The Lost Diary of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Madeline James

Author:Madeline James [James, Madeline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: E. A. St John
Published: 2013-09-26T04:00:00+00:00

Netherfield, 9th November

Fitzwilliam has come. Elizabeth and Jane are expected tonight, but we are dining with Bingley and his sisters here.

Evening: I retired with Fitzwilliam to the library leaving Bingley in the drawing room. At last we were alone and I could not wait to find out about the progress of his suit with Miss Stevington.

“I gathered from your father that after your talk with him you went straight to Bedfordshire?” I started the conversation myself for John did not appear inclined to talk about it.

“It was my intention.” John spoke slowly and quietly with little emotion showing on his face, and I was surprised. This he must have noticed. He laughed heartily and added, “I see, Darcy that your own nuptials have narrowed your mind considerably. All you can think of are weddings? Mine, by any chance?”

“Well, yes,” I admitted. “I dispatched one of my letters to you in Bedfordshire for nobody seemed to know where to find you.”

“You did what?” John got up from his seat and his countenance told me that he was not pleased to hear my news.

I asked him if I had done wrong.

“Darcy, you have not written to Mr Stevington, have you?”

“I simply asked him to forward a letter to you should you still be staying in Bedfordshire,” I explained. Fitzwilliam was now pacing the room with clear signs of agitation. I sat motionless in my chair and when after some further silence there was no word from Fitzwilliam, I began to sip my wine. Until he spoke up there was little else I could do.

“I had better explain to you what has been happening, for I do not know now what the consequences of your letter might be.” He stopped, sat down again and began slowly. He explained that he had intended to go to Bedfordshire but that an accident had prevented him. His curricle had ended up in a ditch some thirty miles short of his destination. “I was lucky, Darcy, I tell you,” he said. “My horse was badly injured and the kindest thing I could do was to shoot it.”

I commiserated with him. Poor John has had more trials in his life than I would ever wish to cope with in his situation.

He took a drink from his glass and continued the story. “But, it was not all bad, Darcy. Here I was stranded on a road I hardly knew when this carriage and four came to my rescue. Who should be in it, but my old friend Lord Thursby! He insisted that I join him and after arranging for my curricle to be attended to in Rushden, he took me with him to his house. It must have been nerves that kept me going until we arrived there for as soon as I dismounted from the carriage I felt so dizzy and unwell that they ended up calling the apothecary. You may well imagine my protestations, but it was not to be taken into account. Both his mother and

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.