Too Close to Mr Darcy by Claire Cartier

Author:Claire Cartier [Cartier, Claire]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-01-14T05:00:00+00:00

14

Elizabeth paced anxiously before Miss Anne's closed bedroom door. The only sounds she could hear coming from inside the room were hushed tones and the occasional clink of glass against glass. She suspected that the doctor was dispensing medicine to his young patient and her mother alike. Upon seeing her daughter half-conscious and with cheeks as red as a beet, the older woman had nearly fainted herself.

Elizabeth was rightly nervous. She continued to blame herself for her recklessness. She still stood by her choice to take her mistress outside and its potential benefits, but she kept reprimanding herself for rushing things too much. At first, she should have only asked Miss Anne to take in some sunlight on a terrace, tightly woven in her blankets until she got used to the fresh air she had been deprived of for so long.

There was no one in sight in the dark, candlelit corridor where Elizabeth paced back and forth, waiting for her verdict. She realized she had stopped breathing as she finally discerned the sound of footsteps behind the closed door. For a brief moment, she debated whether she should hide somewhere to avoid Lady Catherine's wrath. That would only be postponing the inevitable.

At long last, the door opened and a despondent Lady Catherine emerged, walking straight past Elizabeth. She appeared so stricken by grief she was nearly blinded and perhaps took Elizabeth for a maid that waited for her turn to go inside.

Miss Ashburn was the next to come out of the bedchamber, carefully closing the door after herself and pasting her ear briefly to the wooden panel to make sure she had not stirred up too much noise. When she turned and faced Elizabeth, a hand flew up to her chest.

"Ah, Miss Elizabeth, you scared me," she said. "I did not expect to find you here. I thought you had orders to return to your room and wait there."

"I know," Elizabeth whispered, her fingernails digging into the thin fabric of her gloves. "I was told to stay there until I was called for but I simply could not find any peace there." She sighed heavily. "At this point, I doubt I could make matters any worse for myself, even if I were to follow all the orders issued to me. All I wanted was to make sure Miss Anne was all right."

Miss Ashburn did not speak right away. She studied Elizabeth with curiosity as if she were examining an odd specimen of exotic insect.

"And you were not afraid to come here and possibly face Lady Catherine?" she asked eventually.

"I was, of course," Elizabeth admitted. "I am always a touch afraid when it comes to facing Lady Catherine, today most of all. However, my need to see whether I have been the cause for Miss Anne's health to decline was stronger than any fear I might have harbored. I trust I would be leaving Rosings sooner than I would have liked but at least I can do so with a lightened heart if I knew that Miss Anne was fine.

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