The Trouble With Horses: A Pride & Prejudice Novella Variation (4 page)

Tiptoeing across the hall, Elizabeth slowly opened the door to the guest room, spying that with labored breath, Mr. Darcy was indeed asleep. She opened the door wider and entered the room to find a seat in the chair now moved against the wall.

"Is it your regular habit to enter the sick room of strange men, or am I simply bestowed the felicity of your notice, madam?"

Elizabeth was startled at the sudden taunt by Mr. Darcy and looked at his face as he kept his eyes closed and only moved his mouth.

"I am shamed that my concern for a sick man is such a black mark on my character, sir."

Instinctively, Elizabeth licked her lips and found herself naturally sitting more to the edge of the seat in anticipation of Mr. Darcy's next words. The nervous anxiety she felt around this man intoxicated, and she couldn't help herself from experiencing it one more time before he was taken away to Netherfield to further recover.

Darcy opened his eyes at the woman's retort and caught a sparkle in her eye as she threw his words right back. To be sure, she was a fair beauty, not one to turn so many heads in the society he kept, but there was something so odd about her continued dedication, despite his rudeness earlier in the morning, that intrigued him. He knew he should apologize for being too gruff, but to bring up his poor behavior would likely only again injure her sensibility if she had indeed been offended.

"Mmmm, you are giving my words more weight than their due, madam."

"And you are striking out at the very hands that saved you." Elizabeth grew piqued at the continued slight she felt, embarrassed that he once again questioned her propriety.

Darcy laughed. This woman was delightful, even if she was sorely mistaken. "It was you then that pulled me up six feet out of that creek bed and carried me to your home? No, perhaps you tied me to a makeshift litter and dragged me out of that forest?"

Elizabeth jumped from her chair, her cheeks burning. "Mr. Darcy, you are a rude, uncouth sort of man and I shall bother you no further."

Ignoring her family and visitors, Elizabeth trudged down the stairs and out the front door into the safety of Mother Nature. She couldn't believe she was attracted to such an ogre as Mr. Darcy.
Stomping her way through the nearest field, she continued her one-sided chastisement in her head all the way to her best friend Charlotte Lucas' home. She wasn't sure how, but if she could fall so quickly for Mr. Darcy, then perhaps she would quickly be able to forget him as well.

~~~♥~~~

CHAPTER 3

Days of sunshine and rain alternated in the week ahead but Elizabeth's mood remained black. Looking out the window of her shared bedroom with Jane, she watched as the carriage took her eldest sister to her second invitation of tea at Netherfield Park with Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst. The invitation was never extended to herself, and Elizabeth hated to admit she longed to see Mr. Darcy just one more time to apologize for her haughty words.

The visit to Charlotte's had been fruitless as Elizabeth endured an hour of relentless teasing by the Lucas boys, all refusing to call her anything but Queen Elizabeth of the Amazon and pretending every piece of ribbon or trimming Charlotte was using to refresh a bonnet was a snake trying to kill them. She heartily wished there had been real snakes to bite them, and she wouldn't have lifted a finger to save any of them. Charlotte was kind enough to offer Elizabeth a ride home after the visit, but she had missed the departure of the Bingleys and Darcy.

That was six days ago and this morning she was going to stop her sulking and walk into town, if only to see if the book store had any new offerings. Wiping from her face the last remnants of her sorrow, Elizabeth refreshed her dress and searched for one of her sisters to accompany her journey.

"Elizabeth, don't clamor down the stairs, oh my poor nerves!" Mrs. Bennet lounged on the sofa in the parlor fanning herself while keeping a keen eye on the lane out front. Elizabeth sighed and smoothed her skirts before entering the parlor proper.

"Kitty?" Her younger sister looked up from the stitching in her lap. "Would you care to walk to Meryton with me?"

Kitty, the second-youngest Bennet daughter, properly named Catherine at birth, wrinkled up her nose. "You only like the book store." She returned her attention to her stitches.

"Well, yes, I do plan to stop in the book store, but I also
hoped to retrim one of my old bonnets and thought you could help me select the ribbon? I'll give you the extra."

"Oooh, take me Lizzie, take me! Miss Lettie has just received the loveliest shade of pink that would go perfectly with my complexion!" Lydia, pranced about the room in exuberance, completely forgetting that Elizabeth would be picking out ribbon to go with her own complexion, not Lydia's who had the darkest features of the Bennet daughters.

"Lydia, Aunt Phillips is to arrive any moment! No, I really must insist you girls stay home today." Mrs. Bennet had paid calls around the county just yesterday with the daring tales of Elizabeth's most valiant rescue of one of the richest men in London. She made sure to include how the poor man in his delirious state repeated her daughter's name over and over again.

Yes, she was sure that a proposal of marriage was just around the corner though the small voice in her head reminded her that Mr. Darcy had not come to call since his accident. But this little annoyance was quieted by the jubilation Mrs. Bennet felt as she remembered that Jane was continually invited to Netherfield Park, so perhaps Mr. Darcy liked her prettiest daughter instead. Either way, the prospects for her girls were looking up and she was sure to tell everyone of her acquaintance of her expectations.

Without fail, a carriage rolled up and Elizabeth recognized it as her aunt's. Exasperated it was too late to make her escape, she found a seat by the window to pay courtesy. A slender woman of nearly forty alighted from the carriage with her smile fixed in place as she steadied her hat. The pale lavender cover clashed with her wine red dress, but then again, Aunt Phillips wasn't known for her keen fashion sense. Elizabeth watched as the arrival progressed through the typical pleasantries and she mostly closed her mind to the gossip the two former Gardiner sisters swapped freely with each meeting.

After a few minutes, Elizabeth was able to excuse herself to see about the tea tray. The departure wasn't long enough as by the time she returned, the talk had turned to a most uncomfortable subject. Humiliated, Elizabeth's hands shook as she served her aunt and mother before finding her seat again.

"-- and I said to Lady Lucas that it was impossible. No niece of mine would dare to enter the bed of an unmarried man."

"Of course not! Lizzie read to Mr. Darcy in his ill state and helped treat his most violent fever with cold cloths. She saved his life!" Mrs. Bennet sniffed in indignation at the gall of Lady Lucas to spread such lies about her daughter. Just like a mother of a shelved daughter to sow sour grapes about the girls still able to catch a man's eye!

Aunt Phillips stirred her cup slowly, keeping a keen eye on Elizabeth who was redder than a beet in the face. "So Elizabeth was never alone in Mr. Darcy's room?"

Flustered, Mrs. Bennet took the bait. "Never with the door closed!"

Elizabeth cringed. It was all Caroline Bingley's fault! She was certainly the reason these rumors were running wild, knowing Mr. Darcy would never offer for a Bennet daughter with her poor status and lack of a dowry. Even if she wasn't so poor, how could he when he was completely indifferent to her?

"Kitty? Lydia? If we leave now, we might still make the ribbon shop before it closes. Aunt Phillips." Elizabeth gave a curtsy and found her way to the front door stunned by her aunt's revelation. If Lady Lucas was talking about her, it certainly was spread all over the county. No one would tell Lady Lucas such gossip until last, knowing how close the two families were. Shame bubbled up in her stomach as Elizabeth started down the path to Meryton while her two youngest sisters fell into step behind her and giggled most of the mile walk.

Elizabeth's frustration carried to her feet, making them swifter than usual. It was not long before she could hear Lydia's shrill voice call out.

"Lord, Lizzie, slow down! We don't walk as fast as you!"

Elizabeth shrugged off the warning and kept to her step. She didn't know why she felt such a sense of foreboding with each step, but if the whole town did think she was a fallen woman, she elected to learn it first hand with her chin held high.

