by Anne Louise
“As beautiful as Pemberley is, I believe that it is not a place for single man to live. Do you ever get lonely in this giant house?”
“Yes, Miss Bennet, I am often lonesome. I am afraid that I come across as a shy man to strangers and I probably also come across as aloof.”
“You do not come across that way to me, Mr. Darcy. I believe myself to be the one who has been nervous in your company. Of course, I have not had your experience in life and I am younger, but you are an important man who makes important decisions affecting many people. I just have never been associated with such a person, be they a man or a woman. The private dinner we had that first night is a memory I will treasure for as long as I live.”
“That is very kind of you, Miss Bennet. I feel the same way about that evening, but I also want you to stay here longer.”
“Let us walk to another location? This trail takes us to the highest point at Pemberley and I believe you will have an even better view of some of the tenant farms in the distance. Once we are there, I will point out the direction your relatives were heading when they had their accident.”
As they walked Darcy explained why he had built the shelters and said this was something he wanted as much for the children as for their parents.
“That was innovative of you, sir. Did anything trigger your mind to think of doing this?”
“Yes, I read a story in The Times about a young lad who was visiting a large estate and became lost and wandered away and was found dead three days later.”
****
Later that day, after returning inside, Darcy turned to speak with Elizabeth. “I hope to share other walks with you on the morrow, but first I must determine the condition of the roads. Even though the rain has stopped and it is sunny outside, there are still more concerns. Lambton and parts of Pemberley are downstream of a large watershed and are at the mercy of what lies upstream. In the past we have had major flooding in and around Lambton because water was allowed to dam up.”
“I have read about such things, Mr. Darcy.”
“Eventually heavy rains burst these natural dams and water breaks free and suddenly a wall of water can be heard and seconds later is upon any poor soul nearby. This is a powerful event and can cause catastrophic damage in an instant as well as severe flooding and causes the uprooting of trees and breaks up other natural dams along the way, thus adding to the flooding and sending even more debris and water downstream. The people of Lambton have been very conscientious about keeping the streams cleared of debris which might cause further damage and more flooding, but upstream there are few people to do the same. Periodically, some of the men from Lambton go out to see if there is extensive damming upstream and they work to clear it.”
“Then you must not go, Mr. Darcy. Please stay here another day? I fear for your safety.”
“I must determine what damage has been done to the roads or your relatives and you may have to stay here much longer. That would make your father very upset and he would be mad at me.” He looked at Elizabeth and chuckled softly. “Do not worry my pretty, young friend. I will be careful.”
Such words set her heart all aflutter. Staying at Pemberley forever would not be a hardship at all if it was with Mr. Darcy.
As he left, she felt the tears that she had been holding back, and now they flowed freely. Elizabeth was not one to cry, but this day she had a premonition that Darcy was in danger. Now her stomach ached and her heart hinted at what she had refused to believe, that perhaps she was in love with Mr. Darcy. She tried to avoid such thoughts but the turmoil in her mind would not allow her to think otherwise.
It was late in the day when Darcy took the road he would normally take to go to Lambton. As he neared the bridge along the creek he saw men working to repair the bridge, but the stream was too wide and the water too deep and he had to stay on the Pemberley side of the water.
Alighting from his horse, he walked over to speak with some of the men but the sound of the rushing water made it difficult to hear them across the raging creek.
“How is the village? Darcy shouted.”
The man closest to Darcy shouted back. “We have had bad flooding, Mr. Darcy, and the worst may not be over. We cannot fully restore the bridge until the threat of flooding is behind us, and this may take several more days. Water got up to five feet in some parts, and the Inn at Lambton has nearly five feet of water outside, and still it is not yet at the high water mark. A man from up north said it rained very hard there for four days and that more water will soon be here.”
“Are the three homes near the creek flooded as well?”
“I am afraid so, Mr. Darcy. Mostly everyone escaped, but the Wallace boy is missing and he may have been carried away. People are looking for him now.”
Darcy saw men in the distance. “I will go to them now and check out this side of the creek. Time is of the essence.”
Darcy felt terrible. The Wallace family was next on queue to manage a tenant farm at Pemberley, and Darcy had met the lad and liked the family. Though he could not make his way to the Lambton side of the creek, and there were no places that he could safely cross, Darcy could see the damage caused by the wall of water and up ahead he saw men walking on the other side combing through tree debris. Water had built up behind the dam of limbs and other debris but it was likely to burst at anytime when Darcy thought he heard the boy.
He was caught in the debris but had found an air pocket. Darcy was the only one who could save the boy because he was closest to Darcy’s side of the creek, so he told the men he had found the child alive. After three unsuccessful tries of tossing Darcy a rope, he finally caught it and would use it to try and rescue the boy. He knew he must be careful to get close enough to grab onto the child so as not to lose him if the dam suddenly burst.
