Darcy or Lizzy? by Leigh Cassandra B

Author:Leigh, Cassandra B.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Friday, 22 November

Longbourn Copse

Despite the drenching rain and Mr Hobbs’s objections, Elizabeth arrived at the copse to meet Darcy, wearing his riding clothes and wool greatcoat. “My dear Bart, I am terribly sorry to bring you out in such dreadful weather, but I must see your master,” she said, offering the stallion another sugar cube while they waited. Certainly, the poor beast must have some reward for leaving his warm stall and venturing out in such miserable conditions.

Now that she had revealed Wickham’s inheritance story to Sir William and her uncle, she wondered for a moment if the rain would prevent the truth from circulating through the neighbourhood but quickly cast that thought aside. Knowing her aunt thrived on local scandal, she would be unable to keep such shocking information to herself.

She was not surprised Darcy was late, knowing he might have some difficulty encouraging Ginger to take another ride in a downpour. If not for the urgency of her situation, Elizabeth would not have ventured out, either. However, she wanted to reveal her efforts on Darcy’s behalf and her encounter with Wickham. She hoped he would agree that she had done him justice. For some reason, she craved his good opinion.

She fully admitted this was a drastic change in her attitude. Thinking more clearly now, she regretted despising him. She had admired him when he first appeared at the assembly, but the sting of his disapproval had spurred her intense loathing. Even if he meant to disparage her then, he had since reversed his opinion, and so had she. Since stepping into his shoes, she had discovered that he had every reason to be proud of his heritage. Pemberley and the people who lived there were under his care, just as her father cared for his family, servants, and tenants at Longbourn. What’s more, she now valued him and wanted nothing more than to spend time in his company.

This revelation surprised her. How had she undergone such a complete reversal of opinion in less than a sennight? Had she been deceiving herself, or had she misjudged him from the onset of their acquaintance? Perhaps his hasty remarks were based on his faulty perception of her. How ironic that she shared that character defect with him; they had both been guilty of the same weakness, which caused unnecessary animosity between them. Perhaps she was more like Darcy than she realised. Stranger still was that a sudden brush with the supernatural illuminated their imperfections. An odd turn of events, considering their inauspicious beginning, but she could not wonder at it. Now that their futures were undeniably linked, neither could move forward without the other.

After waiting thirty minutes, she abandoned all hope of seeing her twin that day and reluctantly returned Bart to his stable. Disappointment loomed at the prospect of facing a new day without the benefit of Darcy’s company. This would be the first day in over a sennight she had not seen or spoken to him. Until that moment, she had not realised how much she had come to rely on his advice and encouragement.

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