Chapter 1

He slowly climbed the stairs at Netherfield, glad to finally have gotten away from Miss Caroline Bingley's inane chatter about the Ton and gossip Mr. Darcy had no interest in. He wondered if that woman was ever quiet. He had come up with an excuse of needing something from his guest room just to get out of the parlor for a few minutes.

As he reached the top of the staircase, he heard a door open and close quietly; one of the maids going about their duties he assumed. As he rounded the corner at the entrance to the guest hallway, he saw Miss Elizabeth Bennet leaning against the wall next to the door to the room her sister was currently occupying, her eyes closed and her posture sunk.

He paused in front of her and took a minute to ponder her. He should walk away. He should not linger. The thought came to him, how did he ever think her merely tolerable? He had begun to think of her as the most handsome woman of his acquaintance. Where did that thought come from, he wondered?

She did not move. Maybe it was his duty as a gentleman to see if she needed assistance. Maybe she needed directions to the drawing room, or maybe she needed a maid's assistance with her sister.

The elder Miss Jane Bennet had come to dinner with Miss Bingley and her sister, Mrs. Hurst three days ago and had fallen sick after getting caught in the rain on the ride over from her father's estate, Longbourn, a three mile journey. The apothecary, Mr. Jones, had seen her and was not terribly worried for her, but recommended that she stay until she was better. The following morning, her next youngest sister, Miss Elizabeth arrived, on foot, her petticoats six inches deep in mud, to attend her sister.

That morning, Mr. Darcy had just returned from an early morning ride and was walking back from Netherfield's stables when he spotted Miss Elizabeth standing still on the road, staring at the estate. She had a nearly terrified look on her face and was holding her hands tightly in front of her. When she did not move, he approached her and asked if she had come to see her sister. She slowly tore her eyes away from the facade of the building to look at Mr. Darcy. Giving her head a little shake, and dropping a slight curtsy, she answered that yes, she was here to see Jane and would he please take her to see her sister.

Miss Elizabeth seemed very uneasy as she climbed the stairs to the front door at Netherfield. Mr. Darcy assumed she was very worried about her sister. She said nothing until she was shown to the room her sister was occupying. She thanked Mr. Darcy for showing her to her sister's room and opened the door to slip inside.

"What are you doing here?" demanded her sister. "There was no need for you to come to Netherfield. I will be right as rain in a few days and you need not have rushed over."

"I could not leave you here without someone from our family here. We do not know the Bingleys well enough. No, I am staying until you are well enough to go home. I will hear no more arguments." Elizabeth refused to leave Jane at Netherfield without someone to attend her. Jane knew that her sister was stubborn but was adamant that she should not have come. "I am fine Jane. That was months ago. It will be fine. You need to rest now." Jane relented and allowed her favorite sister to care for her as she really did not feel well at all.

Now, two days later, Jane was finally on the mend. Elizabeth had sat up with her bathing her forehead in cool water and administering the apothecary's draughts as directed through two nights. Jane had finally drifted off into a peaceful slumber and Elizabeth thought she would get a little fresh air.

After closing the door to Jane's room, Elizabeth slumped against the wall, she forgot about going outside to get some fresh air. She doubted that she could manage the stairs, as tired as she was. She had napped in a chair on and off over the past two days and she just could not understand why she was so dreadfully tired. Surely it was just due to being so tense with worry about Jane's health.

Over the past days she had tried to ignore anything else that could have been worrying her. She kept her mind occupied with reading as she looked after her sister. Surely after a few months, she could stop worrying about being back at Netherfield. These are new tenants after all. "Logica triumphat motus, logic over emotions," she had told herself.

As she leaned against the wall, her legs seemed to be not entirely stable. She was so dreadfully tired. She found that she could not make herself move away from that spot. A voice seemed to be trying to reach her, but the words did not seem to make sense. Surely it was English was it not?

Her befuddled brain tried to focus on the words being spoken. " Miss Elizabeth. Miss Elizabeth. Miss Elizabeth, are you alright?" the soft voice intoned. She attempted to open her eyes and discern the source of the voice, but her eyes did not want to cooperate.

"I, um, I, am, um," was all she could get out before her legs turned to jelly under her weight. As she slumped towards the floor, strong hands grabbed her by the elbow and the waist.

