Mr. Darcy's Forbidden Love: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Jane Grix & April Floyd

Author:Jane Grix & April Floyd [Grix, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2023-04-07T00:00:00+00:00

16

ELIZABETH

* * *

I arrive home just as the sun begins to set. Mama talks with Cook about dinner, and Lydia and Kitty are playing cards in the sitting room. Lydia leaps to her feet and nearly pounces on me. “Lizzy, you will never guess what I've learned today.”

I sigh. “You may tell me.”

“Mr. Wickham is no longer engaged to Miss King! Her uncle has decided that she is too young to marry and has broken off the engagement.”

“Then I am sorry for Mr. Wickham.”

“I am not. I don’t think he ever cared for her, only for her money. And do you know what this means?”

I can guess. “What does it mean, Lydia?”

“It means Wickham is free again! And I am determined to secure him for myself.”

If Mr. Wickham wants an heiress, he will not want Lydia, but I keep my thoughts to myself.

Lydia continues, “That is why I must go to Brighton.”

I frown. Lydia often jumps rapidly from one topic of conversation to another, but I don’t comprehend her logic. “I don’t understand.”

Lydia explains. “Oh yes, I forgot to tell you. The militia is going to Brighton this summer, and I want to go, too.”

My mother, who enters the room at this time, says, “That is up to your father, my dear. And you know he does not like to travel.”

Lydia says, “I will talk to Mrs. Forster and she will invite me to go with them, I know it.”

Mrs. Forster is Colonel Forster’s new wife. She is silly and giddy like Lydia, and in the past few months, they have become friends, whether for good or ill, I do not know. “I don’t think it is a good idea to go to Brighton,” I tell Lydia.

She pouts. “You went to London and then to Kent. It is my turn to travel and see new people.”

“What about me?” Kitty asks petulantly from her seat at the card table. “I want to see new people, too.”

My mother says, “Perhaps Mrs. Forster will invite you as well, Kitty.”

When I try to talk to my father about it, he says, “Lydia is determined to go, and if I do not allow it, there will be no peace at Longbourn. Besides, Colonel Forster is a sensible man. He will keep her out of any real mischief; and she is luckily too poor to be the object of any fortune hunters.”

“I worry that she will soon have a reputation as the worst flirt in England.”

At this, my father laughs. “She may very well deserve that title already. But do not make yourself uneasy. Jane is safely married to Mr. Bingley, Mary has Mr. Collins, and if all goes well, you will have Colonel Fitzwilliam within a year or so. It will not matter what Lydia does. But if it will make you feel better, I will send a missive to Colonel Fitzwilliam and ask him to call tomorrow. I will get his advice on the matter.”

I sigh gratefully. “That would make me feel much better, yes.

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