I love a good sisterly argument…. and yes, I’m the eldest of 3 daughters… so I love writing when Elizabeth or Jane have to reign in the younger ones. LOL
XOXOXO Elizabeth Ann West
Chapter 7 - A Spring Sentiment, a Pride and Prejudice Variation
Bleary-eyed, Fitzwilliam Darcy finished his tenth letter for the morning before setting his pen down and rubbing his face with the palm of his hand. A yawn escaped from his mouth as the door to his study was knocked upon.
“Enter.” He leaned back in his chair as his sister came into the room, clearly ebullient from a well-rested night. Darcy, meanwhile, had suffered through two weeks of early rising to finish his work before a reasonable hour to pay a call on the Gardiner residence and then return or stay for dinner and an evening’s entertainment.
“Good morning, William. It’s quite warm out today, and I’ve just received a note back from Mary. We are in agreement for a picnic this afternoon with the Miss Bennets in Hyde Park.” Georgiana smiled brightly and made a tiny clapping motion with her hands.
“I am happy to hear the plans are set. Have you visited the kitchens to discuss this with Mrs. Palmer?”
Georgiana’s smile faded. “Er, no. Would not Mrs. Kensington take care of the details?”
“To be sure, she is most capable of planning a small picnic, but I think it best for you to undertake this excursion. Good practice for your future and all that.” A small pout began to quiver on his sister’s lip, and Darcy laughed. “None of that false fear, if you please. Now off with you, I am too exhausted to trifle with any silliness you have planned to play at this morning.”
Making a face at her much older brother, Georgiana Darcy curtsied and exited her brother’s study. This new workload he placed on her shoulders was most vexing, and she was beginning to find truth in what her brother and cousin had always told her. There was truly no fun in growing up.
Giving his arms a stretch, Darcy looked once more over his correspondence before growling at a pile of at least another fifteen letters that all required his reply. He glanced at the clock on the mantle and resolved to respond to five more before he had to leave to meet with his solicitor. Mending his pen and opening a new bottle of ink, the Master of Pemberley and other properties set back to work.
Across the city on Gracechurch Street, Elizabeth Bennet happily entertained her younger cousins with tales of the daring Bennet sisters in Hertfordshire from so many years ago. After telling of the time she and Jane triumphed over the mean Lucas’ boys by disguising a rather deep mud puddle with well-placed sticks and foliage, young Master Gardiner only wondered one thing.
“Did your Papa whip you?” he asked, eyes wide. Since being warned of such a fate by his father last week for running in the hall and knocking into Mother, Peter Gardiner was very keen to know more about what did and did not constitute a whipping offense.
Shocked at the mention of her father, Elizabeth took a beat to swallow and considered her answer. Her father had never raised a hand to any of his daughters. She shook her head and gave her young cousins a weak smile.
“My papa would have! He does not like it when you break the rules.”
“Only when breaking the rules can hurt another, Peter. Now you two are late for your lessons, and Nanny is waiting.” Mrs. Gardiner appeared with a bouquet of lovely daffodils in her arms and swooshed into the room to replace the wilted flowers hanging limply in a vase positioned in the main window. Her two children scurried up the stairs without argument. “I hope they didn’t distress you much.”
“Not at all. I was happy to give Nanny Pierce a break.” Elizabeth rose to take over the flower arranging duties from her aunt. Mrs. Gardiner collapsed into a chair and fanned her face. Smirking, Elizabeth turned away from observing her aunt and stood on her tiptoes to see higher over the vase to the street beyond.
The hustle and bustle of the street was too chaotic for her to make out very much, but a strange man standing on the far street corner gave her pause. He wasn’t moving, and he was too far for Elizabeth to see the details of his face, heavily shrouded by his hat. Shrugging, she reasoned he must be waiting to deliver a message or have other such business to conduct.
Seeing her aunt still in distress, Elizabeth picked up the footstool and moved it closer to her aunt’s feet, helping her to prop them up. “I could have called a maid,” the older woman scolded Elizabeth, who just responded with a wan smile.
