Page 10 of Until My Last Breath

It took them some seconds to realise what had happened. Darcy’s left side was deep in the mud. On his face and hair, splashes of mud were trickling down; his expensive coat, breeches and snow-white cravat were covered with the smelly, brownish mixture of earth and water.

From below him, a warm breath tickled his face. He turned and found a muddy, enchanting Elizabeth lying partially beneath him. Her widened eyes and agape mouth were inches away from his own.

He froze, holding his breath.

Her mouth closed and then curved; her eyes narrowed. With no warning, she puffed and started laughing; a sound he had never heard before. He raised both his eyebrows and, suddenly, could not help himself. In the next moment, they were both laughing, louder and louder, careless like two naughty and dirty children they now resembled.

“When I was a child, I always liked to play in the mud, but never thought that one day I would do that with such an illustrious figure!” Elizabeth said, bursting into laugher again. “Your face!”

“Oh! But you are not much better, my dear. I can only imagine your child version doing this. What a sight it must have been…”

What a sight it was now…

His amusement slowly faded, as he began to scrutinise her beautiful eyes, now so close to him. He knew she had honey-coloured eyes but did not know they were sprinkled with golden flakes.Perfect for a queen.

His eyes moved to her cheek where a lock of muddy hair was still plastered to her face. He raised his clean hand, and with a feather-like touch, moved his fingers alongside her cheek, pushing the dirty hair away.

He was right. Her skin was as soft as he had imagined.

Looking back at her eyes, he searched for any sign of discomfort, but found none. She seemed to be as fascinated and enchanted as he was.

His eyes moved down to her lips, as he gently stroked her cheek again. “Elizabeth,” he whispered, lowering his lips towards hers.

“Darcy!” the familiar voice resounded from some distance. “Where are you?”

The unexpected sound froze them. The spell was broken. Darcy closed his eyes, and exhaling heavily, looked up at the approaching figure still at some distance.

Elizabeth took a long and deep breath. Was she… disappointed?

He looked back at her but did not move. “I am sorry, Eliz— Miss Elizabeth. You were right. Trying to pull you out was not one of my brightest ideas. Because of my presumption, I almost hurt you. You are not injured, I hope?”

She shook her head slowly. “No, I am not. Perhaps just my pride for being caught in such embarrassing circumstances. But no harm is done.”

“I will explain what happened to my cousin. You can trust his discretion,” Darcy said, sitting up and helping Elizabeth to join him as Richard, at last, caught sight of him.

“What must you be thinking of me, stuck in the mud like that?”

He smiled. “What do I think? I think you are quite… fetching. In fact, that was the reason I lost my balance.”

She tilted her head confused. “What—”

“Darcy, I found your horse and—” Richard stopped, his foot still in the air while dismounting as he caught sight of Miss Elizabeth at Darcy’s side. He scowled. “Darcy, what in heaven’s name are you doing in the mud, and with Miss Elizabeth no less? Have you lost your mind?” His angry voice echoed around the trees and a flock of birds flew away.

“Nothing like being discreet about delicate subjects,” Darcy muttered.

“I know you too well to think the worst, Darcy. You are too much of a gentleman to act like a rogue, but it does not mean Miss Elizabeth’s reputation cannot be ruined by your reckless behaviour.” He gave his cousin a threatening glare. “What if somebody else found you both here instead of me?”

The idea of such a compromise perversely appealed to Darcy. It could make things much easier for him ‘to be forced’ to do the right thing and marry her.

But Richard was right. Elizabeth did not deserve that. She deserved to be courted properly and feel cherished.

Coward. If he really wanted to kiss her — and God help him, but he desperately wanted to kiss her — he would need to conquer her heart and make her his wife. That was the way of a true gentleman.

Richard turned to Elizabeth. “Am I to understand you are well, Miss Elizabeth?”

“Yes, Colonel. Thank you for your concern, but what you see now is just the result of a bad attempt at rescue.” She turned to Darcy, holding his gaze. “Your cousin was gallantly trying to help me out of this mud, when he also lost his balance and joined me. And as you can see,” she said, turning back to the colonel, “we are now both stuck. If you do not mind, your help would be much appreciated. Would it not, Mr Darcy?”

Their eyes met again, and Darcy nodded, touched by her discreet but brave way of defending him.

---