Neither of them knew if the mad earl would return to shoot her through the eyes properly as soon as a physician wrapped up and bandaged his hand.
Chapter Nineteen
It was one of those grey and rainy days in Paris.
Everyone along the crowdedRue de Richelieuheld huge umbrellas out.Big black umbrellas, red umbrellas, multicolored umbrellas.The people hurried back and forth in front of Elizabeth’s happy eyes, as she curled up in her armchair right next to the window.Her mind wandered from the view to her husband.
Her Darcy.
Elizabeth sighed ever so happily.
It looked like there was a little pure river, several inches deep, flooding the road below her.The thick drops lashed her mullioned window panes.
She saw him walk up the road, and glance up at her window from under his umbrella.She waved at him.He reached the door, and there was the click of it opening.
Darcy entered the room slightly damp despite his excellent umbrella from the walk back from the fencing club he had entertained himself at for the past hour.He whistled as he opened his arms for an embrace and a kiss.
Before their reunion — after a whole three hours today — went further than a deep kiss, there was a sharp knock on the front door to their apartments.A few minutes later the housekeeper brought in a wiry young man who wore a riding coat and had the lean appearance of an athlete.
He had a leather pouch and said in a clear English voice, “Express sent from England.From England!Express.”
Elizabeth felt an anxiety as she stood next to Darcy.He reached to take the mail pouch from the young man.
“Apologies, sir.”The messenger shook his head.“The instructions were quite precise.To only give into the hands of the lady who is the recipient.You—”
“Who sent it!”
“Well, was his lordship, Earl of Lachglass.You be Miss Elizabeth Bennet?”
“I was, I am Mrs.Darcy now.”Elizabeth was surprised at how calm and steady her voice was.
Perhaps, some tiny part of her mind thought, he wrote to declare that he had realized the wrongness of his ways, and repentantly wished to assure Elizabeth she could return to England and have no further worry of being bothered by him.
The messenger drew out the still crisp letter from his oiled leather pouch that had protected it from the rain, and any other inclement conditions that may have been encountered on the journey from England.He handed the letter to Elizabeth and then looked between the two of them with a sort of expectant smile.
“Find a different employer than that man if you wish a tip from me,” Darcy harshly said.
“Now, my dear, that comes perilously close to punishing the messenger.”Elizabeth stared at the letter, and the deeply imprinted wax seal of the earl.She did not yet feel in sufficient command of herself to simply tear open the letter and look at what message was given to her by her enemy.“Give the poor boy what you would have if this letter had been sent by a man we are on some friendly terms with.”
Darcy grunted with annoyance and fished a small silver coin from his purse.
He stepped closer to Elizabeth who had made no move to open the letter.
She recognized the stationery.It was the same paper she had used to have his daughter practice her letters with during her brief time in Lord Lachglass’s employ.
Fine and thick paper.And really excellent wax that gleamed even in the rainy grey light from the windows.If she were of a different temperament, she might lever off the reddish purple wax, with the seal perfectly pressed into it, and store it in a collection of pieces of sealing wax she had received as one of the best in her collection.
The messenger was gone from the room, along with the housekeeper.
Darcy took the letter from her numb fingers, and he efficiently ripped it open, destroying the red wax and smearing a little bit into his fingernail.
He read the paper with at first a deepening scowl and then a completely blank emotionless face.No sign of what he felt was openly visible.
Elizabeth thought her Darcy might receive the promise of his own death from a physician with a similar expression.A proud and firm expression, but one that could not hide his worry or his feelings from Elizabeth, not from his Elizabeth who knew him so well.
“What news?”
Darcy put the letter down on the table.At first Elizabeth thought he was about to crumple the paper and toss it into the fire, but he thought better of that and instead just pushed the pages away.
