Page 31 of Bitten By Mr. Darcy
I must be wary of this man,she thought,of this fiend who seeks to bite and drink from me.
“He is,” said Mr. Darcy. “Very horrid, and I would not advise speaking to him anymore.” He took her hand again, changing the subject. “Caroline has not come to you again, has she?”
“Oh, no,” said Elizabeth. “I have not seen her.”
“Good,” said Mr. Darcy. “If you do, you must call for me in the bond.”
“Can I do that?”
“Yes, simply concentrate on me, focus your need for me, and I shall feel you and come immediately,” said Mr. Darcy.
She let out a breath. “And you say this bond may not fade?”
“It may not,” he said.
“So, you could be tied to me for the rest of my life?”
“It has happened before,” said Mr. Darcy.
“You’d feel me, then, when I…” She swallowed. “Well, if I ever got married, which—as I said—I probably shan’t, you’d feel that, all of that, would you?”
He looked away.
“If you feed on someone else,” she said, “if you find another sirensong, would I feel it as well?”
He let out a breath.
“Is the answer yes?”
“I am ever so sorry, Elizabeth.”
“Maybe it would be easier if we were simply together, then,” she said.
“No, no, I would never do that to you,” he said.
“No? Not like Mr. Hurst is to Mrs. Hurst, then? You said that Mr. Bingley could marry Jane, did you not, so you couldn’t—”
“No.”
She was stung. Her steps faltered. “No, of course. You wouldn’t wish to be saddled with someone like me, clearly.”
“That is not it at all.”
“I suppose you wouldn’t have to marry me,” she said, “though it would make it tidier, truly. Otherwise, people would probably think wretched things, that I was your mistress or something else very ignoble. My family would stop speaking to me if that were the case. I should be entirely shunned. However, when I weigh these things in the balance—a life like that or a life wherein I am constantly feeling you biting other women and longing for you to be biting me—”
“Elizabeth, hush.”
She was quiet.
He took her face in both of his hands, cradling it as he looked deep into her eyes. His expression was one of tender affection. “First of all, I do not refuse to marry you because I do not wish to be saddled with you. I should quite like to be saddled with you. I should be very fortunate, in fact, and the idea of keeping you as mine, having you in my bed, drinking from you every night… Obviously, I want it. But it would not be fair to you.”
It sounded rather nice to her. She was feeling warm all over at his words.
“Secondly, we do not know that this bond will not fade, and we must give it a bit of time to do so,” he said.
She supposed he was right.
He leaned in and kissed her again.
