A Rosings Christmas Carol: A Christmas Pride and Prejudice Variation by Amelia Westerly

Author:Amelia Westerly [Westerly, Amelia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Pride and Prejudice & Related Fandoms, Sequel - Canon Compliant, POV Alternating, Darcy's POV, Others POV, Fantasy, Charles Dickens
Goodreads: 221713136
Publisher: Song Sparrow Press
Published: 2024-11-18T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

The following morning was not a comfortable one at Rosings. Lady Catherine saw a number of glances between her guests and towards herself, which made it perfectly plain that her outburst the previous evening was known to most. It was clear that Darcy and his wife had not heard of it, for they observed the subdued energy of the others with puzzlement, but that Lord Radley, who had not been present, had since been informed by the others was unpleasantly clear. Lady Catherine felt that she could have better borne even Darcy’s furious disapproval better than the looks of disappointment and reproach which Lord Radley gave her.

It is nothing to me what he thinks of it. I shall not allow his good opinion to mean anything to me.

Lady Catherine made the vow, but she did not keep it. Nor could she believe otherwise. Of all her faults of self-knowledge, self-deception was not one. She had never quite been able to forget him, either the friendship which had once meant so much to her, or the dream of what more might have been. She would have liked to forget, had often told herself that she must, and had ended by thinking of him oftener than she wished to admit.

After breakfast, the guests all scattered, seeming to leave the table with relief. Lady Catherine did not attempt to summon them together. Even her indomitable determination quailed at the thought of facing Darcy’s ignorance and the other’s disapproval. She thought to spend the morning with her sister, but the Countess had immediately swept up Anne, saying that she must have a little private tête-à-tête with her oldest niece. Lady Catherine could hardly object. Indeed, it had been too long, and her sister ought to show her daughter proper attention.

The gentlemen had gone out riding, as the weather, though grey and cold, was not wet. Lady Catherine admired the group from a window as they rode out over the fields. It was always a pleasure to think what fine, well-looking men her nephews had turned out to be, and still another pleasure was added to this in seeing that Lord Radley’s spine was almost as straight and his seat on the horse nearly as good as either of the young fellows. His hair was bright silver to Darcy’s black, and he would surely tire long before Colonel Fitzwilliam, hardened over the course of his military career, but he cut as good a figure as either.

Another observer might not have seen it so. They might have noticed the way the two cousins kept their horses to a rather more sedate pace than was their wont, and avoided any paths which might have required a difficult jump. They would have seen, in fact, the delicate courtesy of two kind men towards a respected elder no longer possessing the full energy and balance of youth, but Lady Catherine saw none of this. She was not a horsewoman, and moreover, she would not have believed anything lacking in Lord Radley.

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