Apprehension and Desire by Wegner Ola

Author:Wegner, Ola [Wegner, Ola]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2011-07-03T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

“Elizabeth, be careful!” Mrs. Gardiner cried, turning up her head to look at her niece, who stood on the highest point of the hilltop. “Step back from the edge at once! What would I say to your family if you took a fall?”

“I am fine, Aunt,” Elizabeth cried back in a strong voice, “It is so beautiful here. I can see the entire valley from this very spot.”

Mrs. Gardiner shook her head and turned to see Darcy approaching with her husband.

“Mr. Darcy, pray help me.” She pointed to the hilltop. “Only look where she has got herself.”

“Do not worry, madam.” Darcy walked past the Gardiners with energy. “I will get her down.”

As Darcy began climbing the rocky path, Mr. Gardiner spoke, standing close to his wife, “He is very much in love with her.”

His wife smiled. “Yes, he is. He is completely enamoured, a pleasure to watch how he treats her. He sees only her.”

“Do you think she is equally engaged with her feelings?” Mr. Gardiner asked as he looked up, observing as Darcy literally dragged Elizabeth a safe distance from the edge.

“I am not so sure,” Mrs. Gardiner said slowly. “She claimed to almost hate him last December, when we visited at Longbourn.”

“A short route from hatred to love, they say.”

“Yes, I think this is the case. I am not aware of the details, but it must have been a very interesting courtship, a stormy one.”

Mr. Gardiner smirked. “He strikes me as a steady, serious, even sober, type of fellow.”

“She will change him.”

“I only hope he knows what he is getting himself into.”

“What do you mean?” Mrs. Gardiner questioned, her voice defensive in tone, “Elizabeth is a sweet girl, with a good heart, principles and morals.”

“As well as stubborn, opinionated, too quick to judge people, and she has a temper,” he pointed out.

“I think he knows that already, and it does not bother him. On the contrary, her liveliness allures him. They will have to learn how to reach a compromise.”

Mr. Gardiner pulled her tightly to his side, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. “My romantic wife,” he smiled down at the woman in his arms. “You are so pleased because you will be able to visit Derbyshire often now.”

Mrs. Gardiner looked up at him, smiling. “I must admit that as a girl I never imagined that my niece would one day become the Mistress of Pemberley.”

***

The day was hot and sunny, the air still, without even the gentlest of breezes. Darcy readied the small boat and held out his hand to Elizabeth. She walked closer, and he helped her into it, seating her on a small bench.

He rowed to the middle of the lake and put the paddles away, allowing the boat to float on the water.

Elizabeth tilted her face to the sun and closed her eyes, her body stretched out? in a most comfortable position.

Darcy did not look at the sky, only at her. She wore a thin, white cotton dress, and it appeared there were no stays underneath it.

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