Swipe Left on Mr. Darcy — Guard Down, Page 15
By Suha · Published
Log in to see this page
Page 15 of Guard Down is for signed-in readers. Logging in brings you straight back here — and an account is free if you do not have one.
Transcript
Alone in the still, empty foyer, Lizzie gathers herself, jaw set, braced for the cold verdict on her family she is sure is coming. Darcy steps up calmly beside her — not sneering, hands in his pockets. Lizzie, guarded, preempting him: 'Go ahead. Say it.'
Image description
Alone in the quiet foyer, Lizzie sets her jaw, braced for a cold verdict; below, Darcy steps up calmly beside her.
About this chapter
Still stranded at Netherfield while Jane's fever breaks, Lizzie has to survive days in the cool glass house in yesterday's clothes — trading barbs with Caroline, fielding Darcy's unguarded stares, and puncturing a smug drawing-room debate about what makes a woman a real catch. Then her family descends: Mrs. Bennet sweeps in with Lydia and Kitty to 'rescue' Jane, gushing over the house, sprawling on the designer furniture, and demanding Bingley throw a party — while Lizzie dies of embarrassment and Caroline drinks it in. Bracing for Darcy to confirm every cold thing she believes about him with a verdict on her circus of a family, Lizzie gets the opposite: he sidesteps the insult entirely and quietly tells her that her sister is lucky to have her. It disarms her more than any cruelty could — and her tidy verdict on Mr. Darcy starts to come apart.