Charlotte had a great interest in history, and she led them about the castle grounds, reading from a book she had found on the topic.Normally, Elizabeth would join her friend in her explorations, but she was too full of thoughts of Mr.Darcy to care about a castle in Kent, no matter how lovely it was.
They began as a group, but soon she and Darcy fell behind.He took her hand in his and guided her away from their party.
“Come.”
She smiled happily and joined him, feeling a rush of excitement and intrigue.Is this what falling in love felt like?Was this romance?Was she in it at this very moment?
They rounded a corner and were in a large garden.There was a stream to one side, the castle on the other, and a maze stretching out before them.
“Shall we try the maze?”she asked gamely.
“Let’s.”He could think of wonderful things to do, lost in a maze with Elizabeth.
The first three turns led them to more choices, but the fourth came to a dead end.Elizabeth turned around, looking disappointed.“We should have gone left at the last crossroads.Or even straight.We will have to remember that the path to the right is a dead end.”
She was about to walk past Darcy when he caught her wrist and gently pulled her back to him, a smile she had never seen before on his face.“In a moment.”
He pulled her to him and kissed her, one hand still on her arm, the other stealing around her waist.Her hands came up to his chest and rested on his lapels, her chin tilted up to meet him.She was surprised by how quickly she felt comfortable kissing Mr.Darcy.She had kissed gentlemen in parlor games before, but those had been perfunctory and quick, tiny pecks that she would have given her grandfather.Mr.Darcy was the first man to kiss her like a lover.
She pulled back and smiled at him, then took his hand and pulled him back the way they had come.They reached the crossroads and turned left instead of right, Elizabeth attempting to commit the path to memory.It was difficult when every path looked like all the others, but she was determined.Darcy could not care about the maze.He would happily stay trapped in it all day if Elizabeth was with him and willing to kiss him.Each time they reached a dead end, he smiled and pulled her in for a kiss, then dutifully followed her out again.She became so accustomed to this that when they reached the fifth dead end, she turned to him and tilted her face up in anticipation.
Darcy smiled roguishly and leaned in slowly, relishing the fact that he was here with the woman he loved, and she was happy to receive his affection.He traced one finger down the side of her face, then from her shoulder down to her hand where he tangled his fingers with hers.
Elizabeth’s breath came quicker, and she was sure he must hear her heart beating for how it was thundering inside her.His lips landing on hers were as light as a butterfly, his breath ghosting over her skin and sending shivers up her arms.
He kissed her again and again, first on her lips, then her forehead and cheeks, even the tip of her nose was not neglected.She squeezed his fingers between hers.“Fitzwilliam,” she whispered.
Darcy was overwhelmed.He took a deep breath and pulled her closer, holding her gently in a secluded corner of a maze at a castle in Kent.
“Elizabeth, my dearest heart.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him tightly to her, snuggling closer and breathing deeply.He smelled like the forest they often walked in, and of fresh spring grass, and of leather and soap.
They stood there for some time, neither speaking.Elizabeth was filled with the wonder of romance, and Darcy was trying desperately not to ask her to marry him on the spot.
Eventually, they left their corner and found their way to the end of the maze.Darcy remembered there was a stream running beside it and they were able to use the sound of its gurgling to orientate themselves.
“Where have you been?”bellowed the colonel when they rejoined them in the gardens behind the castle.
“We got lost in the maze!”cried Elizabeth cheerily.“Thankfully, Mr.Darcy suggested we follow the stream and we eventually found our way out.”
Charlotte smirked at Elizabeth, which her friend happily ignored, and Colonel Fitzwilliam looked doubtfully at Darcy.
“Did he?Darcy has always been good at finding his way about.”
Darcy scowled at him, but he could not be truly irritated with his cousin.He was entirely too happy.Elizabeth took his arm and began to pull him toward the gardens.
“Come, Mr.Darcy.Maria says there is a beautiful tree blooming with cherry blossoms in the back of the garden.”She turned to face Charlotte.“Shall you join us?”
Charlotte was tempted to tease her friend and say she would join them, but there was an old chapel she still wished to see.“You go ahead.I wish to see more of the castle.”
They parted ways and Elizabeth released Mr.Darcy’s arm and practically skipped ahead.“Isn’t it beautiful?”She spun around in the center path, radiating happiness and vitality.
“Yes, it is lovely.”
She skipped ahead again, wondering if she could get Mr.Darcy to chase her, but he did not seem inclined.Perhaps it was too public a location.But she could still have a little fun with him.She saw the blooming cherry tree at the end of garden and hurried to it, quickly ducking beneath its blooms.She went to the far side of the trunk and stood behind it, knowing it was not big enough to hide her entirely, but she was at least not easily visible from a distance.
“Miss Bennet?”she heard him call her name and stayed perfectly still.His footsteps grew closer and she pulled back a little more, hoping the dense blooms would conceal her a moment longer.“Elizabeth.”
