He smiled and shook his head. “I do not dare to disagree with a lady, so allow me to say instead that you are perfect forme.”
Carefully, he shifted, lifting her from his lap and settling her properly back against the pillows.
“I had best go,” he added, with a glance toward the door, “before he decides to come in uninvited.”
Elizabeth managed a small, shaky laugh.
He adjusted the covers around her with surprising gentleness. “Rest. I shall have a tray sent up to you. It was already determined that we should all dine privately this evening.”
She nodded.
Reluctantly, he stepped away—then paused only long enough to give her one last look before leaving the room.
The door closed softly behind him.
Elizabeth lay still for a moment.
Then another.
And then, slowly, a smile spread across her face as she replayed every moment in her mind—the warmth, the closeness, the way he had looked at her.
Her fingers lifted absently to her lips.
And then—
A stray thought, entirely unrelated and yet suddenly insistent, drifted into her mind.
Miss de Bourgh.
Was not there a Miss de Bourgh at Rosings?
Elizabeth frowned slightly.If so, then where is she?
∞∞∞
Darcy found Richard exactly as he expected—in the study, already half-settled with a decanter open and two glasses poured.
“Ah,” Richard said, glancing up as he entered. “There you are. I had begun to wonder whether I ought to send a search party.”
Darcy shut the door behind him. “You knew perfectly well where I was.”
“I had a suspicion,” Richard allowed, handing him a glass. “You look as though you require this.”
Darcy accepted it without protest and took a long swallow. The burn of the brandy was sharp, grounding.
Richard lifted his own glass. “To surviving the most extraordinary day I believe either of us has ever endured.”
Darcy huffed a quiet breath that might have been a laugh. “I will drink to that.”
They stood in silence for a moment.
Then Richard said, more seriously, “So. Lady Catherine.”
Darcy exhaled slowly. “Yes.”
“That,” Richard continued, “was not a development I anticipated.”
“No,” Darcy agreed. “Nor I.”
