Another jab. But since the tone of Mrs. Bingley’s voice had softened, Darcy did not feel the sting as much as the first.
“Please excuse me, Mr. Darcy,” Jane said, rising, “One of Lizzy’s favorite dishes is mutton chops, and so I shall need to speak with Cook.”
“More mutton,” Darcy mumbled. During his last nightfall, without Teddy and Rupert to help in the hunt, Nell, who was not one to miss a meal, had asked her steward to make sure that a freshly killed sheep was left at a prearranged spot on the Granyard property, and he had eaten mutton on both days. But what was on the Netherfield dinner menu was the least of his problems. Trying to figure out what Elizabeth had meant by “not making any noble speeches” was his top priority; shaving was his second.
Although Darcy had hoped to speak to Elizabeth upon her arrival at Netherfield, Mrs. Bingley had other plans for her sister, and most of Elizabeth’s time was taken up with discussing what was required to prepare for the arrival of baby Bingley. Darcy knew that he was being punished by Jane Bingley for his dillydallying in asking Elizabeth to marry him, so he would just have to wait until after supper. But when the meal was finished and it was suggested that they play cards, Darcy had had enough.
“As much as I would enjoy playing cards, Mrs. Bingley, I am eager to acquaint Miss Elizabeth with some events that took place in Scotland. I was called away on a family emergency, and since she knows some of the parties, she expressed an interest in learning how things turned out.”
It was only after getting a nod from Elizabeth that Jane finally agreed to retire for the evening and leave Lizzy and Darcy alone. Knowing that it was important that no one hear their conversation, Lizzy closed all the doors of the drawing room. She went and sat on the sofa next to Mr. Darcy, so that they would not have to whisper, an intimacy she was not prepared to engage in at the moment.
Darcy related every detail of what had transpired in Scotland, and there were times when Lizzy’s heart dropped into her stomach, especially when she learned how close Rupert had come to being discovered in his lupine form. After Mr. Darcy left Pemberley, she had asked Mr. Jackson to bring her every book on wolves and werewolves in the house. These tomes were concealed in the hidden room behind the study, and Lizzy had pored over them. The picture that emerged was that wherever wolves roamed, there was a concerted effort to exterminate them and that they had been successfully eradicated in all but the most remote areas of Britain.
Lizzy remained silent as Mr. Darcy spoke of his visit with the laird, waiting for Rupert’s Council custodians to arrive, their arduous return visit, and Nell’s reprimand.
“Disciplining Nell must have been difficult for you, and then nightfall came hard on the heels of your reprimand.”
“It was awkward for the first few minutes, but Nell knew that there was a fresh kill on the property, and she could not wait to get at that sheep.”
Lizzy started to laugh, and Darcy joined in. Nell’s appetite had become a source of amusement for them.
“In the spring, Nell will visit the émigré population living near the Welsh border, and she should be able to find a mate as there are some aristocrats amongst them.”
“Then Nell and you will not…”
“Will not what?”
“Will not be getting married?”
Darcy shook his head in confusion. “Me marry Nell? Why would you think that? I have never given one moment of thought to withdrawing my offer of marriage to you. It is you who have reconsidered. Jackson told me what you said after you and Nell came out of the study. You said that ‘you had changed your mind.’”
“I said no such thing. My response to her efforts to separate us was that ‘it had changed everything,’” Lizzy said visibly upset that her words had been misinterpreted. “After she told me of all the dangers werewolves face, I swore that, except for nightfall, I would never leave you again. It is as Ruth said to Naomi in the Bible: ‘Entreat me not to leave thee or return from following after thee; for wither thou goest, I shall go, and where thou lodgest, I shall lodge. Thy people shall be my people.’ That is exactly how I feel about you.”
“Then you still want to marry me?” Darcy asked in a stutter, choking up after such a speech, and every frustration Lizzy felt since she learned that Mr. Darcy was a werewolf came to the surface.
“How dare you ask me such a question,” she said, standing up and stepping away from him. “Without so much as a backwards glance, you left me at Pemberley with no words of comfort or an embrace to reassure me, and your noble effort to release me from my promise to marry you left me heartsick.” When he started to apologize, she told him that she was not finished. “I waited and waited for some word from you, and when it came, it was three lines of prose that you could have written to your solicitor.” She made her hands into fists. “And then you come to Longbourn and play these cat-and-mouse games with me. I am so angry I could hit you.”
“You may do so, but I warn you that I took lessons at Mr. Jackson’s Boxing Academy.”
“Do not think you can make me laugh and that all will be well, Fitzwilliam Darcy. These weeks have been pure torture for me. I did not know if we were truly engaged.” Hot tears poured out of her, and when he offered his handkerchief, she refused it and went in search of one of her own.
“Elizabeth, you can be unhappy with me, but is it necessary for you to take your frustration out on my handkerchief?”
When Lizzy went to take it out of his hand, he pulled her to him, and he held her tightly until she stopped fighting him. After he felt the tension leaving her body, he placed his hand on her head and brought it to his chest, and she put her arms around his waist and clung to him.
“You are not angry anymore,” he said, and when she looked up at him, he traced the outline of her face with his fingers and kissed her forehead. “You must understand that I did not know what was happening in Scotland, so I had to leave immediately. The only reason that this situation did not end in disaster was Teddy did everything exactly right. If it had not been for him, I do not know what would have happened to Rupert. But there was no way for me to know that until I reached the Underhill estate.
“As for my letter, what could I write? After all that you had gone through in those two days after nightfall, I had to leave you to rush to Scotland to tend to another werewolf situation, so I thought it only right that you should have an opportunity to end our engagement. If I had written a love letter to you, it would have been the same as pleading with you to stay with me.”
“Your letter to your sister was longer than the one you wrote to me,” Lizzy said, after seeing the logic behind his staid missive.
“What was the point of writing the same thing twice?”
“Mr. Darcy, you have a lot to learn about women,” she said, shaking her head in dismay. After drying everything that was wet, Lizzy took him by the hand and returned to the sofa. “I have had weeks to think about our marriage, and I have made a decision. I want to go to Gretna Green right away.”
Darcy burst out laughing. This was a good sign. Lizzy had not lost her sense of humor, but after seeing the look in her eyes, he realized that she was serious.
“No,” Darcy firmly said, “it was a terrible idea when I suggested it. It sounds even worse coming from you. Do you really want people to be looking at your belly for the next few months wondering if you are in a family way and had to get married?”
Lizzy thought of all the tongue-waggers in Meryton who would delight in speculating on a possible pregnancy. “No, I do not want that, so we shall do as you suggested and get a special license.”