“I carefully balanced the needs of my dearest relation with the convenience of waiting for a servant and ultimately concluded that I could indeed deign to move a mighty footstool.” The two women shared a laugh, and Elizabeth took a seat near her aunt. Mrs. Gardiner couldn’t help herself and absently rubbed the small, growing bump in her midsection. Noticing her niece eyeing her hands’ movements, Madeline Gardiner looked down and blushed.
“Forgive me; I suppose the surprise your uncle and I planned to share at dinner tonight is ruined.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “We all knew you were expecting weeks ago.” Madeline Gardiner’s mouth dropped in shock.
“Was I so very transparent?”
Again, Elizabeth laughed and shook her head. “No, but I’ve practically spent half a year here every year since I’ve been out. I’ve witnessed all of your symptoms for all four of the children.”
Wincing slightly, Mrs. Gardiner adjusted her posture to stop the aches and pains of her body accommodating itself to the life growing inside. “I don’t recall feeling so tired and worn with the other four. Oooh.”
Elizabeth worried as her aunt’s face paled, and she quickly stood up. “I will send for the doctor. And Uncle.”
“You will do no such thing! Sit back down!” Her aunt continued to take a few breaths through her nose and then suddenly smiled. “This is nothing but normal. I’m sorry you had to witness my imposition.”
Slowly, Elizabeth returned to her chair and arched her eyebrows. “Are you sure I shouldn’t tell Uncle?”
“I simply tried to do a little too much this morning, and my body is reminding me to slow down. Now, forget me for a moment. Let’s talk about you while we have the privacy. Do you have any questions about your future with Mr. Darcy?” Elizabeth reddened and looked away. Mrs. Gardiner reached over to pat her hands. “It’s perfectly safe, dear. Women do talk about these things, and you are very soon to be married. I’ve watched him with you, and I don’t think you have anything to fear in that corner.”
Elizabeth’s head shot up. “Fear? Why ever should I fear him?”
Madeline Gardiner took a deep breath and sighed. “There are some wives who do not learn until it’s too late their husband is a brute and takes his pleasure with or without regard to their wives’ wishes.”
Elizabeth’s mouth dropped in horror, and Mrs. Gardiner nodded her head to confirm that what she was thinking was indeed the nightmare her aunt was trying to describe.
“It’s an ugly business, that. And unless a woman has a father or brother to step in . . . well, you have nothing to worry about.” Mrs. Gardiner attempted a wane smile in support.
Leaving Elizabeth stunned in her chair, Madeline Gardiner rose as her husband and other nieces entered the home. He had taken Kitty and Mary to the warehouses to pick out fabric for their wardrobes for the coming Season. The only reason Elizabeth had remained home was that Mr. Darcy had insisted on paying for all of her needs at the same modiste that served both Miss Darcy and Lady Matlock.
Chapter 7 (cont'd) - A Spring Sentiment, a Pride and Prejudice Variation
“Edward, how went the hunt?”
“Oh, Aunt, there was this most becoming emerald silk, but Uncle said you’d skin him alive if he allowed me to select such a color.” Kitty pouted and looked at her uncle with dismay.
“Indeed she would!”
“But Mama is allowing Lydia to wear such shades. And she is not married!”
Madeline Gardiner pressed her mouth into a thin line of disapproval at the news of her sister-in-law’s choice to indulge the youngest Bennet daughter but quickly arranged her features to appease Kitty. Taking the young woman’s arm to bring her further into the house, she gently stroked Kitty’s forearm.
“Yes, but Lydia will not be invited to so many balls and plays. You will be observing a full London season and just think how jealous Lydia will be of that!”
Kitty began to nod her head but then stopped in her tracks. “I am to observe?”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and blew out a breath. She knew this confrontation was coming, and as the eldest Bennet sister in residence, it shouldn’t fall to her aunt to allay Kitty’s immaturity. “Lady Matlock advised that we include you as we would Georgiana in society, a limited observance in anticipation of you enjoying a full coming out next Season.”
