A/N
Onto chapter 5. There is one situation here which some of you may find a bit controversial, but I do hope you enjoy the chapter as I had great fun writing it!
As before, thank you all for all the engagement with this story. Your comments, appreciation, suggestions and follows et al., keep me motivated, please do keep posting/sharing your thoughts :-). If any of you notice any anachronistic language, regency faux pas, pls do take a minute to share that.
To reader Lisa – I am sorry I did not receive your PM. I think one must be logged in as a registered user of FF to send PMs. If you have a registered ID would be grateful if you can PM me once again. Thank you so much for your help. It does not matter that you did not fulfill the criteria for a Beta reader, your help is invaluable!
A Chance EncounterCopyright © 2021 by S. Neha
All rights reserved.
Chapter 5Darcy slowly walked away from the bed and, with a deep sigh, sat down in a nearby chair. 'She has withdrawn from me once again,' he thought with an ache in his heart. However, he could not really blame her for her reactions. She had been through a lot in the last few days culminating in that accident, and most of it has been at his hands or those of his relatives. Add to this the fact that she disliked him, and it was a miracle that she had interacted with him today in such a civil fashion. But then, she always was gracious and treated even the likes of Caroline Bingley with punctilious civility. Only once had he seen her completely out of temper and unable to control her emotions - the day he had proposed.
'How had things come to such a pass…' His troubled musings were interrupted by a knock at the door. When he bade enter, Martha came in carrying their trays. Believing Elizabeth to be asleep, she arranged everything on the table very quietly and then addressed Darcy in a low voice, " Mistress asked to tell you to enjoy your meal in peace. I will in bring the little Miss when you have eaten your supper." At Darcy's nod of thanks, she left the chamber with a quick curtsey.
"Miss Bennet, our supper is here." He said. When he did not get a response, he called out again in a much louder voice, "Miss Bennet?"
"I do so wish that you would let me be, Mr Darcy. I do not want any supper. I only want to sleep." Was the testy response he received for his pains.
Darcy shook his head. From what he knew of Miss Bennet, cajoling was hardly going to work with the stubborn woman, especially when she sounded so peeved, but then he also knew that she hardly ever refused a challenge. 'Ah well, you leave me no choice, Miss Bennet.' He muttered to himself.
"You know Miss Bennet, today, I was delighted to learn that I still remember the lullaby I used to sing to my sister when she was little. There was something else I enjoyed a lot at that time." He paused for effect, and the subject of his speech was so arbitrary that despite herself, Elizabeth found herself curious to discover what he would say next.
"I also loved to feed Georgie her favourite chicken broth whenever my baby sister threw a tantrum and refused her food. Not understanding where he was taking the conversation, a puzzled Elizabeth waited in suspense. She did not have to wait for long.
"So… Er… if you do not get up soon and finish your supper, Miss Bennet, I believe I would be quite keen to discover if I still possess the knack to get recalcitrant young ladies to swallow their food."
'Wait! Did he just threaten to… to force the food on her? How dare he?' Elizabeth sat up with a jerk and glared at him. That the sudden movement made her head to ache some more did not improve her mood. "You would not dare, Mr Darcy!" She said sharply.
"I truly hope that you would not put my resolve to test, Miss Bennet."
When Elizabeth let out an outraged gasp at that, Darcy offered her a rueful smile and added, "But now that I have your undivided attention, I would like to you to recall that Mrs Webster was going to put some special herbs in your broth - to keep away the chill. As such this broth here is more medicine than supper, and I am sure you will find it delicious if you but give it a chance."
Elizabeth made to speak, but he spread his hand placatingly, "Don't you think it is in your interest to get better as soon as possible so that we can commence our journey homewards at the earliest opportunity."
Elizabeth wanted to rile at him for his impudence but what he said just now made so much sense that she found she was quite unable to do so. However, she could not prevent herself from responding with a petulant – "Oh, very well. I will eat if you will just pass that tray to me."
"Excellent!" Darcy smiled at her as he picked up the tray and placed it carefully on her lap. Then with a murmured "Bon appétit, Miss Bennet," he went to pick up his tray and sat down to enjoy his meal.
Elizabeth warily raised the spoon to her mouth and tasted the broth – it really was delicious! She swallowed the bite with a smile of pleasure and inadvertently glanced at Mr Darcy. It appeared that he had been observing her and looked away quickly when she glanced his way, but not before she noticed the smug amusement in his eyes! All her earlier irritation with him returned in full force. Controlling her temper with difficulty, she asked him sweetly, "Do you know what kind of persons annoy me the most, Mr Darcy?"
