Lessers and Betters: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Don Jacobson

Author:Don Jacobson
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Others POV, Not in Amazon Library, To Transfer, Pride and Prejudice & Related Fandoms, Anthology
ISBN: 9781719277105
Published: 2023-06-09T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Guy Fawkes Day, November 5, 1815

The morning ritual Annie had come to love repeated itself once again. She helped Miss Bennet with her pelisse, handed over her gloves and bonnet, and surveyed the young lady to ensure all was good and proper. Annie next knelt by the fidgeting child. Miss Margaret was bursting with excitement this morning and could barely contain herself. The youngster bounced up and down on her heels, making it difficult to button her snugly into her woolen cloak.

“Do you know that it is Guy Fawkes Day, Annie? Everybody will be putting the h-u-u-u-g-e bonfire together. Do you think we could add some sticks, Miss Bennet? Oh, Annie, we need to put together our Guy. Could you find rags and stuffing so it could be the best Guy in all of Grosvenor Square? I want to do better than Georgie Lamb this year,” the youngster chattered.[35]

Once her two charges were dressed for the brisk November mid-morning, Reynolds cast her critical eye over the footman towering above her. He always wore his French dragoon boots when escorting the ladies through Hyde Park. They were polished to their usual high gloss. And, even though in livery, unlike most clothing handed over to servants, every stitch he wore spoke of additional tailoring. An expert needle man had adjusted his deep burgundy greatcoat emblazoned with the Cecil crest richly embroidered on his left chest. The garment fit his robust frame like a glove, emphasizing the width of his shoulders and the seductive narrowness of his hips.

If I could view him undraped, I imagine he would look like one of those marbles Lord Elgin brought back from Greece. His legs rise from those boot tops like the columns in front of St. Paul’s. Leather and waxy lemon—that is his aroma. It wraps around me. So comforting. Oh my…

Wilson raised an eyebrow as he caught Annie’s sudden intake of breath and the beautiful rosy hue that suffused her neck and cheeks. But he said nothing, deepening his breathing and steeling his expression to regulate his emotions despite the clearly recognizable stirring in his abdomen.

Look at her. She tends to the child with concern that goes beyond employment. She loves little ones. And every pleat of her frock is freshly molded to a figure that promises untold beauties. What I would give to be free to reach out and tuck back that errant curl escaping from its pin.

Henry stepped to the door and opened it, nodding to the on-duty Winters as he passed. The other footman barely acknowledged him but narrowed his eyes as Miss Bennet and Margaret moved by.

***

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