To Conquer Mr. Darcy

“Sir, they need bandaging. This hand, at the very least,” Mrs. Reynolds argued.

Elizabeth rested her hand lightly on his shoulder for a moment. He looked up at her and sighed, seeing the determined look in her eye. “Very well. But just this hand,” he said resignedly. “Do you plan to always be this insistent, Miss Bennet?”

She gave the matter a moment’s consideration. “Yes, I do,” she said with certainty. “Do you plan to always be this recalcitrant, Mr. Darcy?”

“You may count on it, madam!” he retorted.

“Well,” she said with a playful smile, “I am glad that we understand one other, then.”

Darcy looked back at Mrs. Reynolds in time to catch a broad smile on her face as she tied off the bandage. “You need not agree with her so easily, you know, Mrs. Reynolds. You are supposed to be on my side, after all!”

“Not to worry, sir; I can tell already that Miss Bennet and I will get along very well indeed,” the housekeeper said significantly. “Now, we should change those tomorrow. I shall speak to Wilkins about it, and I shall give him some laudanum for you as well; you may need it tonight to sleep.”

“That will not be necessary,” he stated firmly.

“Nonetheless, he will have it if you need it,” Mrs. Reynolds said as she gathered her supplies.

Darcy offered Elizabeth his arm, but as they departed, he did not turn toward the dining-parlor, and instead led her into his study. For a moment Elizabeth worried that he was angry with her for her insistence, but as he caught her to him, she realized that he had a different agenda in mind. She went into his embrace with a sigh of heartfelt relief, leaning her head against his chest, comforted by the sound of his heart beating. This was what she had needed all day.

“Are you well, my love?” he asked gently, kissing her hair. She nodded, not calm enough for words. He added, “I must apologize again for leaving you today; I would have much preferred to spend it by your side. I hope it has not been too difficult?”

“Now that you are here, all is well.”

“And before?” he asked perceptively.

She shrugged, and evaded his question. “I missed you.”

Her words were sufficiently sweet to Darcy’s ears to cause him to overlook any other meanings to her response. “I missed you as well,” he said warmly, “and I worried about you.” When she made no response, he added, “I plan to speak to your uncle tonight, if you have no objection. I apologize that my plans in that regard were delayed.”

She looked up at him with a smile. “I understand some things are unavoidable.”

He held up his bandaged hand. “I can see that there are going to be an increasing number of unavoidable things in my life!” he said with rueful good humor.

“I am glad you recognized its inevitability. You were very well-behaved about it,” she said in as grave a manner as she could manage.

He looked down at her with a teasing smile. “Well, Miss Bennet, I was quite cooperative; now I believe that I deserve to be distracted from my pain.”

“There are any number of excellent books that I can recommend to you, sir,” she said playfully, “or perhaps I could ask your sister to play for you.”

“That was not precisely what I had in mind.”

“I thought you wanted me to avoid encouraging you.”

His smile was devastating. “How much trouble can I cause when I cannot use my hands?”

“True enough.” With a mischievous smile, she took his arm with the unbandaged hand carefully by the wrist. Lifting it to her face, she brushed the back of his hand lightly against her cheek, then began tormenting him by covering it with feather-light kisses from the line of his sleeve to his uninjured fingertips, to which she gave a little extra attention. “Is that better?” she asked impishly.

“Much more effective than laudanum,” he responded in a somewhat strangled voice. He bent to kiss her, but she ducked away from him, standing on her toes to touch his neck with her lips, teasing him as he had so effectively done to her in the past.

“Elizabeth, please…”

Taking pity on him, she pulled his head down to hers and allowed him to claim her lips. His kiss was passionate, but it also seemed somehow distracted. She pulled back and looked up at him, a concerned look on her face. “I can tell that something is the matter, but not what it may be.”

He gathered her to him somewhat clumsily, avoiding the use of his hands, and buried his face in her hair. He was silent for a moment, then said heavily, “It was a difficult day, and parts of it have stayed in my mind.”

“Will you not tell me about it?”

He sighed. “Come sit with me, then.” He settled himself in a large armchair, and opened his arms to her, and with a slight blush, she sat on his lap and leaned her head against his shoulder. “It was dreadful, naturally,” he began. “The family lost everything they owned, and there was so little that I could do to help them. They were devastated, and…” His voice trailed off.

“And what?” she asked softly.

“Are you certain that you wish to hear this? It is not pretty, I must warn you.”

“If you had to see it, then I want to hear about it.”

“Their two youngest children were still in the house,” he said, his voice tired and strained. “We could not reach them until the flames were mostly doused; their father’s leg was crushed when he tried to go in too soon. Thank heaven there was no wind! I found one of them when we finally went in—that was when I did this.” He opened his hands. “There was nothing that could be done; he had hardly been touched by the fire, but the smoke must have been enough. I carried his body out to his parents.” He paused. “I did not know him, but I remember when he was born; it was shortly after I took over managing the estate.”

She felt a wrenching sensation as he first spoke, realizing that he had placed himself in danger, and then her feelings shifted to sympathy for his pain. She held him close, knowing that there was nothing she could say, but wanting to comfort him. He permitted her to stroke his hair for a minute, then turned his head to kiss her hand absently. “I know that it is foolish, but I feel as if somehow I ought to have been able to prevent it,” he said, his tone closer to his usual one.

“That is foolish,” she said gently, “but I understand that you might feel that way. Is there anything that can be done for them now?”

“I believe that it is all in hand. They are staying with family, and I had some clothes and other necessities sent down to them. Some of the other tenants will work their fields until they can manage again. I have told them that we will rebuild, but that will take time—there will be enough work just clearing the site. There is little else that can be done at present. I will ask Georgiana to call on the family tomorrow.”

“If you wish, I can accompany her.”

“She would appreciate that, I know; she finds these duties somewhat uncomfortable. It is kind of you to offer.”

“It will be my responsibility soon enough.”

He glanced at her in surprise. “So it will be,” he said slowly. “I had not thought of it that way.” Oddly, he had given little thought to the idea of Elizabeth as Mistress of Pemberley, and he felt a twinge of jealousy at the thought of having to share her attention.

“I see that you have some doubts about that; I know that I am inexperienced, but I will learn, and I am not afraid to ask questions.”

“Now you are the one jumping to conclusions. I have no doubts about your ability; I was merely contemplating the sad fact that I will not be the sole focus of your attention. I am a very selfish soul, you know.”

She kissed him affectionately. “You are the one I love; responsibility for Pemberley simply happens to come with you.”

He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. “Do you have any idea how much it means to hear you say that you love me?”

“You may hear it any time you wish,” she said lightly, again finding discussing her feelings for him to be difficult. “But do you suppose that the others are still waiting for us to begin dinner?”