Page 15 of Saved By Mr. Darcy
“When will Jane come to me, aunt?” Lizzy asked, adjusting herself in bed. “Surely you have heard from her by now?”
“The post can be slow in this part of the world,” her aunt replied, fussing with Lizzy’s sheets. “Hush, now. You need to rest.”
“I have done nothing but rest!” Lizzy protested. “My body shall turn to mush.”
“The doctor said that you must rest longer. You are terribly bruised, dear, and your poor leg! Do you need more laudanum?”
“No!”
The laudanum was surely the reason she had behaved so improperly on the night she had woken. Her aunt had been kind enough not to mention the fact that Lizzy had demanded that Mr Darcy be summoned to her bedside at an entirely unreasonable hour. Such an act could be dismissed as a sickly girl wishing to express gratitude to her saviour; there was nothing more to it. She could scarcely remember the conversation, his visit like a dream to her.
Mr Darcy had not visited her the next day - nor any of the days since. Lizzy was sure she had seen his shadow flicker against the wall opposite the door a dozen times, his silhouette too distinctive to be confused with another. The shadow had always paused, as though he were waiting outside for a moment, before moving on.
Miss Darcy had been a most frequent visitor, calling in two or three times a day to sit by her bedside. She was an unexpected delight; at times animated, at other times as silent as herbrother. She possessed a charm and a good humour that he did not, and Lizzy was reminded of her sisters. Not Lydia, who Miss Darcy was as far removed from as day to night, but of Jane, and Mary - and Kitty, too.
“She will come, won’t she?” Lizzy asked, her mind focused on the conversation once more. “Jane? I am so desperate for home, I would even be glad if Mary came and played piano at the foot of my bed!”
“I have not heard. Would you care for some lunch?”
“No, thank you. I am not hungry.”
“You are in pain, aren’t you?”
“A little. I am well,” she said, before looking at her aunt. She was already on her feet, and was reaching for the bottle of laudanum. “I do not need that medicine. It is a dreadful thing.”
“But the pain…” her aunt protested.
“I would rather the pain than this terrible fog that has settled over me. I shall take no more of it.”
“Lizzy…” her aunt began to protest, but her shoulders slumped and she sank down into the chair by the bed. “Oh, there is no use arguing with you. Very well.”
Lizzy was struck by just how weary her aunt looked. Her bruises were still a dark purple, though the marks around her eyes had begun to fade. Lizzy could not help but suddenly notice the wince every time she moved, nor the poor spirits she seemed to be in. Had she been so consumed in her own condition that she had not spared a thought for her aunt and uncle?
“Aunt Gardiner, I did not mean to upset you. Will you rest? You have been by my side day and night, and I thank you for it. I did not mean to be petulant.”
“You are not, sweet girl. But I am tired. Oh Lizzy, I must ask…would you mind terribly if your uncle and I were to travel home? Of course, I would see that you had a proper chaperone before we left, but…”
“When Jane comes, she will be ample company, I am sure. Perhaps Mother will join her, though I fear the sight of me would set off her nerves!”
Aunt Gardiner settled back in the chair beside her bed, fussing with her skirts as she sat down. She gazed down at her lap, her head not rising to meet Lizzy’s eyes.
“Yes, perhaps. I will not leave until I have set everything in place but…Oh, my poor girl. How selfish I am! How can I think of leaving you?”
“You have children of your own, dear aunt, and you have been through just as much an ordeal as I have. If you wish to go home, then you must. I am sure Jane and I can take lodging somewhere whilst I recover.”
“Mr Darcy would not hear of it. He has insisted that you shall not be moved.”
“I am sure he has tired of the imposition by now. I have not seen him in a week. Has he left Pemberley?”
“No. He is here, though I see little of him. Your uncle dines with him most evenings, and Miss Darcy.”
“Oh. I wondered if he had returned to London.”
In her heart, she knew he had not, but the shadows cast on the wall in the late hours of the night were no evidence for his presence here at Pemberley.
“No. Lizzy, I do not know if you are aware, but the man has done a great deal for us.”
“We are in his house, dressed in clothing he procured, and I see a doctor almost daily who is retained by him. I do not need reminding of his service to us, Aunt.”
