Chapter 2

Miss Bingley was very angry. Once again, they had to stop due to the constant rain that did not allow them to continue traveling. She had planned to arrive the next day at Pemberley. She was so excited to visit what would be her future home, the largest and most prosperous estate in all of Derbyshire.

Unfortunately, to be near Mr. Darcy, she had to feign interest in the silly Georgiana Darcy, a girl who could barely express her opinion, so shy and withdrawn. The good thing was that once she was Mrs. Darcy, she did not intend to be around her anymore. She knew Georgiana would not be a problem. In fact, she would ask her husband to set up a house for her future sister-in-law to live there with her companion.

But since she had not yet achieved her goal, she had no choice but to be friendly with the girl. "My dear Georgiana, how good that we can spend this time together. The wait would have been much more exhausting if it weren't for your company."

They had been detained all day by the rain. Because of that, the trip was delayed by a full day. Georgiana was grateful for Mrs. Annesley's company. Fortunately, Caroline had not traveled with them in the Darcy carriage. With her brother not there, she had returned to Mr. Bingley's carriage.

Charles Bingley had tried to read a book to entertain himself while waiting for the rain to stop. But he had never been a great reader, so he got bored very quickly. As always, when he was alone and without much to do, his mind began to long for those beautiful days he had spent in Netherfield. In Hertfordshire, he had met many nice people and one of the most beautiful and special women in all his acquaintance. Sadly, she did not love him, and he did not want to marry a girl looking just for financial stability in him.

When it stopped raining, it was too late to continue traveling, so they all resigned themselves to the fact that only the next day would they be able to continue the journey. Georgiana retired to her room early. Mr. Bingley, his sisters, and Mr. Hurst played cards and discussed the lives of others for a few more hours until they finally retired to rest, praying that the next day the weather would allow them to continue traveling.

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Mr. Darcy had closed his eyes and was totally given over to the thousands of sensations Elizabeth's kiss provoked in him. He had never felt such great emotion. He felt like he was in paradise. On her side, Elizabeth was just as lost as him in the kiss. Her head hurt a little, more than when she first opened her eyes, but she was still confused. She didn't know if what was happening was real or just a dream. But it was all so exciting that it could not be true. She could never be in the middle of nowhere, in the arms of Mr. Darcy, and kissing him in such an outrageous way. Therefore, she decided that she would take advantage of every second of her dream to get an idea of what it would have been like to be the wife of the most handsome but arrogant and conceited man he had ever met.

Mr. Darcy finally realized what he was doing and reluctantly decided to end the kiss. They were in the middle of the road, soaked, and it had stopped raining. "My love," said Mr. Darcy, whispering on the lips of his beloved Elizabeth, "I will take you to my house, which will soon be your house. Also, I will call a doctor to examine you. Do you think you can stand up?"

Elizabeth was absolutely confused. As soon as Mr. Darcy stopped kissing her, the headache became more intense, and she began to shiver with cold. "I'm very cold, Mr. Darcy." She could not continue speaking because she began to shiver so hard that it took away the energy she required to express her thoughts coherently.

Mr. Darcy was immediately distressed. "Don't worry, my dear Elizabeth, we are very close to home. Let me help you stand up. I'll take you on my horse so that we can get there faster. Besides, I'm not sure you can walk." Mr. Darcy immediately stood up and helped Elizabeth to do so. At that moment, he realized that the handkerchief, with which he had wiped Elizabeth's face, had some blood on it. He looked more closely at her face and realized that she had a small cut on the right side of her forehead and an incipient bump.

Elizabeth tried to stand up, but she could not, so Mr. Darcy took her in his arms and carried her to where the horse was. He mounted quickly and grabbed her by the waist to finally seat her next to him in the saddle. -My love, hold me tight so I can go fast. In less than two minutes, we will be in Pemberley." After saying that, Mr. Darcy ordered his horse to start galloping.

Elizabeth's head ached even more from the movement of the horse. So she hugged Mr. Darcy as tightly as she could and rested her head on his shoulder. It had already cleared entirely, and the mid-afternoon sunlight illuminated the path. She couldn't help but think about various things she had discovered while hugging him. First, that Mr. Darcy had a solid body. But also, his face was even more attractive when seen from so close. She couldn't help but notice he was not shaven this time. He had a small beard, and she thought that was what made him look so handsome. This was without a doubt the weirdest dream she had ever had, and she planned to make the most of it. Once she woke up, everything would go back to the way it was before. She would be alone and Mr. Darcy in his own life surrounded by rich and influential people like him.

