Darcy's Longest Day: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by M. A. Sandiford

Author:M. A. Sandiford [Sandiford , M. A.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2021-07-25T00:00:00+00:00

3 p.m.

From the shelter of the woodland Caméléon watched as a man and a woman crossed the forecourt of Lucas Lodge. The gentleman, he thought, could hardly be the rider he had glimpsed coming to Miss Bennet’s rescue. Not as tall as Darcy, nor athletic enough to sweep a woman into the saddle with one arm. This man did not stride; he minced, like a lawyer or parson whose head was habitually buried in a book. The lady might be Miss Bennet. But if so, why was she taking the gentleman’s arm? He needed to see her face, at present hidden by her bonnet.

Caméléon checked the hollow where he had rolled the body. With nettles providing cover, passers-by would see nothing amiss unless they looked carefully. He shrugged: by the time the corpse was found he would be far away, wearing a different disguise.

He walked down the bank, reviewing the state of play. How bizarre that this mediocre Hertfordshire town had embroiled him in such a fiasco! Before long, Marchand’s wife would return to discover a window smashed and her husband gone. Miss Seymour might be halfway to London by now, taking Marchand’s notebook to her masters in the Home Office or the Admiralty. Yet the damage had been limited. Most of the notebook had been copied. His colleague in the militia had not been compromised. Hyde would be back at the Dog and Partridge, ready to move out. It remained only to deal with Miss Bennet.

By the time he reached the road, the couple leaving the house had turned in his direction. The lady, he now saw, was not Miss Bennet, and the man had a flabby look very different from Darcy. They might wonder what he had been doing in the woodland, but here the militia uniform came in useful: if questioned, he could invoke the search for the runaway governess.

‘Good afternoon.’ He bowed. ‘A good moment for a stroll, now the storm has passed.’

The lady regarded him uneasily. ‘Good afternoon to you, sir. We have not met, I believe.’

‘Lieutenant Jones. I arrived in Meryton a fortnight ago. Pleasant town. A shame we’ll be moving on soon.’

‘You’re in the militia?’

‘I am, and a finer bunch of fellows I never met.’ Caméléon recalled Marchand’s notes. ‘Are you acquainted with Mr Denny? Mr Pratt?’

The lady nodded. ‘I saw them yesterday at a soirée given by my parents.’ She pointed back to the house. ‘I used to live here, when I was Miss Lucas.’

The gentleman, who seemed eager to enter the conversation, made an elaborate bow. ‘Reverend Collins, sir, at your service. It has been my good fortune to offer this fair lady a home on the Rosings estate in Kent. You may have heard of my patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who belongs to one of the foremost families in the land.’

The name was familiar, but Caméléon shook his head. ‘I have not had that privilege.’

‘The loss is yours, for her ladyship is renowned for her exquisite taste, and her condescension towards those less elevated than herself.

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.