Pride and Prejudice (The Wild and Wanton Edition) by Annabella Bloom Page B

conversation, and when Miss Bingley left them together, could attempt little besides expressions of gratitude for the extraordinary kindness she was treated with. Elizabeth silently attended her.

    “It is very kind of Miss Elizabeth to attend her sister, is it not?” Mr. Bingley asked Mr. Darcy. Though the surrounding landscape was wet, the sun had dried the stone balcony on which the two men now found themselves. Bingley busied himself with looking towards the window where Miss Bennet now resided, not bothering to hide the pleasure he felt at having her under his roof, even if the circumstances were not the best. Though, if the lovely lady must be sick, he found he liked being able to provide comfort for her. And, the proximity of her room did allow for many visits between the two of them, though propriety dictated he not enter the chambers alone.
    Darcy merely nodded in response. Unlike his friend, he refused to look up, instead choosing to focus his attention on a distant, solitary tree. His thoughts were divided between admiration of the brilliancy which exercise had given to Elizabeth’s complexion, and doubt as to the occasion’s justifying her coming so far alone.
    “There is something to be said for a woman who comes from close family,” Bingley continued, though Darcy suspected his friend was finding more reasons to like Jane than the argument of such logic would allow.
    “That would depend on the family,” Darcy answered.
    “Miss Elizabeth looked well, did she not?”
    “She should not have walked so far alone.”
    “I think it’s a testament to her love for a sister.” Bingley finally drew his eyes away from the window. He could see nothing anyway.
    “And I think it’s a testament to her foolish impulses.”
    “Would you not walk ten times as far if it were Georgiana who were ill?”
    Darcy’s frown deepened. “That argument is faulty for I am not a young woman.”
    “I should say not,” Bingley laughed, unwilling to let Darcy’s mood infect his own. “You know I have not thought once of the charms of other ladies since first meeting Miss Bennet? I could be walking in Covent Garden right now and the prettiest of doves would not tempt me with their wiles.”
    “Perhaps you should aim higher in a mistress,” Darcy said gruffly. It had been far too long since he had been with a woman, and having his late night obsession now under the same roof did not help. Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Just thinking of her flushed cheeks and dirty hem caused a stirring deep within his stomach. His back stiffened, as if in doing so he could hide the arousal now forming beneath his tight trousers.
    “Who can think of a mistress when I am imaging a wife?”
    Bingley asked.
    “Have your feelings developed to such a state?” Darcy did not try to hide the worry in his voice. Whereas he found little fault with Jane, he did not observe the same level of commitment within the lady that his friend seemed to feel. However, he did not worry about it yet. Bingley had such a nature that allowed him to fall in love easily, for he was apt to like people in general.
    “Do not look at me like that!” cried Bingley. “Till you have found yourself flown away by the face of an angel, you cannot possibly understand.”
    “The only angel I’m sure to be flown away by will assuredly appear over my deathbed.”
    Bingley’s disbelieving laughter was his only answer, as he made his way back into the house.
    Now alone, Darcy took a deep breath. His eyes turned upward, to the window that had captured his good friend’s attention. His thoughts were not so pure as Bingley’s. When he imagined Elizabeth, it was not marriage that came first and foremost to his mind, but a more sordid affair filled with impossibilities and improbabilities.
    Whenever he was near her, he felt beside himself, nervous and thick of tongue. Afterwards, he would think of a great many things he could say to her, but whenever he stood in her presence, he found