A Father's Sins: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by J Dawn King Page B

have shown with no hope of personal or material gain is
restoring to my tired, jaded soul. So, thank you. From my whole family, we
thank you.”
     
    “I
deeply appreciate your kind words, Colonel Fitzwilliam.” With a mischievous
glint in her eyes and a raised brow she added, “However, upon the acquaintance
of only a few moments, how certain are you that I am, indeed, not a fortune
hunter?”  The Colonel was looking uncomfortable until he saw the twinkle in her
hazel eyes. “You may be assured that I am not a hunter of fortune nor am I
inclined to try to take advantage of my friends. I am content with my
circumstances, which I willingly give Georgiana permission to share with you.
If you both would excuse me, please, I need to check on our patient.”
     
    Colonel
Fitzwilliam jumped to his feet, though he retained his hold on Georgiana’s
right hand. “Certainly, Miss Elizabeth, though, assuage my curiosity about one
point.” She inclined her head for him to go on. “Your skills in the art of
healing and surgery are as good as the best I have seen on the battlefield.
Where did you learn this?”
     
    “For
five years, I traveled with my uncle and aunt to places as far away as India,
Spain, Greece, and Egypt. Due to an earlier family tragedy, where I lost four
of my siblings to smallpox, I resolved to study healing. While in India, my
aunt and I were in a large open market when we heard the scream of a lad, not
much younger than I. The boy had been badly injured by a runaway merchant’s
cart and was bleeding quite profusely. The weather in India is hot and humid
and disease and poisons of the blood are particularly deadly. One of the
doctors that helped teach me these skills shunned the use of leeches or
bleeding a patient to rid the body of poison. He explained that it seemed to
leave the body too weak to fight the infection. The market was close to where
we were staying, so I quickly went to the boy and tried to stop the bleeding
with pressure, as I had seen was effective before. My aunt sent someone for the
doctor, who was not able to arrive quickly. We took him to our home and, since
I had assisted the surgeon once before in repairing a wound, I cleaned and
stitched the boy’s wounds in a similar manner to Mr. Darcy. The servants that
accompanied the boy brought his mother to the house. I did not meet the boy’s
father, as my time was taken up with his son. The boy was the heir. In fact, he
was their only child. It took one week for the fevers and infection to leave
the lad. In time, he was able to return to the vigorous, active life that all young
gentlemen should enjoy at that age. I am hoping that with the same type of care,
Mr. Darcy will do the same. He is just as important to his family as that boy
was to his. I will try to do my best. Now, if you will excuse me please?”
     
    Elizabeth
was stopped on her way out of the study by a very worried Mr. Bingley. He was
deeply concerned for his good friend and upset that this had befallen both Mr.
and Miss Darcy. His agitation was reflected in his continuous pacing up and
down the hallway. He stopped when he saw her and inquired if there was anything
additional needed for the injured gentleman upstairs. “Miss Elizabeth, you
cannot know all that man has done for me. He was a friend to me at Cambridge
when his peers shunned me because of my background in trade. He has given me
fine counsel in matters of both a personal and business nature. I will never be
able to repay the debt I owe him, so the least I can do is whatever I can to
help him and his family right now. How I wish it were me laying upstairs and
not him.”
     
    “Mr.
Bingley,” Elizabeth gently put her hand on his arm, “I am certain that both Mr.
and Miss Darcy are grateful for the assistance you have already provided. Your
staff has been remarkable in following through with every request and there is
no reason to believe that will change. Tomorrow, we believe that Colonel
Fitzwilliam’s