Page 37 of The Heir and Spare
She nodded.
Fitz tilted his head as if to ask something of Georgiana but paused.
Arthur cleared his throat. “I would love to join you.” He held out his hands at the delicious spread. “And please forgive me, Miss Elizabeth, Miss Mary, Miss Lydia, and the other sisters whom I have not met. But we are having a dire situation with the tenants. Fitz. This is hardly the time for you to be so inclined…” He turned to Miss Elizabeth again. “Please forgive my abrupt entrance and now exit.” He turned to leave. “Brother.”
But Miss Elizabeth hurried toward him from the table. “Please no. We can help. What is the dire situation? There is no need for us to be sitting at dinner when others are in need.”
“Are you quite certain? I must look a sight. There is mud, and very few solutions besides walking through it.”
“I am certain, of course. Have you boots in the barn?”
His mouth lifted of its own volition and he chuckled. “We do indeed.”
“Then I shall try to be of assistance.” Miss Elizabeth’s eyes shone with a fire he could hardly resist. He stepped closer, her gaze nearly swallowing him whole.
Her expression softened and she whispered, “It is the least I can do after you have done so much.”
“I know you did not ask for assistance, but I suspected I knew where they’d gone. I had to help. I hope…you were not? Offended?”
She shook her head.
They were close now, closer than he intended but he could not resist her nearness. Her lovely smell of mint and cloves and lavender, the softness and fullness of her lips. She was so much more than he even remembered, and to see her in his childhood home, hear her so willing to assist in a task very much unlike anything most ladies were accustomed… He raised his hand as though to touch her face.
Fitz cleared his throat.
Arthur all but jumped back. She’d been sitting by his brother. He’d mentioned a young lady… His heart filled with dread.
But Miss Elizabeth did not seem at all uncomfortable with him. She turned. “We shall discuss later why no one mentioned you were a twin? And I would be most interested to know with whom I have been conversing and when…though now that I see you together, I have my guesses.”
Miss Mary’s eyes twinkled with amusement, as did Georgiana’s. He shook his head. “It promises to be very diverting, at the least. Now, if you’ll come with me to the kitchen. I’ve asked the servants to gather.” He paused and turned to his sister. “Could you please coordinate the help here with the others? We will have great need. Many will come to spend the night. Perhaps in the great hall? We need fires roaring. Food from the kitchen, blankets…”
Georgiana waved him off. “I understand, brother. We will handle things from here. I’m certain with Mrs. Gardiner and the Bennet sisters, as well as our own capable staff, we will have things well in line. If anyone comes looking for news, what shall I direct them to do?”
“Like the vicar? Please send any capable hands to the tenant farmers, particularly the row off Periwinkle Lane.”
She nodded. The other Bennet sisters stepped forward along with their aunt. He smiled. “Thank you. There is much good we can do. And you are helping me save the estate. What are we without the tenants?” He waited for his brother and Miss Elizabeth to join him and then he made his way toward the barn. His conversation with Fitz about many things would have to wait until later. Miss Elizabeth moved to walk beside him but Fitz stepped between them.
Yes, they had much to discuss, indeed.
Chapter 22
Elizabeth
Lizzie’s mind was a storm. Not just wind and rain but a torrential, tropical, dangerous storm. With swells and circular motions and blasts of rain and sudden quiet. She was not exactly unhappy. She was confused. She was unsure. And through the midst of it all, she was very happy.
But also hesitant.
Realizing that all the things that had bothered her about Mr. Darcy were not in fact found in one of the twins, that she’d treated him abominably for no reason at all except that she’d met his twin, and knowing that certainly she’d never put her best self forward to a man who was undeniably suddenly so attractive to her she was finding it difficult to breathe, she wasn’t certain how to move forward.
She was aware of every fall of his mud-covered boots. Even though Fitz walked between them, a heart-pounding heat and energy flowed in her direction through or around the brother. She could hardly think, hardly walk on her own. She placed a hand at her heart.
Fitz immediately turned to her. “Are you well? Should we adjust our pace?” Fitz frowned at Arthur. “Sometimes the taskat hand becomes more important than the people performing it around here.”
Arthur shook his head, but he turned to her with concern. “Are we moving too quickly? The barn is just up ahead…”
She shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I have much on my mind that is quite exhilarating and I have to admit, stealing my breath.” Her eyes sought his. She could not resist her subtle declarations. She could not resist him at all. He stepped closer. “I, too, have much on my mind.”
Fitz again cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should continue then, if everyone is able to keep the breakneck speed of my brother’s walking pace.”