Mary stepped forward to offer her support of the plan, but the addition of Scripture didn’t seem to help Kitty’s disposition.
“So I’m to be the only sister not out? It’s not fair!” Kitty’s face clouded with anger and tears began to form. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner shared a glance, and Mr. Gardiner wisely chose a stealthy retreat to his study. The women in the room surrounded the visibly upset Kitty and attempted to simultaneously ply her with positives in support of waiting to come out next Season. Still, the young girl wailed and sobbed at the injustice of it all.
It appeared a bleak situation until Elizabeth looked up in frustration to see the butler tending to the doorbell, a sound she could barely hear over the cries of Kitty and compliments from her aunt and sister.
“Kitty! Look, that’s Mr. Darcy here to take us all to Hyde Park. Go through the dining room to the kitchen and take the back stairs up to your room. Refresh your gown and hurry back so that we may all enjoy the afternoon. Otherwise, you may find contentment by staying home.”
Kitty immediately stopped crying. “Stay home? I do not wish to stay home. That’s the point entirely!”
“Then go, quickly, before he sees you and asks why you’re upset.”
As Mr. Darcy and Miss Darcy were invited inside, the room seemed to have an odd sense of mock casualness that made Darcy pause and take stock of the inhabitants. There was Elizabeth, glowing as always, though it appeared as if she had just been angry. Miss Mary wore a blank expression of indifference, and Mrs. Gardiner was radiantly enthusiastic in her welcome. He bowed as his sister curtsied and crossed the threshold.
“Is Miss Catherine not to join us?”
“Oh, she had a small accident with her dress and will be right down,” Elizabeth said in a hollow and slightly higher-pitched voice than her normal tremor. “Georgiana, how lovely to see you! I hope you received the sheet music I sent?”
“Indeed, it arrived yesterday. Thank you for such a thoughtful gift!”
Elizabeth beamed at her soon-to-be younger sister. “When William and I were shopping for new books, I saw it in the music shop next door and knew you’d love the latest waltzes. I hear the dance is the highlight of every ball on the Continent.”
Darcy cleared his throat and turned slightly red that Elizabeth had used his Christian name so casually. But perhaps it was safe enough here with the Gardiners, but he shuddered to think of what his cousins would say to him if she should slip at Matlock.
Kitty rejoining the sitting room interrupted his worries, and he soon found the women all looking at him expectantly to follow them out to the carriage.
“Mrs. Gardiner, it is always a pleasure. I am saddened you could not join us this afternoon.”
“I thank you, Mr. Darcy, but I believe a rest is most welcome to me this afternoon.” She laughed as she allowed him to escort her to the hall where the younger ladies all congregated. “I trust you with my girls; please keep them safe.”
“Always, madam. You have my word.” Darcy bowed and helped the ladies into the carriage. As much as he wished to have joined them inside, he mounted Poseidon and rode alongside the carriage the number of blocks back towards the fashionable side of town.
* * *
WHAT A DEAL!
A kiss at the Netherfield Ball . . .
Three Dates with Mr. Darcy is a bundle of: An exclusive story, Much to Conceal, a novella that imagines what if Elizabeth confessed to Jane in London that Mr. Darcy proposed in Kent?
A Winter Wrong, the first novella in the Seasons of Serendipity series that imagines what if Mr. Bennet died at the very beginning of Pride and Prejudice?
By Consequence of Marriage, the first novel in the Moralities of Marriage series that wonders what if Mr. Darcy never saved his sister Georgiana from Wickham’s clutches?
Elizabeth Ann West’s Pride and Prejudice variations have enthralled more than 100,000 readers in over 90 countries! A proud member of the Jane Austen Fan Fiction community since the mid-2000s, she hopes you will join her in being happily Darcy addicted!
