Chapter 30
Awake
When Elizabeth woke up, the whole house was in an uproar.
She leapt out of the bed and ran out of the room, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
“What is going on?” she asked, catching Mrs. Ronald at the head of the stairs. It was chaos everywhere.
“Oh dear, it is Mr. Darcy! The invalid,” Mrs. Ronald said, stopping for a second. “He has woken up!”
Elizabeth gasped.
The shock dispelled every last vestige of sleep.
…but she only learnt more once she found Charlotte in the breakfast room, where the latter was sitting alone and eating plain toast with a cup of tea.
“Charlotte! Why did you not wake me?”
Elizabeth stormed into the room. Upset. How could she have slept through the pandemonium?
Charlotte sighed and put down the toast in her hand.
“You look so tired, Eliza. I did not have the heart to wake you. Besides, Colonel Fitzwilliam told me about your early morning visit to see Mr. Darcy.”
She told Elizabeth all that she had missed.
Mr. Darcy had seemingly woken up sometime in the morning… soon after Elizabeth had gone to bed. And then a huge commotion had ensued to bring Dr. Goodman immediately from the village inn because Mr. Darcy was in tremendous pain. The groans alone had roused the entire house.
…everyone but her.
Charlotte believed that Elizabeth had been too exhausted from their bumpy travel. For, she had slept like the dead through it all. It troubled Elizabeth.
But she was glad she had missed everything once Charlotte explained how excruciating Mr. Darcy’s cries were. And just how loud. It had only stopped once Dr. Goodman dosed him with some laudanum.
“At first, they debated whether or not to give him any,” Charlotte said, taking another bite of her toast.
“What? Why would they not?” Elizabeth asked, horrified.
Charlotte looked a little green as she quickly sipped some tea. As if she was remembering the moment.
“Dr. Goodman was worried Mr. Darcy would not wake up again if he dosed him. But he capitulated at Colonel Fitzwilliam’s behest.”
Charlotte shuddered.
“I will tell you, Eliza, it was unbearable! I was on the verge of marching down myself and making them give the laudanum to the poor man. Hearing Mr. Darcy cry out like that…”
She shuddered again.
Intense shame swept through Elizabeth. She had slept through all that?! She reached for her own teacup and warmed her fingers against the warm porcelain.
“Mr. Darcy called out your name a few times, if you must know,” Charlotte added, piercing her with a knowing look.
It only made Elizabeth feel worse.
She sipped the tea to ease the queasiness in her stomach.
“Is Mr. Darcy sleeping now?” she asked.
Charlotte nodded.
It did not make her feel any better.
It was much later in the afternoon when Colonel Fitzwilliam came to find her.
Elizabeth was in the small garden outside the cottage, sitting on a bench and trying (and failing) to read a book she had found inside the house.
“Miss Bennet.”
She looked up.
“Darcy is awake now.”
They stared at each other for a moment. The Colonel appeared flustered and a tad embarrassed. She was still exhausted.
“Charlotte told me.”
“I meant the laudanum has started to wear off,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said. “If you wish to say something to Darcy, now would be a good time.”
Elizabeth frowned as she stood up. Something about his words bothered her. “What are you saying?”
Colonel Fitzwilliam sighed and rubbed a palm over his face.
“The physician—Dr. Goodman—is not certain if Darcy is out of the woods. If he will…”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “You mean…”
Colonel Fitzwilliam nodded.
Tears pricked Elizabeth’s eyes so hard, the throb spread all over her nose and face. She turned away at once, blinking furiously to compose herself.
“Miss Bennet?”
“Just… give me a moment, sir.”
When she knew she had mastered herself, she turned back.
“I am ready now.”