The Beastly Mr Darcy: A Pride & Prejudice variation by Elin Eriksen

Author:Elin Eriksen [Eriksen, Elin]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2022-07-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9 The Master Plan

They drove in silence into the village, and Darcy left his horse to be tended at the inn. She had felt so fragile beneath his hands when he had lifted her down from the phaeton. Not at all the force of nature he had perceived her to be. The vision of an angry mob beating down on her with fists and sticks made frissons travel down his back, and he hesitated a moment too long to release her. She was regarding him askance, with a smile plastered on her countenance. Her entire bearing was stiff—she must be terrified. He wrapped her hand around his arm and secured her to his side before they walked onto the main street.

“I am famished, could we eat before I take you shopping?”

“Yes, that would be lovely. I have worked up quite an appetite myself.”

Arm in arm they entered the Rose and Crown. A deathly silence prevailed as he found a vacant table in the middle of the room and nodded towards a serving maid. She approached their table with feigned bravado.

“May I take your order, sir?” she enquired in an unsteady voice.

“What would you like, my dear?” He smiled crookedly at Elizabeth. The nerves in his face had suffered some damage after his injury and had left him with limited sensation on his left side. The muscles must have been savaged by the sword, but Elizabeth seemed to enjoy it when he made the effort, despite the questionable result.

“I am in the mood for something sweet, but I shall have the pork pie first—my brother lauded its delicious taste when he was last here.”

“I shall have the same. Bingley has excellent taste. And a bottle of wine, please.”

The maid shuffled away, leaving them to chat between themselves.

“Have you thought any more about my suggestions?” Elizabeth remarked whilst attempting to appear nonchalant, but he was not fooled. How come he could read her so easily when other females were a complete mystery to him, including his sister?

“Yes, can you not tell?” He nodded at the plates that were placed before them, their contents unrecognisable. He did not relish what his stomach might have to say about this meal, but he was hungry and left it to the mercy of God.

It did not taste as bad as it looked. He finished his plate and ordered a piece of cake for them both. Elizabeth had barely touched her food.

“More wine, or tea perhaps?” he enquired after she had finished her cake.

“No, thank you. I am full and in dire need of walking it off. Shall we, Mr Darcy?”

Darcy rose and offered her his arm which she took. He paid the maid and walked out of the cramped space into the lovely, sunny June day.

They strolled leisurely amongst the market carts. Darcy bought a trinket he secreted into his pocket whilst Elizabeth was occupied elsewhere buying chalk for Joe and his sister Jean’s slates. He had a specific destination in mind, but he wanted to approach it clandestinely so as not to spoil his surprise.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.