No one should notice Miss Bennet’s distress.It was like he had seen when he retrieved his coat at Lucas Lodge: pain in her chest, difficulty breathing, and faintness. He shielded her from notice and wondered how to see her safely home and how long before he could get to the apothecary for Georgiana. She was silent, but trembling and wincing, for another five minutes.
“How are you now, Miss Bennet? Will you be able to walk home, or shall I arrange for someone to take you?”
“I wanted Georgiana to have a pleasant diversion, and be amongst other young people.” She took a great breath with difficulty. “You would have brought her to Longbourn if she was well enough, and if Mary had a gracious bone in her body?”
I would rather remain at home with my tranquillity undisturbed.“Certainly, madam, but it is doubtful Georgiana would have the energy and strength for the carriage ride, let alone for a ball.” She nodded, but still pressed a fist against her chest as though she might be able to ease the pain within. “Is there anything I can do for your present relief?”
“I am utterly powerless. I cannot even invite my friend to a party.” Miss Bennet blinked a few times, and then seemed to finally see him properly. “Leave me.”
The clerk brought the book while Darcy debated what ought to be done. Miss Bennet took the book with a smile that might have convinced a casual observer that she was well. “Shall I escort you to Longbourn? Or shall I find someone with a cart?—”
“Mr Darcy, take care of your sister. I will likely survive the walk home.”
She was embarrassed, by both her family’s behaviour and her own attack, and Darcy did as she asked. Why did this lively and stubborn woman suffer these bouts of pain? He could better understand her not wishing to tell her family, given what he had seen of their antipathy for her.If these were their public manners, what would Mrs Collins and Mrs Bennet be like at home on the evening of their own ball?
CHAPTER EIGHT
Darcy returned from a bracing ride and, after taking care of his spirited horse himself, went to the garden to see if Miss Bennet and his sister were there. The garden was empty, but when he walked around the house, he heard his maid talking with Cook and a farmer who had taken an interest in Hannah. They were standing near the kitchen door, maligning his family’s good name.
“The master has no wife with him,” Hannah said, “but only a woman who passes for his sister.”
“Sheishis sister! They have the same nose,” his cook cried. “He acts more like a father than a lover. If he was her lover, then he has no idea how to please a woman worthy of being pleased. Now save your breath to cool your porridge!”
“Don’t be a spoilsport! What doyoususpect of Miss Darcy?”
“You will hear no tales from me, not when the master pays me what he does.”
“You have been in the house longer than I. I have been only two months. Secret lovers? Natural children? She is too quiet, I say!”
Darcy rounded the corner and stood behind Hannah. The farmer cleared his throat, touched his hat, and was gone before she turned around and blanched. Cook chuckled to herself and returned to thekitchen while he severed Hannah’s employment without reference, paid her through the end of the quarter while she cried, and then had his man take her to the mail coach back to her mother’s.Hopefully her wages and her ticket home thirty miles away will be enough to ensure no whispers about Georgiana move abroad.
He had hoped high wages and hiring servants from another county would prevent gossip about the Darcys or about his sister’s condition. His cook and his man were content, but this was the second maid that could not keep silent. Although, now that Georgiana had lost her child, the fear of gossiping servants was not as great. A housekeeper and possibly a nurse could now be had without as much risk.Still, the more servants in the house, the greater the threat of exposure.
Georgiana’s favourite Pleyel piece was coming from the little parlour that passed for his best drawing room, but when Darcy entered, he found only Miss Bennet. Although she had called on his sister every day since their walk to Meryton a week ago, he had spoken to her little since the encounter with her rude family.
“You do not mind that I enjoy your instrument? Mary rarely allows me to play, and your sister wished to rest after we came inside.”
“You are in nobody’s way.” He wished her good health and would have left had she not called to him.
“Your sister said she was poorly last night.”
“Yes, I worry Mr Jones’s physic is no longer strong enough. I might need Mr Lynn to prescribe her something else. While Georgiana seems to have energy during the day and is in good spirits, she coughs more at night.”
“It is a shame that I cannot be with her in the evenings to ease her or distract her.”
He bowed his head, and hoped Miss Bennet would resume her song. He missed hearing music at home, such a home as it was. Instead, she rose and, in a hurried manner, enquired after his health. He answered civilly, while Miss Bennet sat across from him for a few moments, and then getting up, walked about the room. She rose and sat so often he decided to stay sitting until she stopped. Darcy was surprised but said not a word.Miss Bennet is not typically nervous or awkward.
“Mr Darcy, I struggle to ask the question ... but you must allow me to ask you to do me the honour of marrying me.”
He was too stunned to entreat an explanation.Did a woman just propose to me?He stood and the words to demand that she get out of his house were half spoken when she interrupted him.
“I will explain to you instantly all that makes me urge you in this manner.”
“No sensible man in all of England would listen to you!”
“For your sister’s sake, will you hear me?”
He had never before been so discomposed in his life. She must have taken his bewildered silence as leave, and she came toward him in an agitated manner. He feared Miss Bennet might attempt to embrace him. Darcy stepped away, holding up his hand to halt her, but she was only handing him a sheet of paper, which he instinctively took.