Chapter 7(cont'd) - A Spring Sentiment, a Pride and Prejudice Variation
The picnic had barely been set when a bombastic voice called out to their group.
“Darcy! You started without me, old man?” The colonel walked with such pomp in full uniform up the path towards their little knell by the pond. While all of the ladies in attendance turned to see Colonel Fitzwilliam’s approach, Elizabeth watched William’s face as he pursed his lips for half a moment.
“Did you not wish for your cousin to come?” she whispered.
“No, I simply hoped his errands at the War Office would have lasted a little longer,” he replied.
Elizabeth sat perplexed by Mr. Darcy’s meaning until the introductions and greetings took her attention away. The colonel happily sat between Kitty and Mary and quickly had all three of the younger girls giggling at some joke. “Colonel, I heard you just came from the War Office. I dare to hope you are not being called back to the front lines?”
The younger girls all shared a look of ghastly horror, but Richard nodded his head. “Sadly, it appears my Major General has high hopes for a title or two, and recently volunteered his units for another tour of duty. I won’t abandon my men, so if they go, then I am afraid I must as well.” Kitty let out a whimpered sigh at the colonel’s bravery and batted her eyelashes at the man. The colonel looked at her for a brief moment, and disconcerted, he found his glass of wine poured by one of Darcy’s servants and handed to him just before his pretty speech.
“Be truthful, Richard. You relish the excitement of going back. I posit you would agree to just about any scheme to get away from the balls and demands of your mother.”
“Ho, ho, Darcy! Be not ruinous to the one trait I can claim above your wealth. My valor is above impunity.”
“Surely, you are correct in that regard, but I also know your Major General gave you an opportunity to teach a future cavalry unit here. And you are vacillating between the two duties.”
“I think there’s great honor in a man who stays behind to train the men going to war. If they are not aptly prepared, their instructor is little more than a murderer, so the man who stays behind to train is of the highest honor, indeed.” The entire group turned their heads to look at Mary after her sudden outburst, but Mary Bennet did not flinch, and instead, she stared directly at the colonel. The silence hung in the air for a few moments until the party began to busy themselves with eating. Kitty finally found a way to break the silence.
“Miss Darcy, would you like to take a stroll with me over the bridge? Would that be alright if we had a footman accompany us?”
“There’s no need,” Richard said as he stood and dusted the crumbs off his brilliant red coat, “I’ll be happy to escort you, ladies, myself. Miss Mary?”
But Mary Bennet shook her head. “I should like to remain here, with my sister and Mr. Darcy.”
“We hardly need a chaperone, Mary. Half of London is here today,” Elizabeth tried to entice Mary to leave, but her sister wasn’t budging. Giving up, Elizabeth turned to William. “Which two days was it again that your aunt suggested for the ceremony?”
Darcy loosened his cravat and leaned back on his hands. Snatching up a pretty red apple, he took a loud bite of it, garnering a soft giggle from Elizabeth. “She recommended either May 14th or May 21st so that we might travel to Scotland before Sunday.”
“And it takes three days to travel to your estate there?” Darcy nodded. “Well, I think you should tell her that if we can’t manage it any earlier, then May 14th sounds like a perfectly lovely day to become Mrs. Darcy.” She looked at Mr. Darcy and wiggled her nose like a bunny, their public gesture of affection ever since the dinner at her aunt and uncle’s home. Darcy smiled widely at her until suddenly his face soured. Walking back to their little picnic was the trio that had left to explore the path around the pond, but they had two extra in tow, Mr. Bingley and his sister Caroline.
“I fear we are about to be invaded,” he whispered, and Elizabeth’s head whipped around to look behind her, then she quickly returned to look at her William.
Sighing, she supposed it was Miss Bingley’s right to enjoy a public park on such a warm day, but she wondered what excuse Mr. Bingley would give for abandoning Jane in Hertfordshire? Plastering a smile in place, Elizabeth adjusted her seat to greet the advancing party.
