“Yes, El, I can. She’s a good and proper one, that Miss Elizabeth Bennet. I just hope the master is able to get his affairs in order before it is too late and another comes to take his place.”
* * *
“Miss Bennet, dinner will be postponed for a quarter of an hour. There has been an unexpected guest due to the weather.”
“Very well, Mrs. Wallings. But as I previously stated, a tray in my room would do just fine. I do not wish the household to go through all the trouble…”
“Yes, Miss Bennet, but Mr. Hamilton would insist you partake of Cook’s talents. However, if you would prefer a tray, I can inform our new guest you wish to dine alone.”
“No, I would not want to do that. I do hope all is well, and they did not come upon harm in this storm,” she said upon reaching the last step of the majestic staircase.
“Might you prefer to wait in the music room, miss?”
“Thank you, I would. I understand Mr. Hamilton recently has a new instrument.”
“Yes, a very fine Broadwood Grand. Please make yourself comfortable.”
Lizzy walked into the music room. The blue and gold brocade chairs lined the walls. There was a very fine harp and two small couches in one corner but the centerpiece of the room was the new piano.What a beautiful instrument.She ran her hand along the rich wood.I know he bought this for me, I heard him tell Mama as much before he left for London.
She sat on the bench and began to finger the ivory keys. She leaned her head back and began to sing an old Irish folk song as her fingers rhythmically moved across the keys to the tune she knew by heart.
“The pale moon was rising above the green mountain,
The sun was declining beneath the blue sea;
When I strayed with my love to the pure crystal fountain,
That stands in the beautiful Vale of Tralee.
She was lovely and fair as the rose of the summer,
Yet 'twas not her beauty alone that won me;
Oh no, 'twas the truth in her eyes ever dawning,
That made me love her, the Rose of Tralee…”
Lizzy’sclear voice echoed throughout the empty room, as she tenderly crooned the plight of the two young lovers. As she sang the last lines, a reverential hush hung over the room.
“Would that I too could find such a love.” She sighed wistfully and rested her elbow on the instrument, grateful she was alone. “James is a good man, but can I be happy with him?”
She plunked a few notes upon the keys then continued her soliloquy. “I once believed only the deepest love would induce me into matrimony. Will I ever know? And if I do, will it be too late?”
She walked to the window and rested her palm on the glass against the cold outside. “I hope not,” she said to the moon as the clouds sailed past, “for above all else, I long to be loved.”
Chapter 8
Fitzwilliam Darcy had not intendedto intrude upon Elizabeth Bennet’s private thoughts. He had been called by her siren’s song, intoxicated by the sound of her voice. The maid had informed him that earlier in the day, the rain had stranded another visitor at Ashby Park, and the staff would hold dinner for Darcy while he made himself presentable. Now, he gazed into the music room at the one person he had thought best to avoid at all costs. To hear her angelic rendition of the song his mother had sung to him made his heart ache. He yearned for her but she could never be his. She was promised to someone else, as was he. Yet he had heard her confession—her lack of love for James Hamilton and her desire for a love of her own.We suffer the same lot…but what is that to me? It can mean nothing! Because in less than three months, I will wed Anne. My own lack of love…
And yet, there he stood, transfixed in a doorway, with the rain beating down on the panes, dreaming of a world with this woman, hoping he would not be discovered as she gazed into the night.
Oh, that I were free to love her.But she is now being courted by Hamilton.Not that he deserves her. He would tame her spirit like a horse!His frustration and guilt were great.
After a moment, he quietly removed himself from the doorway. He followed a footman toward the library; his thoughts were full of her.She knows not how our conversation while walking at Netherfield affected me. Her observations confirmed that not only will I never be in love with Anne, but just how ill-equipped my cousin is to make a proper mistress of Pemberley.
He ran his hand through his hair and slumped into the couch, staring at the ceiling.How will this union allow Georgiana to advance in society? True, Anne will inherit Rosings Park when she marries, but what then? Soon Georgiana will need a proper lady to bring her out into society. And Anne will not do. She has not even been presented herself! And what of entertaining? She is more reserved than I. If only—
He could not travel down that path and knew the danger of such musings. He tried not to think of what his world would become in a little over two months nor what it might have been. He leaned back and had only closed his eyes when he heard the door open and the soft step of a woman enter the room followed by the scent of lavender. In an instant, he knew his intruder. He inhaled deeply and opened his eyes to see her standing before him.
