Christmas at Pemberley: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (Pride & Prejudice Variation) by Anne Arden

Author:Anne Arden [Arden, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2022-11-07T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 4

Darcy couldn’t help but worry about his wife as he headed for the back of the house in search of Mrs. Reynolds, the housekeeper. He knew that the servants who had been bringing the food to the table must have certainly informed her what was happening, but the dear old lady had politely refrained from seeking him out until he was ready to talk to her.

“Master, you must certainly not assemble the servants yet,” she scolded him. “They can be told in good time that the newest member of the household has arrived. It would be far better for you to step outside and get a breath of fresh air while you are still able, for certainly the baby will be keeping us all awake until he or she has become accustomed to life outside the womb.”

Darcy smiled. “Mrs. Reynolds, you always know what is best, but it is much too cold to go outside tonight. Perhaps I should make my way into the billiards room for a time.”

“Yes, sir, that’s a wonderful idea.”

Smiling with anticipation, both for the time he would spend distracting himself and the time when he would be called to meet his child, Darcy had a rare moment when everything seemed right with the world. It was a short-lived moment, as it turned out, for he soon heard the unmistakable shrieking wail of Mrs. Lydia Wickham from somewhere further down the hall.

“Wickham, I most certainly will not leave!” she berated her husband. “I came here because Lizzy needs me. If I had known what you were planning, I would never have agreed to bring you along!”

Pausing before he’d ever managed to begin, Darcy set the cue back onto the rack and ventured toward the noise. Wickham held his wife by one arm and an extremely expensive candelabra in his other hand. It was, of course, not being used to light the room, but rather had obviously been taken for an entirely different purpose. Always after more money, Darcy had no doubt that Wickham’s intention was to sell the item.

“You must put it all back, Wickham,” Lydia insisted, trying to wrestle free a bag he held in the hand of the arm he was using to retrain her. She managed the task, and it dropped, spilling jewellery all over the floor.

“Dammit, Lydia!” Wickham complained. “I told you, we must pay back what I owe somehow or you will soon become a widow! Now let me go!”

Wickham pushed her away from him and she landed on her backside. He scrambled for the bag, attempting to gather up the jewellery another time.

“What goes on here?” Darcy demanded hotly.

“Mr. Darcy, I swear to you I had no idea what my husband was planning to do!” Lydia insisted. “And to wait for such a distraction as this one to make his attempts, too! I cannot believe even he would stoop so low!”

Upon further examination, Darcy noticed that the pearl necklace that Darcy had given to Elizabeth for her birthday was among the fallen jewellery, and his ire redoubled.

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