The walk back to Longbourn was engulfed in silence. The mischievous little pup had finally settled into Elizabeth's arms and was resting peacefully. As she walked beside Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth quietly admired the evening sky. It was splashed with shades of blue, purple and orange creating a beautifully serene atmosphere. Neither individual said anything to the other. But they did occasionally share a few accidental glances which brought on the faintest of smiles, but still no words. Both were lost in their own thoughts.
They had nearly arrived at Longbourn. In the distance, Elizabeth could see the smoke from one of the chimneys. The outline of her house brought a gentle smile to her face. But she found it very curious that the outline was rapidly getting darker and darker with each passing second. Suddenly, Elizabeth noticed that her breathing had become shallow and labored and the weight of the pup in her arms seemed to have tripled almost instantly. What was happening?
The pup began to stir. He too realized that something was amiss. He looked at Elizabeth, then at Mr. Darcy and gave a sharp bark. Mr. Darcy turned just in time to see that Elizabeth was unwell, and she seemed to be struggling to take even a single step.
Elizabeth found herself falling into an unbreakable daze. She looked towards Mr. Darcy and tried to say something, anything, to give him some warning that all was not well. But try as she might, the words simply would not leave her tongue. Her vision became even more cloudy and soon the pup jumped out of her hands, and not a moment too soon because she could feel herself begin to sway. Elizabeth watched helplessly as the ground seemed to get closer and closer with each passing second. Mr. Darcy reacted immediately. He was by her side in an instant and swiftly wrapped his arm around her shoulders just as she slumped into his chest.
"Miss Bennet! Miss Bennet!" Mr. Darcy yelled as he tried to determine whether or not she was still conscious.
Elizabeth mustered all her strength to look him in the eyes and make one last attempt to whisper something, anything! But the words she finally did manage to set free were not the ones she had hoped for. "You did see!" she whispered. Then, everything went black and Elizabeth's body went limp.
With his free hand, Mr. Darcy tried to gently pat Elizabeth's cheek to see if he could wake her.
"Miss Bennet, wake up! Say something! What was I supposed to see?" he asked confused.
"Elizabeth, please wake up!" he pleaded.
No response.
By now the pup had begun a full chorus of barks.
Once more Mr. Darcy delved into action. "Forgive me" he whispered and within a fraction of a second he used his free hand to sweep Elizabeth off her feet and into the safety of his arms. He then turned towards the pup and with a stern look he said "Come now, lead the way home". The little pup seemed to understand the gravity of the situation and put all his mischief aside. He began barking as loud as he could and ran straight towards Longbourn. Mr. Darcy followed quickly behind.
Mr. Bennet and Mr. Bingley were already at the outskirts of the property. The commotion the pup caused as it entered Longbourn was enough to draw out Jane and her sisters from inside the house. As soon as they saw Mr. Darcy carrying Elizabeth, they all flew into action.
Jane ran inside into the kitchen to fetch a bowl of cool water and some towels. Her sisters ran inside to make up the sitting room so that Elizabeth could rest there. Mr. Bingley and Mr. Bennet ran towards Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth.
Mr. Bingley grabbed the pup as Mr. Bennet ushered Mr. Darcy into the house and towards the sitting room. Darcy gently placed Elizabeth on the sofa and stepped back. Just then, Jane rushed in with the towels and cool water, and with Mrs. Bennet at her heels. Seeing her daughter in such a state, Mrs. Bennet completely forgot her own ails and immediately rushed upstairs to get her smelling salts. The next few minutes was surely a sight to behold. As if like clockwork, everyone knew what they needed to do without being told or asked. Only Darcy and Bingley were left to stand towards the back wall taking in all that was happening, unsure of what to do or how to help.
Kitty ran to the stables to inform Tom, the stable boy, to ready a horse.
John, one of Mr. Bennet's farm hands, readied himself to ride to the doctor's house.
Mr. Bennet rushed off to his study to write up a quick message for the doctor.
Lydia took the pup from Mr. Bingley and headed towards the backyard.
Mary covered Elizabeth with a blanket and gently rubbed her hands to keep them warm.
