Thank you everyone who has posted comments, I will respond I promise. Been head down writing. Also the issues you are catching I am correcting, so thank you for that as well!
XOXOXO Elizabeth Ann West
Chapter 4 - If Mr. Darcy Dared
Inside, Longbourn had become a flurry of activity. Elizabeth scarcely slipped in through the back door to remove her boots when Lydia, her youngest sister, thundered down the back stairs with Kitty close on her heels.
“Give them back, give them back! I chose the pink roses!” Kitty yelled.
Lydia laughed and nearly escaped until Elizabeth held out her arms to brace for an impact as she turned her face away from the general direction of Lydia. The collision stopped Lydia, but produced irreparable harm to the delicate pink shoe roses Lydia had held in her hand.
“You ruined them!” Lydia whined as Elizabeth looked down at the crushed petals in her sister’s hands. Lydia made a sound of disgust and thrust the flowers out to give them back to Kitty who held up her hands in refusal.
“I don’t want them now!”
Elizabeth scolded her youngest sister. “Then you should not have stolen them from Kitty in the first place.” Elizabeth nodded to Kitty who understood her older sister and dashed up the stairs to grab Lydia’s white shoe roses before the most spoiled Bennet daughter could claim those as well. Lydia stamped her foot but Elizabeth gently reached out to grab her arm. “Do not let your temper get the best of you. You claimed the pink shoe roses and have them in your hand. Pluck a few of the crushed petals and the bloom will be just as before,” Elizabeth coaxed as Lydia pouted.
When the not-yet-sixteen-year-old calmed and considered her elder sister’s good sense, Elizabeth issued a last warning. “And leave Kitty alone.”
Lydia flinched and inspected the crushed blooms in her hand. If she removed some of the outside layers, the flowers would be as good as new but she did not wish to admit such a defeat to Lizzie. Instead, Lydia stuck out her tongue and turned around to leave her sister alone in the kitchen.
Elizabeth blew out a breath and travelled through the kitchen to the front of the house. She held no desire to run into her quarreling sisters by following them above stairs as they likely blocked the way to her shared bedroom with Jane. Avoiding them, she had not thought to pause outside the dining room door to listen for voices on the other side. Since her cousin Mr. Collins came to visit after she and Jane returned from Netherfield Park, she had worked to avoid him as well as a general rule.
To her chagrin, just inside the parlor was her cousin, Mr. Collins, in a low conversation with her mother. The two spotted her and her mother called out.
“There you are, Lizzy! Mr. Collins here was just telling me he had searched the entire house for you and could not find you. I explained how he must have been mistaken, that none of my daughters would be rambling about the countryside with such an important evening ahead.” Mrs. Bennet pronounced with a forced smile as her daughter looked down at the hem of her gown, clearly showing signs of dirt.
Elizabeth kept her counsel. She wished neither to lie to her mother nor draw her irritation confessing the truth. Shrugging her shoulders, she plastered a false smile on her lips and stared blankly at her mother.
“It was my aim to find you, Cousin Elizabeth, for in speaking with your mother I have determined that I should like to open the ball with you for the first.” Mr. Collins announced as her mother squealed with delight. Elizabeth’s smile melted with dread.
“How kind of you, Mr. Collins. See Lizzy? Jane will dance the first set with Mr. Bingley and you will dance the first with Mr. Collins!” Mrs. Bennet preened with pride as she practically took credit for the marriage prospects of her two eldest daughters.
Ignoring the sour feeling in her stomach, Elizabeth’s voice came out nearly louder than a whisper. “I’m afraid I must decline,” she said.
“Now, now, cousin. I know you relish a good tease.” Mr. Collins still grinned like a fat pig presented with slop as he looked back to Mrs. Bennet for her approval. “The ball is not even begun; surely you cannot be spoken for.”
Elizabeth slanted her eyes in her struggle for words. She could not believe her cousin would be so equally rude as he was dense. Did all gentlemen insult ladies so cavalierly?
“I assure you, I do not jest. The first set is not mine to give.”
Mr. Collins began to breathe very heavily as he returned his focus to Mrs. Bennet. “Do you allow your daughters to make a mockery of their suitors? You warned me your eldest daughter was spoken for; why did you not confess the same for your other?” Mr. Collins began to grow very angry as Mrs. Bennet became flustered.
“I never said Jane was spoken for, just merely that she was very nearly spoken for by Mr. Bingley. As for Lizzy, she has no suitors. What trick are you playing, young lady? Either you will dance the first set with Mr. Collins or you will not go at all this evening. Do I make myself clear?” Mrs. Bennet admonished Elizabeth who shook her head.
“But Mama, I just agreed to dance the first set with Mr. Darcy. If I were to dance the first with Mr. Collins, I would insult Mr. Bingley’s good friend.” Elizabeth found herself surprised she so vehemently did not wish to miss this evening and defended her opportunity to dance with Mr. Darcy. Just moments ago she still questioned the man’s character! However, in a question of a Mr. Collins or a Mr. Darcy, even Elizabeth was no fool as to ponder such a comparison for long.