"I really can't say Miss Bennet, but I am sure you will enlighten me before long." He replied with a quirk to his lips.
"Well, since you insist, I can safely tell you that the smug know it all who believe that they are always right are the ones I find most annoying." She smiled innocently.
"Of course, I quite understand." Darcy nodded sagely, but Elizabeth was further incensed to see a shadow of amusement reflect on his face once again.
For one mad moment, she thought about getting up and dumping the contents of her bowl in his lap, and just as if he had read her mind, he asked, "I do hope that you do not contemplate violence against such pesky people."
"I have not been known to do so, sir."
"I must say that relieves my mind greatly."
For a while, there was silence as both applied themselves to their meal. "But then there is always a first time for everything." She added, almost as an afterthought.
"I… I thank you for the word of caution." Despite his best efforts, Darcy's voice shook slightly.
'The odious man was laughing at her!' With an irritated huff, Elizabeth dipped her spoon in the bowl. To her acute embarrassment, a discordant sound was the outcome when the spoon scraped against the bottom of the bowl. She had nearly emptied the bowl in such a short while! The irritating Mr Darcy would be feeling quite pleased with himself, she thought in annoyance but immediately felt ashamed of her uncharitable thoughts. 'He was only trying to help you get better, Elizabeth!' chided a voice in her head. 'But did he have to be so brazen about it? Forcing food on recalcitrant young ladies, indeed!' came back another peskier one. 'As if you were going to relent had he continued to coax you to partake the broth?' asked the saner one sarcastically. Feeling uncomfortable Elizabeth recollected her earlier resolve to ignore Mr Darcy. In all probability, she would have carried her plan through had he not annoyed her into a dialogue. 'It seems Mr Darcy knew her much better than she had presumed!'. Shaking her head at the troubling direction her thoughts were taking, she decided to distract herself.
"Mr Darcy?"
"Yes, Miss Bennet?" Darcy asked as he dabbed at his lips with the napkin, then placed it and the empty tray on the nearby table.
'I have been meaning to ask you… ah.., how did it happen that you were at the site of the accident to rescue us so expediently? Were you on your way to Rosings once again?"
For a moment, Darcy froze, not knowing how to answer the awkward question coming at him so suddenly. He could hardly tell her that her rejection had sent him on a drunken spree! That for two days he had hidden himself in a wayside inn, imbibed more than what was good for him and licked the invisible but very real wounds to his heart.
"Ah.. not exactly Miss Bennet. I felt somewhat indisposed soon after I left Rosings three days ago and therefore decided to break my journey at 'The Swan'." 'Afterall, one is indisposed when one is inebriated, isn't' it?'
" Oh! I hope you are completely recovered now." Elizabeth asked in concern.
"Yes, Miss Bennet, it was only today that I felt well enough to resume my journey to London."
Elizabeth nodded in response as her thoughts dwelt on the strange quirks of fate. Had Mr Darcy not felt indisposed that day, he would not have been travelling to London today and could not have come to their rescue. She shivered as she pondered on what could have happened had he not been there for them all.
Darcy went up to the bed and removed Elizabeth's empty tray as well. When his gaze fell on her troubled visage, he mistook the cause of her disquiet. For a moment, he stood undecided, suddenly feeling all the awkwardness of their position. 'Miss Bennet must be desirous ofsome privacy before she retired for the night.' He concluded and decided to relieve her of his presence directly.
"Miss Bennet?"
When she looked at him inquiringly, he said, "I think you should take a rest now. I am going down for a while to check how Poseidon has settled in. So, I will bid you good night." Then with a quick, correct bow, he hurried out of the room.
While Darcy had made a mistake in interpreting her expressions, Elizabeth had interpreted his actions quite accurately. 'Ah, Mr Darcy, ever the correct gentleman, was leaving her in peace to perform her nightly ablutions.' She thought in amusement as she saw him escaping their room like a startled rabbit.
