Read Darkness Falls Upon Pemberley for Free Online Page B

me for my interference by killing her. He told me so just before he sank his teeth into her neck. By the grace of God, I was able to tear her away from him before he could do his worst. His bite was not fatal and any injuries she’d sustained were healed during her transformation.
    “I need not tell you the life Georgiana leads now is not the life she knew before. She was spared from true death, only to be condemned to another fate no less grievous, and every bit as final.”
    “Does the hateful one who bit Miss Darcy still walk this earth?” she asked.
    “No. My cousin Richard, with whom I share guardianship of Georgiana, is a colonel in Her Majesty’s Army. He aided me in my revenge. The villain may be no more, but my sweet, innocent sister must forever suffer his curse.”
    “I am sorry for all of you,” Elizabeth whispered feelingly. “It is a dreadful infliction; one I would not wish upon my worst enemy, never mind one as undeserving of such unsolicited horror as your young sister undoubtedly was.”
    Darcy merely inclined his head. “And what of you, Miss Bennet?” he asked sedately. “How is it that you have come to be in a similar state as my sister?”
    “Oh no,” she responded with a frown. “I’m afraid the story of my immortality isn’t half a s sinister as poor Miss Darcy’s. As a matter of fact, it’s rather insignificant in comparison.”
    “Nothing about you is insignificant, but if speaking of it distresses you, then you need not relate the particulars to me. In fact, I will never ask you again.”
    The barest hint of a smile tugged at her lips. “You flatter me, Mr. Darcy,” she said, taking a deep breath as she tucked a long, glossy curl behind her ear. “ Very well. As you might already know, my father’s estate is entailed away from the female line, requiring him to sire a son to succeed him and to ensure my mother and any unmarried children may remain at Longbourn after his death. Since he and my mother failed to produce a male heir, Longbourn will pass to a distant cousin in Kent.
    “Though we are comfortable, we are hardly rich. My sisters and I have no dowries to speak of, so my father, in his desperation to provide for us, traveled several years ago to the darkest corner of London. He’d heard mention of a gentleman who, for a price, would assist him in taking very specific measures to ensure he’d remain master of Longbourn, always.”
    Darcy could hardly credit what he was hearing. “You cannot mean…” he whispered, horror-struck at the lengths to which Mr. Bennet would go in order to keep his legacy within his family.
    Elizabeth turned aside her head. “Yes,” she quietly confirmed. “My father shall live forever, and I am to be his companion.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
    S even
     
    “What of your mother and sisters?” Darcy inquired. He’d always thought Elizabeth favoured her father while her sisters resembled their mother, but it was now evident that Mr. Bennet’s second daughter had far more in common with her father than mere physical appearance.
    Elizabeth shook her head. “They are human, though Jane  knows precisely what we are and why. She has kept our secret and always shall, but I fear it’s been very hard on her. She is constantly worried for us, as you must also worry for your sister.”
    “Of course,” he agreed absently, running his hand over his mouth, deep in thought. While he could relate to Mr. Bennet’s desire—and even his desperation—to provide for his family using whatever means were within his grasp, after seeing Georgiana through the agony of her transformation and the harried, emotional months that followed, the master of Pemberley disagreed with the elder man’s solution, especially when Mr. Bennet’s decision ultimately sentenced Elizabeth, a favourite child, to such a difficult and dangerous existence.
    “Your father made a conscious choice, did he not, to become what he is?” he asked.
    “He did. Though I’ve often