“But, but, … Mr. Darcy? That’s nearly £10 000 a year!” Mrs. Bennet struggled to contain herself at such a boon for her daughter and nearly forgot Mr. Collins altogether.
“Did you say you are to dance the first set with Mr. Darcy? A Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley?” Mr. Collins asked icily in a tone that Elizabeth mistook as mere jealousy that another gentleman had asked for her dancing company first.
“I believe he is the same.”
Mr. Collins suddenly seemed delighted and clapped his hands together in an abundance of jubilation “Oh, then I need not worry. Yes Cousin, you must certainly dance the first set with Mr. Darcy, for he is the nephew of my esteemed patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. I have it on good authority that he is to marry her daughter next spring.” Mr. Collins boasted.
Mrs. Bennet began peppering Collins with questions about such a match, as Elizabeth began to feel light headed. Her entire body felt disconnected from the world around her as she gently excused herself to ready for the ball. Both her mother and her cousin shooed her to do exactly that and Elizabeth mindlessly climbed the stairs to her room.
Chapter 4 - If Mr. Darcy Dared (cont'd)
When Elizabeth reached the door jamb, the big, fat tears at the corner of her eye that welled with each step finally spilled in a cascade of anguish. Jane was nearly finished with her preparation and had turned to look at her younger sister with such joy only to dash across the room to catch a crumbling Lizzy, absolutely stricken in sight of her sister’s tears.
“What is the matter? Are you injured?” Jane asked, knowing her sister was not prone to tears without great cause.
Elizabeth shook her head furiously. She sobbed unabashedly, safe in her sister’s arms. She balled her fists to wipe away her tears, willing herself to stop.
“I have been played most cruelly.”
“By whom? Who was so cruel?” Jane asked so innocently.
“By the same man who always finds sport with my feelings. Mr. Darcy!” Elizabeth growled and pulled away from her sister Jane.
Unsure of how to help her sister in this new painful situation, Jane froze utterly dumbstruck wondering how Mr. Darcy could have harmed her sister again? To her knowledge, Elizabeth had only taken a walk and then came home. How Mr. Darcy had managed to enter into the day’s plan, Jane could not figure. But she listened as Elizabeth shouted nonsensical declarations of how one moment the man was apologizing, sharing that he held a regard for her and the next she learns he is engaged to another. And when Elizabeth finally exhausted all of her frustration and lay on their bed in exhaustion, Jane understood all that she needed to know.
Somehow, her sister had come to love Mr. Darcy though Lizzy would never admit such a vulnerability to herself or others. It sounded to Jane as though Mr. Darcy might return those feelings, yet he was promised to his cousin. And now, Mr. Darcy’s rudeness earlier made sense; any man promised to another lady would take extraordinary measures to conceal his feelings for another, even if it was sudden and upon first sight!
Disregarding a fear of wrinkles in her gown, Jane gently lay beside her sister and held her bedmate in a comfort only they provided each other. Jane admired Lizzy so much for her strength, and stubbornness, and iron will in protecting others. But when insults or circumstances managed to penetrate her sister’s strong armor, Jane knew her sister to be the most sensitive of them all.
“I’m so sorry you are pained. And you must dance with him?”
“Yes,” Elizabeth choked out as her voice strained from her crying. “He asked for the first set and when I warned him that would bring expectations, he claimed he was unafraid.”
Jane frowned. This did not speak well of Mr. Darcy’s character if he was betrothed. “And it is his cousin he is to marry?”
“Next spring,” Elizabeth let out with a wail as her tears threatened to start anew and she cringed as tightly as she could to keep her wits.
The two girls fell silent, matching their breathing as one. When Jane thought Lizzy had calmed, she released her sister and sat up to see if Elizabeth had fallen asleep. She had not, and her red-rimmed eyes stared at her sister with a desperate hope.
“Perhaps,” Jane began, startled to see Elizabeth held her breath. “Perhaps the match of cousins is not to either of their liking and you will have to find a way to ask him about this tonight. Or I could ask Mr. Bingley.”
“No, do not breathe a word to Mr. Bingley!”
“As you wish. But I will be there to support you and I know this does not bode well for Mr. Darcy, but just please consider this might not be as our Cousin Collins describes.”
“Jane, he was quite clear. Her mother, his patroness, told him they were to marry.” Elizabeth groaned as she rose from the bed and availed herself of the washbowl on the vanity. The cool cloth eased the stinging and swelling in her eyes as she held it there for relief.
“That is dire, but think of our own Mama. Remember when that man wrote me a poem and she was certain we were to marry?”
Elizabeth’s shoulders tensed at the recollection, a frightening one for them both as they feared Jane leaving the house so young. But their father had run off the aging Mr. Woodyard. And the two never told a soul how he had touched Jane in a most private place so that she could not be forced to marry the monster. But the lessons learned had forged a heightened vigilance in both girls for each other. Neither would allow a gentleman to harm the other.
