Heart Enough by D'Orazio Amy

Author:D'Orazio, Amy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quills & Quartos Publishing
Published: 2021-10-25T00:00:00+00:00

Jane considered it one of the first delights of the Festive Season to shop. Evidently the days of exchanged names and furtive gift-giving had been retired; Jane shopped for everyone, it seemed, and Elizabeth was mortified to find that her sisters, and Mrs Bennet as well, submitted lists of their wants.

Mr Bennet had, as well, his fond desires—all of which could be found, still, in a bookseller’s shop—and Elizabeth was quick to take these suggestions for her own gift-giving purposes. “I spent hardly any of my own money in Italy and would much enjoy helping with our dear Papa’s list.”

“Dear Papa! How he has missed you! Yes, I think he would like to know you selected a book for him very well.”

Jane had never been much in the habit of walking, and motherhood had not increased her stamina. By the time they were finished in Pall Mall and some shops nearby, she was ready to return home, though they had not, yet, been to the bookseller’s.

“Go on without me,” Elizabeth urged. “We are not a mile from the house, and I will walk back when I am finished.”

“Elizabeth, it will look positively scandalous for you to walk home alone.”

“So many are out and about with their own shopping, I daresay I can melt into the hordes with scarcely a notice,” Elizabeth said. “Now do go; you make your coachman drive so slowly, I daresay I might be home before you anyway.”

But Jane could not be so easy about it. Elizabeth thought, with some impatience, that she had navigated il negozia and piazza in Italy well enough to shop unescorted not a mile from home, but her sister would fret. So, she grudgingly accepted the footman assigned to tend her and set out into the charmingly crisp December air. Tiny crystals of snow drifted about obligingly, lending to the holiday cheer where she went, and she thought that everyone seemed to have a smile on their lips.

She entered the shop of a Mr Duckett; though his was not the largest, she rather liked the cosiness of it. She browsed the offerings for some time, seeing nearly all the books that Mr Bennet desired. It was difficult to know which to choose.

Amid her debate with herself over the choices, a gentleman entered the shop. It was none other than Mr Darcy.

Such scenarios were not uncommon. Elizabeth had seen men she mistook for Mr Darcy all over Italy, and once even in Switzerland. He haunted her throughout the Continent, but now that she was on English soil again, she recognised the likelihood that it truly was him and not some figment of her fancy.

She slid quietly around a shelf which allowed her to see him without being seen and studied him as he browsed the choices and at length selected a book. Mr Duckett offered his patrons a small group of overstuffed chairs and a roaring fire where they might sample the wares, and Mr Darcy availed himself of these comforts. He settled in, opened the book, and began to read.

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