Mr. Darcy's Proposal (5 page)

“The doctor says there is little hope he will recover, but I cannot believe it is so hopeless. Surely, the doctor could be mistaken,” said Jane.

Elizabeth smiled at her sister’s ever-present optimism. Pulling up the big chair next to his bed, she waved Jane away. “Now go and rest. I will stay with him.”

Just as Jane reached the door, she asked, “Lizzy, was that Mr. Darcy’s carriage you arrived in?”

“Yes, it was. It is a long story and I shall tell you later all about it. Now off you go.” Elizabeth kept up her vigil throughout the rest of the day and into the night. Her sister Mary came to sit with them early in the evening. She read from Fordyce’s sermons and the Bible, telling Elizabeth she was certain this would comfort their father. After an hour, Mary excused herself and went to bed. Elizabeth stayed, determined not to leave his side until she was sure he knew she was home again. Near midnight, her father opened his eyes and spoke to her for the first time.

“Lizzy, is that really you?” His voice was barely audible.

“Of course, Papa, I am here with you,” she responded taking his hand. “Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?”

He gave her hand a small squeeze and answered, “Yes, my dear, could you please ask Mary to stop reading to me. I find all those sermons and Bible passages quite tiresome.” And after winking at her, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Six

Elizabeth dozed in the big chair by her father’s bed through most of the night until Jane returned to relieve her. A few hours of sleep in her own bed revived her enough that she felt able to face the day.

After eating something herself, she took a tray to her father’s room. She spoke softly to him a few times, and Mr. Bennet opened his eyes and looked at her. A small smile crept across his mouth.

“Good morning, Papa,” she said kissing him on the cheek.

Elizabeth soaked some bread in beef tea and fed it to him slowly. Almost immediately after finishing, he fell asleep again. Elizabeth must have dozed off herself because the next thing she knew, she felt someone shaking her gently.

“Miss Elizabeth,” said Hill, the family’s maid.

“Yes, yes, I am awake,” she answered although she really was not.

“You have a caller downstairs.” As she pondered who could possibly have come to call, Hill said, “I have put him in the parlor.”

Suddenly more alert, she asked, “Who is this caller?”

“Mr. Darcy, miss.”

“Mr. Darcy?” He was the last person in the world she had expected. Trying to clear the cobwebs of sleep away, Elizabeth asked Hill to offer Mr. Darcy refreshments and inform him that she would be down in a few minutes.

Hill went off to see to Mr. Darcy, leaving Elizabeth to ponder this turn of events. In her room, sitting at the dressing table, she tried to shape her long hair into some semblance of neatness. Looking at herself in the mirror, she was dismayed at what she saw. Her face was tired and drawn, and her eyes betrayed sorrow and worry. Well, it did not matter anyway. She was certain Mr. Darcy had never thought her handsome, so why should she be concerned about trying to impress him now? She would greet him, spend a few minutes just to be courteous, send him on his way, and that would be that. The call must be merely a polite gesture on his part. She felt obliged to receive him as she was in his debt for the use of his carriage.

After she finished making herself presentable, she went slowly down the stairs, uneasy about the encounter. When she entered the room, he stood immediately and greeted her with a bow.

“Good afternoon, Miss Elizabeth.”

“Mr. Darcy, I did not expect to see you again so soon.”

“I have come to inquire after the health of your father. I hope the timing of my call is not inconvenient.”

Elizabeth sensed him watching her every move. “Please sit down, Mr. Darcy.”

He took a seat in the big wing chair near the fire and Elizabeth sat opposite. She was having difficulty meeting his gaze and found herself looking down at the floor where she saw a small tea stain on the carpet. As soon as he was gone, she would have Hill clean it up. What a strange thing to notice at this moment, she mused.

“May I inquire after your father, Miss Bennet?”

Elizabeth realized he was repeating the question she had been too distracted to answer the first time. As she described her father’s condition, he leaned toward her, listening intently. Suddenly, the words caught in her throat and tears sprang to her eyes. She glanced at him in embarrassment but saw he was looking at her with only kindness and warmth. Darcy reached into his pocket and wordlessly extended his handkerchief.

“I am so sorry, again, Mr. Darcy. It seems that every time you have seen me recently, I have been in tears. I assure you this is not my usual state.”

“You have been under an unusual strain these last few days. Next time, however, I will prepare in advance and bring several of those with me,” he said, indicating the handkerchief she now clutched in her hand.

His comment caught her off guard, and she wondered again why he was being so kind to her.

“Would you like me to send to London for my personal physician? He could provide another opinion on your father’s condition.”

Elizabeth was so surprised he would make such an offer that she hardly knew what to say. It would not do to be any more in his debt than was already the case. “Thank you for your kind offer, but I believe everything that can be done for him is being done. The doctor tells us it is just a matter of time. We can only try to make him comfortable.”

“I am truly sorry to hear that, Miss Elizabeth. It makes me think of my own parents, and how much it grieved me to watch them slip away.”

Elizabeth was surprised again that Darcy had shared something personal about himself. The only time she could recall his ever speaking of his parents was yesterday in the garden at the inn.

Darcy rose and began pacing in front of the fireplace. Elizabeth sat in silence, too tired to attempt initiating any conversation. She hoped that maybe if she remained silent, he would leave. Then she remembered—Mr. Darcy had never been uncomfortable with silence.

As she watched him walk back and forth, she noticed that his boots had obviously been meticulously shined. In fact, she could not think of a time when any aspect of his personal appearance was less than perfect. Her eye went back to the tea stain on the carpet again, but she looked away quickly for fear that if she stared at the spot, it might draw his attention to it. For some reason, she could not bear the thought of his noticing the imperfections of her mother’s housekeeping.

