Compromised by Cressida Lane

Author:Cressida Lane [Lane, Cressida]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cressida Lane

Chapter 6

Darcy did not come for her; or if he did, she’d already fallen asleep and he did not condescend to wake her. Elizabeth dressed for breakfast, eager to meet her new sister but wary over what could have upset the girl so terribly. Every account she’d had of Georgiana Darcy had rendered her beautiful and fine in Elizabeth’s mind; she was said to be every bit as clever as her elder brother, but softer and more agreeable by far. And so very accomplished, according to Miss Caroline Bingley. After such an alarming, inauspicious entrance, Elizabeth knew not what to expect.

The breakfast room was unoccupied, much to her frustration. Elizabeth sat down to her meal, eating without tasting as her thoughts divided between Georgiana’s unexpected arrival, the possible cause of her distress, and Darcy’s interrupted plans for last evening. She’d just begun to dwell on the latter when the man himself arrived in the breakfast room.

“Good morning, Elizabeth,” said Darcy. “I trust you slept well?”

“I did,” she replied. He looked tired, and she said so.

“Yes, Georgiana and I were up rather late talking things over. I don’t expect we’ll see her before luncheon, given her travels yesterday and the late hours we kept.” Elizabeth fancied she saw him move his chair a little closer to hers before sitting down next to her.

“I do hope she’s feeling better,” said Elizabeth, warming a little at his proximity; her earlier thoughts about their aborted evening had not gone far.

“I daresay she will be,” said Darcy. He attended to his meal, unaware of her reaction. Elizabeth found her own appetite had gone. He glanced at the servants standing near the door and lowered his voice. “It was very late when I came to your room; you were already asleep.”

“I am sorry for that,” said Elizabeth, blushing furiously. “You ought to have woken me.”

“It was a novel experience, seeing you still,” said Darcy. He sounded amused but she dared not look him in the eye just yet. “I confess, your ever-working mind is among my favorite of your attractions. You appear different, somehow, when it is at rest.”

Were he another man, Elizabeth would suspect him to be teasing her. As it was, so much intimacy, even if only implied, kept her color high.

“Sir, I expect this is a conversation best held in private.”

“Not at all,” he said, resuming a polite tone and raising his voice a bit. Darcy sat back; she’d scarcely noticed he’d been leaning in to her but felt the effects of his absence immediately. Darcy observed her blushes and permitted her polite withdrawal without comment; secretly he reveled in her agitation, for it meant she must not be wholly indifferent to him.

“In any case,” said Elizabeth, changing the subject as soon as her thoughts cleared. “What upset your sister so very much? I’d been given to understand that, for a girl of seventeen, she is possessed of quite an even tempered nature.”

“I’m afraid I cannot answer you,” said Darcy.

“She must have told you what happened.

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