An Autumn Accord: A Pride and Prejudice Novella Variation (Seasons of Serendipity Book 4) by Elizabeth Ann West

Author:Elizabeth Ann West [West, Elizabeth Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Jane austen fan fiction, pride and prejudice variation, pride and prejudice series, Jane austen
Publisher: Pemberley Possibilities
Published: 2015-02-25T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Sleep eluded Mary Bennet as she woke to the sounds of stirring servants at her aunt and uncle’s house on Gracechurch Street. She shivered as a delightful chill tickled her toes when she tossed and turned, trying to find a way back to her wonderful dreams, and the quilt slid up her person to expose her feet. Her rib cage ached in protest from her rolling over. She winced, remembering the swift kick baby Gardiner managed when Mary turned her attention to the nursemaid for just a moment yesterday afternoon.

With a sigh, she rolled back over and flopped her arms at her sides. The true reason she could not sleep rested solely on putting off a request to her uncle Gardiner. Unless she found her courage, Mary Bennet would most certainly lose the man who preoccupied her thoughts, heart, and nightly apparitions.

Grumbling to herself, Mary sat up in bed and purposefully placed her bare feet on the cold floor to rapidly endure the unpleasantness. Dressing herself in a simple frock, a lump in her throat formed for a moment as she spied the more lovelier gowns she had once donned around town in the company of the Fitzwilliams. With each passing day, those times of joy and flirtations with the Colonel seemed a lifetime away, and the old, serious Mary Bennet threatened to replace the blossoming young woman who had enjoyed her first true taste of the Season.

She heard the stairs creak with a heavy groan that could be none other than the limping gait of her uncle. Rushing through the rest of her toilette, Mary followed him to the dining room where the servants were still preparing platters of food for the household, mostly still abed.

“My, my Mary. You are lovelier than ever, but this is an early rise, even for you.” Her uncle greeted her, and Mary pecked his cheek without hesitation she once held when she first left her father’s house after his untimely death.

“Why is it men seem to compliment our dullest gown and hurried toilette as fervently as our more orchestrated efforts for large galas and events? I’m beginning to think any money wasted on a gown is mere frippery and I’m better served at turning my old ones.”

Her uncle raised an eyebrow at the tone and mood of his niece. Mary Bennet had the unfortunate circumstance of once being the overlooked Bennet daughter, but in the last six months a woman courageous enough to support her own opinions and at times, drastic actions, had emerged. Since the summer’s emotional outburst where she confessed witnessing a justifiable homicide and a deep love for the second son of the Earl and Countess of Matlock, Edward Gardiner felt a deep trepidation on every occasion in which he was alone with the young woman.

“Certainly economy is to be praised, but I hardly think you or your sisters are in any position to require such harsh measures.”

As Mary selected from the fares available for her meal, Edward Gardiner sighed in relief as his wife joined them in the dining room.

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