Mr. Darcy's Indiscretions by Valerie Lennox

Author:Valerie Lennox [Lennox, Valerie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Punk Rawk Books
Published: 2019-11-02T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Darcy stood in the doorway of the darkened room. The air was thick with the coppery scent of blood, and there were piles of towels and rags at the foot of the bed.

But Mrs. Fortescue looked proper enough, the covers up to her chin. Her face was red, and her hair was coming askew from the braid she had it in. She looked tired.

“Darcy,” she said. She tried to smile.

He lurched toward her, and he felt rather certain that he was going to start sobbing, and he couldn’t do that.

“I have something for you,” she said. “I want you to open the drawer there.” She pointed at her dressing table.

“Surely this can wait until you are feeling better,” he said, his voice like ground glass.

“Darcy, please,” she said. “I have to tell you…” She paused, grimacing in pain. Then she let out a breath. “Tell you now, while I can.”

“Don’t speak that way,” he said, his lower lip trembling. “Please don’t.”

“You have been too good to me,” she said. “But this is what a sinful woman like me deserves in the end. The wages of sin are death.”

“No,” he said. “You are going to be just fine.”

“Open the drawer for heaven’s sake!”

He turned and yanked the drawer open.

“There are jewels,” she said. “I had dithered over selling them. I knew that I could, but they belonged to my grandmother, and it is all I have left of her. I don’t suppose it will matter now, though. I want you to have them. If you sell them, you may have…” Another long pained pause. “Enough, what with what you’ve already saved. Enough for Hawthorne Abbey.”

He slammed the drawer shut. “That’s madness.”

“It’s not,” she said. “You must take them now.”

“I won’t take them,” he said. “Because you’re going to need them. You can sell them yourself, for your well-being. For the babe’s.”

“We both know there is no babe anymore.” Her voice cracked.

“We don’t know that,” he said. “You had best deliver it quickly, hadn’t you? Perhaps—”

“Don’t,” she said, her voice a sob.

He looked away. “Well, you’ll need the jewels for yourself then.”

“Take them and keep them safe for me,” she said. “Please. When I’m well again, you can give them back.”

“What is the need of that?” he said. “If you didn’t trust your servants with them, you would have hidden them better. They can remain here until you are better.”

“Darcy, I want to do this for you!”

“Surely, they should remain with your family in any case.”

“My parents don’t need them,” she said. “And neither does my brother. I would have passed them on to my daughter if I had a girl, but that is not to be.”

“Stop,” he said. “You can’t give in. You can’t go away. You have to stay with us. Stay with me. We have been in each other’s company these many months. What will I do without you? You’ll have to fight. For me, you have to.”

She swallowed. “It’s only that—” Suddenly she broke off and an anguished cry tore from her lips.

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