To not fall off the horse, Elizabeth had to keep her arms tight around Mr. Darcy's torso. That's why she couldn't touch his growing beard with her hands, and she couldn't resist feeling it. So she began to kiss his cheek so that she could feel her with her lips. Suddenly, and while she continued kissing him in that intimate way, she asked him. "What do you think I should call you, my husband? Because Mr. Darcy is very formal." As she said that, she kept kissing his face, hypnotized by the sensation of the rough beard on her soft lips.

Mr. Darcy was so excited and delighted with the whole situation that he didn't know what to say for several seconds. Elizabeth's playful little kisses on his face had brought him a series of inexplicable laughs. But her question left him astonished. She had not only dreamed of him all this time, but she had also dreamed of being his wife. "My beloved wife Elizabeth, you can call me Fitzwilliam or William, as my mother called me," said him trying to control his emotions. He just wanted to stop the horse and kiss his Elizabeth as he had done minutes ago.

"MMMMMM," Elizabeth said as she continued to kiss Mr. Darcy on his cheek.

"What does that mean?" He asked, laughing.

"I think in dreams like this, and if I have a dream like this again, I'll call you William, especially when you have a beard as tempting as this one. You know, it makes you look so handsome. But when I wake up, and I remember you with that haughty and arrogant attitude, I will think about how lucky I am not to have married Fitzwilliam." Elizabeth had started laughing but stopped immediately because it caused a headache so intense that she could not keep talking or reasoning clearly. Without realizing it, she fell asleep.

Mr. Darcy did not quite understand what Elizabeth had told him, but when he went to ask her what she meant, they had already arrived in front of the house, and one of the footmen had come out to greet him.

He dismounted his horse and took Elizabeth into his arms, who was unconscious again. "Taylor, call Mrs. Reynolds and Wilson immediately," Mr. Darcy said in a commanding voice.

Mrs. Reynolds and the butler appeared immediately. "Mrs. Reynolds, I found Miss Bennet injured on the way. Please get her a room, a hot bath, and clean clothes as quickly as possible. Wilson, go now to find Dr. Evans and tell him to come immediately."

The butler promptly went in search of the doctor. Mrs. Reynolds, on the other hand, called two maids to help her prepare the room and the hot bath. "Rose, Sarah, prepare the blue room in the guest wing..."

"No, Mrs. Reynolds, Miss Bennet will be staying in the family wing," said Mr. Darcy forcefully. "I will take her to the room that Lady Margaret uses when she visits us." Mrs. Reynolds was impressed, but as a good housekeeper, she said nothing. She only followed her master. He was carrying the unconscious miss in his arms towards where the family rooms were.

Once they entered the room, Mrs. Reynolds asked Mr. Darcy to wait outside so that she could take care of the lady. One of the maids had gone to Georgiana's room in search of a nightgown so that after bathing the stranger, they could dress her in something clean and dry.

Mrs. Reynolds undressed Elizabeth and put her in the warm water. Elizabeth regained consciousness, but she was too exhausted and in pain to say anything. She just thought that every minute her dream was getting weirder and more absurd. Once the two maids had bathed her, fixed her hair, and put her the nightgown on, Mrs. Reynolds was able to recognize the girl. She was the same young lady who had been touring the house with her family during the morning.

In a few minutes, the doctor who lived very close to Pemberley arrived. He went straight to Elizabeth's room and examined her in the presence of Mrs. Reynolds. Elizabeth woke up again and was able to answer a few questions from the doctor. Finally, Dr. Evans and Mrs. Reynolds left Elizabeth's room to speak with Mr. Darcy. He was waiting outside, very nervous and incessantly pacing from one place to another. When he saw the doctor at once, he asked, "Doctor, how is my betrothed?"

Many years of training as a discreet servant kept Mrs. Reynolds from fainting. She had no idea that her Master was engaged. She corresponded closely with her cousin Mr. Jones, who was the Darcy house's butler in London. He had told her that Mr. Darcy had been very ill for several months, sad, melancholy, and with bad habits, he ate little and drank too much. She panicked at the thought that her dear Master made a hasty decision or that the unconscious lady had done something to compromise him. She would have to find out with her cousin. Unfortunately, the housekeeper in the London house was new, and she did not know her well.

"The lady is fine, a little confused about where she is and what happened to her, but that is natural taking into account the blow she had on the head. With some days of rest, she should fully recover. But she must stay in bed and rest. I will return in three days, and if I estimate that she is recovered, then she will be able to get up and return to her usual routine."

"Thank you, doctor. You do not know the relief I feel to know that this little accident has not been serious. My betrothed likes to walk very much, and she sometimes takes more risks than necessary." Mr. Darcy thanked the doctor again and tried to enter Elizabeth's room, but Mrs. Reynolds did not allow him to do it.

