by Louise, Kara
Darcy tried to think of what else to ask, but he was not sure that Durnham would have any answers. He need not have worried, though, because Durnham immediately continued, "She has been most helpful to Miss Darcy. She is certainly strong. She came right in and was not at all dismayed at your appearance when she first saw you. You looked quite a fright! Almost looked dead! Poor Miss Jane Bennet, as well as Mr. Bingley, struggled with composure at seeing you!"
Darcy's eyes slowly turned to Durnham. "Miss Jane Bennet and Bingley are both here?" Durnham nodded.
Realization suddenly hit Darcy. He took a deep breath as he finally was able to formulate a reason for Elizabeth’s presence here. She must have come, in response to Georgiana’s letter, to reunite her sister with Bingley. He was not sure how it all came about, but was confident that had to be part of the reason.
Darcy suddenly began issuing orders to Durnham. "Draw me a bath and get my clothes! I must get up and get dressed!"
Chapter 6
Durnham looked at the fire in Darcy's eyes and felt now, for a certainty, that his master would fully recover. He could not grant his request, however. "I am sorry, Sir, but I must refuse, at least on the latter. The doctor said for you to take things slowly, not to do too much at first. I will draw your bath, granted you need one; however, I will not have you going to all the trouble of dressing. You are still dreadfully unwell. I will get you clean night clothes and your robe, but that will have to suffice!"
"Are you defying me?" asked Darcy incredulously.
"I am only abiding by the orders of the doctor, Sir. Getting up and dressed would not be the wisest thing for you right now. You need to conserve your energy."
"Durnham, there are some things I need to discuss with a few people and I cannot do it… dressed like this!"
"And why not, Sir? Everyone in this household has seen you in your night clothes, and less!"
Darcy abruptly turned to him and asked, "What do you mean and less?"
"Last night Miss Elizabeth had to remove your shirt to wipe down your chest with cool cloths." He inwardly smiled, knowing the mortification Darcy must be feeling. "Now, Sir, let me draw your bath. I will summon Winston to help me move you and also get a plate of food and drink for you." He bowed and turned to leave.
Darcy was agitated, but knew he could do nothing without his valet's help. "Fine, let us get to it!"
When Durnham set off to draw the bath water, Darcy decided to try to sit up. Once again he felt dizziness overtake him and had to lie back down. He would have to do this in small increments. He did not want to recline in a bed all day. If he was to talk with Elizabeth, he wanted to be sitting upright in a chair. He preferred to do it in his dress clothes, but obviously he had to settle for his nightclothes and robe. He shook his head in much consternation.
When Durnham returned, Winston accompanied him. They came to the side of the bed, and supporting Darcy's back, slowly lifted him. He closed his eyes as another wave of dizziness swept over him. Once in a sitting position, he put up his hand for Durnham to stop. He sat there for a while as he waited and hoped that he would not faint. Finally he indicated to Durnham to continue.
His valet helped him swing his feet over the side of the bed. Darcy felt the muscles of his legs scream out to him as he moved them for the first time in five days. He stretched and wiggled his toes, trying to work out the lethargic muscles.
"Now, Mr. Darcy, put your arm around Winston and let him carry as much of your weight as possible. I will not be much help with my broken ankle. But I shall be ready to catch you if you start to fall."
The men went helped Darcy walk to the bath chamber and as he stepped into the bath. As he settled in, he relaxed and felt as if he could fall asleep sitting right there. They did their best to wash his hair and then lathered him with soap. With that finished, Durnham prepared his face for shaving. As Darcy leaned his head back, he closed his eyes and was soon fast asleep again.
"I have a feeling that our friend here is going to be worn out by the end of the day!" Winston said to Durnham. "You know he will never let himself get all the rest he needs!"
When Durnham finished, they let Darcy sleep as long as they could. They knew it would do him good. After a while they gently shook him, and at length Darcy began to stir. He looked around him; feeling a little disoriented, but finally was able to recall all that had transpired that morning.