After what seemed like an hour, he stopped pacing. Thinking he was about to take his leave, she stood to thank him for calling. Much to her embarrassment by the time she was on her feet, he had crossed the room and was standing directly in front of her where they nearly collided. He caught her by the elbows to steady her.

“Excuse me, sir,” she murmured looking down to avoid his eyes. Although he released her immediately, he did not back away but remained standing a bit closer than she liked. She caught the exotic scent of cloves and other spices and recalled noticing this several other times when he was nearby.

“Forgive me, Miss Elizabeth, if I speak too plainly, but I am very concerned about how you and your family will manage should your father…” he hesitated, “…not recover. When your cousin inherits Longbourn, you may very well be left in a precarious position. From what I have observed of Mr. Collins, I do not anticipate he will be generous toward you. If we were married, your mother and sisters would benefit from my protection. You would not have to worry about anything.”

Elizabeth’s cheeks suddenly felt hot. Had she understood him correctly? Was this his idea of a marriage proposal?

“You must forgive me for being a little slow, Mr. Darcy. Perhaps it is because I am tired, but I am not quite certain I understand what you are saying.”

“I thought I was quite clear. I am asking you to marry me.”

If he was asking for her hand, why had he said nothing of love or attachment? In fact, his words held no more warmth than if he had been making a business arrangement. Just as she opened her mouth to respond, Darcy put his finger lightly over her lips to prevent her from speaking. The intimacy of his action stunned her.

“Please do me the honor of hearing me out.”

She nodded slightly. In spite of her irritation over what he had said—or failed to say—she was completely distracted by his close proximity and the tingling feeling that lingered on her lips where he had touched them. Dropping back into the chair behind her, Elizabeth’s mind raced. She wondered what possible response she could give that would not bring offense. In spite of her low opinion of him, he had been most kind to her over the past few days, and she owed him something for that. She would be sorry to hurt his feelings by refusing him, but it was simply impossible to imagine being married to a man she hardly knew, let alone one who had insulted her before they were even introduced.

Darcy surprised her by sitting down on the footstool beside her chair. Because of his height, this brought them nearly eye-to-eye. Elizabeth thought he looked vulnerable, almost like a little boy sitting there with his knees nearly up to his chin. When he spoke, his voice was soft and gentle.

“I believe it would most certainly relieve your father’s mind to know that you and your family will be financially secure.”

“Mr. Darcy, I am more amazed than anything else. I simply cannot comprehend why you would wish to marry me.” At this, she risked a glance in his direction.

Darcy wrinkled his brow in confusion. “As I have said, I am concerned about your family’s financial situation, and I also believe you would be a very good influence on my sister. She is of an age where she needs the influence of a woman in her life.”

“You have given me all the practical reasons why this marriage would be advantageous, but I am still unsure of why you have chosen me? Is this to be just a business arrangement?”

“No, that…that is not my intention,” he stammered.

“Because if you are looking for a new companion for your sister, I am sure you could find someone suitable at considerably less expense to yourself than taking a wife.”

He cleared his throat and took her hand in his. “I am sorry I was not more clear. Miss Elizabeth, I have admired you from the first time we met. You are not like other women of my acquaintance who are only concerned with my fortune and position in society. As we have spent more time together, my admiration has continued to grow. I hold you in the highest regard.”

Elizabeth blinked slowly. This was certainly news to her. “You must forgive my shock at your proposal, Mr. Darcy. We hardly know each other, and until very recently, I had been under the impression you did not like me.”

“Not like you?” he responded wrinkling his brow.

“In all of our acquaintance, we have only spoken a few times and when we have, we have always disagreed. You have also made yourself quite clear as to what you think of my family.”

“Yes, well, your family is…interesting to say the least.”

At this, she reclaimed her hand and folded it with her other so he could not pick it up again.

“You say you have admired me from the time we first met, but that is not entirely true. At the assembly in Meryton last fall, I overheard what you said about me—that I was ‘tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt you’. I believe those were your words. What do you have to say about that?”

Darcy blushed again all the way to the tips of his ears. “I owe you an apology for that remark. It had nothing to do with you.”

“Nothing to do with me? You insulted me and yet insist it had nothing to do with me? I do not understand, sir. I heard what you said quite clearly. I was only a few feet away, and my hearing is most acute.”

“Bingley was pressing me to dance when I did not wish to. The only way I could dissuade him from torturing me was to feign indifference.”

“What about the disdainful way you treated almost everyone here in the neighborhood last fall? You barely deigned to speak to anyone.”

“You have mentioned this before, and let me say again I am not comfortable conversing with people I do not know.”

“You must tell me how you become acquainted with people unless you speak to them. You move in the highest circles of society, sir. I find it difficult to believe you have no skills in the art of conversation.”

Darcy’s eyes widened at her comment. “Miss Elizabeth, although I do not have first-hand knowledge of how marriage proposals are usually received, it would surprise me very much if young ladies take it as an opportunity to argue with the gentleman who is asking for her hand.” His eyes were deep and intense, but there was a hint of humor around the edges. Now it was Elizabeth’s turn to blush.

“But as I said, you are not like any woman I have ever met. I admire not only your beauty but your spirit and intelligence as well.”

Elizabeth mumbled a thank you, but found she could no longer look him in the eye. Looking away, her gaze came to rest on the tea stain on the carpet again. Its presence irritated her now more than ever.

“I remember last fall when you walked three miles through rain and mud out of concern for your sister. I respected you for that. When I saw you again in Kent, I had to acknowledge that my feelings had not diminished, and I resolved to make you an offer of marriage.”