The Long Journey Home: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by J Dawn King

Author:J Dawn King
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Pride and Prejudice & Related Fandoms
Publisher: Quiet Mountain Press
Published: 2021-03-25T04:00:00+00:00

AS THE SUN dipped under the horizon, Darcy’s eyelids drooped. Just as he had promised, he and Jonah had chopped and hauled wood most of the day. Inside the cottage, the two women had ground petals and leaves with a mortar and pestle until the air was thick with a sweet, earthy fragrance.

Before banking the fire for the night, Madame Vartan placed several rosehips in a pot with herbs and what looked like strips of bark she pulled from one of her baskets. Simmering it over the coals, she shared the steaming liquid with each of them.

“I suspect each of your bodies will be complaining before too long. This tea will ease the ache in your muscles.” Brushing off their thanks, she reluctantly admitted, “I thank you for gathering fuel for my fire.”

With that, she went to the chair in front of the fire, pulled a knitted blanket over her legs, and closed her eyes.

Elizabeth was the first to go to the bed chamber. As they had done the night prior, Jonah and Darcy stepped outside, changing into their nightwear in the dusky light. By the time they returned, Elizabeth was sound asleep.

Lifting the heavy quilt, Darcy slid in alongside her. Jonah did the same from the other side of the bed. Madame was correct. His muscles in his legs, back, and shoulders screamed at him each time he moved or flexed. When Elizabeth immediately sought his warmth, turning in her sleep towards him and resting her head on his upper arm, he felt no pain. Instead, his heart filled with appreciation for her kindness to their hostess, to the boy who was attached to them, and to him. Shaking his head at himself at the depth of the changes less than a week had made to his life, it would have been impossible for him to have imagined these events should someone have asked.

He would never have conceived of being kidnapped, smuggled aboard a ship destined for the Americas. He never would have guessed that he would be stranded on French soil. He would not deliberately have assigned himself the task of farm work. Most of all, in his wildest dreams he would not have pictured himself sharing a bed with Elizabeth Bennet and a gangly lad from the Carolinas. Nonetheless, where he thought he loved Elizabeth before, he loved her now with a depth he had never felt for another person. Additionally, his life would have been less rich not coming to know Jonah Hackett. Even the cantankerous Madame Vartan was wiggling her way into a corner of his heart. Grinning to himself, upon reflection, he had no reason to repine.

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