Read Alone with Mr. Darcy: A Pride & Prejudice Variation for Free Online Page B

he snapped.
    “What did you not mean? The offer to
restore my honor? That is hardly a surprise.”
    “Not that! I did mean that.” He
raked his fingers through his hair. “What I said at the assembly. It was not
true. I do not recall saying it, but if I did, I was most likely trying to get
rid of someone who wanted to speak to me.”
    Was he actually trying to apologize? It
was more likely she was still asleep and dreaming. “Truly, sir, it is a matter
of indifference to me.” She did her best to sound bored with the subject.
    “Surely you know… After all, you were the
only woman I asked to dance at the Netherfield ball.”
    “What do I know?” She had moved from
exasperation to bewilderment.
    “That I found you too handsome for my
peace of mind!” His gaze was more adversarial than admiring.
    “Oh, come now. This is ridiculous! I do
not know what you are playing at, but I wish you would stop.”
    “You are not the only one to wish I would
stop.” He pulled his overcoat around him and fastened the buttons. “Miss
Bingley knew it, and she did not like it at all.” He stomped to the door and
wrenched it open, letting a whirlwind of snow in.
    “Where are you going? You cannot possibly
reach town!”
    “I am going to find a woodpile so we do
not freeze to death today!” He slammed the door shut behind him.
    Elizabeth shook her head in bewilderment.
What a strange man! Did he think her so wounded by his words at the assembly
that he needed to create such a story? It was ridiculous. Was he trying to mock
her? She would have to ask Mr. Wickham the next time they met. He might
understand what Mr. Darcy meant, and why her statement had made him so angry.
    A shadow crossed beyond the window. She
rubbed a spot clear again, enough to see Mr. Darcy, his arms wrapped around
himself and his head bent down, slowly pacing the space near the cottage. Had
she seen a woodpile when she had walked past the cottage the first time? She
could not recall, and by the time they had reached its shelter yesterday, it would
already have been blanketed in snow.
    What if he found no wood? Her gaze flew to
the hearth and the two small pieces of firewood remaining next to it. Those
would not last long. It might be enough if the snow stopped soon, but if it
continued, the cottage might become very cold indeed. She did not even dare
think of the possibility the storm might persist until it was too late to
depart. At this time of year, the sun went down early, and they could not leave
without a good two hours of daylight left.
    ***
    Darcy kicked yet another snowdrift as if
his worst enemy lay behind it. Nothing under this drift, either. Devil take it,
what kind of fellow would hide a woodpile? An idiot, that was it. Almost as
much of an idiot as he was, to be stranded with Elizabeth Bennet in a storm. As
he kicked away the snow again, he yelped in pain as his boot contacted
something solid. Perhaps this was finally it! But when he bent to brush off the
snow, he found only another of the paving stones that had tripped Elizabeth the
previous day. Why had he ever returned to this miserable corner of
Hertfordshire?
    He trudged on, the ache in his toes
reminding him not to take out his anger with his foot this time. How could
Elizabeth possibly think he found her unattractive? He had thought himself so
obvious, had worried about raising impossible expectations…and on the subject
of impossibility, why in God’s name did she not jump at the chance to be
Mistress of Pemberley? Any other woman would have been thrilled at the
opportunity. What was the matter with her?
    Her warm body had felt so right in his
arms when he had awakened, at peace with himself for the first time in months
despite sleeping in his clothes on a flea-ridden pallet of old straw. It had
been a damned good thing he was fully clothed, or he might not have been able
to resist the temptation she presented. He knew perfectly well he should not
marry Elizabeth Bennet. It would be a