~~~♥~~~♥~~~

"Get your mutton! Get your mutton!" A young boy rang a simple bell outside the pungent smelling butcher shop and Elizabeth recognized him as young Arnold Masters, the precocious six-year-old son of the butcher. Passing the boy on the clapboard walkway, Elizabeth pressed a penny to the boy's hand with a smile as she continued her walk to the bookshop.

Grinning, Arnold raised his hand holding the bell and clanged it about most viciously as he waved to the nicest Bennet sister, at least by his account. "Get your mutton! Get your mutton!" he resumed yelling as Lydia and Kitty passed him without a second glance.

The two younger girls stopped outside of the bookshop to gawk at the many militia men loitering about town. Waving her handkerchief, Lydia attracted the attention of a Mr. Denny and his companion who quickly crossed the street to talk. Elizabeth eyed her two sisters carefully, and upon hearing Lydia talk about dancing with Mr. Denny at the last assembly, she rolled her eyes and entered the bookshop on her own.

Another bell over the door signaled her arrival and Old Mr. Hopkins looked up from the book he was reading at the counter.

"There's nothing new, Miss Elizabeth, since last week. I won't get new a shipment of books until next month." Mr. Hopkins' much wrinkled brown eyes twinkled at his favorite young customer. He watched her as she curtsied to him and walked to a different section of the shop than her usual perusal, the latest fashion magazines from London.

Fitzwilliam Darcy passed the two flirtatious girls he recognized from the Bennet home with a look of disgust. The taller man in militia regimentals was a soul he wished to never spy again in his general direction and with all of his polite manners he possessed he bowed to the younger ladies.

"Miss Kitty, Miss Lydia."

"Ooooh, Mr. Darcy are you here to meet Lizzie? How romantic! A secret rendezvous!" Kitty Bennet pretended to swoon like a heroine in a novel, garnering a loud laugh from her younger sister.

Perplexed, Darcy raised an eyebrow at the ladies and cleared his throat. "I did not know you or your sisters planned to patron the bookshop today. I find the library at Netherfield to be sparse, as many leased estates are, and hoped to find pleasurable reading material inside."

