Page 33 of Winter of Passion (Pride and Prejudice Variation)

W ith teasing and sharing memories, the first part of the journey passed reasonably well. The horses moved at a steady pace, with no more hurry than the roads allowed. A distance that in the summer could be covered in an hour now took two.

In the carriage, it was getting cold, and the blankets provided by Mrs Bennet proved extremely useful.

They stopped at the first inn, changed horses, and ordered some warm drinks and food for themselves as well as for the three servants who escorted them.

The stop was brief, but when they resumed their journey, the sky had become dark with heavy clouds. A sense of concern overwhelmed Darcy. He had travelled in bad weather many times, but putting Elizabeth in danger was worrisome.

Soon enough, it began to snow — and it grew stronger and thicker with every mile. The wind was blowing too, and the view ahead was obstructed.

“Are you cold, my love?” he asked.

“I am. I believe you should hold me tighter to warm me,” she teased him.

He did so, taking her hands in his and placing another kiss on the top of her head.

“Elizabeth, the weather seems to be getting worse. We shall stop at the next inn and take rooms for the night. We cannot travel in such dangerous conditions. It is not safe for you, for the horses, or for anyone.”

“As you wish. I am sure you know what is best.” He felt she was worried too, and he could do nothing to comfort her other than to embrace her.

The farther they drove, the worse the weather became; glancing out, it was obvious that in that particular area, it had been snowing for some time.

Everything was covered in a blanket of white, and Darcy could feel the carriage was progressing with much difficulty.

Then they drew to a halt, and one of the men knocked on the door.

“What is it?”

“Master, the road is very bad, and the snow is almost blocking the wheels. There are no traces of other carriages. We must move very slowly.”

“Of course! Do as you think is safe. It has become very dark. Can you light the torches? What if another carriage comes from ahead and does not see us?”

“The torches will not stay alight, sir. The wind is too strong. Perhaps you could light a few candles inside instead?”

“We shall do that. Do you know where we are?”

“We should be approaching a village soon, sir.”

“Then there must be an inn there, is there not?”

“Yes, sir, but we have not come upon it yet. We just hope we have kept to the main road.”

“Very well, proceed with care. As soon as we find the inn, we shall stop for the night.”

When the servant left, Darcy looked at his wife; she looked worried, yet she tried to smile at him. He kissed her hands, then lit two candles, and each of them held one at a window with the hope that they could be seen from outside.

Some more time passed, and the carriage became even slower.

The snow and the wind grew stronger, as well as Darcy’s worry.

If they were to be stuck in that weather, spending the night out there would put everyone in danger.

He blamed himself for his impatience; he was angry with himself for his lack of wisdom and his selfishness.

The carriage stopped again, this time abruptly, and the servant returned.

“Sir, I believe we are close to the village. I think I can see lights ahead and smell the smoke from chimneys, but I am not sure.”

“Then let us proceed slowly.”

“One of the wheels is stuck. I cannot see why as the snow is too deep. We are trying to dig it out.”

Darcy looked at Elizabeth — she was now pale, but the smile persisted on her lips.

“I shall go out and see how I can help them,” he said, and she nodded. “Please wrap yourself in the blankets. There must be houses here. If needed, my men and I shall walk to find someone.”

“I can walk too if needed. But what about the horses? I am sorry — I am the one to blame! I should not have insisted on leaving,” Elizabeth whispered with apparent turmoil.

“Please do not say that, my love. It was my fault. I should have known better. I am so very sorry…”

“We shall find a way,” she said decidedly. “Do not worry for me. If I am with you, I can bear anything.”

“I know,” he said, kissing her briefly before stepping out.

Only when he had to face the weather directly did Darcy understand the gravity of their situation.

They were trapped in a cage of ice and wind, with snow falling from the sky and more snow surrounding them.

Any attempt to free the wheel seemed useless; any snow they managed to remove, the wind replaced in seconds.

“We must walk to seek help,” Darcy decided.

“Sir, you must stay and protect Mrs Darcy. We shall go, the three of us. We shall spread out in three directions until we find a house.”

“Let us do that,” Darcy agreed. If he had been by himself, he would have gone with the servants, but he could not leave Elizabeth.

