I want a Graham Hamilton and a bonfire in Scotland. You?
You can preorder A Spring Society, Book 6 of this series, directly from me on Gumroad: https://gum.co/sosbook6
XOXOXO
Elizabeth Ann West
Chapter 9 - A Summer Shame, a Pride and Prejudice Variation
For a spell, the three sisters enjoyed their reunion and the eldest, Jane Bennet, wondered if perhaps Mr. Darcy had not exaggerated the trials and tribulations of handling a pregnant Lydia in his letter beckoning her to leave England. As she sat in the morning parlor of the grand stately home, Jane remained quiet, still exhausted from her ordeal at Matlock and the long journey up north.
“Tell me all about the gowns you wore! Were they lined with golden thread? Oh, how I wish I had been in London this summer! I am sure the evenings were simply divine . . .” Lydia gazed above Jane’s head with a far-off look on her face.
Elizabeth attempted to shake her head as little as possible in warning to Jane, but her sister missed the cue. Instead, Jane brightened at her first opportunity to cheer Lydia and rolled into a delightful retelling of her adventures.
“The first ball after breaking my understanding with Mr. Bingley was the most difficult, but I was saved in society’s eyes by a most dashing man, why . . .” Jane’s eyes widened as she recalled the connection to the county they were in, ” he was the Marquess Haddington! He told me his family was an ancient Scottish line.”
Pinching the handle of her cup until her finger’s first knuckles were white as sheets, Elizabeth nodded. “Jane, how are the Fitzwilliams?”
Jane ignored Elizabeth’s question and gave her attention to Lydia, still absorbed with interconnections of her experiences. Here she had been taught to think of London Society as this vast sea, deep with debutantes and suitors, but the shallow degrees by which everyone who was anyone linked together thoroughly distracted her. “The Marquess Haddington has such pleasing features, why, the man I met yesterday who was so kind as to hand me down from the carriage appeared to be a mirror image. Is he related? I did not learn his name.”
“You, you met a man? And he was handsome?” Lydia’s lower lip quivered.
“Calm yourself, Lyddie, it was Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Darcy’s friend and our neighbor. I’m sure you will meet him yourself in a few short weeks.”
“The resemblance was most remarkable.”
Elizabeth laughed. “I believe Mr. Graham Hamilton is a twin. I have not met the Marquess, but Mr. Hamilton holds a rather large farm he inherited from his mother’s side of the family, being the second born. Their mother was the Duke’s first wife.” Elizabeth prayed Jane would remember her earlier question, but instead, she fell right into another subject sure to aggravate the fragile nerves of Lydia Bennet.
“How terrible they lost their mother! Was it their birth? I have heard bearing twins is tricky.” Jane gasped as the weight of her words registered, and she jerked her focus to Lydia. Large, fat crocodile tears poured down the young girl’s cheeks.
“What if I am having twins? Look at me, I am so ridiculously large!” Sobbing and wretched, Lydia grasped her dress with two fists and pulled at the fabric.
“Lydia, no! You’ll tear your lovely dress! Tell me about this fabric, what a wonderful pattern of calico, I do so love these sweet flowers along the trim.” Jane smiled at her youngest sister and reached over to still Lydia’s hands.
“Don’t touch me!” Lydia snatched her hands away from Jane, her eyes wide with fear. “I know you two laugh at me when I am not in the room. Laugh as I waddle like a duck and I am so ugly, not even my dear Wickham will desire me anymore!”
Helpless, Jane looked to Elizabeth as Lydia continued her tirade but Mrs. Darcy, calm as could be, rang the little bell on her tray. In seconds, a maid appeared and curtsied.
“Please tell Seamus and Brandon that Miss Lydia will be retiring upstairs for a rest. Thank you.”
“No! No! I don’t want to rest! I won’t be banished to my bedroom! It’s too early!” Lydia began to whine and cry harder.
“Should I fetch Dr. Simpson?”
Lydia bit her lip and shook her head. The last time Dr. Simpson visited for one of her fits, she had been sedated for days. Since none of her letters she had sent to her mother or aunt had ever seen a reply, Lydia needed to be awake and alert for her plans to escape. Besides, with any luck, she might convince one or both of the footmen to visit her later.
“I am sorry. Please tell Mr. Darcy I’m good. I will go to my room and rest. There’s no need to send for the doctor.”
Chapter 9(cont'd) - A Summer Shame, a Pride and Prejudice Variation
As the footmen arrived, Lydia stretched out her arms for their assistance to rise from her chair, and walked to the stairs, accepting one’s arm to help her keep balance as she climbed while the other footman walked behind her to catch her should she fall again. Jane viewed the odd procession with her jaw dropped before turning her stare at her sister, Elizabeth.
“Has she always been this poorly behaved?” Jane whispered.
Elizabeth blew out a breath and cooled her warming cheeks with the palms and backs of her hands. “Worse. Today she was relatively calm. I expected her tantrum to rile up into an all-out battle!”
