He sent a note he would meet her at the stable at three. Elizabeth did not join them for the midday meal, tending to her sister instead, so Darcy was unsure whether she would show. Relief rushed through him when he watched her approach. The green riding habit needed to be adjusted some in the hem and the waist, but, overall, no one would know it did not belong to her.
A groom hurried forward to meet her; he took Elizabeth to where Darcy stood, holding the horse’s bridle.“Miss Elizabeth,” he acknowledged her with a tilt of his head. She curtsied. “May I introduce you to Ceres?” He held the horse’s head still. “You should become familiar with the animal before you take your seat.”
Elizabeth stepped up to the horse and patted her head. “Easy, girl,” she said softly.
“She likes you,” Darcy noted.
“And you, Mr. Darcy?” she asked boldly, giving him a sideward glance.
He chuckled. “I like you, too, Miss Elizabeth.” Lord! She could charm him with just a look.
She finally whispered,“Thank you for the riding habit. I do not know how you arranged it so quickly or how you knew what to buy.The experience has quite gone to my head; I never owned anything so fine.”
“The green brings out the brightness of your eyes,” he murmured. She looked away with a blush. “Let us get you into the saddle,” he said loudly for the ears of the grooms standing around. “We will use the mounting block.”
Courageously, Elizabeth allowed him to lead her up the steps of the block while the groom held the horse steady.With pleasure he
Staring at his lips, Elizabeth said nothing for a few moments, which Darcy found to be very discomposing. “I trust you, Mr. Darcy,” she said in a low voice. He placed the reins in her hands and showed her how to hold them.
They took a couple of turns around the enclosure. He noted how she bit her lower lip, probably with anxiety, but she said nothing, concentrating on the animal. He was attuned to Elizabeth’s slightest move. “Relax your arms a bit,” he coached her. “The animal can feel your tension. Despite the size of the horse, it will respond with the least flick of your wrist.The bit in its mouth tells it what to do. Ah, that is better,” he assured her. A few more turns, and he could see she was a natural. “Straighten your back, Miss Elizabeth. It will stop you from bouncing so much.” Darcy moved closer to her.“You look fine, Miss Elizabeth,” he said.
“This is exciting, Mr. Darcy,” she said with a slight smile. “I cannot believe I am actually sitting on a horse.” Darcy nodded to the groom, and the man stopped by the block.“Is the lesson over?” she asked with some disappointment.
“Not if you do not want it to be,” he said while reaching up for her.“I want the groom to adjust the lead. I thought we might take a short ride together. I will lead your horse behind mine.” She slid down into his arms as he helped her to the ground. Darcy resisted the urge to pull her into his embrace—to let his grasp tighten about her. Instead, he inquired, for the benefit of all within earshot, “Are you adventurous enough for such a trip, Miss Elizabeth?”
“Of course, Mr. Darcy,” she declared politely.
The grooms scrambled to bring out his horse and to fix the straps. Darcy moved her out of the way as they worked.“It will be fine, Miss Elizabeth. If you tire or become frightened, you must let me know at once. Do you understand me? I will not have you injured or afraid simply to prove something to me.”
“I understand.”
At last, he led her back to the block and helped her up to Ceres’s back.The straps were adjusted again, and he handed up the reins. “We will go slowly and stay to the lower path.” She nodded, and Darcy strode to his horse and swung easily up into the saddle. He turned to her and said, “I am proud of you, Miss Elizabeth. Normally, it would take a person a week or more of lessons to be able to follow along with another rider.”
“Truly, Mr. Darcy?”
“Truly, Miss Elizabeth.” He nodded, and they started out of the stables. They rode in silence for nearly ten minutes. Darcy pulled his horse up near a copse of trees overlooking the estate house. Letting the reins loop around a nearby bush, he slid out of the saddle and then came around to help Elizabeth down. This time, he let her body slide down the length of his, and he did not move away. Instead, he trapped her between him and the horse and gazed at her. Something important existed between them. Of that, he was certain.
The corners of Darcy’s mouth turned up in a smile.“How long have I known you?”
She blinked, trying to explain the pleasure seeping into her veins.“Less than a month, Sir,” she said teasingly.
“Not long enough for you to call me Fitzwilliam?”
“Not in public.”
His hands drifted to her waist, and he pulled her closer to him. “In private, then.” He lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss started innocently enough, tender actually, but within seconds passion swept over them. Elizabeth slid in even closer to him, and Darcy’s arms instinctively tightened around her. “Elizabeth,” he moaned. Finally, he forced his mouth from hers. “Only a month?” he asked hoarsely. He kissed her temple.“Let us talk. Over here.”Taking her hand, he led her to some felled trees and helped her to sit. He took a place beside her and then took her hand in his.“Miss Elizabeth, I assure you, I do not normally respond as I have with you, and I cannot explain why I behave as such now. Please understand; I am a Will she accept? He choked back the fear she would refuse.
Elizabeth was shocked.What started as a favor to her aunt took a most unexpected turn. Her heart fluttered. And then she considered what Mr. Darcy—Fitzwilliam—said; or rather, what he left unsaid.“But you do not love me?” she blurted out.
“I never considered love,” he murmured uneasily and stopped short. He could not admit to her his desire to possess her, to fulfill his uncontrollable need for her.
“Do you want to marry, Fitz—Mr. Darcy? If you want a wife you do not love, any woman would suit you.You would not need me.” Elizabeth removed her hand from his. “I do not normally act so recklessly. I enjoy our verbal battles more than I should. Most of the men I meet lack the acuity to understand what wit I may possess. I never set my sights on a man; I do not need to marry. In fact, I decided long ago only love—a passionate attachment—would persuade me to do so. Otherwise, I should be just as happy being Aunt Lizzy to my sisters’ broods.” She blushed profusely. “It is, I know, an eccentric stance. Nonetheless, it is mine.” Darcy stared at her, astonished by such a declaration, one no fashionable society woman—no lady of the ton—would make.
“It is—it has been my plan not to marry.” He could not look at her. How could he explain the turmoil she created in him?
“And your estate? Do you not need an heir?”
Elizabeth’s words rang in his ears. An heir? A child with her? He could not do it. He fought every day to control the evil in himself. He could not pass that wretched—that cruelly unfortunate trait down to another. “Pemberley will be left to Georgiana’s children. What I do, I do for her.”
“I see.” But Elizabeth did not see how a virile man such as Fitzwilliam Darcy could not consider marriage and a family. It made no sense! His reaction to her guaranteed—did it not?—that he possessed no perverted ideas of sexual relationships. After a long pause, where neither of them breathed, Elizabeth said with finality, “If neither of us wishes to marry, why must we end what we