He returned to the carriage and told her the news. They waited in silence for a little while, keeping their candles lit to mark their position. After a rather short time, the door opened, and the wind blew out the flames.

“Master, I found this young man. His dog found me, better said. He said his house is close to here, and he can direct us.”

Darcy looked at his wife, and they both looked at the door, where they could barely see the little face — red and frozen — of a boy of probably nine or ten years old.

“Come, we must go,” the boy said.

“I shall take the basket with the food and follow you,” the servant said. “Tom and John are here too — we had not separated before this young man found us.”

Darcy was tempted to say to leave the basket, but the wind was too strong to lose a single moment. He covered Elizabeth with one blanket and helped her down. The wind and the cold hit them strongly.

With much difficulty, they struggled to walk against the vicious weather, following a young boy and a dog — who could be their salvation.

The distance was short, but the walk was treacherous and arduous. The least disturbed of the party seemed to be the boy, who stepped bravely through the snow, frequently turning his head to ensure they were still following him.

Eventually, they arrived in front of a small cottage in poor condition. The boy opened the door, ushered them inside, then closed it again quickly, exclaiming, “Look, Mama, I found some gentlefolk who were freezing!”

The mother, a very young, pale, and thin woman, was holding an infant. Another girl quickly hid behind her skirts.

“We beg your forgiveness, ma’am, for invading your home.

I am Fitzwilliam Darcy, this is my wife, Mrs Elizabeth Darcy, and these are my men.

We were travelling to London but were hindered by the weather.

Our carriage is stuck in the snow. We were fortunate to meet your brave son, who guided us here. ”

“Oh…please come in,” the young woman mumbled.

The room was small, with only a table, three wooden chairs, and a stove, in which a small fire was burning timidly.

Under the stove were a few logs, obviously an insufficient number to fight the chill of the storm.

In a corner was a large bed, where they likely all slept together to keep warm.

“We shall not stay long, ma’am,” Darcy assured her. “Do you happen to know whether the inn is far from here? Could we go there and ask for help?”

“Oh, the inn…no, it is not far. Less than half a mile. You should be there quickly, if not for the bad weather.”

“We shall go now, before the snow gets higher,” one of the servants said, and another nodded his head in approval. “We need to find shelter for the horses too.”

“Would you mind if Mrs Darcy sat by the fire?” Darcy asked. “Just to warm herself a little.”

“Of course,” the woman replied, quickly brushing the dust from a chair.

“You won’t find the inn by yourself in this weather,” the boy interjected. “I’ll come with you. Can I go, Mama?”

The woman seemed still confused and overwhelmed by the situation.

“I don’t know, Peter…the weather is very bad…and your boots are all wet…and your coat…”

Darcy glanced at the boy’s boots, which were too big and ripped on one side; his trousers and coat were also too large and too thin for the inclement weather.

“Peter, your mother is right — it would be too dangerous for you to go out again. If you will show us the direction, we shall find it eventually. Ma’am, I shall go with my men. Do you mind if Mrs Darcy remains here until we return?”

Elizabeth looked like she was about to argue, but in the end, she remained silent. Trying to walk with her would only delay them.

“Forgive me, ma’am,” the servant interjected, “if you let the boy accompany us, I shall carry him on my back. We can put a blanket over him to protect him from the snow. He only needs to guide us so we can get there faster.”

The young woman now looked stunned, and even Darcy was surprised by the suggestion.

“Yes, Mama, may I go? Please let me go!” Peter pleaded.

Eventually, the woman agreed, and while the two men and the boy left in one direction, Darcy decided to go back to the carriage with the third servant and stay there to watch over the horses until the others returned with help.

With concern, Darcy exchanged a glance with Elizabeth. Her little smile of reassurance did not deceive him; she was worried but determined to appear calm.

“We shall leave now,” he said. “The basket of food is here — I am sure you all must be hungry.”

“Yes, of course,” Elizabeth answered, understanding his meaning.

With that, they opened the door and stepped out into the blizzard, which was hitting their faces with increasing strength.

In the darkness, Darcy had a difficult time finding the carriage. Together with his man, he put blankets over the horses, patting each of them.

