Will You: A Quarantine Love Story

For the last Will You…? post of April, I’ve written a bit of a quarantine story. I hope you’ll forgive me for writing a Pride and Prejudice love story out of our current predicament, but it was what was in my head.

I’ve been crazy busy between the book release and a few courses I’ve been taking for my fitness certifications, so I hope you’ll forgive me any errors.  I prefer to write these things weeks in advance. I started this a couple of days ago. I think all of us are having difficulty concentrating with the kids home from school!

Darcy watched from his study window as Elizabeth jogged down the front steps and walked briskly towards the rose garden. With a groan, his head dropped against the window frame. What had he been thinking? He couldn’t have been thinking—not with his right mind or he never would’ve done this, would’ve never invited her to Pemberley. He’d been mental. That had to be it! Maybe a case of temporary insanity? Only one reason existed for him to have invited Elizabeth Bennet to Pemberley—he was a glutton for punishment! Constant and never-ending punishment!

~ * ~

Four weeks prior-

Darcy scanned the numbers on the doors of every flat as he hurried down the corridor. “Two hundred ten, two hundred eleven—Ah! There it is,” he said in a mumble under his breath. Without analysing what he was doing, he knocked loudly on the door in the hopes of being heard over the music coming from inside. The music dimmed and he rapped upon the door a little harder, as if it needed emphasis.

“Darcy?” Her voice filtered through the door before it opened. When she appeared in the doorway with wide eyes, he shifted on his feet. Lord, she was beautiful, even in that ratty, oversized hoodie and leggings.  “Has something happened with Charles and Jane?”

He swallowed hard. Standing in front of the woman who’d had a starring role in his every fantasy as well as every nightmare for the last month was hard enough without summoning the courage to speak. “No, they’re fine. Bingley managed to snag two seats on the next flight into England. They’ll land in Manchester in a few hours.”

His good friend Charles Bingley and Elizabeth’s sister Jane had married the weekend before. With the illness having finally made landfall in the U.K., they’d wanted to have the ceremony in the event everything was shut down as it had been in China. The burgeoning pandemic, however, didn’t stop them from taking their honeymoon trip to Greece. Not that they were on a major bus tour. Instead, they stayed in Darcy’s private villa in Santorini. They had sun, a seaside view, a pool, wi-fi, and a hot tub. Darcy wouldn’t have been keen to travel in a cramped airplane for the five- or six-hour trip to return, but Bingley and Jane made other plans.

Now countries around the world were starting to institute travel bans or talking about travel bans, so Bingley and Jane hurried to secure plane seats home before they became stranded.

“Thank goodness,” said Elizabeth all breathy and pressing her hand to her chest.

He cleared his throat and shoved his hands further into his pockets. “I’ve offered Bingley and your sister the use of the old gamekeeper’s cabin at Pemberley to quarantine and to continue their honeymoon for the next few weeks. I’m leaving for Pemberley now. I’ve shut down Darcy Publishing’s office building and moved everyone to working from home for the time being. Georgiana’s school is allowing her to take her classes online because of her asthma. Mrs. Reynolds is bringing her home as we speak. Since you work from home already, I thought you might prefer to be in the country, and closer to Jane at the same time.”

The words had rushed out in one long, rambling mess. Why couldn’t he speak and behave normally around this woman?

“You’re inviting me to Pemberley?” The words were slow and spaced. If he couldn’t gather her disbelief at the way she spoke, her jaw hung slightly laxed and her high eyebrows spoke volumes. “If this pandemic continues as some are predicting, I could be there indefinitely.”

“I understand that. Pemberley is large enough that you can hide in your rooms for the duration if you want. When I spoke to Bingley, Jane said you couldn’t work at Longbourn. You’d have peace and quiet when you need it at Pemberley.”

She glanced back over her shoulder before shaking her head. “What about my cat? I can’t just leave Tilney here for all that time by himself. I also can’t ask my neighbour to feed him for that long either.”

“So bring him with you. I’ll help you pack up anything you need. He can wander the house, or if you’re more comfortable, you can have a suite of rooms to yourself so he’s easier to find.”

She opened and closed her mouth two or three times. Would she really prefer remaining in London? After her scathing refusal of his invitation for a weekend in Paris during the Rosings book festival last month, he knew she didn’t think much of him, but he’d emailed her that evening to explain their misunderstandings. Perhaps his words held more venom than he’d thought? Boy, he felt like an ass!

“I apologise for bothering you,” he said quickly. “If you’d like to join us, you’re welcome at any time.” He ran a hand through his hair as he turned to make his escape.

“Wait!”

When he pivoted back around, she stood in the hallway. “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. You surprised me is all. I would prefer to be in the country and near Jane, but I need to pack. I also have food that could spoil from the last delivery. Since I can’t write at Longbourn, I’d planned to hunker down for as long as possible.”

“We can pack up the groceries and bring it with us or you can give it to a neighbour.” Her teeth scraped her bottom lip, making him grip his hands at his sides. She had to have no idea how that tiny habit turned him on.

“I don’t know how we’re going to fit everything in your car.”

