Imperative: Volume 2, A Tale of Pride and Prejudice (94 page)

“Yes, yes, yes, dear Mary!  I . . . I will be off immediately!”  He stood readily and then bending to take her hands to kiss, flew out of the door.

Mary closed her eyes and took a calming breath.  “I can hear you Elizabeth.  He is a fool, but he is
my
fool.”

“PARDON ME, I NEED THAT.”  Elizabeth smiled and then sighed when Darcy studied her hand clasped in his.  “Will.”

“This?  I am sorry, Lizzy, I need it more than you.” 

“You silly fool.”  She tugged and tugged, but he was not budging.  “Do you want to have this ball or not?” 

“Now that might be one your best silly questions ever, my love.”  Happily, he tightened his grip as her eyes narrowed.  “Try again.” 

“If you are looking for me to bribe you . . .”

“Ahhhh, now that sounds promising!”  His eyes lit up.  “Let me see, what would satisfy me?” 

“One, two, three . . .”

Darcy laughed and tilted his head, “What are you doing?”

“Since I am prevented from taking your watch, I am timing how long it takes you to request what I know you want for your satisfaction.”  Elizabeth fixed him with a pointed stare at his mouth. 

“Do you think that kisses alone will satisfy me, dearest?”  Darcy murmured and roughly, pulled her in closer.  “That will merely whet my appetite.”  His teeth nipped at her ear, followed by his mouth against her throat.  “Do you truly wish me away?”  He breathed in her perfume.

“You do not play fair, sir.”  She closed her eyes against the insistent caress.  “You know where I am vulnerable.”

“I do.”  He whispered.  “And I mean to take advantage.”  Darcy drew her into his arms.  “Come away with me.” 

Elizabeth laughed and looked up at him.  “What are we escaping?”

Darcy smiled; his gaze wandered over her face and then down to her mouth, his eyes closed as he leaned in and Elizabeth felt her heartbeat begin to pound.  With one hand on the curve of her back, and the other tenderly cradling her head, his thumb brushed her jaw as he kissed her cheek, her eyes, and finally, insistently, her lips.  He felt a shudder move through her.  “Lizzzzzy.”  He whispered and stroked her mouth, licking her parted lips, tasting her tongue and drawing her ever closer into his encompassing arms.  The kiss grew deeper.  Elizabeth’s hands, pressed against his chest moved around his waist and she could feel his heart pounding against her.  “Come away . . .” He whispered against her ear. 

“Where?” 

“You are willing now?” 

“I always was . . .” 

“You will come anywhere with me?”   Elizabeth’s eyes opened and she saw the twinkle in his.  “Ahhhhh.”

“YOU ARE TEASING ME!” 

“Sweetest, dearest Lizzy, do you feel what you have done to me?  Is it so insignificant that you do not know how aroused I am?  How I want you?”  His eyes were dark with desire, but still they were laughing.  Letting go, he kissed her, and then rubbed her ruby red lips with his thumb.  “I wish you to feel as much wanting as I do while we are apart.  And by the look in your eyes, I believe that you do.”

“How am I to maintain my seat with any semblance of grace now?”  She demanded with a heated whisper and rubbed against the bulge in his breeches.  “Will!  How can you leave me this way?”

“I will be suffering as well, dear.  I just did not wish to do so alone.”  Drawing a long breath, his gaze swept over her once more.  “Lovely.” 

“You are a cruel man, Fitzwilliam Darcy. Teasing is unkind.”

“Says the pot to the kettle.”  Darcy kissed her forehead, and then drawing away, removed his signet ring from his finger.  Gravely taking her small hand in his, he examined her delicate fingers and with a chuckle, slipped the ancient band of gold over her thumb.  “There.  Now, my love, arrange us a ball.”

“If I did not know better, I would say that you are excited.”  She looked down at the ring and fisted her hand protectively over it.

“Perhaps you do not know better.  What a singular idea.”  Hearing the sound of ladies’ voices approaching, he stole one last lingering kiss before ducking from the room with his modesty intact.  “I will collect on your promise later, dearest.”  He waved and was gone. 

“Did I make a promise?”  Elizabeth said helplessly.  Fighting the desire to suggest horseback riding at a full gallop to the ladies, she concentrated on her revenge.  “Very well, Fitzwilliam Darcy.  I will pay you back in full.”

