Page 44 of Until My Last Breath

She took a deep breath and nodded, and raising her moist eyes she frowned, staring at his face, then at his shoulder. “Oh, William...”

“Yes, sir,” Dr Alden intervened. “Let me see to your injuries. Miss Elizabeth will be fine. Come.”

Darcy could barely stand, so Richard helped him.

“My dear,” Dr Alden said, turning to Elizabeth helping her up while Richard helped Darcy to sit on the bed. “Do you have any spare clothing? Yes? Good. Then take off those dirty clothes and refresh yourself while I see to Mr Darcy. Will you, my child?”

She looked at Darcy, who nodded to her. “Dr Alden is right. Youshould wash yourself and change your clothes. Then, as soon as you have finished, we will go home.”

Yes, home.

On her way, she looked down at the dead man on the floor and shivered, and her steps faulted, but the colonel was just beside her.

“Miss Elizabeth?”

“I am well, Colonel. Just a little shaken. Thank you.”

“Take your time. We will be waiting for you,” Richard said as she closed the door.

As Dr Alden pulled at Darcy’s reinforced bandages, his expression became sombre. “Unfortunately, Mr Darcy, it is as I suspected. Your previous wound has reopened; it is bleeding considerably and in great need of new stitches.” He reached for a small bottle in his bag. “I will need to go a little deeper to find some intact flesh…” He put a small amount of liquid into a glass of water and offered it to Darcy. “I will need you to take this.”

“Can it not wait until we are back home, Dr Alden?” Darcy asked, quite discontented. “I do not want to… leave Elizabeth alone.”

“Unfortunately not,” Dr Alden said adamantly. “If this wound remains opened like this, your fragile recovery will be badly jeopardised.”

Darcy looked at Richard, who shrugged. “You need to do as the doctor says.”

“I understand,” Darcy said, upset. “Let me to talk to Elizabeth before you start then.”

At Dr Alden’s acceptance, Darcy went to knock on the door. “Elizabeth, are you dressed?”

“Not yet,” came her reply from the other side. “Do you need anything from here?”

“No. I just want to talk to you.”

The door opened, and Elizabeth peeked her head through the gap. She was wrapped in a towel, and her hair was loose, covering her shoulders and chest. Darcy looked at her and frowned. She was indeed an extraordinary, beautiful woman. He comforted himself with the thought that it would not be long now until they could marry; he could not stay away from her asecond more.

“Dr Alden needs to stitch my wound again, and he wants me to take laudanum. I am afraid I will not be awake for some hours.”

Stretching her hand to take his, Elizabeth squeezed it affectionately. “I am sorry, William, that you will need to go through that all over again. But the doctor is right, of course. I will finish here and come to stay with you. I will be right beside you when you wake up. I promise. Now go and let the doctor look after you. I will be ready shortly.”

Darcy brought her damp hand to his lips and kissed it. “I will see you later, then.”

Despite the many injuries on his face, Darcy’s mouth was not hurt enough to prevent him from drinking the vile medicine; what he did in one gulp, grimacing.

As his eyes became heavy, Darcy laid on the bed and turned to Richard. “Please, look after her.” He looked back at the door of the dressing room and thought about going back home and finally being able to marry Elizabeth, hold and kiss her without any impediment. This time, his proposal would be quite different… He would profess his love… tell her how much… he… loved… her…

He was still holding this thought when everything became dark, and he fell into a deep sleep.

“Let us put those pillows here,” the doctor said as they repositioned Darcy on the bed. “If you could hold him, it would be easier. Yes, thank you. With this amount of laudanum, he can become agitated and hallucinate, and I do not want him moving.”

During the whole process, Richard could not take his eyes from his weak cousin, forcing himself to remember that both Darcy and Miss Elizabeth were finally safe.

He smiled. They would be happy together; he had known it from the beginning. They were perfect for each other.

His thoughts drifted back to London, where another beautiful lady was waiting for him, and wondered if she could be the one he would love, and be loved in return, accepting the simple life he could afford to offer.

Lord Matlock had told him he had inherited a small property his maternal grandmother had left to be shared among the younger grandsons in the family. Fortunately for him, he was the only younger son. Perhaps he would be able to sell his commission and assume the life of a modest gentleman with a beautiful wife at his side. Yes, that would be much better than continuing fighting and risking his life in those senseless wars. He smiled again. He had something to offer Miss Bennet after all.

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