“I never called myself a physician. I am an alchemist. I have skills in medicine. There is no help that I can give her,” answered St Germain.
“You have never even examined her!” exclaimed Mr Woodhouse, outraged.
“It is not necessary that I do so. I know what ails her, and so does she. I cannot help her,” insisted thecomte.
“What can you mean by such nonsense?” sneered Anne. “Why do you speak in circles? What have you to hide?”
“I hide nothing,” answered St Germain, untroubled.
“Anne, how dare you speak to thecomtein such a manner?” objected Lady Catherine. “Woodhouse, it is hardly his fault if he has no remedy for your daughter. Have you reacted to every doctor in this manner?”
“Hehas not eventried,” ground out Mr Woodhouse.
“Then you ought to thank him for refusing to give you false hope. I am not in the way of knowing what ails Miss Woodhouse, but it does not appear to be fatal.Comte, is she dying?”
“She will live,” the man answered simply.
“But what is wrong with her?” begged Mr Woodhouse.
“She suffers on behalf of another. When they are cured, so will she be,” said St Germain.
“What in the blazes does that mean?” demanded Woodhouse.
“It is not my place to say,” answered St Germain mysteriously.
Miss Woodhouse sat quietly in a chair as the ladies fanned her and attempted to ply her with refreshment. She eyed Elizabeth and Mr Darcy unobtrusively, but Elizabeth detected it. She seemed uncomfortable by her father’s confrontation with thecomte, but otherwise, Elizabeth thought she seemed secretly satisfied with herself.
“I am certain she saw that Darcy and I were slipping outside, and swooned on purpose,” Elizabeth complained to Jane a short time later.
“Lizzy,what on earth would cause you to make such an accusation?” gasped Jane.
“She does not like that Darcy is courting me,” pointed out Elizabeth. “She believes he ought to be courting Priscilla. You know this, Jane.”
“I do, but to think she would stoop to deception! I cannot believe it of Miss Woodhouse,” said Jane.
“Jane, you barely know her,” said Elizabeth, exasperated. “You see how she avoids all of us except for Anne and Priscilla. You and I have an uncle in trade, and you are being courted by the son of a tradesman. Next time you are in company with her, attempt to make conversation with her. She will treat you as beneath contempt.”
“Listen to your sister, Jane,” said Priscilla as she and Anne joined them. “Miss Woodhouse is a veritable snob.”
“But do not be hurt when she snubs you, Jane,” interrupted Caroline, joining their party a moment after Anne and Priscilla. “Shewillsnub you, make no mistake about that, but do not let it hurt you. You are worth six of her!”
“What do you think thecomtemeant about her illness?” Anne asked Elizabeth curiously.
“I am certain that I do not know, but it was all very mysterious, was it not?” Elizabeth answered her friend.
“I do not like thecomte’smanner of pronouncing people ill,” said Anne firmly, as Lady Catherine beckoned to them, and they all hurried over to learn that Darcy had ordered their carriages. The magic of the evening had vanished, and most of the gentry were returning home.
Shakingherself from her recollections of the previous evening, Elizabeth turned her attention to the magnificent castle in front of her as she crested a small hill. Elizabeth loved this castle. It filled her imagination with fancies of every kind, romantic, gothic, tragic, historic. It almost made her wish to write fanciful stories about it, and wondered, if she was not to marry Darcy, if she might try her hand at novels, and live by her pen.
She skirted around the park to the edge of the trees, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. She had been assured by the locals that she was unlikely to be bothered if she walked there, for others from nearby frequently cut across the property, but strictly speaking, she was still trespassing, and she had no desire to disturb anyone.
She gasped in surprise when from behind a tree, stepped none but thecomte. “Monsieur le Comte, I beg your pardon, you quite startled me!”
“Pardon, mademoiselle, it was not my intention to frighten you.” Thecomtebowed.
“Were you visiting the occupants of the castle?” Elizabeth asked curiously.
Thecomtelaughed. “Before breakfast?Non, mademoiselle, I have been enough amongst society that even I would not so presume. Like yourself, I am only enjoying the morning. The castle, it isimpressionnant, is it not?”
