Sally O'Rourke - The Man Who Loved Jane Austen

“You see, Eliza, Artemis here is the leading orthopedic surgeon in our neighborhood and he will be crushed if you don’t allow him to demonstrate his healing skills for us.”

Darcy grinned at his friend. “Isn’t that true, Artemis?”

Artemis nodded, poker-faced. “I only ever come to Fitz’s weekends in hopes that someone will break something,” he told Eliza. “But nobody ever does,” he said glumly.

“Okay,” Jenny interrupted, scowling at the men. “That’s enough, you two. Let’s get this poor girl into the house.”

She took Eliza’s uninjured arm and led her toward the front steps of the mansion, with Artemis trailing behind. “Don’t pay any attention to them, honey,” Jenny told the newcomer. “They’re all crazy but harmless.”

Darcy stood watching until the trio had disappeared into the mansion. Then he walked over to the beverage table and drew himself a cup of coffee from a silver urn. He stood silently sipping the steaming brew and gazing out at the lake as Harv sidled up beside him.

“Nice catch, Fitz,” the younger man remarked. “Where did you find her?”

“She was walking along the drive, near the bridge,” Darcy replied distantly. “I nearly killed her.”

“Walking?” Faith exclaimed. She had joined the men at the table and was refreshing her Bloody Mary. “My God, what for?” she asked in genuine puzzlement.

Eliza sat on a small stool at an exquisite antique dressing table that blended beautifully with the other furniture in the large bedroom suite decorated in pale shades of blue. Artemis was down on one knee before her, gently examining her arm, while Jenny rummaged in a tall wardrobe behind him.

“It’ll be sore,” Artemis pronounced, getting to his feet, “doesn’t appear that you broke anything. If it continues to give you problems we can run into my office in town later and take some X-rays…”

Eliza gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m sure it will be fine.”

Artemis nodded and closed the small emergency bag he’d dug out of a drawer. He reached over to give Jenny a quick kiss, then started to leave the room. Pausing at the door, he turned back long enough to order Eliza to let him know if she needed anything for pain, then he left.

“That’s some great husband you have, Mrs. Brown,” Eliza told Jenny, who was holding up a flowered sundress for her inspection.

Jenny grinned. “Isn’t my Artie something?” she marveled. “Now who would have ever thought a plain old country schoolteacher like me would have the luck to land a Harvard man, and him a damn fine doctor at that.”

“From my first quick impression of you two I would say that Artemis considers himself the lucky one to have landed you,” Eliza said with a smile.

Jenny’s lovely ebony face glowed at the compliment. “He does act that way, doesn’t he?” she smiled. “So I guess that makes us both lucky.”

She offered the flowered sundress to Eliza. “This may be a little big on you but I think it’ll do until we can get your luggage up here from the gatehouse.”

It took a moment for Eliza to comprehend that the other woman believed she was another of Darcy’s weekend guests. “Oh, I’m not going to be staying,” she exclaimed, shaking her head.

“You’re not?” Jenny Brown’s voice was filled with sincere disappointment. “But you’ll miss the Rose Ball tomorrow night.”

“I came down here hoping to see Fitz…Mr. Darcy for an hour or two,” Eliza explained. “I had no idea he had houseguests, or I would never have dropped in like this.”

Jenny gave her a strange look. “Well, you might have just dropped in but you surely landed with a big splash,” Jenny chuckled.

She put the sundress down on the bed. “You wear the dress anyway,” she insisted. “Fitz certainly isn’t going to let you get away without lunch.” Jenny scrutinized Eliza’s ruined clothing and matted hair. “The shower is right through there,” she told her, pointing to a door. “You’ll find everything you need in the bathroom, including Band-Aids. Just take your time and come on out to lunch whenever you’re ready.”

Eliza nodded gratefully. “Thank you, Jenny,” she said. “You’ve been very kind.”

Jenny smiled and gave her a wink. “And watch out for the icy blonde when you come downstairs,” she advised. “If our dear little Faith thinks you’re after Fitz, she’ll plant a dagger in your heart.”

“My mission is strictly one hundred percent business,” Eliza assured her with a grin, “so there’ll be no need for further bloodshed.”

As soon as Jenny left, Eliza entered the bathroom and looked into the mirror. For a moment she was shocked by the sight of her dirt-streaked face. And then she suddenly realized that the dirt and mud must have been the reason Darcy hadn’t recognized her from the library.

Removing her contacts, she stepped into the shower. Hot water pelted down on her, scouring the mud from her body and hair, stinging her elbow. She watched as the dirt swirled down the drain, reminding her that he would recognize her when she was cleaned up. She stood in the pulsating water wondering why she had denied having met him. Shaking off the guilt, she attributed the denial to her inbred New York paranoia. But that wasn’t going to make it any easier when he finally realized she’d lied.

Well, she supposed that it didn’t really matter right now; she would just have to cross that bridge when she came to it. Breathing deeply she accepted the fact that she couldn’t stall too much longer, she was already starting to prune.

The others were lingering still over their delayed lunch on the lawn by the time Eliza put in an appearance. Harv was the first to spot her coming out of the house with her purse and portfolio in hand. He grinned lopsidedly and raised his glass in her direction. “Here she comes,” he announced loudly.

Faith looked up and grimaced to show her disinterest in the interloper. “Be still my foolish heart,” she muttered into her third or fourth Bloody Mary.

Ignoring Faith, Darcy rose immediately to his feet and strode across the lawn to meet the new arrival. “Miss Knight, are you feeling better?” he inquired with concern.

Eliza looked up at him through the glasses she used when she didn’t want to wear her contacts. Her thick black hair, still damp from the shower, was now pulled back into a flaring ponytail, and in Jenny’s oversized sundress she felt fairly confident that her own mother wouldn’t have been able to pull her out of a police lineup. So, for the moment at least, she was safe.

“Yes, thank you,” she replied to Darcy. “It’s nothing at all,” she assured him. “Dr. Brown says my elbow will be fine,” lightly touching her arm, “so there’s no harm done.”

Looking over at the table where the others sat, Eliza saw that they had stopped eating and were obviously waiting for Darcy’s return. “Please go back to your guests,” she told him. “As I explained to Jenny, I wouldn’t have come today if I’d had any idea I was intruding—”

Darcy gave her a warm smile and waved off her protest. “It’s no intrusion at all,” he assured her, nodding toward the others. “They’re all old friends of mine who came out early to help me coordinate our annual Rose Ball. You can tell me over lunch why you’re here.”

He arched his eyebrows like a film noir detective. “I presume you did come all the way down here to see me about something .”

“Yes, I did,” Eliza confirmed. “But I can easily come back on Monday when you’re free. I saw several motels in the last little town I passed…” She hesitated, glancing over at the table where his friends sat waiting. “My reason for wanting to see you is somewhat confidential in nature at this stage.”