"How surprising the library at Netherfield Park cannot live up to the exacting standards of a Darcy." The tall man with Denny spoke, with a challenging glint in his eye. Mr. Darcy stared hard at the man, remained silent, and turned instead to the ladies to give a farewell bow before pulling the door of the shop open.

"Mr. Wickham! The most serious Mr. Darcy cannot be teased!" Lydia squealed, the last words Darcy heard before the door closed behind him.

Removing his hat, his eyes adjusted to the dimness and he sniffed in response to the flurry of dust particles floating in the ray of sunlight before him. He turned to the counter to address the shopkeeper.

"I wondered if you carried
Psyche
by Mary Tighe?"

Elizabeth Bennet flinched at the melodious baritone voice floating in the air behind her. It could be no other than Mr. Darcy and she once again cursed Fate that even her attempts to forget the damn man threw her right into his path. Taking deep breaths, Elizabeth resolved to continue her shopping and ignore him entirely.

"I just so happen to have a copy, sir. My favorite customer is here and she highly recommended the book after reading it herself and so I purchased a spare."

Mr. Darcy raised his eyebrows at the bookshop owner that his favorite customer would be female.

"Yes, I hoped to present the volume to my sister when I next saw her," Darcy finished as Mr. Hopkins vacated the counter and began to walk towards the back of the shop. That's when he saw her. Of course it would be her, the vixen Bennet sister who challenged him during his recovery. Even now his right hand ached as it recovered, and he had not managed to stop dreaming of those crystal clear blue eyes.

Examining a pattern for a rather low cut muslin dress with rosettes along the shoulder, Elizabeth could feel a steely gaze behind her. It was ages before she put the pattern back and turned around nearly knocking into Mr. Darcy's chest. She stood there for a moment, her nose just an inch away from a few layers of cloth and his skin, inhaling an intoxicating scent of spice and sandalwood, before raising her gaze to lock with his.

Mr. Hopkins stepped out of the back room with the requested book  just at that moment. "I hope your sister will enjoy..."

Both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth turned in the same direction and bumped into one another with multiple apologies. Smiling, Mr. Hopkins covered his mouth with his hand, laughing at the two young people before him trying to cover their embarrassment. He walked over to the counter and Mr. Darcy followed him to finish the transaction.

Pressing multiple coins into Mr. Hopkins hand, Darcy quietly whispered he would gladly purchase any magazine the young woman chose.

"You mean Miss Elizabeth?"

Mr. Darcy nodded and gave a pert nod to the bookstore owner before bowing to Miss Elizabeth and exiting the shop. Once outside, he purposely ignored the younger Bennet sisters and their company to cross the road and make one last errand.

Left in the store, Elizabeth hastily grabbed the issue with the muslin pattern and walked up to the counter. She pulled out her reticule to pay, when Mr. Hopkins handed the magazine back to her with a father's prideful gaze.

"It's been taken care of."

Confused, Elizabeth shook her head and tried again to hand Mr. Hopkins her coins, only to be refused once more. To add insult to injury, Mr. Hopkins walked away from the counter towards the back of his shop, humming an old Irish air.

With her magazine held close to her chest, Elizabeth left the shop with her cheeks burning. Why had Mr. Darcy bought her a gift? Was this his way of apologizing? Why hadn't he said anything to her? It was all most perplexing and Elizabeth found herself more frustrated that she couldn't give the man up in her heart or her mind!

Practically dragging her sisters to the hat shop and away from the friendly officers, Elizabeth bought more ribbon than she originally expected, including a yard of the bright pink ribbon she planned to just give evenly to both of her younger sisters. With any luck, the distractions of ribbon and military officers would keep her sisters from talking about running into Mr. Darcy.

As the girls exited the hat shop with their wares in hand, a familiar set of eyes balefully caught Elizabeth's as Mr. Darcy's horse was still tied up outside of the bookshop. With a rueful smile, Elizabeth patted the horse's muzzle and stroked the dark fur with her gloved hand.

"How are you old boy? Still galloping down hills as wild as the wind?" She laughed as the horse snorted into her hand.

"Lizzie," Lydia whined, and blew out a full breath to set her mouth in the most perfect pout only the baby of a family can perform.

Elizabeth leaned closer to the horse and pressed her forehead to his muzzle.

It was this vista of Elizabeth greeting his horse that Mr. Darcy spied upon leaving the inn that stopped him in his boots. His neck felt suddenly very hot, and he tugged at his offending cravat for relief. He shook his head and began his way back to his horse once he saw Miss Elizabeth turn to leave.

He wasn't sure what came over him at the bookstore, to buy a gift for a woman so wholly unrelated to him was a very serious matter but something about that woman was bewitching in the most unsettling manner! He urged his horse in the opposite way of the walking Bennet sisters and began a gallop as soon as he was on the outskirts of town. Taking the longer road around the shire, he would make it back just in time to refresh himself for dinner.