“HAS JANE VOICED OBJECTIONS to leaving her family seat permanently?  Or is she glad to go?”  Hurst asked outside of an inn where they had stopped to change the horses.  Bingley looked at him and Hurst shrugged, “Louisa and I were concerned, after that afternoon of mortification at Longbourn, Jane’s serenity was shaken and your good humour became nonexistent.  But it was quite the emotional scene when we took our leave of Longbourn this morning.  We were unsure where things stood and I was selected to be the intrusive one.  She seems to be back to herself?”

“Yes, I believe that she is.”  Bingley looked to the inn door, waiting for his wife to appear.  “And no, she has not voiced her objections.  If anything, I hope that she is seeing the advantages of departure.”

Nodding, Hurst clasped his hands behind his back.  “As you know, Louisa and I spent roughly the last three years at odds, save the time since this past winter when we began feeling our way back.  We are comfortable with each other again.  She is supporting me over Caroline and . . . it has made for a far more pleasant relationship.  I am sure that you have noticed?  We are hopeful that children may come to us now, where before that notion would have frankly been a miracle.”

Giving him a genuine smile, Bingley clasped his shoulder, “I am glad for you.  I certainly have seen the great improvement between you.  I always thought that you were a good match for each other, even back when you were courting her . . . you just lost your way for a while.”

“Well, I let that happen.  I have no sisters so I thought that I could not stand in the way of the sisterly affection that Louisa shared with Caroline, but then Caroline is such a domineering woman . . . no that is not the word for her.  She is superior and condescending while simultaneously grasping.  But like any woman, she was raised to reach as high as she could for her future.  Louisa married appropriately and well with me.”  He lifted his chin proudly, inspiring a chuckle from Bingley.   “I am afraid, though, that Caroline’s hunger is more than reality will provide.  Darcy’s loss was a lesson to her that she is having a difficult time swallowing.”  Bingley nodded resignedly.   “In any case, it was a great deal for me to encounter upon marriage and I am afraid that I hid in the bottle rather than fight.”

“What made you change?”

“I was weary of it and rather disgusted with myself.  Then I watched Darcy falling in love and determinedly marrying his utterly unsuitable but perfect match of a bride who, I happily admit to loving this, infuriated Caroline and every scheme she ever imagined.  I just thought, damn it, here is a man irrevocably taking charge of his household and I should, too.  Louisa is grateful for it.”

“I believe that is what I have done, but at what cost?”  Bingley said quietly, “I am hopeful that a visit between the sisters will revive the woman I love.”

“I thought that you said she was revived?”  Hurst’s brow creased and seeing Bingley lost in thought he cleared his throat.  “I am hopeful that Caroline will find a mate in this visit.”

Bingley laughed hollowly.  “Who of Darcy’s circle will want her?  This is a fool’s errand.”

“Lord, Bingley, I do not like this man you have become!  We have three long days in the carriage together before we arrive at Pemberley and can breathe again.  That is close confines for ill humour.  If you expect to win back the girl you thought you married, then you must behave like the man she thought she chose.  If you intend to stay in this funk, then I will remove our baggage and we will hire a carriage and return to London.”

“You would do that to me?  Leave me with Caroline?”  Bingley stared.  “What you should be offering is to leave me alone with Jane and take her with you!”

“I just revived my marriage because of her.  It is your turn.”  Hurst smiled and Bingley closed his eyes when he felt his back clapped by his brother’s hand.  “I think that I have made my point.”

“I think that I may not be as much of a fool anymore.”

“That is not such a bad discovery to make.  The world is not an endless party, even for a rich man.  You had a bit of a challenging start out, I think.  You married and went straight into a funeral.”

“Maybe waiting would have been the better choice.  Her mourning ends next month, after all.  What would we have missed?  It is not as if we enjoyed the Season at all.  But then I would have signed another lease to stay at Netherfield.”  He shrugged and smiled.  “It seems that even as I try to improve, I am still asking endless questions.  Which do you think would have been best?”

“It does not matter, you have to play the cards you have drawn, do you not?”  Hurst lifted his chin, “Here they come.”  The three women appeared from the inn and approached the carriage.

“Are you ready, dear?”  Bingley asked gently and kissed her hand.

“Yes, of course, thank you.”  Smiling, Jane stepped up into the carriage to take her seat beside her sisters.

“I, for one, will be glad to gone from this part of the world.”  Caroline said tartly as they set off.  “Visiting the same people over and over again.  It was becoming tiresome.”

Louisa’s eyes rolled, “Do not exaggerate, Caroline.”

 “I think that you are simply experiencing what my sisters and I did, there are too many women and not enough gentlemen in Hertfordshire.” 

