Elizabeth could not prevent a laugh from escaping as she found herself looking into Mr. Darcy’s dark eyes. “Mr. Darcy?”
He pulled the cape down with one hand, keeping his other secured across the front of his coat. Water ran down his face and dripped from his hair. “How is everyone faring?” he asked.
“I have only just arrived, but I believe Mrs. Reynolds and the servants have everyone well settled.”
At that moment a sound came from underneath Mr. Darcy’s coat.
“Why, Mr. Darcy!” Elizabeth laughed as she looked up at him with wide eyes. “I do believe your coat just meowed!”
The look of fatigue and concern melted into a smile. “And because of that, I need a little help,” he said as he struggled to unbutton his coat with his free hand. As his coat fell open, Elizabeth saw that he held a cat, wrapped snugly in a scarf so she would not scratch him. The poor thing was frantically trying to wiggle out. “There is a little girl here, a Miss Weber…”
Without thinking, Elizabeth gently reached in to pet the cat’s head. “Hello, Misty. Be still now, will you?” She looked up at him, her eyes warm with appreciation. “I spoke with little Rachel, and she told me about Misty.” She reached in and wrapped her hands around the cat, becoming suddenly mindful of what she was doing. Her cheeks warmed in a blush. For a brief moment she lost all ability to think what she ought to do, and allowed her hands to linger in the warmth of his chest.
A sharp intake of breath drew her eyes up to Mr. Darcy’s face. Dark eyes and lowered brows met her.
She had to will her hands to leave their place of sanctuary in order to retrieve the cat. To disguise the feelings that his presence stirred within her, she looked back at the cat and asked with a nervous laugh, “Are you Misty? I certainly hope so!”
She could only see the cat’s face, but readily saw that she was grey with a little white around her nose.
Casting her eyes down as she felt a blush stain her cheeks, she told him, “Rachel has been terribly worried.”
“Well, this better be Misty,” Darcy answered in a somewhat stilted voice. “Otherwise I climbed that tree for nothing!”
“You climbed a tree?” she asked incredulously, looking back up and meeting a contented grin. She was grateful that the awkward moment had passed. “Certainly you did no such thing!”
“I most certainly did! That girl practically refused to leave until we found the cat. The waters were rapidly approaching her house, and they could delay no longer. After they departed, I was trying to keep my horse to higher, dry ground and heard a meow. It was coming from a tree down an embankment whose base was about five inches in water. The poor thing would have been stranded until the waters receded. If she tried to come down, she would surely have drowned. So I jumped off my horse and climbed up to get her. I think she was more than anxious to get down, but in order to bring her back here, it was necessary for me to wrap her up securely in a scarf so she would not scratch me.” He reached over and scratched the cat’s head. “For reasons beyond my comprehension, she did not like being stuffed under my coat!”
Elizabeth tilted her head and laughed, not sure whether to believe him. It was so unlike what she would have expected from Mr. Darcy, yet his face revealed genuine sincerity.
He gave her a hopeful smile. “I certainly hope this is Misty.”
Elizabeth was able to reassure him. “Rachel told me she is a grey cat with a white nose, just like this one. I do believe, Mr. Darcy, that you shall be her hero.” She brought her hand up again to scratch the cat’s forehead. Misty soon began purring. “Do you mind if I take her to Rachel? I promised her I would.”
“Certainly, but do not let Mrs. Reynolds see you with it. When she gets too close to cats her eyes and nose run, and she becomes completely bad-tempered. She thinks it is an offence to even entertain the thought of keeping an animal in the house. Make certain Miss Weber keeps the cat locked in her room. I do not want it roaming the halls. I will see to it that they get what they need for the cat.” He spoke with resolute brusqueness.
“Yes, sir,” Elizabeth said. “Is there anything else?”
Darcy closed his eyes and shook his head. “Pray forgive me, Miss Bennet. I have been barking orders all morning to ensure a smooth transition. I did not mean to…”
“You have no need to apologize, sir. You have done so much.”
She turned to leave, but Mr. Darcy called to her. “A moment, Miss Bennet. There is something else, if you would bear with me.”
“Yes?”
His eyes darkened. “You did not come to the drawing room last night.”
Elizabeth bit her lip as she determined what to say. “No, sir. I was unable to.”
“Why?” His question was uttered with the same fervency as his earlier demands had been.
Elizabeth swallowed to moisten her mouth. She could not bring herself to look up at him. “I cannot say.”
His brows lowered at this. “You will be there tonight?”
Elizabeth cast her eyes down, shaking her head slowly. “I am sorry, sir, but I cannot.”
She heard him take several breaths. “Tell me why.”
She looked up into pleading eyes. “I am… I am the Willstones’ governess. They do not deem it proper.” She saw his lips press tightly together and his jaw clench.
After a moment he said, “You are my guest, and I have invited you to join us in the drawing room.”
Elizabeth smiled, more out of unease than pleasure. “I beg to differ, sir. I am not your guest. The Willstones and Miss Matthews are your guests. I am employed as a governess to the Willstones’ daughter, and therefore I answer to them and their wishes.”
Her quick curtsey was met with a scowl. Elizabeth turned to find Rachel and return her cat to her, her heart wishing fervently that her circumstances were different.
The rains continued for the remainder of the day and night, letting up only intermittently. The next day was spent as the others had been, allowing Emily time with the Goldsmith girls and then Elizabeth working with her on her studies and music.
Throughout the day, however, a fluttering deep within intruded as Elizabeth pondered whether she would see Mr. Darcy in the north wing when she went down again today. The Willstones may have forbidden her to join the others in the drawing room in the evening, but as they were not inclined to associate with Pemberley’s tenants, she felt this was the one place she could encounter Mr. Darcy and not risk anyone’s censure if she conversed with him. But would he be there?
At length while Emily napped, Elizabeth again went down to the north wing and walked in to find very few people about. She greeted some that were in the sitting room, asking how they were faring. She looked for Rachel, but did not see her and assumed she was inside their room playing with her cat.
She spoke with a few more people and, upon discerning that there was nothing else she could do, reluctantly decided to leave. She saw neither Georgiana nor Mrs. Reynolds, but her greatest disappointment was that Mr. Darcy did not stop in.
She walked through the doors that took her to the main house and heard a commotion coming from the far end of the south hall. As she walked closer, she saw two men walk into the infirmary. Mr. Darcy walked toward her with a rather harried look upon his face. He stopped, breathing heavily from exertion.
“Mr. Darcy, is something wrong?” Elizabeth asked.
He placed his two hands firmly on her shoulders. Looking at her intently, he asked, “Do you faint at the sight of blood?”
She did not interpret his gesture as a sign of affection or his feelings. From the intense look on his face, she deemed it more a response to something that had happened. “I never have before,” she answered. “What is it?”
“Come with me,” he said, releasing her shoulders but grasping one of her hands firmly in his as he turned toward the infirmary. She had no option but to follow.
As they walked down the hall, his strides were long and hurried. To keep up with him, Elizabeth took several steps to his one. “What has happened?” she asked again.
At the sound of her voice, he seemed to relax slightly, his grip loosening and his stride slowing. Turning his head, he answered, “There has been an accident.”
When they came to the infirmary door, he stopped. He gazed down at her hand, and she thought he gave it a