The boy was caught at the front of the dam with the water behind him. Darcy could see the boy’s hands and next told him not to move because he would rescue him. He next tied a rope around the closest tree limb and wrapped his waist with three turns, thus leaving a loose section of rope for the child to grab onto. After that he carefully worked his way onto the dam and saw the boy reach and grab the rope until Darcy grabbed his hands, but the boy said his feet were caught.
Immediately Darcy saw that the dam was bursting and told the boy that his feet would soon be free and to be brave. The whole dam gave way but Darcy held onto the child as the rush of water uprooted the tree to which he had tied the rope and somehow the branch had broken. He and the boy then floated downstream with a rope dragging behind them.
The drama was watched by all on the other side as Darcy held onto the boy. Several hundred yards further, at a curve in the creek before it later joined a river, Darcy caught hold of a tree limb against the bank and with all his strength, hoisted the boy with his free arm and saw him climb to the ground above.
The onlookers now watched in horror from a good distance away as the limb he had just grabbed broke and Darcy was washed further downstream.
Mr. Wallace came to his son and embraced him. “Father, will Mr. Darcy survive? He saved my life.”
The father had his own tears. “If any man can survive, it will be Fitzwilliam Darcy, but we may never find him. Others will look for him and we will return to join them as soon as we have taken you to your mother. We will stay at your cousin’s house until we can find another.”
The other workers continued to search for Darcy but there was no sign of him and but a mile away the creek emptied into a swollen river that was already running over its’ banks and the water flow was very turbulent. Debris further blocked their progress, though some of the men continued to look for Darcy, but with no success.
****
Back at Pemberley, Darcy had not returned and many were despondent. Elizabeth was already hatching a plan. If he did not return by ten that night, she would leave and go and try to find him. She knew that would not be allowed by the Gardiners, so she would walk by the bright moonlight and search for him. Her plan was
to leave early for bed, and after others were asleep, she would leave to find him.
The Gardiners went to bed early, and before eleven, Elizabeth slipped out of the house after leaving a note for the Gardiners on the table in her room. Next she took the same route she saw Darcy take to Lambton. After several minutes she heard what sounded like a horse in the distance. Moments later she saw a riderless horse and all her fears were confirmed. Darcy was gone, but what had happened to him?
Sampson looked pleased to see her and she greeted the horse and hugged his head and rubbed his ears. “You are Sampson, are you not? Can you take me to where you last were with your master?”
The horse was a magnificent black stallion and he and Darcy complimented each other. “It will be an effort, but I shall attempt to ride you, but you must cooperate. Please understand that I do not like horses, but Mr. Darcy favors you and I favor him. Please be patient as I try to climb onto the saddle.” She jumped to hold onto the saddle as she pulled herself up and managed to sit astride the horse. Elizabeth knew that straddling the horse like a man was not ladylike, but Sampson turned and headed toward the bridge leading to Lambton.
The moonlight allowed her to see the destruction along the creek and that the village had likely flooded, but there were no people about and there was no way that she could account for Darcy, except that he may have fallen into the water and been taken away. Such thoughts she could not dwell on very long without crying, and she knew that would not help matters. She was not certain where she was, but suspected she was still on the grounds near Pemberley, and she was close to the water.
Now she noticed Samson moved her away from the direction she intended and instead followed the creek until he stopped at a place beside the water and snorted. He walked closer then turned away only to look back again before responding to Elizabeth to take a trail that had more moonlight and which she hoped would lead in the direction of some of the shelters that Darcy had told her about.
If he had been taken further downstream, it was possible that he might have become disoriented and may have tried to reach one of the shelters at Pemberley, so she and Sampson tried to follow the swollen creek further as long as they had sufficient moonlight. Elizabeth concluded that was the most likely thing that happened because had Darcy followed the road back to his home, she would have seen him, and the same with his horse.
No, he had been swept away and Sampson had shown her where Darcy was last with him. More tears ran down her face and her heart ached as they followed a new trail. Again they used the moonlight to navigate in the direction of the park at Pemberley, and hopefully, she might see one of the shelters. Sampson seemed contented to follow her directions and she was beginning to be comfortable riding the powerful stallion.
“Well, Sampson, do you think your master has somehow escaped the water and has made his way back to a shelter?”
Elizabeth next watched as Sampson snorted and whined and seemed to become restless.
“Maybe you can show me where he would have gone? Do you think we will find your master?”
That was her single best hope, because if he had not been badly injured, Darcy would be able to light a fire and change from his wet clothes and dry them and there would be some food and water for him.
Being able to speak with Sampson somehow comforted her. She still believed her best hope was that Darcy had managed to make it to land and was at one of the Pemberley shelters or on the way. What she was confident about was that Darcy had not crossed the creek at all, but had lost Sampson along the way and that was why she saw the horse heading home to Pemberley.
Though her prayer was to find him soon, realistically, she did not know where she was and was determined to follow those trails that were larger and were blessed with moonlight, and she prayed that eventually she would run into one of the main trails at Pemberley and would see the markers for the shelters.
