Irrevocably Gone - A Pride & Prejudice Variation by P. O. Dixon

Author:P. O. Dixon [Dixon, P. O.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Historical Fiction

Chapter 22 ~ Terribly Distracted

The span of three and a half days was not enough to relieve Elizabeth of her utter dismay. How wretched it was to find herself in the unenviable position of rejecting the hand of yet another gentleman.

I cannot help it. I believe in love, however impractical the sentiment may be. Who is to say when or where or even if I may have a chance to suffer such a sentimentality again?

She paced the floor. Do I not owe it to myself to wait just a while longer? Charlotte was seven and twenty before marrying and leaving her father’s home. Can I not allow myself another couple of years at most?

Elizabeth was sensible enough to know that no two circumstances were ever the same.

The one thing I have weighing heavily against me is that my father’s estate is entailed to the male line. There has always been the very real possibility that my mother, my sisters and I might very well be thrown into the hedgerows should my father meet with an untimely passing. With five daughters and no sons, it is imperative that at least one of us marry and to the extent either of us can help it, marry well.

Oh! I shall not think of that today. Otherwise, I shall find myself going terribly distracted.

Grabbing her bonnet and coat, Elizabeth set off for her second solitary ramble that morning. As had been the case earlier, she chose a completely different path from that which she usually favored, for it simply would not do were she to meet Lt. Wickham. She had managed to avoid being alone with him quite successfully, even though he had called on Longbourn as was his near-daily wont to do.

Having been privy to the news that he was going away to town on business was just the balm Elizabeth needed to calm her warring spirits. In fact, upon returning to Longbourn in time to hear that she had missed Mr. Wickham, who was still very much perceived as her younger sisters’ favorite beau, she was not disappointed in the least bit. She was, however, rather pleased to be handed a letter from her friend Charlotte, whom Elizabeth had not heard from since the wedding. Therein was an invitation.

Elizabeth’s thoughts upon receiving a request from Charlotte to come to Kent for a visit at Easter were a mixture of trepidation and relief. She dreaded the idea of spending time with her ridiculous cousin, Mr. Collins, whose offer of marriage she had spurned and in no uncertain terms. Yet, she was relieved to have the excuse of being away from Hertfordshire and, consequently, Lt. Wickham whose offer of marriage she had no intention of accepting—at least she did not think she would.

How can I so long as I continue to suffer even the tiniest shred of hope? Even if he were committed to another. Nothing is really over until it is over.

Therein was another reason that her friend’s invitation proved too tempting to ignore.

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