Both men helped him out of the bath and dressed him in clean nightclothes and his robe. They escorted him back to the infirmary, where they sat him down in the chair that was next to his bed.
"Sir, it would be best if you sit here for a moment to gain more strength before we take you to your study. Try to eat a little bit and have something to drink."
"Thank you. I think I will. Will you check on my sister for me?"
Winston agreed to do that as Durnham went back to clean up the bath chamber. Darcy was exhausted, but did not want to let the others know. He sat in the chair, picking at some of the food that was put out for him when he suddenly remembered the handkerchief. He stretched out to reach under the pillow and drew it out, bringing it up to his face. Yes, it still carried the fragrance of gardenia. He quickly, surreptitiously, slipped it into the pocket of his robe.
When Winston returned, he informed Darcy that Georgiana had locked herself in her room and was seeing no one. At this news, Darcy felt an even greater resolve to leave this room. He was more determined than ever to see Elizabeth. Since he had discovered she was there, that had become forefront on his mind. He wanted answers from her. He needed answers from her. He did not know if he wanted more to shout at her for deceiving his sister or to tell her again how much he loved her, as the memory of the face from last night came again before him. He knew he had to see her.
When Durnham and Winston returned to his side, he asked them to take him to his study. As the two men helped him through the great house, Darcy tried his best to walk as much as he could on his own strength. They came to the study and placed him in a large overstuffed chair off to the side of his desk, lifting his feet and placing them upon a footstool.
"Please ask Miss Elizabeth to come see me." He looked over at the two men and added, "Then find Bingley. I want to talk to him, after I have seen her." They nodded and set out to carry out his request.
When left to himself, Darcy wondered what he would say when she came in; how he would respond to seeing her again! His mind was in turmoil, wondering if she deceived Georgiana out of a vindictive spirit in anger against him or simply a selfish one in trying to reunite her sister and Bingley. He could not believe she would be so malicious, but why had she been so uncaring in how she treated his sister?
Winston went out to search for Bingley, but was told that he had most abruptly gone outside with Miss Jane Bennet when news spread of Darcy's awakening. Upon searching the grounds closest to the house, he could not be found.
Elizabeth had just come downstairs when Durnham found her.
"Miss Bennet," he bowed. "Mr. Darcy wishes to see you in his study."
Elizabeth's jaw dropped and her eyes widened in disbelief. "Mr. Darcy has awakened, then?" She suddenly felt discomposure quickly spread throughout her body.
"Yes. He is expecting you."
Elizabeth was not prepared for this. When she left him last night he had not fully awakened. Obviously he had discovered she was there. What must he think of my being here? she wondered.
Knocking lightly at the door, she heard his voice weakly command her to come in. She timidly stepped inside looking at first toward the desk, but then moving her eyes over to where he sat in the chair. He still looked pale and weak, but he sat upright. She noticed now how fresh and clean he looked; how the curls on his head were still wet from being washed and the locks were glimmering and bouncing in the light, unlike the other night when they had been matted to his forehead.
When she met his gaze, however, she saw a steely determination that caused her to draw back.
"Mr. Darcy," sh
e politely said and curtseyed. "I am so glad to have heard you are recovering. We have been quite concerned."
"Hmmm, yes. Thank you, Miss Bennet. Please excuse me for not rising." He noticed she seemed tired, there was very little light in her eyes and they were dark. She seemed uneasy, but he still found her very engaging.
There was an awkward silence that Elizabeth broke. "I am sure you must be wondering what I am doing here." She smiled nervously, gearing herself for the explanation she had planned to give him.
"No, Miss Bennet. I perfectly comprehend your reason for being here." His voice became harsh despite his obvious struggle to maintain his strength. "It is fairly obvious that you came here with your sister with the intention of reuniting her with Bingley; throwing her back in his favour!"
"Excuse me, Sir. I do not believe she was ever out of his favour!"
