It was selfish to hope that Beth would ignore the call for my sake. It didn't stop me from wishing that she would, though. I didn't know if we could entirely capture the mood again, but I was willing to give it a try if she was.

The moment her expression shifted to one of concern I knew it was unlikely. Whoever was on the end of the line had higher priority than a few stolen kisses atop a cliff.

At least there was sincerity in her voice when she said, 'Sorry, I'll make it quick.'

Despite knowing that it hadn't been her fault, I still rolled onto my back and sighed. I'd been seconds away from showing Beth the true depth of my feelings for her and in finding out if she felt the same, and it had all been snatched away. It was impossible not to be disappointed.

'Jenny?' she asked into the phone.

At first, I could hear very little. Beth had her back to me and the phone pressed firmly to her ear. Assuming that this was a private conversation, I did my best to focus on the rolling waves beneath us and the cries of the gulls circling overhead.

It didn't escape my notice that she said, 'It's fine. Is there something wrong?'

Not only did I disagree with this being fine, but I did quickly grasp that the only reason that Beth had taken the call was that she believed that there was some kind of emergency.

'It's... Oh, Beth, you were the only person I could think to call!' Jenny wailed through the phone at such volume that I couldn't miss it.

There was no going back to the kissing, and I doubted that I'd get to hear Beth speak my name so tenderly for quite some time. Whatever was going on, it was far more important than all of that. I sat upright and met Beth's gaze when she turned around. Understanding that I, too, wanted to know what was going on, she hit speaker and held the phone between us.

'What's going on?' Beth asked. 'Are you hurt?'

Already I was wondering how I would break the news to Charlie if something had happened to Jenny. I'd still not had a chance to speak to him about their relationship. If he found out that she was in danger and that he wasn't there for her, he'd be heartbroken.

'No, no, I'm not hurt... I just... I need to know. Is Lisa there with you?'

'No, why? Did she say that she was coming here? Did she leave the trip early or something?'

Of course, it was Lisa. Of the group, she was always the one to start trouble. I imagined that Beth's other friend, Chrissy, was almost normal without Lisa's influence. If anything had gone wrong, it would be down to that girl and her ridiculous behaviour.

'I don't want you to panic. Oh, this feels like it's all my fault. I should have been –'

Even without knowing the full story, I could have told Jenny that whatever had happened was not her fault. I'd never met a girl so responsible in all my life. She was more sensible than Beth and my sister, and she didn't have the capacity to do anything mean spirited or cruel. No matter the situation, I couldn't imagine Jenny bearing any blame for it.

'Jen!' Beth interrupted. 'Stop freaking out and tell me what's going on! Why did you think Lisa might be here? What exactly happened?'

'Everything was fine on our first night. We went to the street market together yesterday, but she vanished for a while during free time. She was back in the evening, so we didn't ask. Then, this morning... Oh, Beth, she's gone! She left a note for Chrissy and now we can't find her!'

Jenny began to sob on the end of the phone and Beth looked at me with such helplessness that my heart broke for her. They were all adults in the eyes of the law. If Lisa wanted to run off from the group then there was very little that they could do about it, but it was always a risk for anyone to be alone in a foreign city. That Lisa was a teenaged girl elevated that level of danger ten-fold. When I pictured Beth doing the same, well, I shuddered to think what might happen to her in the dark.

'Beth, are you still there?' Jenny sniffled and hiccoughed.

'I'm here,' Beth assured her, a serious edge to her voice. 'What did the note say? Do you have it?'

'Yes... Yes, Chrissy gave it to me. Hang on... She said that she and Gideon were bored of the trip and wanted to have some fun on their own. She also said not to be surprised if, when she comes back, she's Mrs Lisa Wickham!'

'Mrs Wickham?' Beth almost choked on the name in shock and revulsion. 'That little – she thinks she's going to elope with him?'

The colour drained from Beth's face and she began to tremble. I couldn't say that I wasn't feeling the same wave of nausea. Gideon should never have been allowed near another school, and yet he'd been recommended to Netherfield and thrown into the path of several young students who were impressionable, wealthy, and easily manipulated. Beth had escaped his charms unscathed, but by not speaking out about his true nature, we'd left every other girl in the school at risk.

I brought my arm around Beth and held her to my side, hoping that I could at least warm and comfort her. Gently, I eased the phone from her fingers and asked, 'Jenny, which city are you in?'

'William?' she asked. 'What you doing with –'

'Jen', answer him!' Beth ordered.

'We're in Rome.'

'And the name of the hotel?' I pressed.

'Uh – Canvas De Italia. Why, what are you going to do?'

