Amusing Miss Austen: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (Miss Austen Series Book 1) by Angela Pearse

Author:Angela Pearse [Pearse, Angela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-08-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Jane and Cassie fussed around after me like a couple of mother hens. Soon, I was in dry clothing, lying on their sofa with my injured ankle propped on a cushion, along with a cup of tea in my hand and a nourishing plate of tidbits at my elbow should I feel hungry. I felt like a princess. As the weather worsened outside, again, I congratulated myself on coming here rather than returning home.

‘I have sent word to Harriet via our stable boy that you have hurt your ankle and are staying here for the night to rest it,’ said Jane, indicating that I should lean forward so she could place another cushion behind my shoulders. ‘You should keep off it as much as possible in the coming days too.’

‘I agree,’ said Cassie, turning to look at me from where she was kneeling by the grate and attempting to coax a fire to life with a pair of bellows. ‘I twisted my ankle very badly once, but I was impatient and insisted on walking on it. It took much longer to heal. Father fetched the doctor, and he said I was not to walk on it for another two weeks! I was bored out of my mind.’

‘She was,’ commented Jane. ‘And she made a terrible patient.’

Cassie grinned. The log in the grate caught, and as the flames started to crackle, I noted in the firelight that she was looking refreshed and rested after her stay in Kent. Her face bloomed with health, and she’d caught a slight tan on her arms.

I sipped my tea and enquired, ‘How do you like being back, Cassie?’

She perched on a nearby chair and considered the question. Three years older than Jane, Cassandra was her constant companion and touchstone; the two were very close—closer than even Harriet and I. A fresh wave of pain arose in me, thinking about Harriet and her siding with Papa, so I tried not to.

‘I missed everyone, of course, but Jane kept up a steady supply of correspondence and painted me a vivid picture of the goings-on. I especially enjoyed the supper at Ashbury Manor, a delightful scene. Your cousin sounds like a most entertaining fellow.’ She gave a little laugh.

I looked at Jane, wondering exactly what she had said about Mr Humbleton and in what context. But I trusted Cassie, and I knew she wouldn’t spread gossip. Otherwise, Jane would not be so free with her opinions and descriptions; she was highly creative after all, and Mr Humbleton had been entertaining, even if now he was causing me chronic consternation.

I had still not given Jane a reply as to why I had turned up wet and distressed on her doorstep, and I knew she must be burning with curiosity. Heaving a sigh, I stared intently at my empty teacup; it was probably best that I said it directly without any embellishment.

‘Speaking of my cousin, he has asked me to marry him. The proposal was made at breakfast this morning.

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