Mr. Darcy Vampyre (28 page)

She stared at it in amazement. Faster and faster it went, slipping downwards to reveal glimpses of blue skies and daylight. Before another minute had passed, she found herself in a newly-opened cave overlooking the bright blue waters of the Mediterranean. Darcy, beside her, let out an astounded exclamation, and the two of them looked out in wonderment.

‘It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,' said Elizabeth.

The sun was rising on the horizon, spreading its golden light over the world. She hardly dared turn towards Darcy for fear of what she might see, but she did so at last and felt herself awash with relief.

‘You are not transparent!' she said.

He looked down at himself.

‘So that is what the portent meant,' he said. ‘The curse has been broken, the shadow lifted. You have caused my death after all, Lizzy, or at least a part of me. It was the death of the vampyre you caused.'

He turned his face to the sun then he stretched out his arms and threw back his head as he basked in the glow of the sunrise.

‘It is many, many years since I have done this,' he said. ‘To see the dawn of a new day, without fear, is something wonderful indeed.'

She watched him with an overpowering love.

And then he turned towards her.

For the first time since she had known him there was no tension in him, no aloofness, no painful restraint. There was only a man without burdens or curses. Free.

His eyes darkened and they began to smoulder, and she felt her legs grow weak. He ran the back of his hand across her cheek and she began to tremble. And there by the sea, in the new light of morning, they came together as one.

My dearest Jane,

I am sure you must have written to me, but none of your letters have reached me and I know that none of my letters have reached you. The post is very unreliable in these parts! No, not the Lake District, my dearest Jane, but the Continent. My dear Darcy took me through Europe and we have had many adventures along the way. I have learnt a great deal about him, much of it unsuspected, but all of it, in its own way, wonderful; by which I mean, my dearest Jane, that it was full of wonder. I know now why he was so reserved and why he would never let other people near. I know everything about him. And I have learnt this, Jane: that to know another human being absolutely, and to love them, is the greatest adventure of our lives.

I must go now; the carriage awaits. But it will not be long before I am back in England. I am longing to see you again. How much we will have to say to each other!

And how much I will have to conceal
, she thought, as she read her letter through, adding to herself,
though perhaps I will tell Jane everything, one day
.

The door opened and a respectful servant stood there.

‘The carriage is at the door,' he said.

‘One minute,' said Elizabeth. She signed her letter, then folded it and wrote the direction. The servant stepped forward to take it. ‘Thank you, but I will post it myself,' she said.

‘Very good.'

Darcy came into the drawing room, looking happy and carefree.

‘Are you ready?' he asked. ‘The carriage is waiting. It is not as comfortable as our own coach, but I was lucky to be able to hire anything at such short notice, so far away from a city. We will not be travelling with it for long. We will soon be on board ship and heading for England.'

‘England and Pemberley,' she said. She let her gaze wander for one last time around the hunting lodge and then she took his arm. ‘Then let us be off. It's time to go home.'

Amanda Grange is a bestselling author specializing in creative interpretations of classic novels and historic events, including Jane Austen's novels and the Titanic shipwreck. Her Jane Austen sequel
Mr. Darcy's Diary
is a bestseller in the US and the UK. She lives in England.