NOTES: Lizzy's point of view. Also, as a note, to make my story work I changed Lizzy's age a bit. Here, she is about 9, and the oldest Bennet sister! Just made more sense to me this way— hope it's the same to you.
This chapter and the next are somewhat shorter, so I'm going to post them both today :) Have a good one, y'all!
~Vinny
When she heard the sharp note of fear in her friend's voice, Lizzy turned herself to face the doorway. There stood two men, one wearing a doctor's coat and the other wearing an expression of stone. The second looked a lot like William, except.. old. And scary. And even more princely than his son.
"William," said the father. "What are you doing in here? I thought I requested you return to the sunroom with the tutor."
"I- Um." William was shaking. Just a little. Lizzy could see it in the way he held himself, the way he was clenching his hands. She rested a palm on his back, supporting him silently.
He didn't acknowledge it. "Father," he said, stronger this time, "I wanted to make sure… my friend, Lizzy, was… alright. I thought it would prove no inconvenience."
There was a brief, silent staring contest. Lizzy leaned forward, and managed to catch a glimpse of William's face: pure awe, and purer terror. Like a child cowering before an altar, praying for a miracle and fearing damnation.
"Very well," William's father eventually said with an air of gravity. "But we must continue with the examination. Do not interfere, William. ...You!" He directed this at Lizzy, who cringed a little at his harsh tone. "You," the man continued. "What were you doing on my property, without a chaperone?"
Lizzy swallowed a lump in her throat. Suddenly she felt very small. "Um, I.. Well, you see… I was in a tree."
Mr. Darcy's eyes were cold and dark. "A tree," he repeated with no emotion.
"Mhm," Lizzy said, nervously, "I was in a tree, because I needed air, an' I had a headache, and I thought I could get back to the road alright, but I fell, and—"
"You were traveling on the road?"
"Um," she furrowed her brow. "Yes?"
Mr. Darcy pinched his sharp nose and closed his eyes. He turned his head towards the doctor. "Another homeless urchin. Just what we need."
"I'm not homeless!" Lizzy objected, forgetting her fear in her indignance. "We have a house— we just left it behind for a little!"
"Yes of course," the man said dismissively, and Lizzy felt her blood begin to boil. Just because she didn't live in a castle didn't mean her home wasn't a house.
The doctor cleared his throat politely. "If I may, sir," he said in a quiet Welsh hum, "I should probably examine the injury before the morphine wears off."
Mr. Darcy nodded gravely. "You may. Come along, William."
Lizzy grabbed his hand and didn't let go. He looked at her with a shaky question in his eyes. "Don't go," Lizzy mouthed at him, pleadingly. He breathed out sharply, and squared his shoulders. "Father," he said, with his eyes facing the floor, "I.. would like to stay here. With Lizzy."
As another long, icy pause ensued, Lizzy yearned to be back at home in her own father's study, surrounded by moth-infested books and a roaring fire in the hearth. She wanted to go home.
William squeezed her hand. She looked at him. Mr. Darcy had left the room without saying goodbye, and they were now alone with the Welsh doctor.
"I must say," he smiled, kneeling down by the foot of the bed and carefully unwrapping the bandages, "You've done a tidy job of bangin' yourself up, then. Do you get hurt a lot at.. at home?"
"Yes," Lizzy answered simply. "But not as bad as this."
"I would think not," the doctor chuckled. He looked up through bushy gray eyebrows to wink at Lizzy. "Lucky your friend nearby, yeh?"
"Yes," she said again, and smiled at William. "REAL lucky. I'm pretty sure I woulda died if he wasn't."
The doctor closed one eye appreciatively, half wincing. "Well, 'm not sure you would have died.."
"I would have!" Lizzy insisted, with morbid enthusiasm. "William saved my LIFE by not letting me sit down or stay where I was."
The man chuckled a little, shaking his head. "Well," he said with a charmed look at the little girl, and a more apprehensive one directed at the boy, "Quite the knight in shining armor we got here, then."
William's face was turning rapidly pink. He didn't smile, exactly, but his dimples made an appearance anyway. Lizzy grinned broadly at the sight, and— in her usual casual way— poked his cheek.
"I like your face," she commented simply. "It's nice."
The nice face changed from pink to red, and the dimples grew in size. "Thank you," William said. His eyes darted her way. "You have.. a very pretty face, too."
At this point, the doctor smothered a laugh by passing a hand over his mouth. He had been attending the youngest member of the Darcy clan since his infancy, and this was the first time he had seen him express any kind of emotion. It was refreshing. He hated to interrupt it, but, such was his burden.
"Sorry to say it, miss, but you won't be walkin' for a while," the doctor said, rising to his feet, "Not only was it a nasty fall you musta had, I believe it may have scratched the ligament— uh, meaning, there won't be any marathons in the foreseeable future."
"Wait, so I have to stay in bed?!" A horrified Lizzy cried.
The doctor laughed and affirmed this as he packed up his unused bag of tools. Lizzy sat back on her pillows, defeated.
"But what about my mother?" Lizzy asked, her eyebrows curling together, "She'll be worried about me."
"I'm sure she will. Don't worry though, I'll make sure Mr. Darcy puts a notice in town about you. Your mother will find you safe and sound— so long as you don't aggravate the injury."
"You're staying," William breathed in wonder. He turned to Lizzy, and smiled with his full face, his eyes lit up like two miniature chandeliers. "YOU'RE STAYING!"
"Not for a long time," Lizzy said worriedly, looking at the doctor. "Right?"
"It'll be at the very least a week," he nodded. "And yes, in bed, for most of it."
William clutched at the bed covers, crushing the sheets between his fingers. He had a look of shocked, pleading excitement on his face as he stole glances at the girl on the pillows. Lizzy noticed this, and made a face at him. He stuck his tongue out at her through a smile— he couldn't stop smiling. The most interesting person he had ever met was staying in HIS home, and he would get to see her EVERY day. Darcy wasn't sure what that lightheaded, giddy feeling was, the one her smile made his stomach feel every other second, but he liked it, and he wanted more.
He nudged her side, imitating what she had done earlier. "Think about it, Lizzy! You wanted to know more about me, right?"
She nodded after a moment's pause.
"Well," he said, grinning so hard his face hurt, "We'll live together! So we can play, and— and talk! And I can show you the rest of my house— it'll be good fun!"
"I suppose," Lizzy smiled weakly.
"I can't wait," he said. William put her face close to hers, his muscles nearly vibrating in excitement. "I just can't wait."