

"You have your father's certainty," she said.

Darcy inched closer to her. "I hope I possess more mercy than he showed your family."

Her eyes narrowed.

"But mercy does not require me to permit you to injure mine," Darcy added.

Colonel Forster offered his arm, not as a courtesy, but as a clear indication that she was to accompany him. After the briefest hesitation, Mrs. Vane accepted it. She passed Darcywithout another word and crossed the threshold into the bitter afternoon.

Richard remained behind as the sound of footsteps receded from the cottage.

"Are you well?" he asked.

Darcy looked about the little parlour. The fire continued to burn. The false packet lay upon the table, and fragments of the broken door were scattered across the floor. Nothing within the room seemed sufficient to contain the suffering that had brought them all there.

"I do not know."

Richard returned his pistol to its holster. "I had expected her to deny everything."

"So had I."