Jane shook her head. “I feel so pained for her! She still has no grasp of her situation, does she?” Jane’s heart beat wildly as she reflected how her original plan to care for Lydia on her own would have failed miserably. Mr. Darcy’s letter had described Lydia as a combination of her mother’s terrible nerves and spoiled upbringing finally resonated. And the picture those words now painted was ghastly in the most extreme!
“Pity will serve you ill. For months I pitied and sympathized. My reward was the abuse of her temper! Life became so unbearable, why, I learned how to ride a horse!”
Jane giggled, feeling slightly relieved she could tease and jest again. “Come, Lizzie, now I know you are exaggerating.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “No, I am most fond of my Zanzibar and . . .” Elizabeth paused to glance around her, then laughed at herself remembering she was mistress of this house and there was no danger should others hear, “Mr. Darcy taught me to ride astride!”
Jane’s face paled as she sat legitimately shocked that her sister, the sister who avoided horses like the plague, had not only learned to ride but also in the most unladylike manner possible. “How odd, I would have guessed it would offend Mr. Darcy to see a woman ride in a less than appropriate manner.”
“I think you will find my husband to be a man of surprising taste and manners. He has certainly surprised me, in the best ways possible, since our marriage.”
At this news, Jane smiled meekly at her sister, torn between the honest feelings of happiness stirring in her heart and the fear it might be she who never found a match. Elizabeth noticed Jane’s discomfort and suggested they ask Mr. Hopkins to drive them into town. Jane cheered at the prospect and as the two walked together to their suites for suitable attire for the damp weather outdoors, they passed Lydia’s closed door.
“Let’s find a present for Lydia! It was my fault she felt so awful. I don’t know what I was thinking to go on and on about London and the balls.” Jane stopped in the hallway and hung her head. Elizabeth squeezed her sister’s hand.
“You will need time, but please know there was little to prevent this morning’s outburst. They say a woman with child can become impossibly moody and easy to anger, and with Lydia, the doctor does not know if it’s her age, the situation, or merely her displacement, but she is one of the worst cases he has seen.”
Sadly, Jane shook her head and hugged Elizabeth with ferocity. “I am here. I should have been here the whole time. Pray, forgive me.”
As the two pulled apart, both sisters teared up and Elizabeth assured Jane there was naught that could be done to change the past.
“And I know, I know, we should only reflect on the past as it gives us pleasure,” Jane said before her younger sister could finish the motto their father had handed down to all of them, anytime their childish hopes or expectations were disappointed.
“Papa is watching over us, Jane. I can feel it. Now, go don your cloak, the breeze from the sea turns quite chilly, but I would not have us take any but the barouche. It is well-sprung and the countryside is so gorgeous, it’s like riding through a painting.” Despite the tears, the two sisters giggled and squealed, both overjoyed to be reunited.
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 9(cont'd) - A Summer Shame, a Pride and Prejudice Variation
* * *
The evening after their trip to Haddington, it was Mr. Darcy who surprised the ladies of the house with a secret. The three sisters congregated in the entryway as instructed, and Elizabeth laughed as Jane rocked back and forth on her heels.
“Do you think Mr. Darcy truly means to take us to town? Or perhaps out to dine? I am so grateful to be included in the invitation!” Lydia tittered on and on, continually waddling to the alcove to check out front for a carriage or the barouche. Elizabeth tensed her shoulders and consciously inhaled metered breaths. Her husband would never embarrass their family at so late a stage as this. Over and over she repeated in her mind that he had her trust.
“Lizzie, are you keeping knowledge from us?” Lydia asked, looking to Jane for reinforcement of her inquisition.
“None, I’m afraid. Surprises are Mr. Darcy’s favorite game.” Elizabeth laughed as the girls heard voices and a familiar jingle from outside. Mrs. Buchanan appeared from the back hallway towards the kitchen carrying a bundle of blankets. As the front door swung open, the barouche stood decorated with garlands of flowers and glass jars with flickering fireflies.
Gallantly, he offered his arm to Lydia who stood utterly still until she began bouncing up and down in jubilation. “How lovely! Are we to go for a ride?”
“More than a ride, I happily invite the three fair Bennet sisters on a moonlight picnic, if they are so inclined to humor a humble Puck.” He winked at his wife who stood behind Lydia wearing an expression of gratitude.
Jane linked arms with Elizabeth and they followed Robin Goodfellow and their younger sister out the door. Mrs. Buchanan saw them off after handing the blankets to Mrs. Darcy, shooing the family on their way.
The crisp, late summer evening had cleared from the earlier fog and cloudiness. Allowing her sister to sit next to Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth and Jane sat facing their sister and Elizabeth warmly smiled at her husband. Watching her two sisters take so much joy in the excursion, Elizabeth relished her role as Mrs. Darcy and the merriment she and her husband might spread if they should coordinate efforts on his famous surprises.