“I’m driving the Range Rover. Pack whatever you need.”

~ * ~

Boris Johnson locked down the country a week later.

Now four weeks since the lockdown, Bingley and Jane still lived in the gamekeeper’s cottage. Instead of moving to the main house after their two-week quarantine, they’d opted to remain in their secluded hideaway. The small house was well-stocked and quite liveable. They purchased grocery delivery from the Pemberley home farm, and since none of them left the grounds, they came up to the main house for an occasional dinner on the terrace. They certainly weren’t suffering!

In the meantime, Darcy, Georgiana, and Elizabeth occupied the larger house with Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds living in their comfortable apartments below stairs. Every day, Elizabeth joined him and his sister for meals. She was polite and got along with Georgiana as if they’d been sisters their entire lives. Interactions between him and Elizabeth had improved—he guessed they were better anyway, or was that wishful thinking? They spoke of books and current events. He’d learned that she hated brussels sprouts and loved tofu. The problem was he fell more in love with her by the day. Meanwhile, she seemed no more affected by him than she ever had.

Four weeks! They could be like this for months! He lifted his head and dropped it back against the wall and groaned. Months!

~*~

Elizabeth wound her way through the trees along the river and sighed. She grabbed the trunk of the next birch tree and swung around, trailing her fingers along the rough bark as she stepped toward the next. Thank goodness for Darcy inviting her to Pemberley! After four weeks in London, cooped up like a budgie in a cage, she would’ve been stir-crazy.

Now, if only she could understand the man behind the life-saving invitation!

When he offered for her to join him and his sister, she thought perhaps he’d forgiven her. She hadn’t exactly refused his date request in a sympathetic manner. No, she’d ripped him a new one as though he had extras to spare. But what had he expected? He’d never treated her as if he thought much of her.

The first time they met was Charles and Jane’s engagement party a year ago. He’d insulted her—said she was okay, but she wasn’t the prettiest woman he’d ever seen, he’d glared at her as if she couldn’t do anything right, and his cousin, who was a bit pissed, had spilt the beans about his attempt to break up Charles and Jane a few months before.

She’d gladly walked away from that encounter without giving him the time of day. Then they happened upon one another at the Rosings book festival. He’d show up at all the same talks and events. He must’ve purchased a signed copy of every book she’d ever written. He also seemed to bump into her every night at dinner and would ask to join her so neither of them would have to eat alone. When he came to her room and asked if she’d join him for a weekend in Paris—as his girlfriend, she’d lost it.

“Lizzy?”

Her head jerked up from where she stared at the water to Jane, who stood a few feet away. “Charles let you out of bed?”

She laughed and leaned against a tree. “You know we’re both working from the cottage. He has to log in to the Darcy Publishing server every day, and I’m teaching my students from the garden when the weather cooperates.”

“The weather has been incomparably good since all this mess started.”

“I know,” said Jane, with a chuckle. “We’re all only allowed one walk a day, and we’re given blue skies and sunshine for weeks on end. Not that the government can do much if we walk more since we’re on the Pemberley grounds and away from everyone anyway.”

Elizabeth glanced around. Where was Charles? “What are you doing out here?”

“William invited us for dinner, so we were walking to the house. But when I saw you heading toward the river, I thought I’d join you.” She lifted her eyebrows and crossed her arms over her chest. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on.” Elizabeth picked a daisy along the riverbank and twirled it in her fingers.

“I don’t buy that. You were concentrating very hard on the water until I startled you. Normally, you’d be looking straight ahead and walking as if you might break into a run at any moment.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, mirroring Jane’s stance.

“Don’t do that,” said Jane. “I know you like William, but whenever Charles and I come to dinner, nothing changes. The two of you get along, but it’s obvious neither of you has said anything to the other.”

“What do you want me to say, Jane? I was a daft idiot? I was a bitch? I’ve changed my mind.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” She kicked the grass at her feet. “I was horrible to him, Jane. I still can’t believe he invited me here.”

“And before the lockdown too,” said Jane. “If you’d waited and tried to come now, you might’ve been stopped along the motorway and told to return to London.”

Elizabeth sagged a bit more against the tree and covered her face with her hands. “I feel so stupid,” she said, dragging her hands down her cheeks. “He’s everything I’ve ever searched for in a man: handsome, intelligent, and caring—I mean look how he’s practically a father to Georgiana.”

“So what’s the problem.”

“I don’t want him to think I like him out of gratitude.”

With a grin, Jane walked forward and put her hands on Elizabeth’s shoulders. “I can guarantee he doesn’t want that either.”

“I feel terrible.”

“Why? You like him. He likes you. I don’t see why you should feel terrible.”

After she pulled back her arms, Elizabeth propped her hands on her hips. “Firstly, I don’t think he likes me anymore, and to be fair, I don’t blame him. Second, I’m staying for free in his house. I tried to give him money for food yesterday. The expression on his face. You’d have thought I killed his favourite horse.”

Jane giggled. “That’s one reason why we stayed in the cottage. William stocked it before we arrived, but Charles knew that William would insist on paying for everything if we moved into Pemberley. He also worried Caroline might get arrested trying to travel here to isolate with us.”

