Free Mr. Darcy's Forbidden Love-kindle by Brenda Webb Page B

last look and then quit the room.
    Elizabeth took a deep breath, willing the hot tears that filled her eyes not to spill, but they would not cooperate. Instead, they quickly made trails down her cheeks to the pillow below. Despite the tenderness Mr. Darcy had shown her during their ordeal, his heart had evidently not been touched as had hers. And all the gestures she had taken as evidence of his affection clearly meant nothing to him. Else how could he have left Meryton without so much as a word?
    Elizabeth felt that her heart would break. Silly, foolish girl! She chided herself. You made the choice to care for this man against your better judgement and have learned a hard lesson!
    With the backs of her hands, she began to wipe the tears from her face, but was unsuccessful in removing them entirely before Jane entered the room. Seeing her sister’s distress, Jane immediately ran to her. “Lizzy, please do not cry! You will feel better soon! Mr. Meacham has assured us that you will be out of bed in only a few days.”
    “That is not the source of my misery.”
    “Then why are you upset, dearest?”
    “Promise to tell no one, as I could not abide it if the rest of our family should learn of my folly.”
    “Whatever you share shall be between us, as always.”
    So, Elizabeth confessed everything about her friendship with Mr. Darcy—from the moment she met him in the bookstore until the morning he brought her home on his horse. And for a long time after she finished speaking, Jane sat in stunned silence. Finally, taking her sister’s hand, Jane squeezed it, forcing a smile.
    “I am pleased that you felt you could tell me of your heartache, and I apologise that I was too involved with my own concerns to see that you needed me.”
    “You assume too much, dear sweet Jane. You are not to blame.”
    “But, I never realised that you were gone! Papa made us go to bed very early that evening. He dressed in his greatcoat and said that he was going to fetch you and Juliet. It was the next morning before I awoke to find him bringing you into our bedroom. He explained to me what happened, though he told Mary, Kitty and Lydia only that you had gotten sick from being soaked chasing after Juliet. They do not know you were out all night.”
    “You could not have known of my dilemma, as Papa was protecting me. And you knew nothing of my friendship with Mr. Darcy because I kept it secret.” She did not meet Jane’s loving gaze.
     “I was aware that it was a hopeless situation—that such a man could never care for me, but I misinterpreted his kindness for interest because…” she took a ragged breath, “because, I fell in love with him the first time we met. It was my lack of prudence that has left my heart broken.”
    “What will you do if you are ever in his company again? After all, Mr. Darcy is Mr. Bingley’s best friend and may very well visit him another time.”
    “I will just have to avoid his company. But I swear to you that I will never allow my heart to break again. I knew it would be entirely foreign for a man of his stature to consider someone like me.” She laughed mirthlessly. “I have no dowry, no connections—nothing to recommend me.”
    “That is not true! You are lovely and you have a brilliant intellect. Surely, some good man—”
     “And you know what Mama says,” Elizabeth interrupted, “No man could be interested in a woman who reads too much and has an opinion on everything!”
    “Mama cannot speak for every man.”
    “Nevertheless, apparently she was right. He left without saying goodbye.”
     
    ~~~*~~~
    Rosings
The drawing room
One week later
     
    Lady Catherine de Bourgh looked every inch the imperious matron as she sat in her large, throne-like chair studying the two people she had summoned to Rosings. As she took the measure of the man and woman perched on settees on either side of her, she pondered why she had ever considered them capable of carrying out her plans.
    Gisela, tall and