Reunited with Mr Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Natalie Moore

Author:Natalie Moore [Moore, Natalie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: none
Published: 2018-04-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Gazing longingly at the lace-edged box on the table beside her chair, Mrs Gardiner once again summoned up sufficient will-power not to remove the lid and sample the delicacies within. To be sure, her niece was proving a marvellous influence, she decided. Undeniably she was more inclined to take exercise, and she consumed far fewer glasses of her favourite tipple, port, these days. Furthermore, she had substantially reduced her daily intake of chocolates and sweet biscuits, with the result that she had lost several pounds in weight and was feeling a good deal better for having done so. She just wished that Elizabeth was deriving as much benefit and pleasure from her sojourn in London, as she herself was in having her as a guest under her roof.

Oh, undoubtedly the girl was contented enough, Mrs Gardiner reflected, resting her head against the chair and gazing absently up at the plaster-work ceiling. But contentment was far short of real happiness, and dear Elizabeth deserved her fair share.

She felt again that stab of resentment towards Mrs Bennet for treating her daughter so unfairly, for not taking account of her wishes and feelings. Yet, at the same time, she was forced to own that she was increasingly taking the view that Mr Darcy might indeed be the very one for Elizabeth. When the girl set aside her understandable resentment, she and Darcy rubbed along together very well. They were remarkably well suited and had, she very much suspected, more in common than either of them as yet realised. One thing was certain, though—Elizabeth, not in the least in awe of him, wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, and Mr Darcy, Mrs Gardiner suspected also, rather admired her for it.

Unless she was very much mistaken too, their relationship had taken something of a turn for the worse the previous evening. Smiling to herself, she recalled the thunderous expression on Darcy’s face when he had spotted that handsome Colonel Fitzwilliam, heading for the terrace shortly after Elizabeth herself had taken refuge out there. She hadn’t been best pleased herself, for although she was sure that her niece was far too discerning to be beguiled by a handsome face, she had no intention of allowing her to become the butt of malicious gossip, and had been about to go after her, when Mr Darcy had gone striding past, heading purposefully towards the French window.

Just what had taken place outside after the Colonel’s return to the salon was anybody’s guess. All the same, their host’s subdued mood, and her niece’s forced gaiety during the latter part of the evening, gave one every reason to suppose that something untoward had occurred.

A light tap on the door, quickly followed by the housekeeper’s entrance, succeeded in restoring Mrs Gardiner to the present. Vaguely she recalled having heard the sound of the door-knocker, and assumed this must be the reason for the interruption.

“It’s a gentleman wishing to see Miss Elizabeth, madam. I wasn’t certain whether she’d returned. Shall I inform

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