“Miss Eliza! How splendid to find you in London and to think we nearly just missed you according to Miss Kitty. An Easter at Matlock, what a heavenly invitation for a family of such limited means.” Miss Bingley allowed the colonel to escort her to the blanket and she gracefully lowered herself to sit at Mary’s feet. Elizabeth watched as Mary’s legs involuntarily twitched ever so slightly before her sister calmly tucked them up underneath her right side.
“Mr. Bingley, Miss Bingley. I hope the roads from Hertfordshire were kind? How are my mother and sisters?”
“Fine, fine, Miss Elizabeth, though Miss Lydia has been awfully ill of late. Poor Jane, I mean Miss Bennet, has been attending her and it was on her advice that we have taken the opportunity to visit London since she has not been able to entertain callers,” Mr. Bingley said.
“Oh, dear, how ill is Lydia? We’ve heard no reports of this!” Mary said.
“She’s probably fine, just pining away for Wickham. She’s just pretending to be sick so she can keep getting sympathy.”
“Kitty! We do not discuss that subject in public.” Elizabeth hissed, as Caroline Bingley preened and smiled at the gossip. Elizabeth’s stomach soured at the sight and turned to her fiancé. “Mr. Darcy, I’m afraid I am finding myself rather satisfied with Hyde Park. Perhaps another time we might visit with a gig?”
Darcy nodded and motioned for the servants to begin packing up.
“It was lovely to see you again, Mr. Bingley and Miss Bingley. I’d invite you to call, but I’m afraid we are to leave town just as you have arrived. A pity. I’m sure my aunt could use my help in preparing our dinner plans.” Elizabeth plastered a smile in place as she farewelled the Bingleys, even as her blood began to boil that Charles would dare to abandon Jane because Lydia was ill.
“You’re hosting a dinner? Are you having a large to-do?” Miss Bingley asked with a tone just asking for the guest list.
“No, just intimate friends and family, I’m afraid, though my brother, the Viscount, is attending.” The colonel had endured enough of Caroline Bingley’s barbs the entire walk back to the main group and felt little regret in putting her in her place, even if it meant he also slighted Bingley. Both Kitty and Mary looked at the colonel with adoration, but it was Miss Mary he offered an arm to along with Miss Georgiana to help them back up the hill towards the Darcy carriage.
As Darcy and Elizabeth finished the farewells, Darcy made a point to offer his arm to Miss Kitty as well. Walking up the same hill as his cousin before him, Darcy wondered once more how he was going to warn the sisters to guard their tongues. Every scenario in his mind played with Elizabeth becoming so cross at him; he was at a loss for what he was to do. Ultimately, he decided once they returned to Gracechurch Street, he would have no choice but to ask Mr. Gardiner for his aid.
You’ve been reading A Spring Sentiment
A Spring Sentiment, Book 2 of the Seasons of Serendipity
a Pride and Prejudice novella variation series
Release Date: September 24, 2014
33,000 words, ~162 pages in print.
After losing her father in autumn and falling in love with Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet quickly feels the frustrations of settling her newly widowed mother and making her debut in London society. Tackling adventures in three counties, the Bennet sisters find new paths opening up before them. A mistake by one sister places the whole family at risk and it takes the full Bennet family strength and friends they can rely on to help Darcy and Elizabeth march down that wedding aisle!
A Spring Sentiment is the second book in a series planned to chronicle 4 years of the Darcy-Bennet-Fitzwilliam families. Death, marriage, changing fortunes, and politics test Jane Austen’s wonderful characters in an alternate universe where the girls have not the protection of their father.
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A Jane-of-all-trades, mistress to none! Elizabeth Ann West is the author of 8 novels and 11 novellas, 18 of which are story variations of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice.
A great read enjoy so much the conversations between the individuals. Glad that the Colonel was able to rebuff Caroline Bingley Hope Kitty can control her tongue and they will admonish her
A surprise set down none other than than a Colonel!
Ooops, I fear Lydia’s illness is not due to the flue but something more ruinous.