Page 14 of First Impressions
“Can I read it, Jane?”
“Of course. He’s really so sweet and these flowers are gorgeous.”
She glanced at Darcy before opening the card and attempting to read Charles’ chicken scratch.
Jane,
I hope you aredoing okfeeling better and that theseflowerstulips brighten your day like you do mine. Would it be too forward of me to ask to take the blame for your fall? I would just like to be able to tell everyone how you fell for me like I’ve fallen for you.
Yours,
Charles
PS - I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
Beth smiled to herself at the corny, but heartfelt note. He clearly spent some time thinking about what to say; the handwriting started off clear and then got sloppier as it looked like he rushed to capture his thoughts on paper; he also crossed out a few phrases and reworded. It was heartwarming to see his whole thought process evolve on paper.
“Jane, that’s adorable what he wrote. Although quite a challenge to decipher it. I wonder if his writing is always this bad.”
“It’s much better than most of the lawyers’ notes I have to read. Good thing we transitioned to office email.”
“Have you read the letter, Mr. Darcy?” Her question repeated from earlier earned her a sharp glare as his right hand flexed apparently itching to make good on his threat from earlier.
“Charles always writes haphazardly. Usually he writes so quickly that he forgets a word here or there and that’s in addition to the phrases he crosses out and rewords.” Ignoring her question completely so as to admit that he had read it, Mr. Darcy opened up about Charles to entice Jane back into the conversation.
“I think it’s endearing,” Jane said as she held and re-examined the words. “Please tell Charles that I will happily put him at fault for my fall and that the tulips are breathtaking. And thank you again for taking the time to bring these to me.”
“Of course.” With that, Darcy turned towards the door, pausing as his eyes locked with Beth’s. “Miss Bennet,” he said to her so softly that Jane didn’t even hear him.
For the second time this week, Beth watched the most confusing, frustrating, and intolerably desirable man she had ever met leave with no explanation to her for his actions.
Chapter Twelve
Jane didn’t sayanything after Mr. Darcy left, knowing that Beth would tell her when she was ready. Luckily, their mom chose that moment to call Jane and check on her, which allowed Beth to retreat to her bedroom to decompress from what had happened. As she walked by her closet mirror, she caught a glimpse of herself and shuddered. Yoga pants, a grungy t-shirt, and a messy top knot were not a recipe for seduction.
What could have possibly enticed him about this?
She sat on her bed, replaying everything moment by moment. She had provoked him, she knew that, but she was only trying to get some sort of emotion out of him; she didn’t mean for him ravish her in her own kitchen with her sister in the room next door. And then, there was his desire to spank her to punish her. She had to admit his comment had shocked her, but what had shocked her even more was how turned on that thought made her. She almost wished he would have followed through with his threat.
She leaned over and grabbed her phone that was charging on her nightstand.Was it really almost four o’clock?Unlocking her phone, she saw that she had a new email. Thinking it was just Phil getting back to her, she opened up Mail and realized that Mrs. DeBourgh had emailed her back.How had she forgotten about that woman?Even though it was probably the last thing she should worry about right now, she couldn’t help herself from opening the message.
Miss Bennet,
Anne and I will expect to receive our invitations to your Charity Ball within the week. I will need to know if he is bringing a date. I look forward to more updates on this in the very near future.
Regards,
Mrs. DeBourgh
This woman was unbelievable, inviting herself and her daughter to their family’s charity event. How was she going toexplain these guests to her father? The reality was that he probably wouldn’t even know, since she and Jane were the ones who kept track of the responses; but that wasn’t the point. The presumption of Mrs. DeBourgh was shocking; she must really have her sights set on Mr. Darcy.
“Beth, are you ok?” Jane asked, quietly knocking on her door.
“I’m fine. You can come in.” She put her phone down, preparing for the conversation ahead.
“Hey, are you sure you’re ok? I don’t mean to bother you but mom wants us to come to dinner on Friday.”
“Alright, that’s fine. I’m ok, just a little shaken up. I stayed home today so I wouldn’t have to deal with Darcy and then he showed up and now I’m all flustered again.”