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Her amusement soon turned to impatience when she tried to get up from the bed and was immediately struck by an attack of dizziness that left her feeling helpless. 'What an inconsiderate man! Could he not inquire if she needed any help before disappearing so precipitately! She thought irritably, conveniently forgetting that she would rather have died than ask him to assist her to a chamber pot! 'Well, the world was full of thoughtless people, but she was more than capable enough to make do on her own,' She thought rather virtuously, if unfairly, and made another attempt to rise. Unfortunately, with the exact same result as before. 'What was she to do? Would she really need to seek his assistance for…' Her mind shied away from the thought and as if on cue, Martha came inside the room after a knock at the door. She was carrying a sleeping Millie in her arms.
'Oh, thank the good Lord!' Elizabeth thought, much relieved.
After carefully lowering the child onto the truckle bed, Martha turned to address her with a smile, "Mr Fitzwilliam said you might have some need of me, missus."
"Really! Did that man have to be so perfect?" Elizabeth muttered to herself as another wave of highly unreasonable annoyance struck her . It seemed poor Darcy could do nothing right where one Miss Elizabeth Bennet was concerned. What she did not comprehend was that this uncharacteristic petulance was her brain desperately trying to sever the threads of esteem slowly winding around her heart for a man she could not bear the sight of a few hours ago!
Setting aside her irritation she conveyed her need to Martha, who readily came forward to help her. "I hope Millie did not trouble you more than was necessary." She asked the maid when that kind woman was assisting her back to the bed.
"Oh, no, the little poppet was very good." Martha replied, then added with a smile, "Only these unfamiliar clothes caused her some irritation. She did tell me a few times to get a pink dress for her."
"Oh, yes, Millie's favourite dress," Elizabeth smiled fondly at the sleeping child.
"Ah! Now I understand," Martha grinned as she cosily tucked in Millie and then took her leave of Elizabeth.
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When Darcy entered the room after his foray to the stables, he was relieved to find both Miss Bennet and Millie soundly asleep. As quietly as he could, he picked up a pillow and blanket from the bed, the candle from the table and retired to his chosen corner. Soon, he was sorely missing his valet's efficient presence as he encountered some difficulty while removing his shoes. Suddenly, it struck him that Banes and all his staff at Darcy house would greatly worry when he failed to turn up as expected. 'It had completely slipped his mind to send a message to them! Early tomorrow morning, he would get Jones to send out an express rider with a letter for Higgins, his butler at Darcy house.'
He sighed in relief when he finally managed to rid himself of his shoes. Snuffing out the candle, he settled for the night. However, sleep did not come easily, as he continued to puzzle over something he observed downstairs. When he had gone to the stables, he had met John and his young grandson, a child of about ten. They were coming out from a tiny cottage situated right behind the manor house and quite strangely were carrying blankets with them. They reached the stables at the same time as Darcy. Although John had remained courteous throughout, he had not really been welcoming when he had inquired after the reason for Darcy's presence there. On being apprised of it, the old man had accompanied him to Poseidon's stall. From what Darcy had been able to observe in the near dark, there were four stalls in the stable block. Poseidon was in the first stall. The one next to him was occupied by what appeared to Darcy to be a Shetland pony. Then there was an empty stall, and the last one again appeared to be occupied. Although Darcy had not gone any further than the first stall, his knowledgeable eyes had got an impression of a magnificent beast quite out of place in the Webster's stables. Feeling a little uncomfortable for what he felt were his snobbish thoughts, he had left soon after patting Poseidon's neck comfortingly for the last time.
Since he had wanted to provide Miss Bennet enough time to retire before his return, he had spent quite a while strolling outside. All that time, John and his grandson had remained in the stables. It appeared they were going to spend the night in the lofts above the stable block. Now, as he shifted on the couch to attain a more comfortable position, the incongruity of their conduct struck him forcibly. 'Why were the old man and the boy spending their night in such an uncomfortable manner when they had a fine cottage for their use?' There definitely was some difficulty that these good people were facing. He would like to help… but…how would he know what the problem was? For all the civility he had shown Darcy, John did not appear to trust him, and Darcy could not blame him for that. 'Somehow, he would find out.' On that resolve, Darcy fell asleep for the first time that night.
