10/25/2017 In the summer of 2014, I learned a long-time friend and mentor had passed away months ago and I was one of the last to know because my family is military and moves. 2 friends each thought the other had told me. So when I found out, I was not only devastated to lose a woman who helped bring me to church, but I felt like I had somehow been cheated a part of my life once again by the fact that I have been a Navy dependent (child and spouse) my entire life. I was angry! I was bereft… And that channeled into what if the same thing happened to Elizabeth Bennet?
Out of my pain and loss came one of my favorite series to write. I am working on Book 6 as we speak.
XOXOXO Elizabeth Ann West
Epilogue - The Trouble With Horses, a Pride and Prejudice Variation
Elizabeth’s cold toes once more wiggled to find warmth in the covers.
“Good God woman, do you freeze them purposely to torment me so?” Fitzwilliam Darcy cried out, jerking his legs away from the frozen interloper. Listening to his young wife giggle was intoxicating as he decided to brave the cold and pull her body closer to his for a close snuggle. Sucking in his breath, he endured the adjustment as their skin melded and the two of them settled.
“I’m happy Richard is finally selling his commission. When will they be here again, next week or the week after?”
“The week after, my love. And it’s only fitting since he found his heiress.” Darcy leaned in to plant soft kisses along Elizabeth’s neck, trying to outlast his wife’s ever reeling mind until he could distract her into something more pleasant than talking about the day. Instead, she laughed as his breath tickled.
“It doesn’t count that he was already in love with Mary and you made her an heiress by settling five thousand pounds on her!”
“She earned it, for meritorious service in the aid of another.” Allowing his fingers to roam, Darcy continued to find other ways to communicate his message to his wife.
“I asked Mrs. Reynolds to freshen the Green Suite for them. Do you think Mary and Richard will be pleased?”
Groaning, Darcy released his wife and rolled over to his back. He was frustrated at his failures to distract. “I’m sure whichever suite is the furthest from your mother will be amenable to Richard as he is just married and enjoying his honeymoon.”
Elizabeth frowned. It was unfortunate that her entire family, including the Bingleys who now counted her sister Jane amongst their number, was planning to visit Pemberley for the hunting season just as Mary and Richard were to finally take their honeymoon trip to the Lakes, and then ending at the estate for a time of unknown duration.
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Epilogue (cont'd) - The Trouble With Horses, a Pride and Prejudice Variation
The clock on the mantle across from the bed struck midnight and Elizabeth sat up in bed. Her husband looked up at her with one eye open, and then quickly shut it to continue to feign sleep.
“Oh wake up Mr. Darcy. Or should I say, sir?”
Waiting a moment, he suddenly awoke and tackled his wife, ignoring her squeals, and pulled her to his chest. “Sir! Sir!” he said as he tickled and caressed until she begged him to stop.
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!
Epilogue (cont'd) - The Trouble With Horses, a Pride and Prejudice Variation
Lightly, he kissed the top of her head and reflected for a moment on how eventful this day had been just one year earlier when he was thrown from his horse. Sadly, his favorite mount grew sick last winter and had to be put down, but without that animal’s intelligence and his wife’s kindness, he might not be in any condition for the happy life he led now.
Sensing her husband’s dark thoughts, Elizabeth looked up at him with her chin resting on his rib cage.
“William, you never told me that horse’s name. He died before I came to know him properly.”
Darcy closed his eyes once more and squeezed his wife’s form in affection. “Trouble. The horse’s name was Trouble.”
As the clock stuck one in the morning, Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy exhausted from the fruits of loving one another slept soundly. Not with nightmares of snake attacks or Wickham’s schemes, but with happy visions of a future full of love, family, and the good sense to never ride out alone again.
The End
You’ve been reading The Trouble With Horses
When a riderless horse interrupts Elizabeth Bennet’s daily walk, she is inspired to begin the search herself. Finding a gentleman in the ravine of a creek bed, she scares off snakes and raises the alarm to end up with the man situated at Longbourn for his recovery. Enamored with his dark curls and handsome face, her life appears to be following the fairy tale story line of a novel, that is until the proud, disdainful Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley wakes up.
A sweetheart romantic novella, The Trouble With Horses is meant to be a light read for those irreparably addicted to all things Austen. The writing style does not attempt to mimic the incomparable Jane, and the author hopes you enjoy the fun, humorous story as you would an afternoon tea.
Release Date: July 17, 2014
162 pages in print.
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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.