AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Elizabeth
Ithadbeenfourdays since I ran out of Mr. Darcy’s house and three since I had received his letter. As promised, he had not bothered me. He had not bombarded me with flowers or gifts or called repeatedly.
I appreciated that he respected my wish for distance, yet contrary creature I was, I wished he had come to the house at least once. It would have shown he was trying.
“How long will you sit about and sigh?” asked my aunt.
We sat at the breakfast table, buttering our scones.
“I should think another week will do it, and then I will be right as rain.”
She smiled at my silliness. “Very well. I wonder if Mr. Darcy is doing the same.”
“I imagine he has already moved on,” I said bitterly. I was not entirely certain where that had come from.
“I am glad to see you are finally realizing you are angry,” she said with a knowing look.
To my great surprise, she was right. I was angry, and I had not realized it before now. I had felt disappointed, and let down, and even betrayed. I had felt sadness and foolishness for trusting him in the first place. But I had not realized I was angry until now.
“You are right, aunt. He should not have behaved as he did. And he should not have sent a letter when he wasn’t even willing to call and apologize in person.”
“Well, you did refuse to see him,” she said as she smeared jam on her scone.
“What? When did he come?”
“The day you ran home! You stomped up to your room and said you did not want to see anyone, especially if they came from Darcy House.”
I had forgotten about that. “I think I was expecting the colonel, and I could not face him in that moment.”
“That is perfectly understandable.”
I sighed. “What should I do, Aunt?”
“What do you wish to do?”
I looked about the room, hoping the answer would be found in a painting or a candlestick. It was not.
“I am torn. I do like Mr. Darcy, very much, and I believe he is an honorable man in most circumstances.”
“In most?”
“He did not behave honorably with me,” I said quietly. “One should not make promises to a lady and call her a liar in the next breath.”
“No, one should not.”
“I do not need to marry, especially now that I am your heir. But even if I were not, I could stay on at Longbourn with my brother. And Papa will be with us many years yet.”
“That is all true. But it would not be your own home. Do you want your own home, Elizabeth?”
“I think I do. I always thought I would marry a working man, so I did not give much thought to my home. I imagined we would have a house in London and it would be comfortable enough. Something similar to the Gardiners’ home, though likely smaller.”
“Have you considered, my dear, that you are likely to have a great many children?” she asked.
“I thought I would have a few. I had not thought of the number.”
“Elizabeth,” she gave me a serious look. “We must talk of realities. You are young and pretty, and you have a look of vitality about you that I doubt will ever fade. You will be very attractive to whomever you are married to. You will always be in good health, as you always have been, and even if he were not, enough contact with you and he soon would be. Children will be unavoidable. Even if you face trouble in the delivery, you will survive it, and the babe likely will as well. After all, it will be in constant contact with you.”
My eyes widened. I had not thought it through in those terms.
