A Quest for Mr Darcy by Cassandra Grafton

Author:Cassandra Grafton [Grafton, Cassandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B072QBHF8X
Goodreads: 35383542
Publisher: White Soup Press
Published: 2017-06-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Forty-Seven

Despite Darcy’s concern over what Wickham was up to, the colonel soon persuaded him to return to the drawing room, reminding him there was little they could do at present.

Glancing around, Darcy instinctively sought Elizabeth. She remained seated in between Olivia and Viola, a book still open before them on the table, and though she looked up briefly, she quickly returned her attention to the pages. Bingley was in conversation with Latimer and his wife across the room; their daughter stood with them, though not noticeably contributing to the conversation. Jane sat with Georgiana and Mrs Annesley, who had been well enough to join them after her day of resting, in a small grouping near the hearth, and the colonel walked over to join them.

‘Mr Darcy!’ Viola looked up and beckoned him over. ‘Come, do take a seat. Olivia has written some very pretty pieces in my book.’

Darcy found himself ushered into Viola’s vacated chair beside Elizabeth, with the young lady hurrying round to stand behind her sister as they all turned their attention to the pages before them.

Darcy’s eyes skimmed the words, though he took very little in, conscious as he was of the closeness of Elizabeth by his side. Not wishing to hurt Olivia’s feelings, however, he tried to assimilate what he was reading, then looked up.

‘It is a very creative story, Miss Olivia. I have barely begun, but I shall be most disappointed if I find there are no spirits of the forest in it.’

Olivia beamed widely at him. ‘I shall not spoil the surprise!’

He glanced back at the book with a smile. ‘This looks remarkably like your work, Miss Viola.’

‘It is,’ Elizabeth commented. ‘Look, sir. I suspect you will recognise it if you look more closely.’

Though Olivia’s neat script filled the pages, the borders contained small drawings by the hand of her sister. Darcy studied the figure, then bit back on a laugh. It was clearly identifiable as Mr Hurst, one hand gripping a toppling glass from which the liquid was spilling, the other resting on his ample girth, the shirtfront stained, but his features had been exaggerated, and now resembled nothing more than a toad.

‘A remarkable likeness, though I am not certain your brother would appreciate the depiction!’

Olivia shrugged. ‘Our brother Hurst has no interest in our pursuits.’

Turning the page, he found one filled entirely with similar sketches, and Elizabeth indicated each one in turn as Darcy sought to name them, much to the twins’ delight.

‘Mrs Reynolds... Thornton... is that Pickering, the gardener, and his wife?’ Darcy looked up at Viola and laughed. All had been represented quite accurately, but clearly inspired by and representing a variety of woodland creatures such as birds, squirrels and dormice.

Elizabeth turned the page again. Aside from an elfin creature with locks flowing from under her hooded cape and fairy-like wings, there was a very clever rendition of Rivers as a badger, and...

‘Is that...?’ Elizabeth leaned closer as she studied another drawing, and Darcy inhaled her light scent, wishing he could stay where he was for the remainder of the evening.

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