Page 126 of A Debt Inherited

“Only from family silence.” Darcy’s voice had altered. “My uncle Edmund’s papers were sealed after his death. My father would never speak of that winter.”

Bennet closed his eyes once. “Then he had more mercy than I deserved.”

“Sir, mercy will not find Miss Elizabeth.”

The rebuke struck cleanly because it was true. Bennet opened his eyes. Darcy had risen without noise; the ransom letter lay between them, stark upon the table.

“Tell me only what bears upon her danger,” Darcy said. “If Kerr’s grievance comes from Ashby, what does he want of you?”

Bennet shook his head. “I have no idea.”

“And Wickham?”

“Money.”

Darcy’s jaw set. “Then Wickham is the more immediate peril. A man seeking punishment may delay for theatre. A man seeking money will not.”

Bennet stood. His bad leg protested; he ignored it. He did not have to ask if Darcy would assist. “What have you in mind?”

“Wickham,” Darcy said. “Kerr may explain the design, but Wickham will spoil it by appetite. When is he to return?”

“At noon.”

Darcy glanced at the mantel clock. Several hours remained.

“Then we have the morning.” Darcy took up the ransom note and read it once more. “Did he come alone?”

“To the door, yes.”

“And to the lane?”

Bennet’s eyes narrowed. “You think he was watched.”

“If Roark has a hand in this, Wickham will not be trusted with ten thousand pounds, nor with the only path to your daughter.”

Bennet’s face changed. “Then Wickham may not know where she is.”

“He may know enough to reach the next man. That is what we require.” Darcy set the note down. “I must send an express to my cousin. He will know what weight to give Roark’s possible involvement.”

“Your cousin?”

“Colonel Fitzwilliam.”

Bennet drew a breath. “David’s nephew.”

“Yes.”

For a moment the old name stood between them. Darcy did not touch it.

“If Roark is a coincidence,” he said, “so much the better for your daughter. Until I know it, I shall not treat him as one.”

Bennet looked at the desk, at the map, at the ransom note lying upon it. All his careful marks had brought him only to this: another man must be summoned, another old name disturbed.

He drew the chair back. “Then write to him, sir. Use anything here.”

Darcy pulled a blank sheet from the side drawer and took up the pen. He wrote without flourish: Wickham, Kerr, Roark. Miss Elizabeth Bennet taken near Oakham Mount. Wickham to return at noon concerning the ransom.

Roark’s name has arisen. I do not know whether he directs this matter, lends men to it, or only furnished Kerr with means. Go to Roark before you come to Longbourn. If he has a hand in this, he may know where Miss Bennet is held, or who does.