Page 27 of Leave Her Wild
A gasp had him spinning around to discover Miss Elizabeth in the open doorway, holding a tray with two shots of what was assuredly brandy in snifters.
“Par . . . pardon, gentlemen.” Her eyes remained on Fitzwilliam. Darcy considered such to be a blessing, for he held no doubt that her hard stare would incinerate him. “Mr.Bennet thought you might wish for brandy.” She continued to stare at the colonel. “I will place the tray here.” She set it on a chair cushion instead of a table, for that was the closest piece of furniture to where she stood. “Good night.” She turned immediately and darted away.
“Demme,” Darcy groaned. “Why did you not warn me?”
“There was no one there when you stood, and then she eventuated as if she was a ghost.”
“I must apologize,” Darcy said as he ran his fingers through his hair.
“You should permit the lady time to calm down. Miss Elizabeth clutched the tray so tightly her knuckles were white.”
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Instead of entering the room she currently shared with Mary, she slipped into Lydia’s old room, the one in which Elizabeth had hidden two nights prior when she thought she had come to understand Mr. Darcy better. She strode the length of the room and back. Mrs. Bennet originally had thought to place Mr. Darcy in the room, but it was the smallest of the family bedrooms. Moreover, it had a connecting door to Elizabeth’s quarters, which was “too much of a temptation” in her father’s opinion.
She paused in her pacing. “How shall I ever be rid of the scent of such an odious man from my quarters?” she grumbled and began to stride quickly up and down the room again, while she chronicled aloud every fault she knew of the man.
Over the past few days her defenses had edged lower, but Mr. Darcy’s caustic remark regarding Jane was “beyond the pale.”
“Even so, you cannot tell anyone,” she whispered as she made a slow turn to cross the room again. “Jane is committed to marrying the man: It must be her argument to address, not yours.” Despondent, Elizabeth sat on the floor beside the bedand buried her sorrow and her tears in her skirts. “This is not your quarrel to fight, Elizabeth,” she warned herself. “Like it or not, this must be Jane’s decision. Unless Jane wishes to call off the marriage, which she will not, for she believes herself this family’s savior, nothing may be executed without ruining us all further. Moreover, any sense of believing that someday her marriage will be a pleasant one will disappear if you tell Jane of Mr. Darcy’s disdain for her. You wish her to know some sense of happiness; therefore, you must remain silent. You must take the truth to your grave and bury it there along with your body.”
It was a quarter hour later before Elizabeth heard the colonel’s steady steps along the hall to his quarters, and Mr. Darcy’s entrance into the room adjoining the one in which she hid.
She would be required to wait until he fell asleep before she sneaked into Mary’s quarters, but, unbelievably, the door separating the two rooms opened. Though she could not view him, she knew Mr. Darcy studied the dark room. He held a candle high so its light crept across the rug. “Miss Elizabeth,” he said in hushed tones. “I did not mean to insult your family.”
Elizabeth wished she could remain silent, but such was not part of her nature. She opened her mouth to respond, but he spoke again. “I hold many responsibilities, not only to my estate and my tenants, but to all the communities about Pemberley. I have plans to improve the roads, opening more centers of progress, more services, and see the steady influx of population in the area. We at Pemberley and Lambton require all those opportunities if we are not to be left behind while the rest of England marches forward.
“Though I understand your sister has been taught by Mrs. Bennet not to offer an opinion in opposition to mine, as you well know, I am not infallible.”
Elizabeth did not move and neither did the gentleman. Their thoughts continued to fill the darkness. “I am more than a bit aware of your infallibility, sir,” she said without rising.
“I knew you would be.” A hint of humor marked his tone. “I truly wish your sister and I to know congress, but I require your assistance in my absence in convincing Miss Bennet to take a more active role in planning this marriage. You of all people know I can be an ogre of the first realm if your sister permits me to act thusly.”
“Though I am capable of repeating your apology,” she argued, “it was not I who wounded her. Should not the apology come from your lips?” Elizabeth stood then. “My sister is of such a sweet nature, I am confident she shall forgive all your transgressions. I, on the other hand, owe you nothing of the sort. I shall never forgive your unkind thoughts and words regarding Jane.” She started for the main door of the room. “Now, please pardon me. I must not wake Mary.” With those words, she crossed the room, exited, and then deftly let herself into Mary’s quarters, stopping to turn the key in the lock, just in case the gentleman meant to follow her. Even so, Elizabeth knew she could never lock the man out of the place he had claimed in her heart, and she despised herself for her weakness.
Chapter Eleven
Darcy and Fitzwilliam had an early breakfast with only Mr. Bennet and Miss Bennet in attendance. Farewells were spoken at the morning table, where he repeated his plans for both his future father and wife. “I hope this meets with your expectations. If not, please tell me now before all the paperwork is complete.”
“I hold no questions,” Mr. Bennet said with a slight nod of acceptance. “Do you, Jane?”
Frustratingly, his betrothed sat with her eyes diverted and staring at her hands, that rested in her lap. “None of which I could address, sir,” she said obediently.
When the plates were removed, Darcy said, “Thank you for your gracious hospitality, Mr. Bennet. Please present our deepest regards to the rest of your family. We will return Wednesday next. Will you be able to accommodate the colonel and me again? Are you expecting additional relations to attend?”
“There are the Philips in the village,” Mr. Bennet explained. “Mrs. Philips is Mrs. Bennet’s sister. Philips is a solicitor.”
Darcy did not roll his eyes, but the colonel did. “If I had known,” he said with a hint of frustration crept into his tone, “I would have asked the gentleman to complete the paperwork for the marriage settlements.”
“All is well,” Bennet declared, and Darcy stifled his sigh. Instead, he turned to Miss Bennet. “If there is anything in London of which you are desirous, especially anything for the ceremony, please send me a note, and I will see that it is procured for you.”
“Thank you, sir,” she said without looking up to him, “but I believe all has been arranged by Mrs. Bennet.”
With nothing else to say, he bowed to the Bennets and made his way to the carriage. Another bow and a nod of farewell saw him climbing into his carriage. “Darcy House, Mr. Farrin,” he instructed.
Fitzwilliam followed Darcy inside, and they rolled slowly away from the Longbourn estate. Even so, as they passed Oakham Mount, Darcy leaned forward to search the scene for Miss Elizabeth. He wished a final look upon the woman. He thought he had underestimated her, but as the coach circled the hill, he caught a glimpse of the lady’s dark blue cape. He wished he could view her, but the cape fluttering in the wind was the last of his memories of the woman. As the carriage turned again, he sat back and closed his eyes to claim the memory of both her countenance and her anger last evening.
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