Cause to Repine: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by E.M. Storm-Smith

Author:E.M. Storm-Smith [Storm-Smith, E.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781737403920
Publisher: Storm Haus Publishing, LLC
Published: 2024-02-07T13:00:00+00:00

Though the rain stopped near dawn the morning after Darcy and Bingley left Netherfield, it took a full day of sunshine for the spring roads to be in good enough condition for the carriage and four men to travel back to London. Darcy and Bingley would have taken their horses, however Bingley’s coachman, Johns, advised that they had found heavily washed out roads, and with the thick mud there was too high a risk of harming one of the horses. So, instead, Darcy and Bingley spent the day at the coaching inn devising their plan for Kent.

Darcy started by composing a letter to his cousin, Anne. As the official mistress of Rosings, she was the correct person from whom to beg an invitation. Additionally, he was not sure that his aunt, Lady Catherine, would be overly warm to the idea. She had many nonsensical ideas about status and strict separation of the social classes. In Lady Catherine’s opinion, having money, though a requirement for a truly highly placed family, was not enough. Men deserving of the title of ‘Gentlemen’ and therefore deserving of respect and attention, according to Lady Catherine, must have a long-standing and respectable connection to land. Bingley was educated as a gentleman, had never worked in trade himself, was a welcomed member of the social activities of the ton, and was looking to purchase an estate. But he was not technically a gentleman. It would take three generations of owing an estate to be considered a true gentleman. If he did not marry into the gentry, the Bingley men could not call themselves gentlemen until Bingley’s great-grandson was born on the estate he purchased.

Anne, in contrast, was not a follower of such strict social guidelines. If Bingley was going to have a chance at making amends to Jane before she returned to her father in May, they would need Anne’s help. Darcy wrote a very complete letter to his cousin. He detailed all his bad behaviour regarding Bingley and Jane’s relationship. He also described how Elizabeth believed that Jane suffered from Bingley’s abandonment. It was a risk to be so open in a written communication, but he planned on having his trusted valet deliver it to Anne’s maid by hand. The letter also included an invitation to dinner for three nights hence to plan some appropriate entertainments for the whole Kent Easter party.

Not a whole hour after returning home to London and sending Connor to deliver his letter, Anne barged into Darcy’s parlour with a sour look on her face. It was times like these that he saw the most striking resemblance between Anne and her mother.

“Fitzwilliam George James Darcy! Tell me you did not do this?” Anne scolded while waiving around his letter.

Darcy sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. I did do all the things in that letter or else I would not have written them down for you to read. Please come in and sit here by the fire with me. I have finally warmed after two days of being in a draughty coaching inn and riding on horseback through a rainstorm.

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