“Elizabeth?” Uncle Gardiner voiced. “Are you alright?”
“Uncle.” With relief, I went to him. “It is time that Mr. Wickham left, for he has already delivered his message to me. Is that not so, Mr. Wickham?”
“I—” Mr. Wickham began, but Mr. Darcy cut him off.
“Not until I make my point quite clear,” Mr. Darcy stated, brooking no refusal. Mr. Darcy took a threatening step toward Mr. Wickham. “George, you have treated me and my family in an abominable manner, you have hurt people I love, and now you have greatly imposed yourself upon Miss Elizabeth. Too long I have not retaliated for your continual misconduct. You will leave Miss Elizabeth alone, and no more will you come near the people that I love. Or I will call you out, as I am a gentleman, and I will demand satisfaction of you in a duel.”
“Can you not see, I have changed?” Wickham responded, pleadingly.
“You have never shown it! And your behavior now displays that of a man who is narcissistic in his love. It is a vain thing. A cruel thing. And I shall not let Miss Elizabeth be on the receiving side of it.”
“Mr. Darcy has spoken quite right,” my uncle supported. “My niece clearly does not want your company, Mr. Wickham. Therefore, it is best for you to leave my home, or be forcibly removed from it. What say you, sir? Because, in this moment, my esteem in you has been surely shaken.”
Mr. Wickham took one last look at me.
“Mr. Wickham,” I pleaded, “please…”
“Well,” Mr. Wickham declared, his voice shaken, “you have broken my heart. I hope that you know that.”
“Do not have an innocent woman feel guilty, George,” Darcy stated. “Leave, or I will call you out.”
Mr. Wickham turned and left immediately.
Chapter 2 Rescued
Wickham was gone!
And yet despite myself, there was a great weight upon my shoulders. Everything felt as if it was eclipsing me.
I sank into the chair I had been sitting in before all of this happened and folded my arms over my body, overcome.
“Miss Elizabeth,” Mr. Darcy gasped, leaning down, and holding my arms. “Are you unwell?”
“As right as someone can be when they felt as if every part of their soul was overcome and pushed around,” I voiced, my mind undone. “I hate everything right now, and I cannot define it.”
“Lizzy,” my Uncle Gardiner began, racing up to me.
“Mr. Gardiner,” Mr. Darcy stated. “I have seen this behavior before. Would you be able to get a glass of wine for your niece? And then send her aunt out here to assist her?”
“Yes, of course,” my uncle responded, greatly out of his element. “I shall return shortly.”
In the brief moment that we were alone, I was able to look up at Mr. Darcy.
“You know what I am feeling?” I asked weakly.
“Yes. It was how my sister was when Wickham had left her.”
When seeing his face, so very much up close, I felt so very undone. For some reason, the first emotion that rang out in my heart was shame. Ever present shame that ran over and around my composure utterly overwhelmed me. All felt bleak for the moment, and there was no quiet within the beatings of my heart.
“You must despise me now,” I observed.
“Let’s talk no more of that at present,” he informed me.
“No,” I refuted. “I wish to talk about it. I wish to say many things, and you will not let decorum keep me from it now.”
He looked deeply into my eyes. For a second, we were locked in each other’s gazes.
“I do not despise you,” he rushed out. “I never have.”
I pulled my gaze away. “I deserved it.”
“Truly, we do not have to speak of this now.”
“And you must stop telling me that things, which are important to talk about, must never be spoken of.”
“It is not that. It is simply that your aunt is coming out to see us now.”
And for certain, Aunt Gardiner had emerged from the house and had come to assist me.
“Lizzy,” she exclaimed, crouching down beside me, taking my arms, and helping me rise.
“She is suffering from shock,” Mr. Darcy informed her. “Mr. Wickham did not take her rejection well.”
“Oh, my dear.”
As she assisted me, Mr. Darcy relinquished his hold on me, and she helped me inside the house. As she did so, I turned and looked at Mr. Darcy, who had been looking forlorn as he followed us.
Once going inside, he decided to make his excuses immediately.
“You are leaving?” I blurted out.
When seeing me so unsettled by this, he was aghast.
“I thought that you would have wished for me to leave you at this time,” he remarked.
“Elizabeth, it is best for him to do so,” Aunt Gardiner said as a servant entered and handed me a glass of wine.
“Why is it best for him to do so?” I observed. “We have much to discuss.”
“Lizzy, you have just been greatly imposed upon,” Uncle Gardiner observed. “Truly, you are not well at this time.”
“But if Mr. Darcy leaves, then he shall never return,” I augmented.
“Lizzy, what do you mean?” Aunt Gardiner asked.
“Yes, Miss Bennet,” Mr. Darcy stated, “whatever do you mean by it?”
“I merely wish to imply,” I gathered, “that seeing me in this way might be unpleasant for you. As such, returning might cause you pain.”
Mr. Darcy took a step toward me and his eyes shined slightly against the candlelight that was reflected into them.
“I merely leave to give you time to recover from the shock of what you experienced. But I shall never leave this place, with you having any doubt of my returning tomorrow.”
“You promise that you shall?” I asked.
“Yes, I shall.”
Mr. Darcy bowed and then left.
After his departure, Aunt and Uncle Gardiner had not much time alone with me. For, soon after Darcy’s departure, Jane had returned, having taken a walk with the Gardiner’s children, to the park. When she returned, I was sent to my room, where my Aunt