He was deeply worried about leaving Elizabeth alone in a stranger’s house, but he could not imagine staying inside with his wife and letting his men struggle with the danger in which he had put them.

After a while, he heard something over the sound of the wild winter.

His servants appeared with two other men and a carriage behind them.

They released the horses, and each man took one, then they unloaded the Darcy carriage and moved their belongings into the new one where Peter was waiting, still wrapped in the blanket, shivering from the cold, watching them as if he wished to help more.

Darcy’s heart melted to see the young boy, no doubt with a difficult life, struggling with his mother and brother and sister, who showed so much courage and determination in helping strangers.

It was so admirable that Darcy felt overwhelmed.

In truth, young Peter had saved them; he had saved Elizabeth from the terrible danger in which he — Darcy, her husband — had placed her recklessly.

Looking at Peter, an idea crossed his mind.

“We shall go to the inn and put the horses under shelter. Then we shall go to Peter’s house and retrieve Mrs Darcy. Do you agree, Peter?”

The boy was bewildered by being asked his opinion. “Me? Yes, sir. As you say.”

The plan was immediately followed, and they arrived at the inn rather quickly. But, as Peter had said, it was on a different road, and they would have been unlikely to find it if not for the boy’s direction.

When they arrived there, the innkeeper was waiting for them with some agitation.

“Mr Darcy, what an honour to have you! I hope you will enjoy your stay at our humble inn. We are preparing rooms for you. We have put some fresh meat on the stove just now. We shall have hot water for you and Mrs Darcy. Is Mrs Darcy with you?”

“Thank you. Mrs Darcy is not with me at present. I shall fetch her soon. Until then, there is something else I need you to do, and of course, I shall repay you most generously. I believe you know Peter?”

“Yes, sir, he helps me from time to time.”

“Good. Give him a cup of hot milk or soup to warm himself. In the meantime, please put some firewood into the carriage for tonight, as well as any food that you have already prepared — soup, milk, anything else — enough for Peter, his mother, and his brother and sister. I shall take it to his family when I take Peter home and collect Mrs Darcy.”

The innkeeper looked completely dumbfounded and simply nodded.

“While that is being done, I would like to look over the rooms for me and Mrs Darcy, as well as my men. We shall all need good, warm rooms and plenty of hot food.”

“Yes, sir! Of course!”

The prospect of a generous payment made the innkeeper have everything ready quickly. With two men escorting them — and Peter, looking confusedly at all the things around him but not daring to enquire about them — Darcy finally returned to Elizabeth.

“You are a brave young man, Peter. May I ask how old you are?”

“I am nine, sir!”

“You are braver than a man of nine-and-twenty. I hope you know you saved our lives. I have no words to thank you.”

“Oh, it was nothing much, sir. I just did what I could. No need to thank me, sir.”

“No need, but I want to do it, just as you wanted to help us,” Darcy replied, wrapping the blanket around the boy.

When they entered Peter’s house, Darcy’s heart nearly burst with pride; it was still chilly inside, but Elizabeth looked comfortable, with the little girl sitting next to her and the young woman holding her baby, all eating from the basket prepared by Mrs Bennet.

At his entrance, the girl hid behind her mother again, and the woman stood up immediately.

“Is everything well?” Elizabeth asked him.

“Yes. Everything is well because of this young man to whom I am deeply thankful.” He addressed the woman, “Ma’am, I have taken the liberty of expressing my gratitude in the only way I could on this terrible day. I hope you do not mind.”

He opened the door, and two men entered, first bringing several armfuls of wood, then a large basket from which the smell of tasty food filled the room. The woman stared at him, her eyes widened with disbelief.

“Sir, this is…I cannot…this is…” she mumbled. The girl showed her little face from behind her mother, drawn by the appealing smell.

“Mr Darcy, all this is for us?” Peter asked, his mouth hanging open.

“Yes. For tonight. We shall talk more tomorrow. Now, please excuse us, we must leave before the weather takes another turn for the worse.”

With that, Darcy bowed to the family — who still seemed frozen in shock — then hurried to help Elizabeth into the carriage.