Page 205 of The Long Road Back to Yesterday

He smiled and released her hand.

Their guide introduced himself as Mr. Wilkes and led them toward the great defensive banks and ditches surrounding the castle. When he explained that a Norman fortress had occupied the site soon after the Conquest, Kitty looked toward the mound.

“William the Conqueror was here?”

“He was, Miss.”

Kitty looked at Georgiana. “Impressive.”

They continued toward the inner enclosure. Enough remained for Mr. Wilkes to point out where walls and buildings had once stood.

Mary moved nearer when he began speaking of the Black Prince, who had once made the castle one of his residences.

Bingley fell back beside Jane. “I believe I have lost my instructor. Though I suspect your sister is grateful for the reprieve.”

Jane laughed and took the arm he offered her.

The climb toward the mound proved more demanding than it had appeared from below. Kitty and Georgiana went ahead together. When Georgiana caught her shoe upon the uneven ground, Kitty took her arm, and they continued.

Elizabeth followed at a more measured pace, with Darcy beside her.

“You doubt that I shall reach the top, sir?” she asked.

“Never. I have seen you undertake rather greater exertions upon the moors of Derbyshire.”

Elizabeth smiled. “I do miss those days, sir.”

“As do I. But I mean to have them again.”

At the summit, the countryside spread before them, the town below and cultivated fields reaching beyond it. A breeze moved across the exposed ground.

“This alone was worth the journey,” Elizabeth said.

Darcy did not answer.

She glanced at him and found that he was looking at her rather than the countryside. Her hand moved toward his, then stopped.

“Soon, Elizabeth.”

Kitty called to Georgiana farther along the mound, and Elizabeth went to join them.

They spent the remainder of the morning among the ruins before returning to the lower ground, where the servants had laid luncheon beneath a stand of trees.

White cloths covered the grass. Cold chicken and ham had been set out with bread, cheese, fruit and cakes, and bottles of wine and water stood ready beside the plates and glasses.

Hurst surveyed the arrangements.

“I may survive this excursion after all.”

Caroline smiled and handed him the bottle of cognac.

He grinned. “Better and better.”

Elizabeth accepted a plate from Mr. Darcy and sat beneath the trees. Kitty and Georgiana dropped down beside her.

“I had expected more castle,” Kitty said.

“There was considerably more of it once,” Georgiana replied.