“Indeed, I am very fond of it.” They took a few more steps in silence.
“Oh, dear!” Suddenly, Miss Bingley clung to him with all her weight. Darcy struggled to maintain his balance. He stopped them both from falling to the ground together in the nick of time.
“What has happened, Miss Bingley?” Darcy did his best to conceal his annoyance and recall proper compassion for her injury. But it was difficult, when she was making matters so very much worse.
“Oh, my ankle!” Miss Bingley gasped. “Suddenly, it hurts so dreadfully. I do not think I can take another step. Oh, what shall I do?” And she looked up at him with wide, pleading eyes.
Darcy looked away, torn between disgust and a deeply inappropriate desire to laugh. Not since Georgiana was a very little girl had anyone begged him to carry them about. Everything began to make sense now. He would bet five pounds that Miss Bingley’s ‘injury’ was purely imaginary, for it was all simply too convenient.
But that still left the question of what he was to do about it. He could hardly confront her with accusations of making it up, but neither did Darcy feel much inclined to do as she had asked. It was all too easy to imagine how such a position might become compromising — if, for example, Miss Bingley had succeeded in tumbling them both to the ground. He would very much rathernotbe faced with the choice of marrying CarolineBingley, or leaving her ruined and his friendship with Bingley in tatters.
“Ahem, well —” Darcy began, though he did not really know what he was going to say next.
“Yes, Mr Darcy?” Miss Bingley asked, her voice breathy and over-sweet.
To his profound relief, he was spared thinking of an answer. They began to hear the noise of someone crashing through the underbrush. Elizabeth appeared moments later.
“Mr Darcy? Ah, there you are. Miss Darcy asked me to —” Elizabeth stopped when she saw Miss Bingley hanging on his arm.
Darcy looked at her steadily, wondering what she might think of the scene. To his surprise, she met his eyes and gave him a private smile before turning to Miss Bingley with a very serious expression.
“Oh, dear. Have you injured yourself, Miss Bingley? Perhaps we should call for a footman to help you return to the house? Or two, perhaps, if you cannot walk. We might have a litter made,” she suggested.
Miss Bingley straightened, then, as if remembering, bent back down and winced. “Mr Darcy and I have things quite in hand, thank you. Return to the party,” Miss Bingley said coldly. She looked up at Darcy, her voice suddenly all sweetness. “I should hate to think I ruined the picnic for you.”
Darcy glanced at Elizabeth, then offered his arm to Miss Bingley. “We will walk you back to the path nearest the picnic area, and call for one of the footmen to bring the phaeton around. You should not be on it for too long,” Darcy placed ahand on Miss Bingley’s elbow. “Would you be so kind as to walk with us, Miss Bennet?”
“Of course,” Elizabeth said and quickly came to the other side of Miss Bingley. She held out her arm so Miss Bingley could link with hers. Though Miss Bingley looked at it with a certain reluctance, she took it. They walked for several paces, first slowly as Miss Bingley struggled and limped. Then, quickly, she seemed to get better and stood unassisted. “I think I am well enough to make it back on my own. I suppose I only needed to stretch the muscles for a moment.”
Darcy held back a laugh. It would seem Miss Bingley did not want to walk with him unless she could do so with no one else present. Perhaps the whole incident had been an elaborate ruse to get him to be alone with her. Was he overcautious in fearing she might even have intended a compromise to force his hand? Thankfully, he would never know now.
They watched her walk away, limping slightly to keep up with her story of a twisted ankle. When she was gone, he turned to Elizabeth, letting out a sigh of relief.
“I cannot thank you enough for coming when you did, Miss Bennet. I confess I was quite uncomfortable with the whole situation.”
“Indeed,” Elizabeth said. “I had a feeling something was amiss when she strayed so far behind the rest of the group.”
It seemed Elizabeth was having just as difficult a time holding back a laugh as he had been. Suddenly, they both laughed together. It was a musical sound, one that seemed to unlock something inside of him. Darcy thought he would like nothing more than to laugh with her each day. “Well, I thank you for coming to my rescue, Miss Bennet.”
“It is a rare switch, is it not? The damsel rescuing the knight in shining armour?”
Darcy stopped, turning toward her on the path. He cocked his head to the side, giving a sideways smile. “You see me as a knight in shining armour?”
Her cheeks immediately flushed. “Did I say that?”
“It was implied, I suppose,” he replied. Strangely, the suggestion did not seem absurd, as when Miss Bingley had tried to force a rescue out of her unwilling knight, but like the highest compliment he could be given.
Elizabeth had looked away. If he was not mistaken, she was even blushing slightly. Darcy smiled to himself. On her, the absence of complacence was charming.
Elizabeth cleared her throat. “Shall we rejoin the others before we are missed?”
“Yes, of course,” he replied, then led the way through the wood, moving branches so she could pass through unharmed.
Soon, they had rejoined the others. Georgiana noticed their return straightaway. “Is everything well?” she asked. “Where is Miss Bingley?”
Darcy cleared his throat as the rest of the party turned and looked at them. “Miss Bingley has returned to the house after a slight twist of her ankle. She has said she does not require assistance.”
“Ah, that is too bad. Shall we go back to the picnic area?” Georgiana asked.
