Read Online Darkness Falls Upon Pemberley by Susan Adriani - Free Book Online
Authors: Susan Adriani
Ads: Link
more time out-of-doors than in, Richard appeared exceptionally pale, even in the dimly lit interior. Certainly, he hadn’t spent the last several months at Pemberley lounging about indoors! Darcy took a fortifying drink and proceeded to tease him about it, which led to a second and third observation: Richard’s uncharacteristic seriousness, and a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
In that moment Darcy feared something terrible had happened, either to or concerning Georgiana, but before he could form the words something else caught his eye, the very possibility of which chilled him to the bone. The proof was there, however, staring him in the face. Darcy’s glass slipped from his hand and shattered upon the hearth. The colonel cringed, but held his cousin’s horrified gaze with a slightly sheepish expression. Instead of a brilliant, piercing blue, Richard’s eyes were now dark like Georgiana’s, like Elizabeth’s and Mr. Bennet’s.
“It’s not your fault ,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said as Darcy shuddered, attempting to shake off the unpleasantness and discomfort that particular memory never failed to invoke.
“When you left for Hertfordshire — at Georgiana’s urging, I might add — we had no idea she was still relatively unstable; certainly not to the extent that she was. She’d adjusted far better than either of us had expected her to once we’d returned to Pemberley from Ramsgate, and she hadn’t shown any outward behavior that indicated we ought to be overly concerned. Since then, both of us have learned to read her better. As for me, I’m perfectly well.”
“Perfectly well,” Darcy parroted, his countenance dark. “She was a fifteen-year-old girl whose judgment was anything but sound before she became a vampyre. I never should have left you or my staff alone with her!”
“And I fail to see how things would have been any better had you actually been here. In a moment of weakness, she probably would have done the same to you.”
“Would to God that she had, then!” he hollered, his voice raw with emotion.
The colonel stared at him long and hard. There were no secrets between them. Richard knew all about Elizabeth and the depth of Darcy’s devotion to her, as well as her refusal to be with his cousin in any capacity, and her reasons why. “Da rcy,” he said gently, “you know you are not entirely without options.”
Darcy clenched his jaw and shook his head, his expression nothing short of tortured. “Becoming what she is…it’s not an option, Richard, not so long as I retain my health and my sanity.”
“You consider yourself in go od health, do you? And sane?” The colonel laughed humourlessly. “You hardly sleep at night and of late I’ve seen you consume more brandy than you have food. That is anything but healthy. If you continue in this vein you will drive yourself to an early grave. Surely, Miss Bennet did not risk her reputation and that of her family in order to save your life in Hertfordshire, only to have you slowly kill yourself in Derbyshire. She wouldn’t want this for you.”
Darcy pounded his fist upon his desk. “She wants nothing of me!” he cried. “No thing at all!”
“That remains to be seen. In the meantime, tell me precisely what it is that you want, Cousin, for you cannot continue to carry on as you have been. You do yourself—and those who care for you—great harm.”
Darcy pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Her,” he breathed. “To be with her. Nothing more, nothing less, but it is hopeless, Richard. So long as I am human she will never consent to have me. She will never consent to come here to Pemberley, or become my wife.”
“Yet she loves you.”
Darcy exhaled raggedly. “So she says.”
“And you will not consider…changing. Not even for her?”
Darcy closed his eyes, his chest tight as he resolutely shook his head. “Not so long as I am in health. I have too many responsibilities, too many people who depend upon me
In that moment Darcy feared something terrible had happened, either to or concerning Georgiana, but before he could form the words something else caught his eye, the very possibility of which chilled him to the bone. The proof was there, however, staring him in the face. Darcy’s glass slipped from his hand and shattered upon the hearth. The colonel cringed, but held his cousin’s horrified gaze with a slightly sheepish expression. Instead of a brilliant, piercing blue, Richard’s eyes were now dark like Georgiana’s, like Elizabeth’s and Mr. Bennet’s.
“It’s not your fault ,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said as Darcy shuddered, attempting to shake off the unpleasantness and discomfort that particular memory never failed to invoke.
“When you left for Hertfordshire — at Georgiana’s urging, I might add — we had no idea she was still relatively unstable; certainly not to the extent that she was. She’d adjusted far better than either of us had expected her to once we’d returned to Pemberley from Ramsgate, and she hadn’t shown any outward behavior that indicated we ought to be overly concerned. Since then, both of us have learned to read her better. As for me, I’m perfectly well.”
“Perfectly well,” Darcy parroted, his countenance dark. “She was a fifteen-year-old girl whose judgment was anything but sound before she became a vampyre. I never should have left you or my staff alone with her!”
“And I fail to see how things would have been any better had you actually been here. In a moment of weakness, she probably would have done the same to you.”
“Would to God that she had, then!” he hollered, his voice raw with emotion.
The colonel stared at him long and hard. There were no secrets between them. Richard knew all about Elizabeth and the depth of Darcy’s devotion to her, as well as her refusal to be with his cousin in any capacity, and her reasons why. “Da rcy,” he said gently, “you know you are not entirely without options.”
Darcy clenched his jaw and shook his head, his expression nothing short of tortured. “Becoming what she is…it’s not an option, Richard, not so long as I retain my health and my sanity.”
“You consider yourself in go od health, do you? And sane?” The colonel laughed humourlessly. “You hardly sleep at night and of late I’ve seen you consume more brandy than you have food. That is anything but healthy. If you continue in this vein you will drive yourself to an early grave. Surely, Miss Bennet did not risk her reputation and that of her family in order to save your life in Hertfordshire, only to have you slowly kill yourself in Derbyshire. She wouldn’t want this for you.”
Darcy pounded his fist upon his desk. “She wants nothing of me!” he cried. “No thing at all!”
“That remains to be seen. In the meantime, tell me precisely what it is that you want, Cousin, for you cannot continue to carry on as you have been. You do yourself—and those who care for you—great harm.”
Darcy pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Her,” he breathed. “To be with her. Nothing more, nothing less, but it is hopeless, Richard. So long as I am human she will never consent to have me. She will never consent to come here to Pemberley, or become my wife.”
“Yet she loves you.”
Darcy exhaled raggedly. “So she says.”
“And you will not consider…changing. Not even for her?”
Darcy closed his eyes, his chest tight as he resolutely shook his head. “Not so long as I am in health. I have too many responsibilities, too many people who depend upon me
Similar Books
