Summers at Pemberley: A Pride and Prejudice Retelling by Jennifer Kay

Author:Jennifer Kay [Kay, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2024-01-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The day was not going according to Caroline’s plans at all. She had risen late and spent extra time at her toilette to make sure she was looking her best for Mr. Darcy, only to come downstairs and find that he was not at breakfast but had ridden out—to deliver a note for Miss Elizabeth like an errand boy!

He’d returned, only to cloister himself away with Charles. That was not a bad development, for it surely served to strengthen their friendship as well as keeping Mr. Darcy well away from the impertinent Miss Elizabeth, but it did not allow Caroline a chance to show off her superb hostess skills. How could she convince Mr. Darcy she was the perfect woman to be the next mistress of Pemberley if he was not present to see how skillfully she handled the servants and arranged everything to suit him best?

Then came a dreadful half hour, when she was obliged to receive the remainder of the Bennet ladies. Miss Bennet was swiftly examined and declared much too ill to move, but not so ill as to worry any of them overmuch. Instead of leaving, the ladies proceeded to remain for at least twice as long as it had taken to see the reason for their call, and displayed all sorts of awful country manners. Why, the youngest girl had dared to ask Charles to hold a ball, and Charles had agreed to it! The only good thing Caroline could say of the encounter was that Miss Eliza had not appeared to look at Mr. Darcy even once. At least she had enough sense to realize how shameful her relations were, and to know that Mr. Darcy’s opinion was the most important in the room to secure.

But he did not seem to hold the other Bennet ladies against her at all! Caroline contrived to be at his side when the unwanted party left, and she murmured to him, “At last! If only they would take Miss Elizabeth with them. Surely our servants are good enough to care for Miss Bennet in her convalescence.”

“Care for, yes,” Mr. Darcy replied, and Caroline began to preen before he continued. “However, no servant, skilled or not, can provide the same comfort as a most beloved sibling. Why, I would never dream of leaving Georgiana alone with naught but servants when she was ill, particularly not in a home where she knows so little of the inhabitants as Miss Bennet knows of us.”

“Why yes, of course,” Caroline was forced to answer, for disagreeing so blatantly with Mr. Darcy was out of the question, particularly once he had mentioned Miss Darcy.

“Besides,” Mr. Darcy continued, “while I understand that Mrs. Bennet and her younger daughters are not the sort of refined ladies one might find in Mayfair, I have not observed anything but proper behavior from the eldest two.”

“Mr. Darcy!” Caroline exclaimed. “How can you say that, after the display we were treated to two days ago at breakfast? Surely you

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