"But you agree that you came here for the sole purpose of manipulating the situation between the two of them!"
"Manipulate! Mr. Darcy, if anyone did any manipulating, it was you! You manipulated Mr. Bingley's affection to steer him unwillingly away from my sister! Coming here only provided them the opportunity to meet again. What you did to separate them was unwarranted and unjust! I do not believe that you could have been more wrong about the feelings two people have for each other!"
He looked at her; his eyes boring through her. "Quite the contrary, Miss Bennet, I assure you. I believe there was another time when I was more wrong!"
Elizabeth looked at him, feeling as if he had twisted a knife in her back and then she looked down. She felt as though the world was spinning around her.
When she finally looked back at him, she met his gaze. She wondered why every meeting with this man resulted in argument. Where was the man for whom Georgiana had been so full of praise? Where was the man who was so generous and thoughtful? Where was the smile that beckoned down at her from his portrait, but always seemed hidden from her somewhere deep inside?
Unexpectedly he became civil again and asked, "Now that you are here at Pemberley, how do you like it?"
His sudden change of manner surprised her. "I like it very much, Sir. It is a grand place that I am sure anyone would find to their liking."
He accepted her response and asked, "And Georgiana, you have gotten to know her well?"
"Um, yes," Elizabeth suddenly gulped. Where was Georgiana? Why had she not seen her since she had gotten up? Why was she not at her brother's side, even now? "She is a very sweet girl. I have enjoyed her company."
Darcy noticed Elizabeth's fine eyes suddenly dart about, filling with dread. "Have you?" he asked sarcastically.
Darcy shifted in his chair, looking past Elizabeth, and then looked back at her. "I have been quite unaware of what has happened here these last few days, as you well know. But may I ask you why you let my sister believe that we were engaged the whole time you have been here and did not tell her the truth?"
Elizabeth gasped and her hands flew to her mouth. Her eyes widened with a fear that was too great to disguise.
"Sir, where is Georgiana now?"
"Apparently she has locked herself in her room and will not allow anyone in to see her."
He looked at Elizabeth intently, waiting for a response, but she seemed stunned, unable to say anything.
He continued, "When I told her that we were not engaged, as apparently she had been led to believe; that you had refused my offer of marriage, she fled the room in great distress!"
Elizabeth could bear it no longer. She muttered a very anguished, "Excuse me," and rushed out of the room. The last Darcy heard was, "I must go talk with her!"
Darcy crumbled in his chair. He put his head back and felt great distress. In one morning he had the two most exceptional women in his life run out of his room completely distraught. He knew not what to make of it. In one way, he owed Elizabeth his life, feeling it was her very presence that helped pull him back out of that dark chasm in which he found himself last night. Yet how could she have behaved this way toward his beloved sister?
He stuffed his hands in his pocket and suddenly felt the handkerchief. He pulled it out and put it again to his face, savouring the gentle scent. He felt confused, anxious, irritated; he did not know what all else. Not knowing why, his only response was to call for his valet, "Durnham, come in here!"
Durnham came in immediately and Darcy was at a loss for words. He needed to bark some command at him, but knew not what he wanted. He greatly desired for him to fix things, make him stronger, make him think clearer. "Bring me some coffee!" was all he was able to say. "And make it strong!"
As Elizabeth ran out of the room towards the staircase, she encountered Jane and Charles.
Charles approached her with a wide grin on his face. "Oh Miss Elizabeth, we have the most wonderful news!"
Elizabeth nodded and said, "Yes, it is good news that Mr. Darcy has finally awakened. He is in his study."
"Oh yes, that! But we also have some good news! I am going to go in and inform Darcy right away. Your sister shall tell you!"
Charles walked away and Elizabeth smiled at her sister, who was also beaming. "He proposed, Lizzy. Charles and I are to be married!"
Elizabeth wrapped her arms about her sister in a big hug. "I am so happy for you Jane! This could not have come at a better time!"
"Why do you say that?" she asked.
