Mr. Darcy's Daughter by Rebecca Ann Collins

Author:Rebecca Ann Collins
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Published: 2010-03-23T04:00:00+00:00

MR DARCY'S DAUGHTER

Part Three

WHEN CASSANDRA WENT DOWNSTAIRS to her husband's study, it had been with the hope of finding him there alone. It being Sunday, she knew he would not go to the hospital, unless of course, there was some dreadful emergency; consequently, she had resolved to speak with him about their daughter Lizzie.

Everything that had happened since New Year's Eve, when she had returned home from Pemberley determined to broach the subject with him, had conspired to prevent her doing just that. Each time she had decided this was the moment, some unforeseen circumstance had arisen and embroiled them in a series of events that made any rational discussion of Lizzie's future impossible.

This time, however, she was quite single-minded about it. She knew Lizzie and Laura were gone with Anthony, James, and their new governess to church and were unlikely to return before midday. Her husband, having returned from his morning ride, had changed and gone down to breakfast, after which, he would, as always, read his papers in his study for an hour or so.

When she arrived at the door of the room, she heard voices within, Richard's and their son Darcy's. Vexed at being frustrated again, Cassy retreated upstairs, but only as far as the landing, from where she could hear the door open and shut as Darcy left the room. She was about to go downstairs when the door to the study opened again and Richard came out; he was coming upstairs himself.

Determined not to let this opportunity slip, she approached him, as he reached the top of the stairs."Richard, I really must speak with you; there is something that has been on my mind this last fortnight, about which I need your advice. I should have spoken earlier, but with the sorrow and the shock we've suffered, it never seemed to be the right time."

Her husband had in his hand a letter. As she stopped speaking, he said,"You are quite right, my dear. I have had much the same problem; an important matter has come up, on which I must have your opinion, and for the very same reasons, it has been held in abeyance for some ten days or more. I know I should have responded earlier, but it is, as you have said, a matter of the appropriate time. Besides, I did have to make some related enquiries, which I have now completed, so perhaps we could resolve both questions at the one time."

Cassy was confused—she had no idea what problem he had been attempting to resolve, but before she could ask, he said,"Why do you not begin, my love? Tell me, what has been troubling you for a fortnight?"

"It's Lizzie," she began.

Her husband appeared astonished.

"Lizzie? Why, what has she done?"

Cassandra interrupted him."There, you see, you did not know either. Here was I, berating myself for not noticing what was going on in my daughter's life…"

He stopped her and asked gently,"Noticing what, Cassy? Has Lizzie done something untoward? Has she displeased you in

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.