Page 92 of The Briar Bargain
When he looked up, he could see the blessed sight of an open casement through which some of the smoke was being pulled. Hope rose unbidden.
Clever girl.
But where would she have gone? Surely, she would not try to drop to the ground from here . . .
Darcy climbed onto the improvised platform, coughing violently as he pulled himself up to the fresh air. The moment his head cleared the window frame, and he could breathe again, he called out into the night.
"Elizabeth? Elizabeth, where are you?" He gazed down at the flat roof over one of the bow windows on the first floor. Surely, she had not attempted that drop, not on her own. He opened his mouth to call again.
"Mr. Darcy?" The hoarse voice came from somewhere below and to his left. Hearing it sent such a wave of relief through him that for a moment he felt dizzy.
He turned his head to see her perched on a narrow stone ledge perhaps four feet below the sill. Her hair had come loose from its pins and from what he could see in the moonlight, her face was streaked with soot. She sat on a ledge about two feet wide, her back pressed up against the wall of the house, but she appeared to be unharmed.
"Thank God," he whispered, then called down to her. "Are you injured?"
"No," she replied, and even in her current circumstances, the wry humour that was so quintessentially Elizabeth was still there. He almost laughed and cried in the same breath when she said, "But I have lost my slipper."
He would buy her a dozen. A hundred.
"Hold fast," he said, pulling himself through the window and onto the narrow ledge beside the opening. "I am coming down to you."
"Be careful!" she warned as he found his footing. "You are larger than I am, and the ledge is narrow."
"I am well," he replied, working his way carefully along the wall to where she waited.
When he reached her position, he could see that the flat roof over the bow window was directly below them. It was still a bit of a drop, but perhaps ten feet. If he lowered himself as far as his arms could stretch, the drop would not be difficult. Far more manageable, to be sure, than attempting to reach the ground. And less dangerous in the end, he thought, then trying to turn on this ledge and climb back up to the window.
"I am going to lower myself to that roof," he told her, nodding at the lead-covered surface below. "Then I will help you down as well."
"Mr. Darcy, I cannot—"
"I will catch you."
He positioned himself carefully, gripping the edge of the ledge with both hands before slowly lowering himself to his full length and dropping the remaining three or four feet to the roof. The surface held his weight easily, and he immediately turned back to coach Elizabeth through the same manoeuvre.
"Now," he called up to her, reaching as high as he could manage, "lower yourself as I did."
She hesitated for a moment, looking down at him with an expression he could not quite read in the dim light. "You will not allow me to fall?"
The question was asked quietly, but he heard in it something that went beyond mere concern for physical safety. She was placing her welfare entirely in his hands.
"Never," he said firmly.
She took a deep breath, nodding once with decision. "Very well.” She turned her back to him, gripped the ledge with her hands, and gradually lowered herself down until she was only a few feet above his head. “One,” she counted, “two, three!"
She released her grip and dropped into his waiting arms. The impact sent them both staggering back slightly, but he held her securely until they both regained their balance. For a moment, they remained frozen in that position. Then Elizabeth turned in his embrace to throw her arms around his neck and bury her face in his chest.
He held her close, feeling as though his heart could beat again.
After a long moment, Elizabeth seemed to realise the impropriety of their position and released him, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment even through the soot that covered much of her face.
"Thank you," she managed, smoothing her ruined skirts with nervous hands.
Darcy guided her to sit on the centre of the roof, settling beside her as they both caught their breath. The cold November air was a welcome relief after the suffocating atmosphere of the smoke-filled room, and they found themselves alternating between coughing and taking deep, grateful breaths of the clean night air.
"Well," Miss Elizabeth said hoarsely, “that was something new. I have never exited a building through a window before." She paused. “Not one on the second floor, at least.”
Despite everything they had just endured, Darcy felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I confess I am beginning to suspect you of deliberately seeking out such situations."