Jane began dabbing the wet towel on Elizabeth's forehead hoping that would somehow help bring her back to consciousness.
Just then, Mrs. Bennet came back with the smelling salts. Jane gently placed them near Elizabeth's nose and after a few seconds Elizabeth began to slowly stir. Mr. Darcy secretly let out a sigh of relief. He had thought no one had noticed, but from the corner of his eye he saw Bingley make the tiniest of grins.
Elizabeth eyes were partly open now and she tried to push herself up to sit only to be hit by a wave of weakness and fall right back into the pillows. Mr. Darcy flinched, as if ready to run to her aid at any moment, but he refrained as there were many around her now to care for her. Once again, he had thought no one would have noticed his actions. But this time, his glance towards Bingley was returned with the broadest of grins. Mr. Darcy rolled his eyes in response.
Fortunately, just at that moment Mr. Bennet returned to the sitting room. He thanked the gentlemen for their help, and let them know that he would understand if they wanted to take their leave. Both Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley said that they would like to stay till they heard from the doctor. Mr. Bennet found the gesture very thoughtful and offered the gentlemen seating in his study till the doctor arrived.
After both men had found a chair in the study, Mr. Bennet asked Mr. Darcy, "What happened after you two rushed after the puppy? We were unable to keep up…"
Mr. Darcy took a minute to gather his thoughts and said "The pup was quite a mischievous one sir, we ran quite some ways before we could catch him. It was Miss Bennet who managed to finally retrieve him" he said with pride. Hoping to avoid any further questions or inquiries for details, Mr. Darcy tried to change the direction of the conversation. "Perhaps the chase took a toll on Miss Bennet?"
"Exercise take a toll? Not for my Lizzy!" thought Mr. Bennet, "Something else must have happened…but what?"
Mr. Bennet stared at Mr. Darcy with narrowed eyes as silence filled each passing minute. He was about to inquire further when he remembered that Mr. Bingley was also in the room. Immediately pushing aside what he wanted to say, Mr. Bennet instead replied with a nod, "Perhaps you're right."
Soon after, the doctor arrived and conducted his examination. He determined the cause of Elizabeth's fainting to be due to weakness and fatigue, and recommended that with proper rest she should be back to normal in a day or two.
Mrs. Bennet suggested that perhaps Elizabeth should get some proper rest in her room and said she'll have some food brought up soon. Elizabeth nodded weakly and tried once more to get up, only to fall back down. Jane and Kitty were at her side immediately to help her stand. But try as she might, Elizabeth simply could not put any weight on her feet, causing all three girls to fall down. They sat her back down in the sofa and were discussing whether she should remain here for the night. Mr. Darcy was yet again in the back watching helplessly as the Bennet sisters tried to help Elizabeth. Under all circumstances, he should have stayed silent. But the idea of Elizabeth having to rest and recover on that worn-out sofa was simply unfathomable to him. He stepped forward and addressed Mr. Bennet, "Sir, if you would not mind my assistance, I can help carry Miss Bennet up to her room."
All eyes in the room were now on Darcy, which made him very uncomfortable.
What made him even more uncomfortable was the fear that Bingley might be standing behind him right this minute with that stupid grin on his face again.
Mr. Bennet looked at Mr. Darcy, then at Elizabeth. Elizabeth looked back at him with wide eyes. Under any other circumstances, Mr. Bennet would have refused the offer. He could see the fire in his daughter's eyes as he always did, she would never appreciate being treated like a frail damsel. But he could also see the fatigue. There was a tiredness in her eyes, in her whole face actually, that he had not seen before, and it scared him.
He let out a small sigh and said "That…that would be greatly appreciated Mr. Darcy. Thank you! But I'll leave that decision up to Lizzy."
All eyes were now on Elizabeth. Elizabeth had so many battles, so many questions raging within her. Why couldn't she muster up the strength to even stand? She had always been the one to take care of others, but now that she is on the other side…is this weakness? Why was she so tired?
