Mr. Darcy and the Lost Slipper by Valerie Lennox

Author:Valerie Lennox [Lennox, Valerie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Punk Rawk Books
Published: 2020-02-28T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Mrs. Bingley huffed as she sat up in the carriage. “Honestly, Elizabeth, can your headache really be that bad? Why did we have to leave so early?”

Elizabeth was slumped against the side of the carriage, her forehead against the window, looking at the street lamps outside. Her clothes were too tight. Everything was horrible, and she was terrified of… of herself, of her reactions, of her stupid, stupid—

She had read about this in books, about women falling for some stupid man and losing their minds, and she had never felt it, and had always ridiculed those women. And then, suddenly, now, she had caught some wretched female idiocy, from whence she knew not, but it had taken root in her.

First, Mr. Wickham had tricked her, and then… then Mr. Darcy, the pinnacle of all things disgusting about men in general, had taken her hand and she had thrown herself into his arms and practically kissed him.

She shuddered at the thought.

Why, a kiss could ruin a woman. People did not kiss unless they were engaged.

“Lizzy, are you even listening to me?” snapped her mother.

Elizabeth turned to look at her. She sat up. “Didn’t you say that Kitty wanted me to visit her in Rosings?”

“Well, yes, I thought it might be a nice change of pace for you,” said her mother. “She wrote of following out a hunting party, didn’t she? A picnic. I thought it sounded rather lovely.”

“Yes.” Elizabeth nodded. “I think so, too. Can I leave in the morning?”

“The morning?” Her mother raised her eyebrows. “Well, we need to write a letter back to her, tell her that you are arriving.”

“I’ll bring the letter with me,” said Elizabeth.

“But if she does not want you to come, she can’t very well refuse you in person.”

“She offered for me to come. Is there any reason to suspect the offer has been rescinded?”

“Well…” Her mother considered. “It would likely be nicer for everyone if you were to go.”

“Yes, if I were out of the way.”

Her mother looked at her, and the expression on her face made Elizabeth turn away. “Lizzy, my darling, I love you. You are my own girl, you know? But sometimes, the way you behave, it does you no favors. I don’t want to be parted from you, you understand? If only your father hadn’t died. If only I’d had a boy…”

Elizabeth looked back up, and suddenly realized this was perhaps the most honest thing her mother had ever said to her. Maybe this was the source of the enmity between them. If Elizabeth had but been a boy, there would have been no need for remarriage, for ingratiation with the Bingley family, for sending her daughters away. Her mother didn’t mean to, but she blamed Elizabeth.

Maybe Elizabeth blamed herself too.

Maybe Elizabeth wished… if she were a man, now, she would have inherited that house where Charlotte lived with Mr. Collins. She would have her own land, and her own income. And if she wanted to write, well, it would be a far easier thing than it was now.

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.