Free Falling for Mr. Darcy by KaraLynne Mackrory Page A

came down the hall towards their bedroom. Upon bursting through the door, Mrs. Bennet panted heavily and tried to address her eldest daughter. “Jane, dear . . . you must make haste; he is here!” Pausing briefly to try to catch her breath, Mrs. Bennet pulled out her handkerchief, wiped her brow and waved it around her chest trying to stir the heat of the air around her as she continued, “He is come, Jane — make haste and fix yourself! He will be at the door any minute!”
    At this, Jane asked with concern and obvious anxiety, for she was sure she knew the answer already, “Who is come, Mama?”
    Elizabeth turned her head sharply to the window when she heard her mother pant, “Mr. Bingley, child! He is come to see you, dear. You must not keep him waiting! He has been seen at the gate!” With this, she turned and left. Elizabeth’s eyes were arrested and her whole body froze as she caught sight of two gentlemen nearing the house on horseback. The first was indeed, Mr. Bingley. The second — she recognized the horse immediately, and as her eyes roamed upwards to the rider, her heart nearly stopped as she looked right into the face of Mr. Darcy, who had just then noticed her in the window. Their gazes held for a short moment as neither was able to turn away. Elizabeth gave him a slight smile, and his broad smile in return made her breath catch. She turned from the window with wide eyes and a thumping in her chest.
    Elizabeth schooled her features into a calm she did not feel and helped her sister adjust her appearance. She pinched her cheeks to give them color and smiled brightly at Jane in an attempt to reassure her. “Breathe, Jane; he has probably come to see after your health. It was but a few days ago that he saw you at Netherfield.”
    Jane smiled as she recognized that she did not feel as nervous as her sister evidently did and that Lizzy’s words were probably meant more for herself. She had also taken a moment to peek out the window and had seen Mr. Darcy smile at her sister. She smiled inwardly as she considered this another bit of proof that her sister’s heart was beginning to be touched by Mr. Darcy. Jane took a few deep breaths in an effort to appear nervous for the benefit of her sister and found that Elizabeth matched her action, which helped to calm her. Jane smiled at the success of her acting. It was not that she did not feel a certain amount of nervous excitement at seeing Mr. Bingley again, but she was a bit more confident in her feelings for the gentleman and his feelings for her.
    * * *
    Mr. Darcy was silent on the ride to Longbourn that morning. He had worried about Elizabeth for the few days since her accident. If he was being honest, he was not really worried about her injury. He knew it was not very serious, but he had tried to convince himself that the reason his thoughts so frequently had turned towards her was merely because he was concerned with the extent of her healing. Considering how often his thoughts were on the crook of her neck when she tilted her head to tease him or the sparkle in her eyes when she looked up at him, he knew that her ankle was not forefront in his mind . . . well, except for the way it delicately and sweetly curved into her pretty little foot.
    Now his thoughts were taking a turn in a more anxious direction. When Bingley had mentioned to him that morning that he thought he might ride out to Longbourn to see how Jane was recuperating after her illness and wondered whether his friend would like to join him, Darcy had wanted to hug him. He did want to go and confirmed he would like to inquire after Elizabeth’s recovery from her injury as well. He could not suggest it himself for fear of what it might reveal, and after seeing Elizabeth every day for nearly a week while she was at Netherfield and then the day afterwards as well, he found that her absence in his life was becoming nearly painful. As Longbourn came into view, he wondered at the merits of the idea.