A Baby at Pemberley: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Rosalie Hammond

Author:Rosalie Hammond [Hammond, Rosalie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: none
Published: 2019-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Beneath a slender new moon, the new courtyard at Pemberley rippled with conversation. Guests were seated under a white pergola that had been transformed into a fragrant fairyland of climbing roses and strings of tiny lights.

They were dining at long tables covered with snowy white Italian linen. In the middle of the tables stood candles in glass holders and silver urns spilling with plush roses, deep red, as rich as burgundy velvet.

The glassware gleamed as guests sipped wine. Laughter tinkled. From the lake, a pleasant breeze drifted. Everyone was enjoying their marinated roast lamb or braised veal shank served with wine.

Everyone except the woman sitting at the head of one table.

Elizabeth looked exquisite in the gown she'd ordered from an exclusive shop in London. Its neck and waist were richly embroidered with gold beading and the bodice and skirt were dotted all over with tiny gold sequins.

When she'd seen her reflection in the mirror earlier in the evening, she had been stunned by how well it suited her. It had looked so good she'd almost ripped it off and pulled out something else. Anything would do. She'd bought this outfit for Darcy.

For weeks she'd been looking forward to seeing his eyes when she first appeared in it. She knew she'd never worn anything before that showed off her good points quite so well. Somehow the gown’s subtle, delicate color blended with her complexion, her eyes and her hair to flatter her beyond expectation.

Her guests had all remarked on how lovely she looked and what a dreadful pity it was that Darcy had been called away at the last minute.

Of course, it had been too late to call off the party. By the time she'd gathered her wits and wondered if she should cancel, she'd realized that, to travel the long distance to reach Pemberley in time, some guests would have left home already.

Mrs. Reynolds had insisted that the party must go on. She'd been dreadfully upset when Elizabeth had told her that she and Darcy had quarreled and that he'd gone away, but once she'd recovered she'd urged Elizabeth to tell her guests a white lie.

"You can make up a story about that sickly young cousin of his. You know—the one in Kent. She could have died suddenly and Mr. Darcy had to go away to the funeral."

"Oh, Mrs. Reynolds, I'm already in a mess. I can't tell a lie as well. It could get out of hand. Just imagine if it was to reach Lady Catherine. It would be terrible."

In the end, she told her guests that her idea for a surprise ball had flopped. Darcy had had to leave on urgent business and, by the time he'd learned that he would miss his own party, it had been too late to change his plans. It was almost the truth.

People had been very understanding.

"Such a pity."

"Poor Darcy. What difficult timing. And when you have a new baby to care for."

"Bad call. But not much you could do about it, lass.

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.