From Pemberley to Manhattan [COMPLETED]

Chapter 44

Nat

"Darcy? Are you feeling ill?" He'd been staring at the same object for a few minutes now. A plate informed it was a present offered to the Queen by one of her closer friends, a Miss Snow, in the occasion of her wedding, in 1840.

"Yes, I thank you for your concern." I thought that was all he was going to say, but he continued, "I know this box. It used to belong to my... family." He sounded distant, as if the object reminded him of someone.

"Seriously? So are you related to this Miss Snow? She was the daughter of the infamous Doctor Snow and his wife, Georgiana. Oh, just like your sister!" I pointed at the plate, and it was obvious he hadn't noticed. He had only read the label that was right next to the box, but the plate on the wall told the whole story about it. As he read it, a deep line formed between his eyes, and his mouth became a hard line. I wondered what about that piece of information could have annoyed him so.

"Yes", he answered after a while. "Mrs. Georgiana Snow was Miss Georgiana Darcy before she wed, I suppose. That name is quite... Common in my family."

"Yes, I noticed", I tried to make a joke, but he wasn't paying attention, still mesmerized with the object. After a few moments, he sought for more information.

"Are you familiar with this Doctor Snow?"

"Yeah, of course." I was shocked by his latest question. "My brother won't shut up about him, as you must know."

"Do you mean to say Robert? He never told me about this Doctor", he demanded, his eyes still focused on the golden box.

"No! Ethan." I considered it highly suspicious that Darcy hadn't known about Ethan's fascination, especially if this Brit was (even if indirectly) related to the "most amazing and wicked scientist ever", as Ethan would describe him. He would babble all the time about Doctor Brown, and what a genius he was. Darcy simply faced me with his brows up, as if that was the first time he heard about all of it.

"Is your brother familiar with the gentleman?" Was he faking it? Was he kidding? How could he be friends with Ethan and not know?

"Familiar with Doctor Snow? My brother is his biggest admirer ever; he has dedicated the last decade of his life studying the doctor's writings and inventions. Ethan used to say he'd create a time machine based on Doctor Snow's time traveling equation and would use it to visit the doctor himself."

I tried to shake the feeling of weirdness, since I shouldn't need to tell that story to one of Ethan's friends. Besides, the doctor married Darcy's ancestor. Surely Ethan would've found out about it, right?

"Did your brother ever tell you if this Doctor Snow was a good husband?", he asked suddenly.

"No..." This conversation was getting more awkward by the second. There was a possibility Ethan and Darcy hadn't realized about the whole Doctor Snow and Georgiana coincidence, but never talking about my brother's work? It just sounded wrong.

On the other hand, Ethan did send all those emails asking how Darcy was doing and how we were treating him. Bobby had even sent him a picture of Darcy having a blast eating one of my pancakes with Nutella, and Ethan had emailed us back saying it was one of the funniest pics ever. Which confirmed the guy standing before me was Fitz Darcy and Ethan's friend.

So why was I feeling there was a huge piece of the puzzle missing?

"How did you meet my brother?", I decided to ask.

"It was fate, I believe", he said after some consideration.

"Do you believe in fate?" I did. Sometimes. But Darcy didn't have the believer vibe.

"I didn't, I thought it was rubbish, yet now I do. It is the only explanation for how I met your brother. We weren't supposed to. He wasn't even looking for me, and I shouldn't have been at home at that time." Okay, what a way to explain a lot and nothing at the same time. "I didn't comprehend why our meeting had taken place, but now I do."

"Oh?" Was all I could say, for Darcy was now staring at me with an intensity that took my breath away. If Fanny were here, she'd classify it as a panties-drop look.

"I was meant to meet someone close to him", he told me, his tone full of meaning.

"Robert?" He shook his head in denial. "Mom and Dad?" He shook his head again and took a step closer. "Grandma?" Another headshake and butterflies came alive in my stomach.

He moved even closer and put his hands on each side of my face. "You, Nat. It was my fate to meet you."

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