The reply was faint and unsteady. Darcy frowned slightly. There was something familiar about the voice, though he could not immediately place it. Before he could consider the matter further there came the scrape of a bolt and the door opened a few inches.
The occupant peered cautiously out into the rain. Darcy stopped dead, his heart leaping into his throat. Miss Elizabeth Bennet stared back at him blinking as the wind and rain began blowing into the carriage.
For a second neither of them spoke. Her face was pale with cold and exhaustion and several damp curls had escaped her coiffure. She was wrapped in blankets almost to her chin and shivering visibly.
"Mr Darcy?"
"Miss Elizabeth."
She closed her eyes briefly.
"Of course."
Darcy had absolutely no idea how to respond to that. Instead he took hold of the door and opened it fully.
When he continued staring at her, Miss Bennet closed her eyes briefly and leaned her head back against the squabs.
"Where is your driver? Your companion? You are all alone?"
"Mrs Frost was injured when the carriage left the road," she said. "She is expecting a child… I sent her and Mr Frost—our coachman—to Barley Cross to seek help."
Her voice was noticeably weaker than it had been a moment before.
Darcy looked around the empty carriage. "You have been here alone ever since?"
She nodded.
"How long?"
"I do not know precisely." She frowned slightly. "Several hours, I think."
"He stared at her, "Several hours?"
"It was not my intention," she snapped before visibly sagging.
Darcy glanced around the carriage. The blankets looked damp and Miss Bennet was shivering so violently that the whole seat seemed to tremble with her.
Darcy turned and saw his valet's expression had become serious.
"We need to get her warm."
"Can you stand?" he asked.
Miss Bennet frowned and blinked at him, her usually quick tongue slow to form the words. "I… I believe so."
She gathered the blankets around herself and attempted to rise. The moment she put her feet beneath her, she swayed alarmingly and would almost certainly have ended up back on the floor of the carriage had Darcy not caught her.
For a second she looked up at him in confusion. Then she said, with great dignity, "I think the floor moved."
Darcy slipped an arm around her waist to steady her. Even through the layers of damp wool he could feel her trembling. Before Elizabeth could gather sufficient strength to object, Darcy bent and lifted her into his arms.
"Mr Darcy!"
The protest was considerably weakened by a violent shiver.
"You are in no condition to walk."
"I absolutely am."
