Pemberley Ranch - Jack Caldwell [105]
“The next morning, I came down for breakfast, and there was George. He wouldn’t even look at me! I cried, ‘Why, George? Why did you throw me over? Why did you give me to Denny? I love you.’ Do you know what he said? He said, ‘You were a ripe toss, girl, but you’re in more proper hands, now. When I marry, it will be a lady with land like Miss Darcy or Miss Burroughs. Not some fluff from the farm.’”
Darcy knew if Whitehead had been in the room at that moment, he would have strangled the bastard with his bare hands.
“So I stayed and made the best of it. I knew when Denny would visit me—Sally always seemed to know—and so I made sure I had plenty of whiskey close by. It… it helped. Most of the time, I just wanted to die.
“When he would finish with me, Denny would brag about what he’d done. He killed that Washington family, you know. He said, ‘Yeah, me and my boys killed them like the dogs they were, an’ they won’t be the last ones. There’s plenty o’ folks that need killin’ around here.’”
Her story done, she turned back to him, a single tear running down her face, her hands turning white as they clutched together. “Now do you understand, Mr. Darcy?”
Darcy submerged his rage, walked over to Lily, sat her on the bed, slowly pulled her hands apart, and held them in his. She tried to resist, but he was persistent. He knelt before her, his head and hers at the same level.
“Miss Lily—and you are still a ‘Miss’ to me—I must tell you I don’t hold with the idea that if a woman’s attacked and taken advantage of, that somehow it’s her fault, and she’s damaged goods.” She would not look at him; instead, she stared at the floor. “You’re a victim, Miss Lily, of two evil men, and I swear to you on my mother’s grave these two things.
“One—your family will take you back with open arms.”
She looked up at that. “You… you sure?”
“Yes.”
She looked down again, more tears running down her face. “And the other promise?”
In as flat a voice as Darcy could manage, he said, “Whitehead and Denny will pay for what they’ve done.”
Lily studied Darcy’s cold blue eyes. Apparently, she saw what she was looking for, because she was on her feet the next instant. “I guess we should be going now, Mr. Darcy. I sure can’t stay here anymore.”
She walked out the door without a backward look. Darcy stood, picked up her carpetbag, and followed her down the stairs.
Sheriff Lucas escorted Sally Younge over to the jail for her “protection,” while Fitz and the deputy followed with the stacks of papers. What no one saw was the face of Pyke, peering out of the livery stable barn and watching every move.
November 1
IT WAS PAST MIDNIGHT when six riders approached the entrance into the Bennet farm, the full moon lighting the lane between two low hills. Darcy looked to either side as they moved along the lane, spotting proper sites to stage his ambush before turning his thoughts to the task ahead. What he had to tell Mr. Bennet was beyond painful, and he hoped the man would believe him. He refused to allow himself to speculate how Beth would take the news. To hurt her was unthinkable, and he needed all his courage and resolution for the hours ahead.
He glanced at the young woman riding next to him. Thankfully, Lily’s impassioned outburst seemed to drain the girl of any more words—that and the natural discomfort she must have felt over her impending reunion with her family. Darcy’s words to her held more hope than conviction, and for her sake, he prayed that Thomas Bennet was a Christian man in more than name only.
The riders finally reached their destination. They passed a series of low structures—chicken coops and hog pens by the smell—and entered a large, open area before the pitch-dark farmhouse. It was a low-slung building, a porch spanning the whole of the front exposure, with two sets of windows framing the center door. The house faced due east, better to catch the morning light in what was sure to be the living area of the place while protecting it from the hot afternoon sun. There were no trees to fall on the house in case of a storm, and