It should not have surprised her to find that Sarah had already collected the basket from the kitchen and was awaiting her arrival downstairs. Elizabeth shrugged. “There truly is no need for you to leave your work, Sarah.” She knew that the maid did not care for long walks.
The girl shook her head. “Oh, I will not walk out with you today, miss. I am simply waiting for . . .”
Mr. Darcy entered the room, immediately making the space feel half as large. He held out his good hand for the basket, and Sarah passed it over without a word, curtsied, and exited the room.
“Mr. Darcy,” Miss Elizabeth said, and Darcy thought he had rather surprised her. “What do you do here?”
He lifted the basket. “I thought it obvious, Miss Elizabeth. Your father mentioned you would be visiting a tenant, and I wish to accompany you. We have walked out before, have we not?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “But I have only just come from Papa. How could he have told you so quickly?”
Darcy smiled. He could not help it. “I suspect he mentioned it to me before you mentioned it to him. You are not so very difficult to read.”
Her brows pinched together. “I shall be visiting the Todd girls, Mr. Darcy. Mr. Todd will be out working.”
“I am happy to wait outside until your visit is concluded,” he told her.
“Very well,” she said, still puzzled.
Did she not understand that he would wish to spend time with her? Today of all days, he was finding it difficult to be out of her presence. She had removed to other tasks after she had finished with him in the stillroom, but he could not stop replaying the events of the previous night in his mind. How right she had felt in his arms! How perfectly she fit with her head nestled against him! When he had swept her from her feet, he had expected her to complain or protest, but she had given herself wholly over to his care, and he knew, somehow, that it was not only because she was so fatigued. As headstrong and doggedly independent as she was, she trusted him. He deeply felt the honour of it.
Last night, he had feared for her. Not in a common way, or in the manner of a friend. When the carriage had tipped over the edge in the dark and the women were nowhere to be seen—for those few moments, it was as though his very soul had abandoned his body and left him bereft.
Miss Elizabeth gave up on awaiting a more substantial explanation and led him through the hall that bypassed the kitchen. They exited through a back door into the cold but sunny day.
“How is your hand, Mr. Darcy?” she asked. “Did you drink the tea?”
“Of course,” he replied. “I had my orders.”
She tipped her head slightly to one side and observed him for a moment. “It is a wise man who knows when to give orders and when to follow them.”
Darcy smiled, gratified when her jaw dropped, just a touch, at the sight. “I am a very wise man, Miss Elizabeth.”
“That,” she replied good-naturedly, “remains to be seen.”
Miss Elizabeth struck out for one of the walking paths leading out of the garden and out to the farms beyond the park. This one curved into the trees to the west and out of sight. He matched her stride easily; what was a quick pace for her was middling for him. He quite enjoyed walking at such a speed. It was neither a forced march nor an interminably slow amble, but something pleasantly in-between.
Ahead was a log that served as a footbridge over a stream too wide to jump. It was not deep—the log was merely a way to keep one’s feet dry. His boots would do the trick just as well. He crossed, set the basket down on the other side, and, before Miss Elizabeth could speak, had placed his hands on her waist and lifted her across.
“Mr. Darcy,” she said, exasperated, as he set her on her feet.
“Yes?” he asked.
“You should ask before you act, sir.”
“I merely saw a need and addressed it, Miss Elizabeth.”
Her eyes flashed with merriment, not anger. This was, he believed, a good sign.
“You have addressed the wrong need, sir.”
“Sorry?”
She pursed her lips and glared at him. “We do not need to cross the stream to reach the Todds’ cottage.”
“Oh,” he said, not in the least apologetic. He held out his hands. “Shall I reverse the manoeuvre?”
She laughed aloud. “No. The log is here for a reason.”