"And those are the words of a gentleman?! From the first moment I met you... your arrogance and conceit, your selfish disdain... for the feeling of others... made me realize that you were the last man in the world... I could ever be prevailed upon to marry.

Though heavy rain pummeled the earth, a high pitched ringing filled Darcy's ears with these words. They hit him so deeply, that his heart for a moment forgot to beat, and his soul felt as though it left him. Struggling with this, he opened his mouth to speak, but he was far too wounded to utter a word. He was not prepared for what had just transpired, and looking into her eyes he could only feel pain. Feeling an urgency to be away he summed up his strength.

"Forgive me, madam, for taking up so much of your time." And with one last look he turned and walked away.

The ringing still persisted in his ears as he walked away. His eyes were fixed on the ground. His head was heavy, and his heart ached. As he reached the steps of the structure, the sudden flash of lightning blinded him. Looking up he discovered the terrain was much altered. Through the now constant downpour, water was building up on the ground, and was nearing the top step. Taking a few steps backward, he watched as the water continued to rise. Following up the hill, to the shortest path to Rosings, he found that a debris were being swept over the hill, and quickly headed toward them. With water now ankle height, he looked over his shoulder to Elizabeth. She was holding onto a column, as the water quickly swept up around her. She was barely able to keep standing as the water soaked her clothes, and caused her to sway.

Opening his mouth to get her attention, he was hit from behind the knee by a tree limb, and he fell forward. Quickly recovering, he looked her direction again. The limb was headed her way. "Miss Elizabeth lookout!"

Her head spun around at this, but she did not react in time. It collided directly into her waist, and tangled with her coat.

Quickly he waded through the water, and caught her hand as it slipped from the column. "I have you!"

"Pleheease!" She wheezed.

Looking to her neck he could see that her coat was held tight at her neck, from the limb being pulled by the current. Using his leg to anchor himself to the column, he quickly went for the buttons.

With one button free, her coat tore off, leaving her with only the one sleeve. Elizabeth was violently thrashed forward into Darcy's arms. He juggled her in his arms, keeping a firm grasp on her, as well as keeping his other arm around the column. Though they were on the far side of the temple, the water on the other side was quickly rising, the small pond below, was nearly a lake. Canceling out the chaos around them, Darcy could feel Elizabeth frantically trying to take in a full breath. Looking down at her he could see that her face was pale, and her breaths were short. "Are you unwell Elizabeth? Were you injured?"

She angled her head up, and opened her mouth to take in a deep breath. But, was unsuccessful. "I can't take in a full breath?!"

Darcy was troubled by this, was she injured by the limb? Perhaps a small branch on it could have pierced into her. He didn't dare feel for it, seeing as the impropriety, as well as he may lose her with the quickly rising water.

In the midst of her struggle, Darcy kept compensating his grasp on the column as the water rose. They had left the ground level, and were slowly reaching the roof.

Observing this, Darcy was planning his next maneuver in his mind, betwixt keeping an eye on Elizabeth, and holding on for dear life. Finally concluding there was no better option, he decided to put his plan into action.

"Miss Bennett."

She weakly nodded, to this through her still struggled breaths.

"We need to get onto the roof. Are you able to move on your own?"

"Barely she shuddered."

He took in a breath, and weighed his options once again. "I need you to hold tight to me then." Inside he immediately winced in mortification of this statement. He had hoped that she would do so on better circumstances. Now he was asking her to do such a thing knowing how much he offended her.

She too winced, but quickly did as she was told, seeing how dire the situation was.

She grasped her arms around his chest. The dramatic burning warmth of his body highly contrasted with the frigid water that was almost up to their shoulders. Darcy gently released his grasp from around Elizabeth. Finding her grasp tight, he pulled them up to the edge of the roof. With all his strength he pulled them up against the rising current. Twice his grip slipped on the slick stone edge. Feeling the current pick up more, he took in one deep breath and pulled as hard as he could.

They fell hard onto the cold stone carved roof. Darcy took the brunt of it, with his shoulder landing hard right into a raised point. Taking in deep staggered breaths, while the rain pounded down upon him, he mustered up the strength to move. Lifting his head he looked down at the still attached Elizabeth. He reached around his neck, and urged her to release her grasp.

"Are you alright Miss Bennett?"

Slowly, she pulled herself up. Her body bobbed from sided to side, as she tried to sit on her own. Color had mostly drained from her face, and though rain poured down her face, tears also accompanied it.

"Good god Madam, what ails you?!" He quickly sat up, and caught her before she fell backwards.

She seemed to mouth some words, but he could not make them out.

Remembering the impact with the limb, he began to inspect her. her dress was torn from the front, to along her side, but otherwise he found no impact or cuts.

"I can't Breeethe... so Tiiight." She wheezed, as she weaved about in his grasp.

Tight? He thought for a moment, then immediately knew what it was. Looking around to her lower back, a long frayed white cord was dangling from a fresh cut in her gown. Tugging at it she seized, and buckled forward. Obviously this wasn't the best method. Still supporting her with one arm, he carefully inspected the tear at the back of her gown. He could see through the hole the back of her corset. One cord was completely severed, whereas the one in his hand was stretched, and frayed at the end.

