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

simple scroll-like design. She sighed and tucked it back into her pocket.
    “The doctor says there is little hope he will recover, but I cannot believe it is so hopeless. Surely, the doctor could be mistaken,” said Jane.
    Elizabeth smiled at her sister’s ever-present optimism. Pulling up the big chair next to his bed, she waved Jane away. “Now go and rest. I will stay with him.”
    Just as Jane reached the door, she asked, “Lizzy, was that Mr. Darcy’s carriage you arrived in?”
    “Yes, it was. It is a long story and I shall tell you later all about it. Now off you go.” Elizabeth kept up her vigil throughout the rest of the day and into the night. Her sister Mary came to sit with them early in the evening. She read from Fordyce’s sermons and the Bible, telling Elizabeth she was certain this would comfort their father. After an hour, Mary excused herself and went to bed. Elizabeth stayed, determined not to leave his side until she was sure he knew she was home again. Near midnight, her father opened his eyes and spoke to her for the first time.
    “Lizzy, is that really you?” His voice was barely audible.
    “Of course, Papa, I am here with you,” she responded taking his hand. “Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?”
    He gave her hand a small squeeze and answered, “Yes, my dear, could you please ask Mary to stop reading to me. I find all those sermons and Bible passages quite tiresome.” And after winking at her, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
     

Six
    Elizabeth dozed in the big chair by her father’s bed through most of the night until Jane returned to relieve her. A few hours of sleep in her own bed revived her enough that she felt able to face the day.
    After eating something herself, she took a tray to her father’s room. She spoke softly to him a few times, and Mr. Bennet opened his eyes and looked at her. A small smile crept across his mouth.
    “Good morning, Papa,” she said kissing him on the cheek.
    Elizabeth soaked some bread in beef tea and fed it to him slowly. Almost immediately after finishing, he fell asleep again. Elizabeth must have dozed off herself because the next thing she knew, she felt someone shaking her gently.
    “Miss Elizabeth,” said Hill, the family’s maid.
    “Yes, yes, I am awake,” she answered although she really was not.
    “You have a caller downstairs.” As she pondered who could possibly have come to call, Hill said, “I have put him in the parlor.”
    Suddenly more alert, she asked, “Who is this caller?”
    “Mr. Darcy, miss.”
    “Mr. Darcy?” He was the last person in the world she had expected. Trying to clear the cobwebs of sleep away, Elizabeth asked Hill to offer Mr. Darcy refreshments and inform him that she would be down in a few minutes.
    Hill went off to see to Mr. Darcy, leaving Elizabeth to ponder this turn of events. In her room, sitting at the dressing table, she tried to shape her long hair into some semblance of neatness. Looking at herself in the mirror, she was dismayed at what she saw. Her face was tired and drawn, and her eyes betrayed sorrow and worry. Well, it did not matter anyway. She was certain Mr. Darcy had never thought her handsome, so why should she be concerned about trying to impress him now? She would greet him, spend a few minutes just to be courteous, send him on his way, and that would be that. The call must be merely a polite gesture on his part. She felt obliged to receive him as she was in his debt for the use of his carriage.
    After she finished making herself presentable, she went slowly down the stairs, uneasy about the encounter. When she entered the room, he stood immediately and greeted her with a bow.
    “Good afternoon, Miss Elizabeth.”
    “Mr. Darcy, I did not expect to see you again so soon.”
    “I have come to inquire after the health of your father. I hope the timing of my call is not inconvenient.”
    Elizabeth sensed him watching her every move. “Please sit