The Trouble With Horses: A Pride & Prejudice Novella Variation Read Free Page B

unfortunately, unlike his home county, no one knows him here. As soon as Mrs. Bennet talked about a horse riding accident and a stranger in her guest room, I boarded my carriage to come directly here. Please forgive the late hour.”
    Mr. Bennet nodded and offered Bingley something strong to drink, but he politely declined until after he could see to his friend. Dutifully, Elizabeth escorted him to Mr. Darcy's sickroom.
    Mister Darcy. Mister Darcy . The name weighed on Elizabeth's mind as she had so far only considered the man upstairs as just the gentleman, a man with no name, a mystery. The situation felt less like a novel now that he suddenly had an identity, but at least it ruled out complications if his injuries caused amnesia.
    As Elizabeth skipped the second to last stair near the top, Mr. Bingley missed her example and a loud creak broke the silence causing Elizabeth to jump out of her own thoughts. Pausing in the hallway, she wasn't sure how to prepare Mr. Bingley for what his friend must look like. She shifted her weight from foot to foot as she held the candle in her right hand and her left hand rested on the knob. Finally, she looked over her shoulder to address Mr. Bingley.
    "He, I mean, Mr. Darcy might appear a little pale." Elizabeth grimaced as Bingley nodded that he understood.
    The door creaked open to a thrashing, sweat covered man on the bed before them! Elizabeth ran to place the candle on the nightstand before immediately feeling Darcy's forehead. With both hands, she cupped his face, only to let go with haste.
    "He's burning up. Go alert my father!" Elizabeth peered at the anguished face of Mr. Darcy and bit her lip. "HILL!" she shouted out the door, causing the maid to nearly knock Mr. Bingley over on the stairs. Elizabeth leaned out of the bedroom and shouted a command for her to bring up the coldest bowl of water as soon as she was able.
    Before returning to the guest room, Elizabeth dashed into her own bedroom and raised the floor board beneath her bed. A crude box from her uncle's warehouse resided in her secret hiding place which she hastily opened. Inside were a number of bandages and home remedies Elizabeth had used countless times to tend her own injuries, mostly to keep her mother unaware how dangerous her walks and rambles truly were. She grabbed a number of clean cloths and the strongest brew of willow bark draught in her possession and rushed back to the man. No, not man, Mr. Darcy.
    The patient remained unchanged as Elizabeth prepared the small cup with a healthy dose of the draught. Ideally, Mr. Darcy would drink this in his tea, but she'd have to make do.
    "Mr. Darcy, Mr. Darcy, sir, it's Elizabeth Bennet again. I'm here to help you, sir." She made her voice sound as calm and melodic as she could, and felt a small cheer in her breast as the man calmed in response.
    "There you go." She reached out to stroke his arm, making sure it was his left one, and not the injured right, only instead of remaining calm, Mr. Darcy began to thrash again. "Now, none of that!"
    Hill appeared with the basin of cool water and Elizabeth motioned for her to place it on the bedside table and to help her restrain him. Both women grasped the chest and arms of Mr. Darcy as Elizabeth held the cup tenaciously over his mouth to try to keep it from spilling. Despite placing the cup to his lips, the feverish, unconscious man refused to drink.
    Looking to Hill and seeing the maid nod, Elizabeth blew a breath up to move her hair out of her face. "Ready?" Hill grasped the man with more gusto and Elizabeth held Mr. Darcy's nose closed with her hand. At the man's first great breath, Elizabeth dumped the draught into his mouth, released his nose, and clamped her hand on his jaw to force it to stay closed. She waited and prayed she didn't just drown the man but his Adam's apple clearly moved up and down, signaling he was swallowing.
    "Thank you. See, it's not so bad to take one's medicine." Elizabeth sat on the edge of the