Less Proud and More Persuasive: A Pride and Prejudice Variation Novella by Sophie Turner

Author:Sophie Turner
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Pride and Prejudice & Related Fandoms
Published: 2015-12-12T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

I have been wanting to tell you for some time – you have very fine eyes.

Elizabeth thinks of this statement terribly often, during the remainder of her day. She thinks of it with wry smiles at how distinctly unromantic a tone in which it was uttered. She thinks of it as she looks at her eyes in the dressing glass, and wonders what it is that Mr. Darcy thinks so fine about them. Mostly, however, she thinks of the man who uttered it, and believes she begins to understand him better.

He had described his sister as shy, but here he was, utterly discomfited by the giving of a simple (although very nice) compliment to a lady he had already proposed marriage to. Of all the hauteur she thought she had observed in him, how much was simply natural reserve, and a fear of being exposed as awkward, if he should speak more to those who are not familiar to him?

His compliment, when given, was simple, and clearly sincere. He could have flattered her all the time they were in the grove, like other gentlemen have done so often to Jane, but he did not. This is partly because she suspects he is not capable of it – and she must admit she finds this a little endearing – but more because he seemed to wish to engage her in a real conversation. He told her of his predicament with the Aldens and the Coopers with a respect for her thoughts on the matter, something she felt few (if any) other gentlemen of her acquaintance would do.

And that it was a predicament at all spoke a great deal about him. Elizabeth had thought he saw others as beneath him – his tenants, certainly, were beneath him, insofar as society saw them – but he was genuinely concerned about making the right decision, and had a more than healthy respect for the impact it would have on those families’ lives. Elizabeth could not deny that were her father faced with a similar situation at Longbourn, he would not have given it nearly the same amount of deliberation, nor would he have considered curtailing a visit – and in Mr. Darcy’s case, interrupting a courtship – to deal with the matter.

Elizabeth had felt a sharp, unexpected degree of concern, when he mentioned the possibility of his needing to return to Pemberley. She could not give him a yes, to his offer of marriage, yet neither was she ready to be pressured into a hasty no, borne out of his need to depart her company. It had been a relief, then, when he indicated he wished their courtship (such as it is) to continue. How they might make this happen, she is not sure. Perhaps they may manage to meet in London, or perhaps as part of the amends they spoke of today, Mr. Bingley shall return to Netherfield. She hopes fervently that the latter is true.

I have been wanting to tell you for some time – you have very fine eyes.

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