The Honourable Mr Darcy by Caroline Bryant

Author:Caroline Bryant [Bryant, Caroline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-08-16T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Elizabeth Bennet felt giddy with relief as she tiptoed past Mr. Collins. She had already evaded a napping Mrs. Philips and thought herself lucky that Mr. Collins was so devoted to his garden. He was knee deep in his flower bed. Elizabeth thanked heavens for primroses as she crept along the grass, through the gate and out of sight.

This was a new limitation for her. For her whole life at Longbourn, she had enjoyed the freedom to move and walk as she pleased. Things were different in Kent. Mrs. Philips was a lax chaperone, something which greatly aggrieved Mr. Collins. The first time he had spied her attempting to leave the parsonage by herself, he had rebuked her, suggesting that Lady Catherine might look unfavourably on his future wife going out unescorted.

Just a year before, Elizabeth might not have cared about her ladyship’s opinion—now it mattered very much. But she couldn’t settle. She had grown used to regular exercise and felt that to be accompanied on her loop of the park by Mr. Collins might detract from the physical benefits. She kept close to the palings and resolved to stay a good distance away from the great house. Besides, she had watched the comings and goings of her ladyship and determined that she rarely if ever left Rosings before the afternoon.

Once Elizabeth was out of sight of the parsonage, her mood improved greatly. There was one benefit that would accrue to her once she was married, she thought—she’d be free once again to go walking alone. She couldn’t think of a pastime more pleasurable, especially not in Hunsford.

‘Mr. Darcy has been surprisingly amiable of late,’ she murmured to herself, bending to examine a little sunken pool in the grass which had frosted over during the night. The ice was so delicate; lined with thin cracks and yet transparent in the places that remained untouched. She stared at it a while, resisting the temptation to tap it with her toes and shatter its perfection.

‘Miss Bennet,’ said a familiar voice that made her start. ‘You’re out early this morning.’

Lizzy looked up and saw that the colonel was approaching fast, not twenty yards away. ‘Good morning, Colonel Fitzwilliam,’ she said, cursing herself for taking a risk and disobeying Mr. Collins. ‘Yes, indeed. It is a fine morning. So fresh and bright for a change.’

‘Indeed,’ he said, coming to a stop beside her. ‘I was just coming to the parsonage to make sure you’ll be joining us this evening.’

Elizabeth swallowed. If Mr. Collins was to see her return with the colonel unescorted… She smiled wryly, knowing that her cousin’s displeasure would be proportionate to the position in society of the man with whom she had been alone. ‘Oh yes of course we are,’ she said. ‘I’ll accompany you back to the parsonage.’

‘Why there is no need, my dear, haven’t I confirmed your attendance?’

Elizabeth smiled. He was such a contrast to Mr. Collins and his rigid formality. ‘Indeed you have, I suppose.’

‘May I accompany you on your way?’

‘Yes, if it pleases you.

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