Jane's Estate: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (The Bennets' Fortune Book 1) by Elaine Burkett

Author:Elaine Burkett [Burkett, Elaine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Pride and Prejudice & Related Fandoms, Alternate Universe
Goodreads: 228005460
Published: 2025-02-13T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

At supper, the Bennet sisters were joined by Mr. Carruthers, Mr. Darcy, and Colonel Fitzwilliam. Mary was unsurprised to see the first two gentlemen. Their admiration of Mary’s older sisters was obvious. Colonel Fitzwilliam, however, was a surprise. At first Mary assumed he had simply joined them due to his cousin, but when he immediately sat next to her and engaged her in conversation, her surprise greatly increased.

It made no sense. Elizabeth was obviously more interesting. Jane was clearly more beautiful. Even Kitty had better manners and better looks than Mary.

After several minutes of general conversation, Colonel Fitzwilliam asked a question that seemed to Mary to elucidate his motivations. “I have noticed my cousin seems to be rather interested in Miss Elizabeth, but when I asked him about how they met, he evaded my question. Can you tell me their history? Does she return Darcy’s regard?”

Mary almost laughed at the last question. “Your last question is the easiest to answer. No, she does not. As to why that might be, the answer lies in the moment they first met.”

Mary proceeded to tell the colonel of Mr. Darcy’s introduction to the neighborhood around Meryton and the infamous insult at the assembly. She made it clear that, though the insult was an isolated event, his subsequent behavior seemed to support the idea that it was not out of character for the gentleman.

She explained that Mr. Darcy had been standoffish, though not outright rude, and he had given the impression that he thought himself above his company except for those of his own party. Mary also told Colonel Fitzwilliam of Mr. Wickham’s story, which Elizabeth had related to both her and Jane.

The colonel seemed to grow a bit more intense at the mention of Mr. Wickham, but there was no anger in his voice when he said, “Yes, Miss Elizabeth mentioned Mr. Wickham during our dance.”

“And did you refute his story?” asked Mary.

Colonel Fitzwilliam looked at her in confusion, so she added, “It is patently false, at least in the way Elizabeth relayed it to me. No man would simply sit back and allow another man to take his entire life away from him and then relay the story without any anger whatsoever. His apparent nobility of character was inhuman, which casts doubt on the entire story.”

As Mary spoke the colonel’s eyebrows gradually rose, and his eyes grew wider. When she was done with her explanation, he said, “I admire your perspicacity, Miss Mary. Did you share your insight with your sister?”

Mary shrugged. “I did not. It would have been a waste of breath. By that time, Elizabeth’s mind was fixed on the idea that Mr. Darcy was the source of everything bad, making her particularly susceptible to any story that cast him as the villain.”

“I see,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam. “Well, to answer your question, no, I did not refute his story. After all, she did not ask me a direct question. She simply mentioned that Wickham was an officer in the militia that was stationed there.

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