by Wells, Linda
“So if I am so awful, what did I do to deserve you? Please note that I do not mention how proud you must be to think that only you could appreciate me.”
Darcy chuckled. “You are intensely loyal, you challenge me, you are deeply vulnerable, exceptionally kind, and so very beautiful.” He kissed her hand and watched her blush, “and I love how you make me feel. I am the one who is undeserving.”
“Keep speaking like that and I will begin to sound like Mrs. Reynolds in my unending praise of you.” She peeked up at him to see his eyes twinkling. “I do not think you would mind it coming from me.”
“Not at all. I would cherish it.” He closed his eyes when she leaned into him and he slipped his arm around her waist.
Arriving at last inside, Darcy spotted Mr. Nichols working at a table in his study. He turned to Elizabeth and held her hands. “This should not take too long, I was here only a few weeks ago, not too much should have happened.”
“I doubt that I would have any trouble occupying myself, but I prefer to continue my tour with your escort alone.” Darcy looked down at their hands and she saw him biting his lip. “Fitzwilliam, do you know that I do not think any other woman but I could appreciate you? Thank goodness you did not give in to one of those heiresses, can you imagine any of them lying in the grass with you? Next time I promise not to be so shy.” She laughed to see his hopeful smile. “Now go, have your meeting.”
“Where will I find you?”
She looked around the vast hallway and laughed. “How on earth should I know?”
The story continues in Volume 2 of the Memory Series,
Trials to Bear
Notes
1 Thomas Nashe Spring the Sweet Spring, Summer’s Last Will and Testament
2 The Laughing Song, Songs of Innocence, William Blake, 1789.
3 George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron, “Stanzas for Music, Poems, 1816.
4 Sir Philip Sidney, Arcadia, 1590
5 William Shakespeare, King Lear, at V, iii, 1606
6 Diddle Diddle, or The Kind Country Lovers, 1685, I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 265-7.
7 Robert Burns, “My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose,” 1794.
Main Cast of Characters
Volume 1
Darcy
George d. 25 September 1807
Fitzwilliam b. 2 October 1784
Georgiana b. April 1796
Lady Anne d. 1796
Four deceased siblings
Fitzwilliam
Lord (Henry) & Lady (Helen) of Matlock married 1774
Stephen (Viscount Layton) b. 1776 married 1806 to Alicia
Richard b. 1783
Audrey b. 1785 m. Robert Singleton
Bennet
Thomas and Francine
Jane b. 1789
Elizabeth b. 16 August 1791
Mary b. August 1793
Catherine b. August 1794
Lydia b. June 1796
Gardiner
Edward and Marianne
Benjamin b. 1804
Amy b. 1807
Paul b. 1808
Bingley
Louisa b. 1785 married to Gerald Hurst 1805
Caroline b. 1787
Charles b. 1788
De Bourgh
Lady Catherine
Anne b. 1786
Others
George Wickham
Lord and Lady Creary
Victoria Gannon
William Collins
Lucas
Sir William Lucas and Lady Lucas
Charlotte b. 1785
Robert b. 1786
Maria b. 1793
Two other brothers
Friends of the families
Jeffrey Harwick (wife died mid-late April 1807)
Evangeline Harwick Carter b. 1784 widowed 1806
Lord and Lady Moreland (Stewart)
Daniel Stewart b. 1784
Laura Stewart b. 1788
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Henley
Julia Henley
Servants
Mrs. Somers (Nanny Kate)
Mr. Foster (butler, Darcy House)
Mrs. Mercer (housekeeper, Darcy House)
Mrs. Reynolds (Housekeeper Pemberley)
Mr. Nichols (Steward, Pemberley)
Adams (Darcy’s Valet)
Millie (Elizabeth’s maid)
About the Author
Linda Wells worked for years in the environmental engineering world until she traded her career as a geographer for one as a mom to a challenging and really great son. After seeing the 2005 production of Pride and Prejudice, she bought a copy of Jane Austen’s masterpiece and fell under the spell of her unforgettable characters and story. Eventually, a story of her own started nagging at her until she finally wrote it down. It has become a wonderful and rewarding experience to stretch her imagination, and with ideas for new stories still nagging at her, she hopes to write many more.
If you would like to contact Linda, she would be happy to hear from you: [email protected] or you may find her on Facebook, as well.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
