The Netherfield Fire — Timothy Underwood

Mr. Darcy saved Elizabeth from the fire, but will her infected burns still kill her?When Elizabeth smelled the smoke and heard the cry of 'Fire!' during the Netherfield ball she did not hesitate to run up to the higher floors. A servant who had grown up at Longbourn had broken her leg, and would need help to escape the flames. But as they hurried downstairs they became lost in the thick, roiling smoke. Elizabeth was struck and burned on the face by falling debris. Just when she began to despair, she heard Mr. Darcy's hoarse voice cry her name.Mr. Darcy still disdains Elizabeth's mother and connections, and the next time they meet will be at Rosings Park under Lady Catherine's watchful gaze... Excerpt:The building was entirely aflame. She could see the portrait of the baronet's father, Sir Clement, his sneering face curling to a black crisp across the hallway.Fast, fast, or they would both die here.She stood up, and then made an effort to drag Rose across the floor towards where she thought the stairs were, as she could not see them. Her feet burned through the leather slippers from the heat in the wood. And then, a painting fell off from the wall, falling onto her face, and Elizabeth screamed in pain, as the glowing red metal of the frame sat against her face for a second before bouncing on her arm and falling away.She fell to the ground.Elizabeth tried to force herself to stand, but she could not. She smelled hair burning.Everything was dim, and then a hoarse, yet still commanding voice cut through the dimness. Elizabeth! Elizabeth! Miss Elizabeth, are you here!Mr. Darcy's voice!For some reason that she could not understand, Elizabeth felt entirely relieved, and much of her panic left as she shouted out again and again, choking on the thick roiling smoke.Here! Here! both she and Rose called out.There was a long moment, a moment in which she feared that she had hallucinated Darcy's voice, or that he could not hear her over the fire.She coughed hackingly, and she and Rose crawled forward further on the hot floor that now burned their fingers.Mr. Darcy appeared through the smoke from behind them. His face was wrapped in his cravat to protect him from the smoke. He pulled Elizabeth to her feet, and then without any seeming effort he picked Rose up with just one arm, and at a run he pulled Elizabeth along behind him, running in the opposite direction from that which their confused crawling had taken them.They reached the grand staircase in the entry hall, and Darcy ran down it carrying Rose, somehow not falling, Elizabeth stumbled behind him, though one of her feet seemed sprained and she half hopped on it, not feeling anything.A step cracked under the weight of Mr. Darcy and his burden, the wood underneath eaten through by flames, and as he passed an orange flame burst up in front of Elizabeth, lashing at her eyebrows.Darcy reached the bottom, and he shouted out, and handed his burden to someone else standing near the entrance. He ran back up the stairs, and picked Elizabeth up from where she was stumbling and coughingly trying to make her way down.His arms were strong, and she felt completely safe, even though they were still in the burning structure. And then wreathed by flames and smoke, both coughing, he rushed through the wide open doors carrying her, and behind them, it seemed merely a second later, there was a resounding crash as one of the wooden support beams for the roof collapsed with an enormous clatter and a new burst of flames.