He did not know what it was that disturbed his sleep, but all of a sudden, he found himself wide awake. The room felt chilly, and as he sat up, his gaze swivelled towards the fireplace. The fire appeared to be on the point of dying out, and the immediate necessity appeared to be to replenish it. He shifted aside the window curtain, and the moonlight that came pouring in made it a lot easier for him to negotiate his way around. He picked up the candle from the windowsill and made his way to the fireplace. The coal scuttle was thankfully full. After lighting the candle, he went about replenishing the fire, and it was not many minutes later that a roaring fire was going again. He had just straightened up, feeling the glow of a task well accomplished in addition to that of the fire, when he heard it- a soft moan. Feeling concerned that little Millie might be having a brush with nightmares, he went up to the truckle bed. To his surprise, the child was sleeping peacefully. He then looked towards Miss Bennet and was shocked to observe that she was shivering quite violently. As he stood transfixed, she gave another soft moan that brought him out of his stupor, and he hurriedly made his way to her.
"Miss Bennet?" He called and placed a hand gingerly on her forehead- it was burning hot! She was running a high fever. For a moment, he felt at a loss on what to do. Then very thankfully, he remembered that when he had met Mrs Webster after supper, she had informed him that Martha would be leaving some powders in their room for just such a contingency. He looked at the bedside table and was relieved to find a small bottle next to the jug of water. The kind lady had even left instructions on a paper! Blessing her for her kindness and care, he quickly mixed the powder as required. 'Now, how to administer the medicine?' He wondered as he worriedly looked down at the shivering, insensible woman on the bed.
"Miss Bennet?" He called again but received only a moaning sound in response. With a sigh, he sat down next to her. Gently raising her head onto his arm, he spooned the medicine into her mouth. The task was rendered difficult as she continued to shiver and some of the liquid spilt out. Once he believed that he had given her sufficient quantity, he lowered her back to the bed.
Since the shivering did not show any sign of abating he looked about for another blanket. The chest that was conveniently placed next to the bed was most inconveniently lacking in any more bed linen! So, he brought his own blanket and wrapped it cosily around her. He then shifted the easy chair nearer to the bed and sat down to wait. A quarter-hour later, the only thing that had happened was that he had started to feel quite chilled. Greatly missing his greatcoat that Martha had taken away to dry out, he got up to check on Miss Bennet. He pursed his lips worriedly when he found that her fever was still as high, the shivering as violent, and her hands as cold as ice. Feeling helpless, he chafed at her hands to transfer some warmth and pondered on what to do. The only solution that he came up with made him very uncomfortable. How much ever he told himself that he was doing it for her wellbeing, it still left him feeling as if he was taking advantage of an unconscious woman. Gritting his teeth, he slipped inside the covers and lay beside her tensely, feeling almost afraid to breathe.
Five minutes later, the covers felt as hot as the fireplace he had tended sometime back, and he warily turned his head to peek at Miss Bennet. He did not know if it was wishful thinking on his part, but the intensity of her shivers seem to have reduced. He closed his eyes on a relieved sigh and relaxed a little. The next instant, his body froze, and his eyes popped open. Instinctively gravitating towards the source of the very welcome warmth in the covers, Elizabeth had suddenly wrapped herself in his arms. As her face came to rest in the crook of his neck, a multitude of emotions rushed through him, and his heart felt full- almost to bursting. The emotions roiling through him were a strange mixture of protectiveness, affection, warmth, pleasure, and to his deep discomfort, a sharp sliver of… desire that he tried to tamp down ruthlessly. 'For heaven's sake, Darcy, she is ill and nearly unconscious!' He told himself angrily even as his body adjusted to accommodate hers, and his arm held her more securely to him. He once again closed his eyes and tried to sleep but that was impossible at the moment. The emotions that had nearly assaulted him with their ferocity just now had also made him come to a decision. He could not let her go- without at least trying to gain her heart all over again. This time with humility instead of arrogance.
'But what could he do to change her impression of him?' He thought anxiously as he remembered the vehemence with which she had rejected his suit only a few days ago. On that day, she had laid two main charges against him that he had already attempted to answer in his letter. 'Shall he give the letter to her? That seemed to be the obvious starting step,' he decided but then, to his horror, he recollected how angry he had been when he had begun that letter! How insultingly he had referred to all her family in it. No, sharing that letter was out of the question! Thinking about families also reminded him how gracious she had been to him today in the matter of less than pleasant family members! How charitably she had refused to blame him for the actions of his aunt when she had all the reasons for it, and he groaned aloud in frustration! He had not shown her the generosity of heart even while loving her that she had shown while disliking him!
Oh, Elizabeth! He whispered and brushed his lips against her forehead. "I will do better this time, sweetheart, I promise." On that fierce resolve, Darcy fell asleep for the second time that night.
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