“I am certain that you never had trouble finding a dance partner, Jane.”  Bingley smiled.

“A dance partner was not what she was seeking, Brother.  You had to come to give her a husband.”  Louisa nodded to Jane.  “There is no shame in admitting it, we have certainly heard Mrs. Bennet proclaim it often enough.  What a shame for the other girls of the neighbourhood, every eligible man who entered in the past year has been snatched up by a Bennet sister.  It is a wonder they wanted to entertain us at all.”  She looked at Caroline who was staring out of the window.

“I would not say that.”  Jane spoke uncomfortably.   “The militia was there for months and Charlotte Lucas married Mr. Pool.”

“No sensible woman would marry one of those itinerant soldiers, and your uncle’s clerk was already there.”  Hurst pointed out.  “No, you and Mrs. Darcy attracted the best of the new blood, and Mrs. Collins, of course, was accepted in the end by your cousin.”  The carriage silenced as they all contemplated the master of Longbourn.

“I was not speaking of finding a husband when I mentioned meeting new people.”  Caroline finally said.  “Only that . . . the neighbourhood was confining.  Mr. Darcy agreed.”

“He did not seem to mind the confines of the library one fine day.”  Hurst laughed.

“Mr. Hurst.”  Louisa sighed.

“I doubt that he would disagree, my dear.” 

“Well, we are on to better things, a place to call our own.”  Charles said cheerfully. 

“At last you will satisfy our father’s desires.  An estate owned by a Bingley, not leased.  That is what he wanted for our family.”  Caroline’s eyes lit up with pride. 

“Netherfield was a fine place to start.  And it brought me Jane.”  Bingley smiled at her.  “And Elizabeth her Darcy.” 

“Yes, is that not wonderful?”  Caroline said acidly.

“Do not forget who our hosts are and the favour they are providing you, Caroline.”  Louisa said pointedly.

“I have not forgotten, but allow me my moment of disappointment.”

“But you will surely find a gentleman just as . . .” Jane searched for a word, “admirable as Mr. Darcy when we visit?”

“Not just as admirable, dear.  Darcy is in a class by himself in Derbyshire, even without the title.”  Bingley said with a laugh.  “But I wager he will provide a few like me for your perusal Caroline.”

“That would not be so terrible, would it?”  Hurst asked her.

“Of course not.”  She sighed and looked out at the passing scenery.

“It will be so good to be back at Pemberley.  It is magnificent.  Your eyes will be as wide as saucers when we come over the ridge and the horses begin to fly, and when you enter . . .”  He saw Louisa nodding and Caroline’s covetous gaze, and leaned forward to Jane.  “Let us just say that your breath will be stolen quickly.”

Her brow creased, “Lizzy has been very modest in her description.”

“She is choosing not to effuse like a certain brother of ours.”  Bingley cleared his throat when Hurst coughed.  “However, Caroline’s fondness for Pemberley defies her disdain for Netherfield.  I seem to recall Elizabeth, or perhaps it was Darcy, I am not sure, stating that they are both large homes set in the country with limited neighbours.” 

“It is
not
the same.”  Caroline huffed.

“It is to you.  Neither one of them contain a marriageable man!”  Hurst laughed.  “You lost the prize!  Good on Darcy!”

“Mr. Hurst, it is not necessary to rub that in continuously, is it?”  Jane admonished gently. 

Surprised, he grinned at her.  “Mrs. Bingley, why is Mrs. Darcy holding a ball?”

Jane was at a loss, “Why does anyone hold a ball?” 

“Social obligation for one thing.”  Louisa pronounced.  “The Darcys have been married nearly a year and as far as we know, they have yet to hold a single event introducing the new mistress to the neighbourhood, and as the greatest estate for miles, they must do such things at least yearly.”

“I did!”  Bingley nodded.

“That is
not
why you hosted a ball, Charles.”  Louisa looked at Jane and she looked down at her hands.

“Well no, but I do not think that is why Darcy has not hosted a ball.”

“I hope that Lizzy is not overwhelmed by it.” Jane said worriedly.  “It seems a terrible amount of work, if I am to judge by what I saw of your ball at Netherfield.”

“I hope that Mr. Darcy is not disappointed.”  Caroline pronounced, “As Jane says, Mrs. Darcy is completely over her head in this.” 

“Mrs. Darcy has a capable staff, and I am certain that her relatives are very experienced and will advise her.”  Louisa said with a smile as Jane’s worry increased.  “Do not fret over her.”