'Don't panic,' I instructed. 'Stay in the hotel and wait for us. We'll be out on the first flight to help you find her. Don't run off and do anything stupid until we get there.'

'Jen', you need to tell the teachers right now, okay? Let them know we're on the way and have them call Lisa's parents.'

'I don't want to get her into trouble!'

'She's already in trouble! I know you want to be her friend, but they have a right to know what's going on. I'm coming out there with Will. We'll find her before anything bad happens, I promise.'

'I'm sorry. This is all my fault! If I'd been honest with them about Gideon's nature –'

'I told you not to tell anyone, so it's not your fault. Jen', you have to keep calm. Take care of Chrissy and Meg. If you can get either of them to tell you anything we don't already know, then do it. I'll be there soon, and we'll find her together. Trust me.'

If only Beth and Jenny knew the turmoil that I was feeling upon hearing them blame themselves. It hadn't been their fault. I'd told Beth in confidence in my letter, and I'd wanted to protect my sister. It had been selfish family pride that had kept us from exposing Gideon for what he really was when he'd hurt Mandy. Now he was doing the same to another young woman. We might have prevented that if we'd not thought we should keep such things private.

Beth and Jenny had no part in any of this.

This was the fault of the Darcy family.

'I do. Thank you. Both of you. I'll text you and keep you updated until you arrive, okay?'

'Okay. We'll see you soon.'

I pressed the phone back into Beth's hand, making sure to brush her fingers in a reassuring manner as I did. I wished that we had more time together, but we couldn't spare a moment if we were going to take action to help Lisa.

'I need to go home,' Beth said. 'Dad can lend me the money to fly out there. I'll pay him back some other time. And I need to call Jenny's mother and pack a bag –'

'Hey, I meant it when I said that we'd both be going out there. You go home and pack. Tell your Dad the situation. Get him to drive you to our house, and we'll go from there.'

'I can't ask you to help. Lisa's my friend, and –'

'Our family decided not to go public with Gideon's crimes, or his reputation,' I reminded her. 'If we had, your school never would have employed him. And it wasn't just your mother who put in a good word, but mine because she wanted to give him a second chance. If anyone's to blame for putting him in Lisa's path, it's us.'

I didn't want to part from Beth when she returned home, but time was of the essence and it was quicker if we split up. While she headed back to the garage, I called a car to take me back to Pemberley.

Suffice to say, my family hadn't been expecting me home so soon.

'Wow,' Mandy said as I stumbled through the door, 'was it really that bad?'

'We have an emergency,' I said.

Something in my tone must have caught my mother's attention. She set down her newspaper and stood from the sofa. Chantelle was nowhere to be seen. I imagined she was still sulking in her room and wouldn't emerge until she'd had a grovelling apology that I wasn't willing to give. Charlie, on the other hand, was immediately on his feet with panic in his eyes.

'What is it?' he asked with urgency. 'Is Beth alright? Did something happen?'

'Beth's getting her father, they should be here soon.' I turned my attention to my mother and asked, 'How quickly can we sort out a plane to Italy? We need to go to Rome.'

'What happened in Rome?' she asked.

'Aren't Beth's friends on a trip there?' Charlie asked. His face paled. 'Did something happen to Jenny?'

As much as I wanted to reassure him, we simply didn't have the time. 'It's Gideon,' I said to my mother. I mentally apologised to my sister. I didn't want to say his name in front of her, but I couldn't spare her feelings in this situation. 'He's taken one of Beth's friends off from their trip. They have no idea where she is, and she's just a student. She left a ridiculous note about eloping with him.'

'Is she well off?' Mandy asked.

'Very, as I understand it,' I said. 'And he's in a position of trust as a teacher.'

'Let me make some calls,' Mum said, her phone already in her hand. 'When Beth and her father get here, try to keep them calm. Getting into a panic isn't going to help us resolve this. Mandy, darling, go and explain to Chantelle and help her pack her things. Charlie, if you could pack your and Will's things?'

'Sure,' Charlie said.

I could tell that he was relieved that Jenny wasn't in any immediate danger, but he was feeling the same thing that I was; distress that the woman he loved must have been suffering immense emotional pain at this shocking turn of events. He raced up the stairs without any hesitation, ready to play his part in our rescue mission.

'Hey,' I said quietly to Mandy when I realised that she hadn't moved, 'do you want me to go up to Chantelle?'

'No,' she replied, 'it's just... I feel like this is my fault?'

'It's not.' I grasped her shoulder and squeezed it firmly. 'It's his fault. You were a victim. It's never the victim's fault.'

'And now another girl is a victim,' she said.

'Not if we stop him.'