But the tornado of questions came to a standstill the minute she looked at Mr. Darcy. The look on his face, it was not one of pity or sadness. No, this look she had seen before, on Jane's face, on her father's face. It was the look of admiration. Realization hit. After everything that happened today, Mr. Darcy didn't brush her off as weak. Instead, he admired her will. She gave him a slight smile and said "Thank you for the kind gesture, I would very much welcome your help!"
Jane and Mary went ahead to help setup Elizabeth's bed. In the meantime, Mrs. Bennet invited the others to tea in the dining room. Mr. Darcy and Kitty offered to stay with Elizabeth till her room was ready.
As the others moved toward the dining room, Kitty took a seat in the chair next to Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy took a seat in the chair on the opposite side. Elizabeth looked at Mr. Darcy as if to try to read his thoughts and Mr. Darcy couldn't help but glance into her eyes occasionally. He saw the tiredness in them that wasn't there an hour ago. But underneath the fatigue he saw the fire in her eyes that once again captured his soul.
"Who is she?" he heard himself thinking. "Why do I feel so at home in her eyes?"
Just then, Jane and Mary returned.
Jane offered to show Mr. Darcy the way, leaving Mary and Kitty to join the others in the dining room.
Mr. Darcy walked over to Elizabeth, gave a little nod and asked "May I?"
Elizabeth looked like she wanted to protest. She didn't understand why, but she knew she did not have the strength to walk to her room by herself. She gave him a slow nod and whispered "yes, thank you."
Darcy bent down and effortlessly lifted Elizabeth into his arms for the second time that day. Seeing as how he didn't need her help, Jane stepped out of the room and headed towards the staircase, asking them to follow. Elizabeth, as a reflex, started to put her arms around his neck, but stopped suddenly once she realized what she was about to do. She pulled her arms back towards herself.
"I'm terribly sorry" she whispered.
"Mr. Darcy gave a slight chuckle. "It's perfectly alright Miss Bennet, you anticipated that it might help you balance."
Elizabeth blushed as she gently rested her arm on his torso instead.
Once he felt she was secure, Mr. Darcy began walking towards the staircase. Jane was waiting for them a bit ahead.
As Mr. Darcy began his ascension up the stairs, Elizabeth couldn't stop glancing at his face. His chiseled features were extremely pleasant to gaze upon, but his eyes, they absolutely took her breath away.
Mr. Darcy could feel her warm gaze upon him and it made his heart flutter, even faster. Elizabeth's hand was dangerously close to his heart. He secretly hoped she couldn't feel how fast it was humming.
As they reached the first floor, "I'm so sorry!" Elizabeth whispered again.
"May I ask what for?" he replied.
"For accepting your help… without telling you that...that my room…is on the third floor" Elizabeth unconsciously ducked her head into his chest in embarrassment. Mr. Darcy found the gesture absolutely adorable and instinctively pulled her even closer to him. He wanted to lean his head gently upon hers and reassure her that she need not worry. But he caught himself just in time and quickly returned to holding her at a distance. The gap between them, though miniscule, stirred within him a feeling of separation that he hadn't allowed himself to feel in ages. What was happening to him?
"That's quite alright Miss Bennet, no need to apologize" he replied.
She slowly peeked from her hiding place and he gave her the warmest reassuring smile. Her heart too was now fluttering, faster than it already was.
Jane was waiting for them halfway up the second set of stairs. "Just a little further Mr. Darcy" she called down kindly.
Mr. Darcy nodded and continued up the steps. Within a few minutes, they had arrived at the third floor, at the room Jane and Elizabeth shared together. Mr. Darcy gently placed Elizabeth on her bed and stepped back. The minute he stepped away he was amazed at the sudden feeling of emptiness that hit him. At that same instant Elizabeth met his gaze with a look of sadness in her eyes that seemed to parallel his own, as if she too felt that same sudden pang of emptiness. "But that just couldn't be, could it?" he asked himself.
Jane came over to make sure Elizabeth was comfortable before she offered to accompany Mr. Darcy downstairs.
"Thank you for everything, Mr. Darcy" Elizabeth said with a gentle smile.
"I hope you are in better spirits soon Miss Bennet" Mr. Darcy replied as he bowed and left the room.