Elizabeth spluttered out a giggle. “Oh my God, I can just see her in her little orange Fiat, racing down the ‘M’ and making it on the telly because she was trying to ‘holiday’ in the country during lockdown.”

“Be kind,” said Jane with a sly grin. She grabbed Elizabeth’s hand and started tugging her toward the house. “As for William, make the first move. I guarantee he won’t say no.”

“As if you made the first move with Charles.”

Jane turned around and waggled her eyebrows. “How do you know that I didn’t?”

“What?” Bursting into gales of laughter, Elizabeth let Jane drag her back into the house.

~ * ~

Elizabeth stood along the edge of the terrace, her wine glass barely propped against the stone wall, watching the shadows shift as the sun slowly sank below the horizon. The slim shafts of light filtering and slowly disappearing between the trees cast a beautiful, yet eerie sight.

She lifted her eyes to the stars, twinkling like fairy lights in the dark. The stars were not nearly this bright in London. Too much light combined with pollution dimmed them or hid them from sight.

“If you want to look at the stars, there’s a better place for that.”

Jane and Charles had headed back down to the gamekeeper’s cottage when the sun began to dim, and Georgiana had disappeared into the music room with the excuse of practicing. When the girl wasn’t doing her homework, eating, or sleeping, she was playing her cello. If she kept at it, her bow would permanently fuse to her fingertips.

“The stars are spectacular from here. I don’t know where you could possibly have a better view.” The flesh of her back prickled. She didn’t need to glance back to know he was close.

“Let me show you,” he said, his voice low and soft.

When she turned, he held out his free hand. Why did she suddenly feel like Christine in Phantom of the Opera—like she was about to take his hand and let him pull her through the mirror and into a different world?

Her palm met his and a jolt flew up her arm as he closed his fingers over hers. As he led her past the table, he grabbed his empty wine glass and the bottle of red that still sat to one side, untouched, and led her into the house. “Is this how you lure unsuspecting ladies to your room?” She laughed, but her insides fluttered and flipped. “You tell them they will see stars and even galaxies.”

A small bark of a laugh came from him as he shook his head. “We’re just grabbing a blanket. We’re not staying in the house.”

After they found a blanket and a basket to hold that and the wine, he grabbed her hand and tugged her out into the dark, down past the rose garden, until they reached the river.

“How can you find your way in the dark like this?”

“My dad brought me out here when I was a boy. He even put up a small shed nearby to keep a telescope.”

Part of her yearned to draw closer to him. Lately, she’d been having some urges where he was concerned—to brush that one curl off his forehead, to see if his lips were really as soft as they looked, and the most disconcerting, to rip his shirt off and see the muscles that his shirts only hinted at. CEOs weren’t buff, were they?

Finally, they reached a clearing where he stopped so abruptly, she ran into his shoulder. “Sorry,” she said, her eyes close enough to catch his in the sparse light coming from the moon.

“Look up,” he whispered.

She tore her gaze from his and inhaled sharply. “The sky looks like those brilliant photographs where you can see the Milky Way.”

Her heart gave this odd tug when he pulled away and spread the blanket, making her follow. He set the basket to the side and laid down. “If you join me, you won’t get a crick in your neck.”

She held herself back so she wouldn’t look like she was running to cuddle with him. When her head rested upon the soft quilt, she surveyed the panorama of twinkling stars and dark sky before her and breathed. “So beautiful.”

“I think so.”

When she turned and squinted, he wasn’t looking up since the profile wasn’t that of his nose, but of his ear and hair. Her heart frantically skittered against her ribs. It was now or never! She rolled to her side and inched closer until she could make out the features of his face. Lord, she was going to be sick!

She squeezed her eyes closed and dove for his mouth, only what she kissed was harder than she would have expected. With a low laugh, his hand threaded through her hair, cupping the back of her head. “While I’ll take your lips anywhere, I think I’d prefer my lips to my nose.”

His chest shook as their lips met, but his laughter soon subsided as their kiss deepened. Their bodies pressed together, making her heart whisper that she was exactly where she was supposed to be. His fingers trailed along her sides and her shoulder as though she were made of fine porcelain—delicate and priceless.

“Elizabeth,” he said in a breathless murmur when their lips finally separated. “Marry me.”

She jerked back but without leaving the circle of his arms. “What?”

“Too soon?” Even though there was little light, a slight smile graced his features.

“With our past misunderstandings, I’d say just a bit.”

He drew her closer. “Then I’ll have to ask you every day until you say yes.”

She burst into laughter. “You can’t be serious.”

His own chuckles joined hers. “I suppose you’ll find out how serious I am tomorrow.”

His lips claimed hers, which ceased all talking for the time being—until the next morning, that is. When she awoke, he smiled even though her hair had to be a fright. She didn’t even want to consider how bad her breath reeked!

Then, despite the tangled, messy hair and horrible breath, he proposed again. Who knew William Darcy was not only handsome, but also rich—and persistent!

I’d love to hear your comments!!!