"Forgive me Madam." Darcy said in a low tone, as he began to pull at the cords from the top. She swayed at this, and shuddered from her corset becoming even tighter than before. He paused for a moment with this. The cords were soaked, and were not going to budge. Looking closer, he could see off to the side what looked to be a recent stitch repair along the boning. "Apologies ahead of time for this Madam." From the top, he lifted the corset as much as he could away from her skin, then with one violent movement, ripped the fabric clean through.

Instantly Elizabeth gasped a full breath and fell forward, as Darcy fell backward and nearly slipped off the edge of the roof.

"Are you well Miss Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth slowly was catching her bearings on all fours, with her head down, taking in labored full breaths through her mouth, seeing as her nose was useless with the rain and tears pouring down her face. "Yes... Much improved Sir. I..." She stopped short seeing as she was suddenly aware of the water pooling up to her wrists. She looked up to Darcy, who was also presently preoccupied with this new development. They both looked to the top of the monument. All that was left was the top of the steep dome, which looked to be unsuitable for climbing. "Darcy what do we do?" She pleaded as she attempted to stand.

Walking over to aide her, he took her hand without restraint, as he looked around for an escape. There were tall trees nearby, but not without a swim. Which surely was not the best mode, seeing larger and more dangerous debris than before float by at a high frequency. They were miles from Rosings, and to his knowledge this was the highest point in the region. "I believe we will just have to bear down here."

Elizabeth whimpered a little at this. Her body ached from the cold, and her back hurt from the impact of the limb.

After he guided her up to the precipice, they stood there in silence, teeth chattering from the cold, clothing soaked through, and winded from the ordeal. They were in awe of the chaos before them. Looking down, Darcy remembered he was still holding her hand. Quickly he released it. "Forgive me."

Elizabeth, whom was still preoccupied with the scene before her gave him a confused look.

"My actions, Madam. I must apologize. I meant only to help. There are no other intentions beyond that. You need not worry."

She blinked hard at this, keenly remembering their recent argument. Gripping at her side, where she held her torn corset in place, she looked down at her soaked boots. "There is no need to apologize. I am more worried for our present situation sir."

This eased him very little, seeing as she quickly changed the subject.

For the last few hours of daylight they stood, almost knee deep in water at times, clutching onto the edge of the dome. Eventually at dusk the water lowered where they could scrunch down and sit. The rain eased up, there was a constant trickle, with only a heavy downpour every other hour. The windows to the top of the dome were frustratingly too small for them to squeeze through, so Darcy used his heavy coat to shield them from the rain. Though this was a comfort, it left them no choice but to be in close proximity to one another. So for most of this time they remained silent.

When night was fully upon them a frigid breeze came in. They re-positioned as well as they could, moving to the least windy side, but there was no escaping the cold. Their clothes were soaked, and the rain still persisted. Elizabeth's body had a constant vibration due to the cold. Darcy, not too better off himself, but could cope with the cold, seeing as he had less wet layers on than her. Thinking back to past books he had read, he knew that in a circumstance like this they should use each other for warmth. But he figured she would sooner jump off the roof then come any closer. But he was quickly contradicted, as she slowly began to inch toward him.

"I know it is improper sir. But I am so cold that I am freighted that if I fall asleep, I will never wake up."

Reaching into his vest pocket, he pulled out a gold ring with a deep blue sapphire set in the middle, surrounded by diamonds. "In no way are you obliged to hold to its actual purpose. But if we are discovered, it may look better if you are wearing this."

Elizabeth could not help but be in awe of the ring presented to her, and had a hard time containing it from him. Looking him in the eyes with this offer, she knew he was right. So she simply nodded and presented her left hand. He was surprised by her willingness. But all he could feel as he slid the ring on her finger was an extreme hollowness. This was not what he pictured in his mind when he placed his mother's ring in his pocket that morning.

Hours later the storm let up a little. They had sat in silence under his coat. The water level went down a ways, so they could finally sit comfortably. But little comfort came from the hard uneven surface below them, and the brisk cold wind that cut through his coat. The steam of his breath billowed around his face, as he brought his hands up to his mouth to warm them. Looking to his right he caught a glimpse of Elizabeth's face. It was far more pale than before, and she was shaking all over. Darcy pulled his coat down, and placed it over her shoulders. She jumped at this, and fell forward.

"Forgive me, I was only trying to-." Before he could finish, he noticed she was not moving. "Miss Elizabeth?" He got to his knees and knelt down to check on her.

She was shaking all over, her hands were clenched in like fists, and her lips were turning blue.

"Elizabeth!" Darcy exclaimed as he reached down and pulled her up to sit.

Her body was stiff, and her eyes were half open. Supporting her in his arms he looked her over. "Miss Bennett, are you well?"

"Jane? Why is it so cold?"

Darcy became worried at this. He had heard of cases of people being stranded out in the cold, and going mad.

"Miss Bennett…I-."

Suddenly she lunged forward, and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.

He was very still with this, and did not move a muscle till he felt her tremors ease. Exhaustion hit him hard with this, and so he re-positioned them, leaned up against the window, and covered them both with his coat. Though her grasp was tight, his muscles eased from her warmth. Taking in a deep breath, he wrapped his arms around her, and eventually fell asleep.