A Convenient Darcy Marriage by Rebecca Preston

Author:Rebecca Preston [Preston, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2018-01-08T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

When Darcy and Elizabeth arrived at the ball, there were people milling about outside the mansion. She could see through the large glass walls on one side where the ballroom was. The room was filled with quite a few people.

“Are we late?” she whispered.

Darcy shrugged. “We might be a little past when everyone else planned to get here.”

She looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

He chuckled. “Yes, we are late.”

She was confused. She scanned the people as they walked to the path that would lead them to the front of the house. People were scattered about on the lawn, chatting. It was still early enough for the sun to not be quite set, but the gas lamps were lit all around them.

“Why did you not tell me to be ready earlier? I would have. Now that I think of it, it did seem a bit strange my sisters left earlier than us.”

“I have my reasons. Better late than never, I must say.”

“I do not understand you at all, Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth said, keeping her tone light. “You are an enigma to me.”

“How is that?”

“I have yet to understand even a little bit about you. You are at times a gentleman and a friend. Other times you seem mysterious, and then at yet other times you are rude and arrogant.”

“Thank you for assessing me so closely,” Darcy said, his tone amused. “You have been paying quite a lot of attention to me, have you not?”

“Well, we are going to be pretend married after our pretend courtship so, yes, I would like to know who I am going to spend the rest of my pretend life with.”

He laughed, a sound that gave Elizabeth a feeling of excited accomplishment. She laughed with him.

“Come, let us go see what kind of scene we can make.”

“Oh, no, not another scene…” Elizabeth sighed as he took her hand and led her up the walkway.

She noticed, as they walked down the path, that people were beginning to turn and look at them. Suddenly, she felt like there was a spotlight on her and that she was being scrutinized from every level.

She began to wonder if her hair looked all right. She became self-conscious, and hoped her dress was pretty and her shoes matched, and her jewelry sparkled. Darcy got her to the front door, and leaned in to whisper to the butler who would announce their arrival. Elizabeth walked into the room and froze at the sound of their names.

“Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and his fiancée, Miss Elizabeth Bennet.”

Her eyes widened and her head whipped around to look at Darcy. He was grinning from ear to ear. Elizabeth felt all the blood rush out of her face and down into her feet. She nearly fell, but Darcy quickly put her arm around her waist and held her up.

“I think you might need to sit down, Miss Bennet,” he whispered in her ear, sending chills down her spine.

“I think I should,” Elizabeth replied breathlessly. “I feel a bit faint.

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