Ever since she could walk, Elodie Bennet had expectations set upon her, expectations that all young women had. As the second eldest, she was meant to care for her younger sisters and do what was asked of her without complaining.
This also meant...
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INNER TURMOIL.
'Who was this woman to him?' Elodie wondered. 'Had he moved on from me that quickly?'
Elodie hastily backed away from the door, but stumbled on the carpet and scuffed the floor with her shoes, inadvertently revealing herself to Mr. Darcy and the unidentified woman.
Her breath hitched in her throat.
She could see their heads whip towards her through the crack, but nothing else after as she gasped and hurried out of the room.
Elodie's cheeks were boiling with red-hot mortification as she retraced her steps through the house and eventually exited through a side door.
"Miss Bennet!" She ignored Mr. Darcy's desperate voice, her feet tapping loudly on the ground as she flew down a flight of steps that led into a small garden.
How embarrassed she felt. She should've fought back against her aunt and uncle and told them she refused to go to his estate.
"Miss Elodie!"
Elodie suddenly stopped and turned to face him, looking down at the ground with shame. "I had no idea you would be here, sir." She admitted. Darcy continued toward her, his brow furrowed as he covered the ground between them with his long strides.
"I assumed you were in London." She finished with a sharp intake of breath. However, she wanted to clarify that she didn't come with the sole purpose of seeing him, that she had been made to visit the estate against her will.
She blamed her uncle for such a horrid misunderstanding.
"I came back a day early. I had some business with my steward." Darcy replied, his hands coming up to wring themselves together. He blinked rapidly as an awkward silence festered, in awe that she was actually there in front of him.
"Well, I," Elodie looked off to the side, scouring the landscape for something interesting to look at. This was all much too painful for her. "I'm here with my sisters: Elizabeth and Mary, you must remember them. My aunt and uncle are here, too."
Darcy nodded with his lips in a thin line. "Yes I remember them very well. And are you having a pleasant trip? Are you staying in Lambton?"
"Yes, at the Rose and Crown. We leave for Matlock tomorrow." Elodie rubbed the back of her neck, rocking on her feet.
"Tomorrow?" Darcy questioned with a soft voice, his head spinning.
"I really am sorry to intrude. They said it was open to visitors." Elodie finally looked at Darcy in sorrow, choosing to push away his question instead of answer it.
