“You are terrified,” she whispered.
Darcy took two quick steps toward her. “Of course I am terrified!” He gripped her arms and bent low to look into her eyes. “I have seen you brutalised in front of me, over and over, and I could do nothing to stop it! And they hinted at violating you. They will probably kill you after they get their money. And they will certainly kill you if they learn you are not Anne.” His tight hold on her arms lessened, but he did not let go. “Theinstantthere is a chance for you to get away, you take it.”
“A chance formeto get away?”
“Yes,” he cried.
“Why would you value me any more than yourself?”
Darcy tilted his head, giving her a look as though the answer was obvious. And after a heartbeat, it was. He loved her. He still loved her, and he would put himself in harm’s way if it meant she was safe.
All the air seemed to escape from her lungs, and she found it difficult to speak with her heart residing in her throat. Their eyes met, and her lungs constricted further. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her, and her heart raced in anticipation. But Darcy seemed to realise that he was still holding her arms, and he dropped them slowly.
“We will both get away,” she said gently as the flash of some sort of feeling between them passed. “This is not your fault, and I won’t leave you behind, so you had best get accustomed to the idea that either we both escape or neither of us do,” she added as lightly as she could.
Darcy’s face was taut, and he crossed his arms over his chest, sighing as he stepped away. He nodded vaguely as though he had heard her but did not agree. “My priority is to see you returned to your family, and as whole as you are now.”
“And mine is for us to escape together.”
He might have left the room, or paced, or stared out a window, but the man had no way to retreat. As frustrated as she was, Elizabeth sat on the bed facing the washstand and gave him as much privacy as she could.
Her vexation with him came in waves, like when he insisted he would sleep in the bed or over his need to manage everything. But it receded just as quickly. It used to be a constant in her heart that Fitzwilliam Darcy was entirely unlikeable. And now he was more likely to rouse her interest or make her smile than do something to remind her of her previous ill opinion.
She not only admired his good qualities, she not only respected him, but she genuinely enjoyed his company and wanted to hear his opinion. She cared for his happiness. Asshe had sat on the ground, stupefied by fear after her savage encounter with Markle, Darcy had shown her unparalleled kindness.
If he had not talked calmly, if he had not shown her such genuine care, she might still be sitting on the floor, lost in her own terror.
Darcy had turned out to be one of the most right-minded men she had ever known. He worried for the future of the nephew of the man who had kidnapped him. He was principled enough to care where his sugar came from. He showed her attention, fondness, and his protection—as far as it went here—even though she had refused his proposal.
Elizabeth looked over her shoulder at him while his attention was elsewhere, somewhere turned inward. Darcy was quite handsome, but he did not carry himself like some men who knew they were attractive. His confidence and pride made people notice him as much as his fine face and figure.
His pride was not as unearned as she once thought.
He must have felt her watching and looked up from his reflections. She ought to have looked away, but she held his gaze, trying to read what he was feeling. Her heart turned over as he gave her a fond smile. Darcy’s smiles were like lightning flashes at night, vivid and fleeting, brightening the darkness before vanishing.
He often smiled at her like that. For all of her assumptions that he was unpleasant and disliked her, she could now remember that in Meryton, in Hunsford, when she stayed at Netherfield, Darcy had smiled warmly, ather.
She needed him to know that she did not blame him for his aunt or what happened to her, that she did not hate him—that she now admired him. Would he let her put her arms around him? It was not because he was the only person who could understand her fear, or because he loved her. Gratefulness andcompanionship were not love, but Elizabeth grew more certain that what she felt for Darcy was a deep affection.
What would it be like to kiss him?
She felt her cheeks redden, as though Darcy had any idea what she was thinking.
She liked him so much now, but what about how he had behaved in his past? How could a man who was generous, was willing to take criticism, was humorous, attentive, and likeable, a man who cared so deeply for her, how could he also have callously ruined Wickham? Although he loved her today, was he capable of resenting her, of cutting her off from her family, of eventually hating her? The Darcy of two days ago might, but she could not believe it of the man she knew now.
Elizabeth laughed to herself. It was not as though Darcy had given her reason to think he might ask her again to marry him. But Darcy was here. He cared for her well-being, and she cared for his. They had to work together, but she wanted him to know that she now had a genuine fondness for him.
Elizabeth walked over to him, ignoring his startled gaze at her being so near, and put her arms around his shoulders.
“Thank you,” she whispered, resting her cheek against his chest. “I know you do not want it, that you would never admit that you rendered me the slightest service, but thank you.”
He stood very still, and inhaled a deep breath before carefully putting his arms around her waist. She felt the beat of his heart, the steady rhythm of his breathing, and enjoyed the feeling of being pressed against him. Then she felt him relax against her and hold her a little tighter.
“I know that I promised we would escape together,” he said softly, “but you also promised me that if you had the chance to get away without me, you would take it.”
“I don’t want to leave you behind.” She knew what would happen to him if she escaped and he did not. Markle would haveSteamer kill him, if he did not do it himself. Her heart clenched at the thought.
“Elizabeth, I would not be able to outlive the loss if you died and I might have prevented it.”