"Excuse me, Mr. Darcy, but it is not appropriate for you to enter the lady's room. Besides, you are still wearing those wet clothes. A hot bath is waiting for you in your room. Change your clothes, and I'll send you something to eat. Another thing, do Miss Bennet's relatives know that she is here?" Mrs. Reynolds was curious to know what was going on and how it had turned out that the girl who toured the house in the morning had practically ended up being her future Mistress. She recognized that she was quite pretty, but since Mr. Darcy had inherited Pemberley and the Darcy fortune, he had been haunted by lots of beautiful women, and he had never behaved like an immature adolescent as he was doing now.

On his part, Mr. Darcy reacted from all the excitement that had not allowed him to think with clarity. No doubt Elizabeth was traveling with family, and he should be in charge of informing them and obtaining formal consent to announce their engagement. After everything that had happened between them this afternoon, marriage was inevitable. Furthermore, after having kissed her and held her in his arms, he felt that he could not live without her anymore. "Sorry, Mrs. Reynolds, did you say that Miss Bennet was with her family?"

"Yes, sir, she and her uncle and aunt came to visit Pemberley this morning. They are from London, the gentleman is Mr. Gardiner, and they are staying at the Lambton Inn. If you wish, I can send one of the footmen to inform Miss Bennet's relatives what has happened and that she is here safe.

From the information Mrs. Reynolds provided him, he concluded that Elizabeth was traveling with her uncle, a tradesman who lived near Cheapside. Although he didn't like the idea of having to talk to that man and much less inviting Mrs. Bennet's male version to his house, he knew he had no choice. He was willing to do anything to make the woman he loved happy. "It is not necessary, Mrs. Reynolds. I will go personally to inform them about everything that has happened. Please prepare two more rooms because I will invite them to spend Miss Bennet's convalescent days with us."

"Yes, sir." That was all Mrs. Reynolds said. She didn't like the idea that his Master hadn't had time to rest. But she knew that he was stubborn, and it was almost impossible to make him change his mind.

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Archibald Denny was a man of nearly twenty-six years. He was the son of a very prosperous merchant. His grandfather and father had been very poor, but they worked hard all their lives and managed to consolidate a solid financial position. Denny had decided to enlist in the army so that he could experience a different life and be able to interact with people from other social classes. His father and grandfather could barely read and write and did not talk about anything other than business and money. His mother was a good, hardworking woman and was very proud of him.

He had risen to the rank of captain in a short time and very soon planned to become a colonel. His idea was to stay in the army until he was thirty-five, after having achieved honor and some medals. After that, he would go into the family business. He planned to use all of his experience and knowledge acquired in military life to grow the business and make it more profitable than it already was.

Archibald was a very practical man. He was not handsome; even many women had told him to his face that he was quite ugly. He was not an inexperienced man. Throughout his life, he had had more than one affair with a barmaid and married women in search of a romance with a young man. But he had never in his life fallen in love until he met Lydia Bennet.

Lydia was the daughter of a gentleman, a landowner of not much fortune but with a long family history. She was also young and beautiful. In his opinion, the most beautiful of all the Bennet sisters. A woman this beautiful had never even looked at him, yet his beloved Lydia had not only noticed him, but she had flirted with him, and one day she had briefly kissed him on the lips. That day she showed him that she felt for him the same as he for her.

That's why he was so excited. This evening there was a social gathering at the Fosters' house, and he would see and spend time with Lydia. He only prayed that they could go out to the garden for a moment to have a chance to steal a kiss from her again.

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Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner returned to the inn a little after five in the afternoon, and they did not find Elizabeth in their rooms. The innkeeper informed them that she had left more than three hours ago and had not returned. Elizabeth's Aunt and Uncle were not worried initially, but they began to worry when it was past seven. Luckily, it was the middle of summer, which meant that the sunlight lasted until after nine at night.

"I'll wait just another half hour, Madeline, and will go looking for her," said Mr. Gardiner, very concerned.

"And I'll accompany you. I'm afraid that she is lost in the woods or that she is trapped somewhere because of the rain." Mrs. Gardiner knew the surroundings well, and she had an idea where she would start looking.

The innkeeper was going through some accounts when he saw the richest and most powerful man in the entire area enter, none other than Fitzwilliam Darcy himself. "Mr. Darcy, I am happy to see you. Please tell me, how can I help you?"

"I wish to speak to Mr. Gardiner," he said.

-It is your lucky day, Mr. Darcy! Mr. Gardiner and his wife are here in the room," said the innkeeper, indicating a couple who were near the fireplace talking.

"Thank you very much," said Mr. Darcy and went where the Gardiners were. He took a deep breath and told himself to be patient. He was willing to make this sacrifice and much more for the only woman he had ever loved.

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