Dragging her scarf behind her, Elizabeth wound her way toward the tree and plopped herself down at its base.
A tree. And what a lovely tree it is,she smiled to herself; her arms wrapping around her body like a hug.
She was not like her aunt after all.
Chapter 33
Staffordshire, England – 1812 – Day 15
“Elizabeth!” Darcy continued to shout into the wind, his voice growing hoarse as he trudged through the heavy snow.
Her faint tracks wound every which way,he frowned as he worked to follow them in the fading light.There was no way she knew where she was going… Still, they had been straighter before. Something was wrong; he had to find her.
“Elizabeth!”
Nothing.
“ELIZABETH!”
Only the infernal moan of the wind.
Stilling, he blinked.
Perhaps? Yes!
“ELIZABETH!” he cried again, racing forward to a patch of red, the long shawl he had seen her wearing earlier meeting his gloved hand. “ELIZABETH!”
Eyes searching the area, his stomach dropped as he caught sight of her curled under the tree, her exposed face unusually pale.
Rushing to her side, the lantern slipped from his hand into the snow, the flame extinguished as the glass shattered.
“Elizabeth,” he breathed as he used his body to shield her from the wind; lantern forgotten in the snow as his hands fumbled to untie the blanket from his back.
“Dar… Darcy.” Mumbling, Elizabeth’s eyes met his, her brow crinkled as she studied him, “I… I dreamt. You came. Just like I dreamt… I.”
Her eyes closing, Darcy shoved the snow away, wrapping her from head to toe in the blanket as he spoke hurriedly, “Elizabeth, stay with me. It is as you said, I came for you… I know I made a horrible mistake, but please forgive me, my darling. Stay with me… Always with me. Yes. That is right. Keep your eyes on me; I will get you home.”
Grabbing up her scarf, Darcy used it to tie the blanket around her, as he continued to speak, “My sisters will love you, you know. They will. And all of your sisters besides. Can you imagine Pemberley when they are all there to visit? A houseful of women! Though I know Fitz and Bingley will be happy for it; they each plan to marry a sister of yours if you let them. Bingley is hopelessly in love with Jane, and Fitz, well, you have seen him and Mary–they belong together. Come, tell me what you think?”
Working Elizabeth into his arm, he fought the wet behind his eyes.She would be alright. She must.
With her safely in his arms, he pulled the blanket higher around her face to keep the wind and snow away, her half open eyes watching him as he did.
“With Kitty, them, and us married… Lydia… she… What was I thinking? About a house? Yes. Pemberley? Should she live with us?”
“Anything you say, my darling,” he whispered to her, his eyes crinkling as he smiled beneath his scarf. “Anything you say.”
Following his tracks, Darcy held her close, the deep snow causing him to stumble time and time again.
∞∞∞
A little longer. Just a little longer,he lied to himself as his left leg gave way beneath him, his tracks continuing forward into the low light–the loss of the lantern unsettling as day shifted to night.
His knee stuck in the snow, breath coming in short, shallow bursts, Darcy closed his eyes as he urged his body to cooperate, his arms and legs all but shaking from ramming his way through the snow.
A little longer.
Forcing himself unsteadily to his feet, he continued to follow the path his earlier trek had left behind; Elizabeth held firmly in his arms as he sought to carry her to safety, his gentle whispers to her no longer enough to cause her to stir.
