Mr. Darcy's Obsession Read Online Free PDF Page B

we would allow it."
    Mr. Griggs laughed a little too long at her uncle's joke. Elizabeth gazed down at her folded hands, disguising her smile. Mr. Griggs was no Mr. Collins, thank heaven, but he had his moments. It was not a punishment to sit with him through dinner, but she found herself laughing at him as often as with him.
    Mrs. Gardiner said, "Lizzy often enjoys a morning constitutional."
    Mr. Griggs turned to Elizabeth. "Not alone, I should hope. London is full of pickpockets and rogues."
    "I often go alone, but I take great care in choosing my locations, I assure you."
    "Where do you go?"
    "St. Paul's," she said quickly. It was the first place she could think of that was far from Moorsfield. What a horrible moment that would be, if Mr. Darcy ever found her with Mr. Griggs. She would have to introduce them, which would be mortifying. But she was forgetting. Mr. Darcy would not approach her if she were with someone else.
    A pleased look spread over Mr. Griggs's broad face. "Ah, paying your devotions, then."
    She took a sip of wine to hide her smile. "It is impossible not to feel uplifted by the sight of Sir Christopher Wren's masterwork."
    Her aunt coughed, but Elizabeth suspected it was to disguise a laugh. "Perhaps we should leave the gentlemen to their port, Lizzy, dear."
    "Of course." Elizabeth stood and curtsied.
    In the drawing room, her aunt picked up her sewing. "That went well, I believe," she said.
    "Yes." Elizabeth was not certain what else to say. She reached for her mending.
    Mrs. Gardiner shook her head. "Not tonight, Lizzy. You do not want to muss your gown."
    "A little sewing is hardly likely to leave me disheveled, and I doubt Mr. Griggs would care if it did."
    "He values appearances." Her aunt expertly threaded a needle. "You must think of your future, my dear. Mr. Griggs is a good man, honest and hardworking."
    "Yes, I know that. He is a good match." The best she was likely to make with no dowry. There were few men who would value a connection to the Gardiners as much as Mr. Griggs, and she could not live on her uncle's charity forever. She felt a pang of guilt, knowing it was a strain for the Gardiners to support another person in the household, especially when Mr. Gardiner was trying to send whatever he could to Mrs. Bennet for her living expenses. It was unfair of her to look askance at an eligible suitor who could relieve some of the burden. As it was, her petticoats were almost worn through because she could not bear to ask her uncle for money, and her shoes were little better.
    "For both of you. It would bring him into the family as well as the business. Your uncle plans to make him a partner, you know."
    Still, it stung, being married off for her mercantile value. "Not yet, I pray you. I am barely out of mourning clothes."
    Her aunt's face softened. "Of course. Take your time, dear, and enjoy yourself a little. There is no hurry. But eventually you will wish for a home of your own, will you not?"
    Elizabeth tried to visualize herself as mistress of Mr. Griggs's home. She had never seen it, but she could guess fairly well. Keeping the house, a cap on her head as befitted a married woman, preparing to greet him after a long day of work.
    In that moment, Elizabeth suddenly knew what she did want, and it involved dark eyes with an intense look and a scent of leather and fresh air, not the staleness of the countinghouse and a narrow street in Cheapside. When had this happened? Oh, this could not be. She could not afford to give her heart to a man she could never have.

Chapter 4
    Georgiana perched on the edge on the fainting couch, her hands gripping the upholstered edge. "Please, Fitzwilliam, I beg of you. Do not make me go."
    Darcy drummed his fingers on the armrest. "I know our aunt is hardly pleasant company, but we do owe her a duty as her family. It has been two years since she saw you last. I cannot keep making excuses forever."
    "I cannot face her."
    "Georgiana, I know she can be harsh, but you