The Wager: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (Accomplished Ladies Book 1) by Bedlow Kate & a Lady

Author:Bedlow, Kate & a Lady [Bedlow, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Beastie Press
Published: 2015-02-23T16:00:00+00:00

Lady Catherine de Bourgh

Mary was not late after all, for apparently Lady Catherine had been delayed in waiting to come down with her daughter. As Mary joined the Hunsford party in the entrance hall, the inmates of Rosings Park were only just descending the staircase.

Miss Anne de Bourgh did indeed seem frail, sickly—and small, though she was Mary’s height. She was accompanied by Mrs. Jenkinson, the old lady who’d been with her in the phaeton and who hovered about her now like an overly curious bird.

Lady Catherine was as imposing and imperious as Mary could have imagined, almost as tall as Mr. Collins and quite as stout. She must have been handsome in her youth, and her eyes flashed with sharp intelligence.

Mrs. Collins made the introductions right there at the foot of the stairs, so they were done efficiently and quickly, without the interlaced apologies and compliments which must have accompanied her husband’s prosecution of the task.

Lady Catherine led them in a procession out of the hall, through an antechamber, with her daughter and Mrs. Jenkinson going second, Sir William next with a quaking Maria on his arm, and Mr. and Mrs. Collins next. Mary, alone at the rear, had the sensation of following a train of trooping fairies.

In the parlor Lady Catherine directed everyone to a chair or sofa, and as the fairies parted Major Quartermaine was revealed sitting at one end of a couch. He immediately rose to his feet, along with another officer, presumably Colonel Fitzwilliam, who had taken a chair by the fire.

Lady Catherine now introduced everyone to everyone, and though the process surely went very fast and smooth, to Mary it seemed as though time had stopped and she had to tell herself to breathe.

How does one not think of rough yet incongruously manicured hands masterfully sliding a slipper onto one’s foot? How does one meet an ocean in a stranger’s eyes and not drown while being—properly—introduced?

“Miss Bennet, it is a delight to meet you.”

How… how does one hear such a voice, all dark honey and firelight combined with a shooting star, and not forget to breathe?

Mary thought of Jane at the Netherfield ball, her eyes cast down in Mr. Bingley’s presence, her cheeks pink, her countenance placid. Deceptively so! How could Mary have possibly doubted Jane’s feelings for the man? Her sister must have been terrified of the fire that burned within. How had she achieved that marvelous mask of serenity?

At dinner, Major Quartermaine was seated across the table between Mrs. Jenkinson and Mrs. Collins. The older lady kept all her attentions on Miss Anne on her other side, and the major was much engaged with Charlotte—quite, it seemed, to that lady’s delight. Mary worked to achieve her own mask of serenity by keeping her observations fixed on the de Bourghs.

Lady Catherine seemed Mr. Collins’s perfect patroness. He liked to praise and fawn and admire; she liked to be praised, fawned over, and admired. What could be better?

Miss de Bourgh was her mother’s opposite, unremarkable—almost a ghost.

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