Read Darkness Falls Upon Pemberley for Free Online Page A

before. Impulsively, he reached out and took her hand in his. It was as he’d suspected. Her fingers were freezing; colder than ice—nay, as cold as death itself.
    Elizabeth’s expression was nothing short of terrified as she attempted to snatch her hand away, but Darcy held fast to her, refusing to release her so easily. To his surprise, Elizabeth relented and allowed it.
    “Jennings,” he muttered darkly, his eyes fixed upon the woman before him as he struggled to regain his composure. “I shall deal with you later. Right now I desire a private audience with Miss Bennet.”
     
    †
    “Your hands, madam,” Darcy said as he looked pointedly into her eyes, “are freezing. You must warm yourself by the fire before you catch your death.”
    Elizabeth released a tremulous breath. “I believe we both know a fire will do little to warm me. As for catching my death, it is kind of you to worry, but you should concern yourself with your own health. There is very little you, or anyone else, can do about the state of mine.” She bowed her head. “I feel deeply for your dear sister, though. To become…what she is, and at so young an age, cannot be a happy thing for either of you.”
    “Indeed,” he muttered. The physical distance between them was far closer than what was considered proper in any circumstance, but at the moment even a few inches seemed too great a divide, even after such a startling revelation. Darcy tugged firmly on her hand, effectively pulling her onto the bed to sit beside him. A fter all was said and done, the fact that Elizabeth was a vampyre inspired no fear or abhorrence in him, but the outrage he felt on her behalf for the atrocities he imagined she’d endured before and during her transformation was another matter.
    Though he’d watched, alarmed as she threatened his only-too-human valet the night before, seeing her as she was now—her gaze soft, almost sorrowful—only confirmed what Darcy had always believed in his heart: that it wasn’t in Elizabeth’s nature to willfully inflict harm on anyone for any reason, least of all someone for whom she cared. In fact, she’d not only listened to Jennings, but allowed him to persuade her to nurse Darcy back to health in a most unconventional and improper manner, and at great personal risk—not only to her reputation, but to her family’s as well. Darcy knew no one so generous, or so good, save perhaps for Georgiana. Yes. The woman at his side was still his Elizabeth in every way that mattered. To Darcy, she could never— would never—be anything else.
    Elizabeth spoke then, and the softness of her voice soothed him, even though her words had the opposite effect. “May I inquire as to how your sister became…like me?”
    Unconsciously, Darcy tightened his grip on her hand. It was a story he’d much rather forget, but for Elizabeth he’d do anything, even relive the most painful day of his life.
    “She was taken from school,” he began, “to Ramsgate, where an establishment was procured for her. Her companion, a Mrs. Young, in whose character we were grievously deceived, resided there with her. Rather than act as chaperone to Georgiana, she neglected her and carelessly granted her liberties she should not have been permitted, such as walking to the seaside without so much as a maid to accompany her. One day, while wandering through the village, Georgiana was approached by a man. She was then but fifteen.”
    Darcy shut his eyes, his pain as fresh as the day he’d arrived and discovered them. “I believe his main object was her dowry of £30,000, and that in order to obtain it he intended to seduce her, then convince her to elope with him; but, unwilling to grieve a brother more than ten years her senior, Georgiana wrote to me and I joined them unexpectedly, before he’d been abl e to succeed with his seduction or obtain her consent.
    “I’d spoilt his carefully laid plans, and his anger and resentment was such that he meant to punish