Apprehension and Desire: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice by Ola Wegner Page A

came to ask how your walk with Mr. Darcy was. He did not want to stay for tea with us? Was he displeased?”
    Elizabeth looked at her mother, her compassionate heart tugging at the woman’s worried expression. She could not tell her that her future son-in-law considered himself above them all.
    ”No, Mama. He came here straight from London. He did not want to be rude, but I think he was tired after the journey and needed to see to some matters in Meryton yet today.”
    “Oh,” Mrs. Bennet said, her expression still unsure.
    Jane wanted to redirect her mother’s attention, so she pointed to the shawl. “Look, Mama, what Lizzy got from Mr. Darcy.”
    Mrs. Bennet came closer to the bed and saw the silk shawl. “What is that?” She took the shawl and started to admire it from every side. “How beautiful!” she exclaimed, “Surely very expensive!”
    “I think that it’s too expensive, Mama,” Elizabeth pointed out. “I am not certain whether I should accept it.”
    “Or course, you should! Silly girl. Such a generous man.” She put the shawl to Lizzy’s face. “Look how it suits your complexion. He must have picked it out by himself, thinking of you. You should appreciate it, such caring. Your father never in his life thought about buying me anything so beautiful as this gift.”
    “Mama, we are not even officially engaged.”
    “Just because of your father’s stubbornness.”
    “Nevertheless, I think people should not be aware he gave me such an expensive gift.”
    “Lizzy is right, Mama.” Jane said in her most serious tone. “I am sure that Mr. Darcy would not wish any improper gossip to circulate about him or his future wife.”
    Mrs. Bennet thought for a moment. “You are right, Jane. No one should know for the time being how generous towards Lizzy he is. Everyone is already green with envy that you secured such a man for yourself. You will wear it, of course, to make him happy, but no one needs to know it is a gift from Mr. Darcy.”
    “What about Kitty and Lydia, Mama?” Elizabeth asked apprehensively. “I doubt they could keep it to themselves.”
    “Leave them to me. I will tell them... I will think what to tell them so they will stay quiet about it.”
    She reached her hand to squeeze Elizabeth’s cheek. “Such a generous man, Lizzy,” she repeated, and left the room.
     

Chapter Eight
     
    After breakfast the following morning, Jane and Elizabeth, enveloped in large aprons, started on the long postponed task of preparing baskets for the tenants’ families. They hoped to distribute them later in the afternoon. Concentrating on their work, in quiet tones, they spoke about the man who had been the main subject of their conversations recently, Mr. Darcy.
    “You shall see for yourself, Lizzy, that he is not that bad at all,” Jane said after Elizabeth had told her what she had heard from Mr. Darcy yesterday. “The fact that Mr. Darcy does not condemn his cousin, only tries to understand his difficult situation, proves that he cares deeply about his relatives and can be very sympathetic.”
    “I must say I was truly astonished with his attitude on this matter. I always thought him to be a man who sees everything only as black or white, without any doubt,” Elizabeth said as she wrapped the hocks of ham into the white clean rags, so Jane could put them into baskets. “He seemed so human.”
    “Lizzy,” Jane laughed. “You talk about him as if he were of some different species.”
    Elizabeth finished with the ham and went to wash her hands. Mr. Darcy was a human, of course, a warm, strong, living man, with a deep voice, who affected her more than she was ready to acknowledge. Every time she had closed her eyes last evening, determined to fall asleep, she had memories of how he had held and kissed her. Only a month ago, she had hated the man. Hatred was too strong a word, perhaps, but she had sincerely disliked him and now...
    “What I cannot understand is why he treated Mr. Wickham