"As you wish. Shall I alert Mr. Darcy to his arrival?"
"No, I will tell Darcy. I need to speak to him anyway."
In truth I had every intention of finding Jane and sending her to the study, then finding Darcy and keeping him out of it. I never saidIwould not scheme to get Jane engaged to Mr. Bingley, I just said I didn't want Mama to do so.
I wished I had thought to question Saunders about the location of my eldest sister and husband prior to sending him off. Now I would have to search them out on my own.
Getting past the drawing room would be a challenge. I considered using the servants' stairs but dismissed the idea immediately. Hiding in the linen closet was one thing, start using the servants stair in your own home and it's all over. You are an Eccentric.
The door of drawing room was open to the hall and I could hear my mother's voice from a level below. Her loudness would be to my advantage covering the sound of my approach, crossing in front of the door without being seen however would require speed. Approaching the drawing room entrance at a run I leaped at the last moment, sailing past the door undetected. It would have been a riotous success had I not flew straight into Darcy.
Darcy, impressively solid as he is, was not moved at all, whereas I bounced off him and would have landed quite soundly on my bottom had he not steadied me. As though we were dancing, Darcy steered me across the hall and into the library with one quick maneuver.
Both of us watched the door slowly swing back to a close. Privacy thus ensured Darcy proceeded to kiss me breathless.
This was exhilarating on multiple fronts.
There were the obvious physical effects. Heart racing. Loin clenching. Jelly Knees. That sort of thing.
But then there was also the fact that this was wonderful proof that he must not hate meentirely. I just do not believe people go about kissing people they hate, at least not so thoroughly.
"Darcy," I said when we parted to draw breath. You know, just in case he needed reminding who he was. And then, to my great horror, I added, "So you do still love me?"
Darcy stilled. Went completely statue-like. It was eerie. It would have been horrifying even if I had not just accused him of loving me.
"Not love!" I practically shouted careless to the fact Mama was just across the hall, "I didn't mean love, of course. You don't love me, and Icertainlydon't love you. That would be completely mad."
"Yes, completely mad," Darcy replied, his tone lowering the temperature of the room to the point I felt I would quite like a coat.
"Completely," I repeated weakly. I was so befuddled. Yes, I had spoken foolishly, but there was absolutely no reason for Darcy to look so . . . so . . . well, frankly he looked incensed.
His dark demeanor passed quickly. His lips quirked to a slight smile. A cold smile, not a real smile. He said with false pleasantness, "And of course I do not love you because that would be absurd."
"Yes, completely and utterly absurd," I said with my own false agreeableness. Now I was strangely angry. What on earth was the matter with us?
"Well, then."
"Yes," I said not having the least idea what I was agreeing with.
"I'm glad to have clarity on the matter."
Again, I replied, "Yes." Still as clueless as the first time I had said it.
"If you will excuse me I have things I must att—"
"No!" I exclaimed, once again forgetting myself and shouting. I pushed him back, he stumbled a little, his imbalance likely caused not by the force of my shove, but by the surprise at my fervor. "We are going to stay here and . . . and. . . ." Oh, hell what are we going to do?
"Not love each other?" Darcy asked with great vehemence.
"Yes," I replied with equal fury.
And then we started kissing again.
Don't worry, it doesn't make sense to me either.
"Bingley!" I cried out after some minutes of expert kissing.
Darcy did the eerie statue freeze thing again.
