Darcy the Beast: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Cass Grix

Author:Cass Grix [Grix, Cass]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: jane austen, pride and prejudice, beauty and the beast, fairy tale, regency romance
Publisher: Cass Grix
Published: 2017-03-13T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Cold grey January became even colder February. Jane wrote that Miss Bingley had called on her once at the Gardiners’ home in Cheapside, but Jane had not seen Mr. Bingley. Georgiana asked her brother about possibly going to London for the Season.

“No. Absolutely not. You are too young.”

Georgiana threw down her dinner napkin and pushed her chair away from the table.

“Come back here!” Mr. Darcy ordered.

“No!” Georgiana cried and flounced out of the room.

“Come back here this instant!”

“What are you going to do – lock me in my room? Starve me?”

Elizabeth glanced at her retreating figure then back at Mr. Darcy. “Do you want me to follow her?”

“No,” he said harshly. “Please remain seated. I will not let her antics ruin our dinner.”

Elizabeth obeyed, but the almond pudding tasted like paste in her mouth.

Mr. Darcy did not eat for several minutes. Elizabeth waited, watching as he clenched and unclenched his jaw as he visibly tried to control his temper. She wondered if he would speak. Finally, he said, “I am sorry you have such a disagreeable charge, Miss Bennet.”

And such a disagreeable employer, Elizabeth thought, but did not say it. Instead, she said carefully, “Perhaps if you expressed your refusal differently, she might not react so vehemently.”

“Do not tell me how to speak to my sister.”

“No, sir.” Elizabeth stared at her plate.

After a minute, Mr. Darcy said, “You father has five daughters. Do any of them behave like my sister?”

“The youngest two are undisciplined,” Elizabeth admitted.

“But you and Miss Jane are quite superior. What made the difference?”

“Perhaps age. My younger sisters are still young, like Georgiana.”

“I doubt you or your older sister ever raised your voices in defiance to your parents.”

“No, it was not in our natures.”

Mr. Darcy nodded. “My sister was a lovely child. She has only become wilful and angry in the past year. I am hoping that with you and Mrs. Annesley as a guide that she may change for the better.”

“I think much of her unhappiness comes from being bored. Would it be so terrible to take her to London?”

“It would,” he said flatly.

“Perhaps if you did not wish to go with her, she might visit the Bingleys?”

Mr. Darcy said, “I do not keep her at home because of the inconvenience to me. I keep her home to keep her safe. She is not mature enough to behave appropriately in public. I blame her faulty upbringing. My father did not train her as he trained me. Her mother died with she was young and the only true feminine supervision she had was a few years with my wife. When my father died and I became her guardian, I tried to remedy the situation, but she does not have sound judgment.”

“And how is she to develop that judgment if she is never given the opportunity to interact with others?”

“That is your challenge.”

Elizabeth did not know how to respond, but she did think that Mr. Darcy was being unreasonably restrictive.

“But enough of my sister,” he said. “Let us talk of something else.

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