"Because in that study is a man who is very angry with me and upstairs is his sister who probably will never trust me again." Tears ran down Elizabeth's cheeks. "I fear we shall probably have to leave Pemberley, at the latest tomorrow."
Jane saw that her sister was visibly upset and took her hand. "Elizabeth, what happened?"
Through her tears, she quickly relayed what had happened; how devastated Miss Darcy became when she discovered the truth about Elizabeth and her brother.
"I was just on my way to her room now to try to talk with her. But I fear that it would be best if we leave Pemberley. We should probably begin to get our things in order and make arrangements to return to Longbourn as soon as possible."
Elizabeth leaned over and kissed her sister on her cheek, and whispered, "I am so happy for you!" She then pulled away and said, "I must go now to see Georgiana."
Elizabeth took the stairs quickly, praying for the right words to say. She came to Georgiana's door and lightly knocked. "Georgiana, it is Elizabeth, please may I talk with you?"
There was no answer. "Please, Georgiana, I wish to talk with you; may I please come in?"
Slowly the door opened, and Elizabeth was taken aback at the condition of the young girl. Her face was flushed and her hair dishevelled. She was shaking and unable to mutter anything intelligible. She was so completely distraught that Elizabeth felt all she could do was put her arms around her and take her in her arms.
Elizabeth held the girl gently, taking her back over to her bed, and they sat down. Neither was able to say anything as they both allowed their tears to fall. Eventually Elizabeth gathered herself and whispered, "I am so sorry, Georgiana. You must allow me to explain."
Elizabeth felt the girl tense and try to pull away. "Please, you must believe me when I say that I did not mean to hurt you by not telling you about your brother and me. I did not know how to tell you and you believed so strongly that my being here would help him recover. I could not break the news to you until we were more confident of his recovery."
Elizabeth drew herself from the girl and looked at her. "Look at me, Georgiana. I would never intentionally hurt you."
Through sobs, Georgiana rasped, "I do not understand."
"I cannot excuse myself for what I did, but I at least want you to know why."
Georgiana looked at her. Elizabeth did not even know where to begin, but she had to begin somewhere. "When you wrote to me, telling me of your brother's accident, I was not aware that you believed us engaged. What you did was based on what you believed to be true from your brother’s letter. You had no reason to doubt that I had accepted his offer. You
acted in a compassionate, thoughtful way, desiring to inform me of his condition."
Georgiana shook her head. "No, I acted impulsively; it was immature. I have let my brother down again."
"Please do not believe that, Georgiana! You were thinking of him! He cannot think ill of you for this!"
"My brother is so angry with me, I cannot bear this again!"
"Trust me. He is not angry with you. If he is angry with anyone, it is me."
"But Eliz… Miss Bennet, I still do not understand." She looked at her with great anguish in her face. "I just do not understand."
Elizabeth did not know how else to explain her actions to the young girl. She felt inconsolable that her actions led to Georgiana's present state. How she wished she could turn back the clock and make things right. "I would do anything to change the decision I made not to tell you. Please forgive me."
Georgiana looked at her through her tear-filled eyes. "But I do not understand… why did you refuse my brother's offer of marriage?"
Elizabeth looked down and took in a deep breath. Of course this young girl would not understand! What was she to say? Elizabeth took one of Georgiana's hands in both of hers. "There were several reasons. The first was actually a misunderstanding between the two of us that has since been cleared up. At the time I felt he had acted unjustly. The other reason is because he did something that I found very difficult to forgive."
Georgiana looked at her questioningly. "What was it he did?"
Elizabeth answered in a very soft voice. "He purposefully tried to separate Jane from Mr. Bingley when he began to suspect that his friend was close to proposing. He then persuaded him to abandon any thought of marriage to her by claiming she held no regard for him, when indeed she did."
Georgiana looked at her in astonishment. "I cannot believe my brother would do such a thing! Why, anyone can see how happy Jane and Charles are together! Are you quite certain he did that?"