Mr and Mrs Darcy 02 Suspense & Sensibility Read Online Free PDF Page B

Darcy ever regretted his decision? She was not a vain, insecure
girl, but neither was she insensible of the sacrifices he'd made on her behalf.
She busied herself in straightening his lapels. "Marry in haste, repent in
leisure?" She attempted to adopt a light tone, but her voice sounded
unnaturally high to her ears.
    "Mrs. Darcy, what I feel for you in my leisure hours strays far
indeed from repentance."
    After a parting kiss, Darcy left for his appointment. Elizabeth went to
the drawing room, where she found Kitty hovering by the window. In constant
anticipation of Mr. Dashwood's arrival, she had turned down the opportunity to
join Georgiana shopping in Bond Street, or do anything else that would take her
out of the house. She had instead spent the day fluttering aimlessly from one
room to the next, unable to focus on a single occupation for more than a few
minutes. If Mr. Dashwood did not call soon, she would surely drive Elizabeth to
distraction.
    "Kitty, do sit down. Watching the street will not make him come."
    Kitty reluctantly perched on the edge of the sofa, where she twisted a
button on her skirt until Elizabeth thought it would fall off. "He said he
would call. What can be keeping him?"
    The sound of a hackney coach pulling up signaled the arrival of a visitor.
Kitty rushed to the window.
    "Oh! It is only that odd scholar fellow you know."
    "Professor Randolph?"
    "Yes, him. I needn't stay, Lizzy, must I?"
    Elizabeth dismissed her, as interested in a private conversation with Julian
Randolph as Kitty was in granting one. She had not seen the archaeologist since
just before Christmas, when he'd helped the Darcys rescue the Bingley family
from a murderous houseguest. Randolph's professional knowledge of mysterious
antiquities had proven critical in apprehending the villain, who had been
using a centuries-old artifact with unusual properties to enact his scheme.
    From the safety of Pemberley, and now their London town-house, Elizabeth
sometimes still could not quite believe that the eerie events they'd
experienced at Netherfield had not been simply a midwinter night's dream
brought on by reading too many gothic novels. But she had only to pull out the
protective amulet Randolph had given her to remind herself that not everything
in this world - or the next - could be rationally explained. Darcy, on the
other hand, had gone back to dismissing the professor's supernatural studies as
nonsense almost as soon as they'd been proven otherwise. There was little room
in his world for things from beyond it. In logic he trusted.
    She rose to greet her visitor. "Professor Randolph, what a lovely
surprise!"
    "I heard you and Mr. Darcy were in town." He looked the same
as she remembered, from his slender build to the spectacles that had a habit of
sliding down his nose. He wore a new suit, a consequence, she presumed, of the
poor scholar having at last found steady employment. Like his other clothing,
the suit exhibited an unusual number of pockets. She'd seen him pull everything
from pocketknives to candles from his costume.
    "How do you like your new post?" she asked. Under the
patronage of Darcy's friend Lord Chatfield, Professor Randolph had recently
secured a position as the British Museum's resident archaeologist.
    "] could not be happier. I have just returned from-examining a
formation of standing stones in the North Country, and there is talk of sending
me to the Continent as soon as the war is over. I would love the opportunity to
return to Athens and Rome."
    "Return? I know you came here from America, but I did not realize
you were so well traveled." Upon reflection, there was much she didn't
know about Professor Randolph.
    "This would mark my third expedition to the sites of those ancient
civilizations."
    She rang for tea. As they waited for the refreshments, he enquired after
her and Darcy. She reported that they'd enjoyed a quiet sojourn at Pemberley
since the archaeologist had last seen them.
    "You appear happy," he