Beyond Legal Matters: A 'Pride and Prejudice' Variation by Laura Nickleby

Author:Laura Nickleby [Nickleby, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Pride and Prejudice & Related Fandoms, Alternate Universe, Mystery, Z-Library
Goodreads: 123322278
Published: 2023-05-29T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

The evening had been splendid and the dinner suitable for a small gathering. Only the discovery of the true identity of the one who claimed to be the brother of the late William Collins and the rightful heir to the Longbourn estate somehow changed everyone’s general mood. Mr Darcy in particular was torn between two alternatives: the joy of finally discovering the whereabouts of the vicious scoundrel George Wickham, and the need to find him as quickly as possible. He had hoped that he would be able to forget the evil that his father’s son had attempted when he had tried to elope with his sister, his real goal being her fortune, which was not an insignificant sum. It was fortunate that Georgiana’s love for her brother had prompted her to reveal the truth. Wickham had left without any trace of regret nor apology and with a vile indifference to the young lady’s feelings and the harm his deed could have caused the Darcy family.

After Mr Bennet and his daughters had departed for Longbourn, Bingley dutifully offered to talk to Darcy about the recent revelation and what was to come. Still, the latter wanted to avoid burdening his friend with uncertainties and questions he did not have clear answers to.

He went to his room and paced, trying to make a clear plan. Elizabeth Bennet’s face kept returning to his mind, and all his thoughts ran to her, to the evening of the ball, to the questions she had asked calmly to try to confuse him, to the fact that, if it had not been for the cursed Wickham, Darcy would have allowed himself to ponder over the fact that he had been greatly taken with her from the moment he saw her.

He went to bed late, slept badly for a few hours, and could hardly wait for daylight to appear so he could be on the road.

The following day, after a hurried breakfast, Mr Darcy left for Longbourn accompanied by his valet, Garret. As he had discussed with Mr Bennet the previous evening, the kind gentleman would give him the London address of the fake Mr Collins, and Darcy would go there immediately to track down the infamous rogue.

Upon his arrival at Longbourn, Mr Bennet came out to greet him and invited the young gentleman to enter the house so they could talk for some minutes. But Darcy was in too much of a hurry, so he apologised for not staying longer, contenting himself with receiving the address he needed and then leaving immediately for London.

Mr Bennet, understanding his haste, gave him the address and asked him to send news to Longbourn as soon as some was available. Mr Bennet confessed that he too had suffered a bad night, and during his nocturnal musings had discovered with surprise some inconsistencies in what the false Mr Collins had declared, making Mr Bennet certain that he was dealing with an impostor.

Mr Darcy sighed briefly, promised that on his return, he would

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.