Mr. Darcy's Bite Read Free Page B

much a bite as a scratch, and that does make a difference. You see, I only transform into a werewolf for two days, and then I am back to being Mr. Darcy.”
    â€œYou keep using that word, ‘transform.’ What does it mean?”
    â€œIt means I become a wolf. A big, black, wolf. Somewhat above average in size for a werewolf and with a very nice coat. You might prefer to think of me as a large dog rather than a werewolf,” he said, smiling weakly.
    Lizzy was horrified by his story and started to walk backwards away from Mr. Darcy, moving in the direction of Pemberley, but Mr. Darcy reached out to stop her.
    â€œThat is the reason I had to leave Hertfordshire so often, the reason I must leave you now. This is where I need to be during my transformation, and tonight is a full moon. At dusk, the change will begin. I am sure, at this moment, you are thinking about how quickly you can leave Pemberley, but I would ask that you stay. While I am gone, Georgie and Anne will be with you to explain everything. We have arranged a signal. If you want to see me as a werewolf, they will light the candle in the window in a front bedroom, and I will come and introduce myself.
    â€œIf, however, there is no candle, I will remain in the woods, and I promise I will never see you again. You can go on with your life acting as if none of this happened. Whether or not we are together is now in your hands.” Mr. Darcy looked up into the sky. “Tonight is the eve of All Saints’ Day. At this time of year, the days are very short, and the sun will soon sink behind the hills. I must go.”
    Mr. Darcy extended his arm, but as the pair walked to the manor house, not a word was exchanged between them.

Chapter 3
    Mr. Darcy walked with Lizzy as far as the house, but then excused himself and went off in the direction of the stables. When she entered the foyer, Georgiana and Anne were waiting for her, and both ladies could tell that Darcy’s revelation had completely shattered her composure. With all color drained from her face, Elizabeth looked as if she had just had the fright of her life, and she might very well have.
    Georgiana looked to her twenty-five-year-old cousin, hoping that she would know what to say, but Lizzy spoke first.
    â€œI just want to go to my room, so if you will excuse me.” She swept past them and went up the stairs.
    Georgiana thought that they should go after her, but Anne discouraged her. “She needs time to think about what she has just learned. If we speak to her now, we might only make matters worse.”
    â€œFrom the look on her face, I don’t think that is possible,” Georgiana said, and she felt tears welling up in her eyes. “Will loves her so much. If she rejects him, it will break his heart,” she said as the tears spilled down her cheeks.
    â€œThis is far from over,” Anne said with an optimism she did not feel, but for William’s sake, as well as Georgiana’s, she had to hope for a better outcome than one could reasonably expect at the moment.
    Lizzy’s room was on the north side of the house, and although it was early afternoon, the room was already growing dark. She went to the bed and removed the ties holding the curtains open and climbed in as if she were crawling into a cave. She did not want to see anything that reminded her that she was in the home of Fitzwilliam Darcy, master of Pemberley, country gentleman, and werewolf.
    She curled up into a tight ball and lay there as if paralyzed, and she felt as if her brain was frozen as well because she could not take in what she just heard. Mr. Darcy, a werewolf? But werewolves only existed in fright tales, such as those published by the Grimm brothers, and she only knew of their existence because Charlotte’s brothers loved to tell such stories and derived great pleasure from scaring the living daylights out of the Bennet sisters.
    Lizzy lay in that position all afternoon, and when