She did not know what time it was, but it did not matter. Elizabeth Bennet was on a mission. What she did understand was that her heart would not be denied, and if she had to stay awake all through the night, she would do so. Finally, she came to a clearing and saw that she had the choice to go to the right or the left. Seeing the moonlight favored the direction to the right, she turned that way and soon believed it had merged with one of the larger trails at Pemberley. This confirmed that she was headed in the direction of the great house and away from the creek near Lambton, and knew this was so because she could not hear the rush of water. Of course, her choice did not matter at all. Either he had survived and had taken shelter, or he was injured or worse.
Sampson showed her that he agreed with her first choice and so they continued along the trail, all the time knowing they were heading in the direction of the great house. They came to the first marker and Elizabeth noticed that no one had raised the flag marker to indicate they were inside the shelter. It was not that far to the house and so she decided to ride there and shout out to see if anyone was inside, but when she did that, no response was received.
Later she came upon the second shelter and she noticed that the marker had been raised and she knew that someone was inside. Next, she turned the horse in the direction of the shelter and now fronted a slight breeze and could smell smoke. She remained on Sampson in case of trouble and approached slowly and then called out to any that might be inside. Elizabeth next saw a man wrapped in a blanket walking toward her while staring at her and her horse. “Miss Bennet, this is the greatest surprise of my life. You did not have to come here to look for me. Do your relatives know that you are here?”
“But you are wrong, Mr. Darcy. There is no way that I could have gone to bed and been able to sleep knowing that you were perhaps in harms way. It is true that I have snuck out of the house and began to walk towards Lambton, but I did meet your horse and he and I have been together since then. I rode back with him as far as the Lambton bridge and figured there was no way that you would be able to cross the creek. That being said, I thought you must have doubled back and perhaps if it was not too late, you may have sought out one of the shelters. It appears that my hunch was correct.”
She next tried to alight off Sampson but almost fell and Darcy went to her side and caught her. “We are a real sight, Miss Bennet. I stand here covered only in a blanket and we are breaking all propriety.”
“And my long tresses have escaped from their pins. I know I must look a sight.”
He next went up and gave his horse a hug and patted his head and reached in his saddle bag and pulled out three apples for the horse to eat.
“Miss Bennet, you have come to rescue me, so let us enter the shelter.”
“These are your clothes? You mean you are naked under the blanket?”
“Yes, I am afraid so. I do apologize.”
“You mean you caught me from falling but risked your blanket falling from you?”
“I would not wish you to fall and so managed to keep covered.”
Elizabeth softly chuckled as she saw Darcy was shivering and walked him closer to the fire and embraced him and began to cry.
“Please do not condemn me for my actions, but I was worried. Are you well?”
His response was to embrace her. “I am very well, now that I am here with you.”
Her heart was pounding and with his arms around her, for a moment she did not care what was prudent. Next she had these new feelings and stirrings and soon had the sensation that she was against something hard, and she stepped away.
“Oh my! We must get your clothes dry and then we can return before daybreak.”
Darcy had been the perfect gentleman, but she knew she was in danger and that she was vulnerable to him. They sat near each other and he told her of rescuing the boy and of being swept downstream and finally grabbing onto another fallen tree and exiting the water.
“Miss Bennet, I thought I was going to drown and could only think of Georgiana and you. I am indebted to you. Now I have a dilemma. What will I do when you leave?”
&nb
sp; “I have that same dilemma, and wonder what I will do away from you.”
“We will talk about this later after we have rested, but for now I need to hold you. I know you are an innocent, but you are a very special friend, and I will thank you with a kiss.”
They next embraced and held each other until he kissed her tears and next he tenderly kissed her lips, all the while studying her eyes before settling for a deeper kiss that had both of them breathless. Darcy could feel her hair splayed around his neck and she could feel his excitement but next he backed away.
“I hope you are not disappointed in me, Miss Bennet?”
“No, I thank you. You are the first man ever to kiss me, and I enjoyed it, but I feel so secure in your arms and I do not know if I can trust myself.”
“I do understand, pretty woman, but we must return to Pemberley.”
“That kiss is very addicting. I cannot believe that anything can feel any better. Please do not consider me to be a wanton woman, Mr. Darcy?”
“No, Miss Bennet, we are friends and I want you near me.” Those words made her heart beat in overtime, for she felt the same way about him and now giggled in her happiness.
They sat near each other watching the fire. It had turned colder that night and Darcy kept checking his clothes to see if they were dry, and he continued to shiver, except when Elizabeth wrapped him in her warm embrace.
“I believe the clothes are dry. If you will be so kind as to turn away, I will dress.”
Once he was dressed he put out the fire and they walked out and approached Sampson. Darcy opened a saddle bag and pulled out the final apples and fed them to Sampson.
“I did not know the apples were in the saddle bag or I would have fed him. He has been an excellent horse, though I am still afraid of horses.”