"Let me help you Miss Elizabeth," the man's voice continued. "You seem unwell. Perhaps you should sit down." Mr. Darcy helped Elizabeth to sit on a chair in the hall. He knelt down next to her. "You are burning up with fever Miss Elizabeth!" A sense of terror overtook Mr. Darcy. She was truly unwell and for some reason that made him very anxious.

Down the hall a door opened. Mr. Darcy glanced away to see a young maid coming out of a room with linens. "Miss!" he cried out. "Could you please help me? Miss Elizabeth has taken ill and needs to return to her room. Could you take her back to her room?"

The maid looked perplexed. "Her room?" she asked.

"Yes, the room she has been staying in for the past two days. Which one is it? She needs to lie down," Mr. Darcy replied.

"She was not assigned a room," replied the maid. "She has been attending Miss Bennet."

"For two days without rest?" Mr. Darcy was livid. How could this be? Surely she would have been given a room to stay in near her sister and should have been assigned a maid to attend her while she was taking care of her sister. These were the bare minimums expected in a properly run home. "Why was she not assigned a room when she arrived?"

"Miss Bingley told us not to," the maid answered hesitantly. "She said the Miss Bennets would be leaving soon and there was no reason to go to the bother of preparing another room."

"Who has been taking care of Miss Bennet when Miss Elizabeth was asleep?"

"No one, sir. Miss Elizabeth took care of her the entire time. We brought up meals as requested, but no one else took on any of the care of Miss Bennet. By Miss Bingley's orders." His anger was about to overflow. He reminded himself that it was not the maid's fault that the Miss Bennets had been so neglected.

He spoke gently to the maid. "A room needs to be readied for Miss Elizabeth. She is too ill to attend to her sister. Maids need to be assigned to Miss Bennet and to Miss Elizabeth now that they are both sick. The apothecary needs to be called back to examine Miss Elizabeth. I will take responsibility for these orders and deal with Miss Bingley."

At that moment another maid entered the hall and seeing one of her Master's guests talking to one of the new maids she made her way over. She knew no ill of the new tenants, or their guests, but she would err on the side of caution, regardless. Seeing the young miss in the chair, she exclaimed, "Miss Elizabeth! What are you doing here? You should not be at Netherfield!"

"Miss Elizabeth has fallen ill and I am not sure she can answer you," replied Mr. Darcy. "Why should she not be at Netherfield?"

The other maid interrupted. "Mr. Darcy would like a room prepared for Miss Elizabeth and maids assigned to assist the Miss Bennets. I thought I would make up the Gold room. Do you think she would like that one? You were here when she was at Netherfield last."

"No! No! Not that room! Find the housekeeper and have her come up as soon as possible. Ask her to send someone for the apothecary. He will know best what to do. Then make up the Blue room quickly." The young maid scurried off.

"It should be just a few minutes Mr. Darcy for her to have the room ready. I did not know it was Miss Elizabeth who had come to take care of her sister. Surely her sister Miss Mary would have been a better choice. Her ribs are still healing, surely she should have stayed at home." The maid stopped and as if she realized that she had said something she should not and changed the subject.

"Do you suppose she caught what her sister has? I am sure Mr. Jones can treat her and she can go back to her home soon. I will check on the Blue room," she said as she quickly curtsied and left Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth in the hall.

Miss Elizabeth had not opened her eyes and was leaning against the wall next to the chair that Mr. Darcy had helped her to. He could not take his eyes off her. There was a sensation in his chest that he had never experienced before. He did not know how to interpret this feeling, so he pushed it aside. He wanted to ask the maid about why Miss Elizabeth should not be at Netherfield and what she meant about her ribs still healing. He knelt next to Miss Elizabeth talking softly to her and gently touching her forehead to see if her fever was increasing.

A few minutes later, the maid returned to show Miss Elizabeth to her room. When she did not answer Mr. Darcy when he attempted to awaken her, he lifted her gently and carried her to the room. Such a simple task affected him more than he supposed it should. He laid her down on the bed and turned to ask the maid what she had meant earlier. The maid quickly shooed him out of the room saying the apothecary was on the way and thanked him for his help.

He knew that he had to leave. It would be improper for him to remain. As he was leaving the room, the apothecary arrived. He had been on the way to check up on the elder Miss Bennet when the housekeeper informed him of Miss Elizabeth becoming ill.