Jane left Elizabeth to her preparations with a promise to distract their mother and cousin so she could find some peace. But the empty room left Elizabeth too close to her thoughts and the day’s emotional highs and lows that baffled her. Did she love Mr. Darcy if his opinions and fate bothered her so? Or was she merely a creature of vanity, so accustomed to being compared as less than to her more beautiful older sister? A compliment even from a man she did not hold in good opinion could ease that burden of inferiority. But then there were the feelings of when he physically touched her in some way, or when she fell into his arms on top of the summit. Elizabeth closed her eyes and again felt the internal heat of their connections burn a blush to her cheeks.
When she opened her eyes once more in the looking glass she spied a woman of her two decades with a secret smile of being smitten. However, in her mind and heart, Elizabeth Bennet had never been so unsettled in her needs and desires and when she pinned a last blossom over her right ear, she finally understood perhaps heroines in novels are not so silly after all. The business of love and courting was absolutely torture of the most acute kind.
If Mr. Darcy Dared
a Pride and Prejudice variation novel
Direct Preorder Release Date: March 23, 2018
Wide preorder: March 30, 2018
As Charles Bingley and Fitzwilliam Darcy prepare for the Netherfield Ball, a gentlemen’s challenge develops between them to secure their future happiness . . . with the two eldest Bennet sisters! But when things do not go as expected for Mr. Darcy, Hertfordshire society is in an uproar over the pursuit of one of their favorite daughters by such a wealthy gentleman.
Despite being claimed by Mr. Darcy as his future bride, Elizabeth Bennet has no plans to wed the proud and disdainful Mr. Darcy, no matter what her father says! At her sister’s urging, she agrees to give him a chance, if only for Jane’s sake. But there are others with an interest in breaking a match between Fitzwilliam Darcy and some country miss. . .
The stakes are high and romance strong as two of Jane Austen’s most beloved characters dare to declare their feelings, dare to defy family, and dare to trust each other!
If Mr. Darcy Dared is a steamy romance for fans of Elizabeth Ann West’s other works, especially those readers who love their drama cranked to a ten!
Available March 30th on these fine vendors (more added as links become available)
+ 23 additional Pride & Prejudice variations are available at these fine retailers . . .
DEAR READERS,
Oh dear. Collins ruins everything.
XOXOXO Elizabeth Ann West
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.
Wow, Collins strikes again!!! Well at least this made Lizzy examine her feelings for Darcy. I am enjoying this story as always your writing is enjoyable and compelling!
All the best to you and yours during this Christmas Season and beyond!
Oh thank you and Merry Christmas! I gifted myself a new office (Well it’s the old office when we first moved here, but version 2.0 is cleaner, leaner, and super encouraging!). I moved out of this space because the main TV and surround sound that I have a love/hate relationship with shared the wall. (hubby’s had it since pre-me…. and I swear the man is half-deaf though I love him dearly!) Now, we turned our master bedroom into an upstairs family room and his office, moved our bedroom to the smaller guest room that was his office/man cave, and I now blissfully have this QUIET downstairs. For a time, when the big TV was downstairs, this room became the classroom and I used the room in the back of the house as my office that used to be a back porch and was an addition in the 50/60s complete with faux wood paneling ceiling to floor, and where the owners of this house put in a bathroom on the back of the kitchen. So working in THAT room, no TV noise, but anyone who had to use the bathroom in they came and went and left which was distracting…. this room is a dead end. LOL. I love the house we rent here in NY, it’s built in 1900 and like my mailbox has that it was installed in 1925 and in the basement is an approval nailed to a beam from 1947 for the oil furnace (which isn’t even here anymore), and you can see where the coal used to be delivered by chute into the basement. We love the character, but being through so much change in domestic living… it’s a bit hodge-podge at times. 🙂 So now the back room is the classroom which is nice, because hey, the bathroom is right there and there’s more room for me and my daughter to do all kinds of things like hop-scotch math or sequencing or art projects, without it exploding into the rest of the house.
So all that to say I have a new-but-used-to-be-the-old-office-office revamped and I’m ready to write all the words. ALL THE WORDS! 🙂
This was a deliciously, heart-wrenching chapter. Adore your more astute Jane and Elizabeth’s ability to reflect on her own feelings.
Will be eagerly awaiting the next chapter.
I often model Elizabeth and Jane on a real bond I have with one of my sisters . . . she is younger than me (I’m the eldest) and she is totally Jane-like while I am um… Elizabeth, apart from the outside stuff…. I prefer a climate-controlled existence. It must be the name. She is not a Jane… but her given name could be seen as one that would lend her to being the peace-brokering person she is.
Mr. Collins shows up and hope that Lizzie can be rid of him as he is determined to be the fly in the ointment. Do love Jane’s support of Lizzie and hope she can persuade her to recognise her new found feelings of love for Mr. Darcy
Mr. Collins has arrived and has spoiled the evening. How is Lizzy going to act?