Elizabeth quickly recognized the driver carried them to nearly the same picnic spot she had enjoyed with William a few weeks earlier near the pond. Charming during the day, the dusk’s inky blues and radiant white shimmers on the water’s surface transformed the spot into an utterly magical destination. A bonfire roared, carefully surrounded by heavy stones, and once again, the new Mrs. Darcy sensed the incredible honor of being so splendidly served by the staff of Starvet House.
Jane helped Lydia to the blankets already spread for their repast, and Elizabeth happily tiptoed through the dewy grass on her husband’s strong arm.
“Have I told you today what a wonderful husband you are? If not, please add today to the list of sixty plus such occasions.”
“Only sixty? You are aware we’ve been wedded lo these ninety-eight days.”
Impressed he had the exact count, Elizabeth hid her feelings behind a tease. “Yes, sir, but should I bestow such an honor upon you every day, you might cease your attentions entirely, feeling convincingly victorious in your profession.”
Darcy laughed, squeezing his wife’s form to his side, but not taking any further liberty in the presence of her sisters. The jars of glowing fireflies were untied from the barouche and placed pleasantly among the plates and platters of cold meats and goat cheese. Conversation flowed lightly as Jane and Elizabeth told Lydia a summary of Shakespeare’s great work, A Midsummer Night’s Dream when she asked why Mr. Darcy called himself Puck earlier. A splash startled the party as a fish jumped from the surface to catch a midge flitting above the pond.
“Ooh, did you see that? The fish feed themselves?” Lydia shifted her sitting position to one on her knees, facing the pond with her eyes squinted. She did not wish to miss another performance.
“Yes, Miss Lydia, this pond is one of Nature’s creation, not my own. Should the fish not labor to feed themselves, I fear they would go hungry.” The seriousness of Mr. Darcy’s voice contrasted so starkly with the nonsense of such a question, but Elizabeth managed to keep her composure.
Lydia sighed and rubbed her stomach absently. The mannerism appeared to be a good sign to Jane, and she nudged Elizabeth.
“Does the babe move?”
“Ugh, all day and night. He is most vexing with his kicks. My poor back cannot take it!” Lydia leaned back and arched over her hands now supporting her lower back to emphasize her complaint. “I do not know how I will endure the journey back to London!”
Jane and Elizabeth shared a glance, then turned back to Lydia. “Journey back to London? Well, I am sure after the babe is delivered, and you recover, you will be relieved of the pain of your current condition.”
“La! You’re here to take me back to London, are you not Jane? Yes, why else would you be here? My Wickham has been found, and Lizzie and Mr. Darcy can finish their wedding trip in Scotland. And George and I can be married!” Lydia gazed up at the stars with her face beaming.
“Mr. Wickham is gone. Your baby will be born here, in this house,” Elizabeth replied flatly.
“Then why is Jane here? Why? She would not have come unless they found my dear, sweet Wickham. I must return to London. I must! He will be looking for me and I packed my trunk today.” Lydia huffed and puffed, rolling to her hands and knees to push herself up off the ground. Her size made her cumbrous and Mr. Darcy immediately offered to help.
“Lydia, Mr. Wickham is dead. He is gone.”
“Dead? Dead?” Lydia began to tremble and Darcy immediately clasped the young woman in his arms.
“Jane! Was that truly necessary?” Elizabeth said in disgust, rising from the picnic to help her husband guide the now sobbing Lydia back to the barouche. The evening was ruined.
“I am so sorry! I was only trying to help!” Jane called, chasing the couple and their charge, leaving the picnic for the servants to pack. Courtesy of Lydia’s increased appetite, nary a crumb was left of the summer’s buffet.
Elizabeth scowled as their progress was slowed by Lydia slipping on the slick grass, but never falling as both she and Fitzwilliam kept her upright. Jane was silent as she was assisted into the barouche last, and sat next to Mr. Darcy while Elizabeth held Lydia on the other bench.
“I am so sorry. I never meant . . .” she whispered.
“It’s alright, Miss Bennet. Miss Lydia would learn of his fate sooner or later. I intended to convey the news after she was safely delivered.”
“Oh.” Jane’s chagrin made any further discussion out of the question and the ride back to the manor house was somber and sullen.
You’ve been reading A Summer Shame
A Summer Shame Book 3 of the Seasons of Serendipity
a Pride and Prejudice novella variation series
Release Date: November 23, 2014
33,000 words, ~162 pages in print.
The third novella in the Seasons of Serendipity sees the Bennet sisters divided by countries, not counties. Still struggling to find family stability after the death of Mr. Bennet, Elizabeth joined with her new husband, Fitzwilliam Darcy, converts her honeymoon in Scotland into a mission of hiding Lydia’s scandal. Jane Bennet, under the wing of Lady Matlock, learns that taking on the mantle of family champion comes with tight corset strings attached. Saving face in soirees with the Ton, Jane must fend off the talons of society’s climber and discovers she has a much deeper decision to make about her own future.
A Summer Shame is the third 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.
“I could not put this novel down! This book has a refreshing storyline that is interesting, amusing, surprising, and vivid.” – Amazon.com 5-star review on A Summer Shame
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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.