She could not answer. She could only cling to him in clamorous exhaustion. Darcy drew back far enough to study her face, which was flushed and utterly beautiful. Smiling at the sight, he kissed her one final time.
Elizabeth whimpered against his mouth, tasting her husband like liquor. Her lips felt bruised; her body was aflame.
Darcy laughed, breaking the spell at last. “Let go of your friends, angel. I shall not drop you.”
Lizzie followed his eyes upwards. Against all sense, her hands were still firmly gripping the statues above them. Now that her eyes could focus on anything other than her husband, she saw that they were cherubs.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” she muttered, both embarrassed and amused. She lowered her arms around Darcy’s shoulders, “I amnotan angel!”
“You are a goddess.” he kissed her lightly on the nose and then added quietly: “Did I hurt you, Elizabeth? I did not intend to be so…”
“Last time you apologised for this we did not speak for weeks.” Lizzie reminded him in a low voice, “Do you want to take that risk again, sir?”
“Decidedly not.”
“Then let me put your mind at ease. I am far from hurt, and must take all of the blame for our… haste. You tried to behave as a perfect gentleman, sir. It appears that the illustrious Mrs. Darcy’s restraint is more lacking than we believed.”
Darcy laughed, “I am glad to hear that the illustrious Mrs. Darcy and I are of a mind… on this matter, at least.”
Elizabeth grinned and kissed his cheek. “Will you put me down, sir? My legs have stopped trembling.”
“What a shame.” he murmured, making a mischievous effort to change that. Elizabeth whimpered, her hips surging instinctively against him. She fought to find her voice.
“The… guests will wonder where we… ah!Are!They will send someone to look for us.Oh,Darcy, please stop! What if they send Mrs. Reynolds?”
Darcy stopped at once with a chuckle, setting her carefully down on the slippery stone tiles. “You certainly know how to dampen a man’s ardour. I confess that I have no wish to rejoin our guests, Elizabeth.”
“Even with a dampened ardour?”
“It will recover. It has been waiting too long for you, Mrs. Darcy.”
Elizabeth smiled and took his hand, “Then by all means, sir, let us make tonight worth the wait.”
Chapter 74
William Collins, in an attempt to please his fiancée, had worn a brand new coat that night. He had found it in a shop window rather than having one tailored, but that was fine. It was a little tight around the armpits, but the important thing was how it looked.
He regretted that with all of his withered heart as he staggered through the pouring rain. It felt as if his arms were being garrotted. The fabric rasped against his wrists and clung to his chest, and by the time he reached the stables he could barely breathe. And heneededto breathe. He needed to shout, and run, and curse the damn woman for her treachery. But there was nobody to shout at, only wheel tracks in the mud and distant servants hollering at the horses.
Sobriety had come with the shocking cold rain and the sickening sight of Jane smiling as she ran away. It was only a fleeting mercy. When he stopped and collapsed to catch his breath, he half-rolled onto his back and watched the clouds spin above him. Rain and mud splattered him, bathing him in filth.
When he crawled onto his knees and looked around him a horrible realisation made him curse and drag the wretched coat from his skin. It was a stable yard; this was not mud.
“You there!” he bellowed, struggling to his feet towards a hostler, “Give me a horse!”
“A horse, sir?” The man shouted back, then laughed uproariously, “If you can catch one, sir, then you can have it!”
“Catch?” Collins squealed.
He finally made it to the nearest stable and clung to the door for balance. Unfortunately for him, it was unlocked and swung wildly open, sending him once more to the ground. This time the pull of gravity was too much to bear, and he vomited onto the stones. When he raised his head the servant (a man who spent his life shovelling manure!) was looking at him in disgust.
“Where are the horses?” Mr. Collins demanded, wiping his mouth. The servant pointed in several directions, smiling a little when the rector struggled to peer into the rain.
“One of the guests must’ve taken it in their head to set ‘em loose, sir. I dare say he’ll regret it when the master gets ahold of him.”
“Find me a horse at once! They cannotallhave gone!”
“Sorry.” the servant lied. Then he whistled to get the attention of the others.
