Page 164

“Why is she here?’ Darcy asked himself. ‘Why do I see her apparition with Mama and Georgie, and why do I feel like I am surrounded by snow? Why did she say that she loves me?’ He felt a sense of warmth suffuse his body as the scene before him changed.

The next thing he saw was the park at Pemberley.

He no longer felt the bone jarring cold, he felt warmer and more comfortable.

As he stood and looked out over the park, his father rode up on his steed, Goliath.

Darcy did not know how, but he was sitting on Zeus and riding with his father as he had so many times in his lifetime.

“By Jove! You had the right of it, Lady Elizabeth,” Mr. Bartholomew exclaimed as he felt his patient’s forehead.

“There is still a fever, but it is much lower, just above normal. I will have to make note of what was done here to use in similar cases in the future,” he gave the lady a half bow to indicate his appreciation for her actions.

“Elizabeth, I think that you just saved my William’s life!” Lady Anne said with thanks evident in her voice, tears of joy flowing freely as she hugged the younger woman.

“If I did, it was nought but his due as it was his selfless and brave action that saved mine,” the lady said.

“Elizabeth,” Georgie said in a timid voice, “did you mean what you said when you begged William to come back to us?”

“What do you mean, Georgie,” Elizabeth blushed, realizing she must have made her declaration aloud.

“You said that you loved William. Is that true?” the younger girl asked.

“We will talk about this and much else once William is on his way to recovery, my sweetling,” her mother said gently. “What now, Mr. Bartholomew?”

“Your son is not out of danger yet, your ladyship” the physician reported.

“His fever is much lower, but until it breaks it could go up again,” he saw that the ladies were about to interject so he continued, “however, we will use the method that Lady Elizabeth introduced if his fever again rises so precariously.”

As the sun was starting to rise, Ladies Elaine and Catherine entered Darcy’s chambers.

When they were told what Lady Elizabeth had done, and the change that it wrought on their stricken nephew, Elizabeth Bennet was repeatedly hugged and kissed by the women in his family.

William was much loved by his relatives, and their relief at his apparent improvement was immense.

For the first time in two days, Lady Anne, coaxed by her sister Catherine, agreed to go take a bath and climb into her bed to get some much-needed sleep.

Lady Elizabeth was ordered to do the same by the Countess of Matlock, who with a look let her know that there was no room for debate.

Once a promise was elicited that they would be woken if there was any change for the worse, both ladies left their charge in the capable hands of his two aunts and his sister.

As they rode, seemingly flying across the field of Pemberley at a speed that surpassed anything that Darcy had ever attained on Zeus prior to now, he heard his father’s voice in his head:

“As much as I would have liked you to wait with me until your mother joined us, it gives me much pleasure that you have decided to take the harder path, the one that will lead you back to those who love you. You could not have chosen a better daughter for me, William. Lady Elizabeth will be the making of you.”

“But Papa, she used to hate me! It is only recently that we became friends.” Darcy explained.

“You think her indifferent to you, son? Then answer me this, why is she with you and willing you to return to the mortal world? Why did she tell you that she loves you?” George asked, his brow arched in challenge.

“She did say that, did she not father? But I too would not have minded staying as I miss you so very much. Did you know that your accident was in fact a murder committed by George Wickham?” Darcy looked directly at his father to assess how he took the news.

“I did my son, but that is in the past now, I want you to look to the future. Protect my beloved Anne and Georgie.” George soothed.

“Will I ever see you again, father?” Darcy asked quietly.

Before he could answer, his father and the horses were gone and Darcy was standing on the summit of the hill he had thought would be too hard to climb, then everything went black.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

If it were not for his best friend’s fight for his life, Charles Bingley would have been the happiest of men.

He had been granted a courtship with the woman that he loved beyond all others a month earlier than he had planned to make his proposals to her.

He had felt that he should wait as he had not wanted to be seen as insensitive to Darcy’s fight for life.

Bingley had visited Darcy House earlier in the day and the news had been very promising; it seemed that Darcy had taken a definite turn for the better.

With such good news, Bingley felt that it was time to propose to his beloved Franny.

He was on his way to visit his sister Caroline and his newly gained brother Graham in their home, Phillips House on Portman Square in London.

The added attraction was that his Franny was being hosted by her brother and new sister.

He was shown into the drawing room where Caroline Phillips was conversing with her sisters, Louisa and Franny. On seeing her brother, the mistress of the house stood and hugged him in welcome.

“Is my brother at his place of work, Caroline?” he asked his youngest sister.

“He is, yes. He is assisting Sir Randolph with a case as we speak,” she smiled, pride in her husband obvious, then her demeanour rapidly changed to one of concern. “How is Mr. Darcy?”

“We can thank God. The fever has broken, with much thanks to Lizzy. He is resting much more comfortably now. He has not woken yet, but the doctors are somewhat hopeful that he will soon.” Bingley offered what he knew to ease their worry.

“What did Lizzy do?” Caroline asked the question all three ladies wanted answered.

Bingley shared the tale of how Elizabeth Bennet had taken charge and what she had insisted be done when Darcy’s fever was so high that the doctors were advising his mother and family to prepare for the inevitable.

At the end of his telling, there was not as much surprise for Lizzy’s efforts as he would have thought there would be.

“That is my cousin,” Franny said with a big smile, “she is more circumspect when it comes to judging others now, but when she is sure that she is correct about something, she will allow no one to gainsay her.”

“It seems that all of Lizzy’s reading has paid handsome dividends for Mr. Darcy,” Louisa opined.

“Franny,” Bingley turned to the woman of his dreams, “may I speak to you, in private?” Miss Francine Phillips had a good idea why the man that she loved and respected required privacy and nodded, blushing as pleasure radiated from her very being.

“You may use Graham’s study, Charles,” Caroline informed him, “but the door will remain cracked open and if you do not return in ten minutes, you will find yourselves interrupted!” Caroline warned her brother, only partially teasing.

Once they were in the study, Bingley stood before the woman that possessed his heart and took her hands.

“Franny, I used to have an ‘ideal’ woman in my mind. It was not until meeting you that I recognised that all of the attributes that I was looking for in that fictional ideal woman were physical. I thank God that I have matured and come to realise that the physical is the least important element when one is selecting one’s life mate.

” Franny raised her eyebrows in question, was he intimating that she was homely?

Bingley saw the questioning look and realised that she may have misinterpreted what he said.

He was momentarily mortified, but soon regained his composure.

“Franny, I was in no way implying that you are anything but beautiful; let me try to speak coherently though, I find myself rendered almost mute by your internal and external beauty.” She smiled, letting him know that she was mollified.

“What I mean to say is that I now know that love, respect, felicity, intelligence, character, and compatibility are much more important than any the physical characteristics I only used to look for. To me, you are the most beautiful woman in the world! You have my love, and you meet and exceed every important item that counts. Your beauty is but an added bonus to all of the multitude of positive attributes I see in you, Franny.” He could not miss the look of love and pure adoration that she was giving him, so he sunk to one knee.

“Miss Francine Hattie Phillips, my love for you is deeper than the deepest ocean. When I am with you, I know that I am home. You complete me and make me want to be the best version of myself that I can be. Franny, I know we have only been courting for a month, but you must know that had I been given leave to do so, I would have requested a courtship in Hertfordshire. You are the only one for me, and I will spend the rest of my days making you happy. Franny, will you do me the honour and fulfil my every desire by agreeing to become my wife? Will you marry me?”