by Anna Harlow
Flirtation and Folly
Published by Anna Harlow, 2018
© 2018 Anna Harlow
All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination.
Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.
Kindle Edition
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Epilogue
Want More by Anna Harlow?
About the Author
Chapter One
As was her usual habit on a fine morning in late spring, Miss Elizabeth Bennet took one of her newest novels out for a nice, long walk. On this particular morning, she walked toward the great but long-empty old estate called Netherfield Park, for she truly loved to look at the place. It was much larger than Longbourn estate and was owned by the town of Meryton itself er since the demise of its former master ten years ago.
Elizabeth slipped through the gate and began to sing to the flowers along the path that led out to the small lake at the edge of the property. It was a man-made lake, but still quite pretty, and she knew of the perfect tree beside it, where she loved to sit and read. However, today, when she reached it, she found the place already occupied, not by the gentleman himself, but by his pile of clothes.
“Goodness!” she gasped, looking quickly around.
Soon after her outburst, a figure emerged from the water. The man was quite tall, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. He was also quite underdressed, and the breeches he still wore were so wet as to leave nothing to the imagination. Elizabeth gaped up at him, quite shocked, but finally managed to find her voice.
“Do forgive me, sir, but I believed the place to be quite as abandoned as ever,” she said, averting her eyes in such a way as to look modest while at the same time allowing for a better glimpse at such an impressive anatomy. “Have you taken Netherfield for yourself, then?”
“Not I,” he said, moving past her to collect his shirt and pull it on. “But it is now to be the home of my good friend, Mr. Bingley. I should not need a place like this myself. I already have an estate of my own.”
Elizabeth chuckled at his attempts to make himself appear decent. He left the shirt untucked, hoping it would hide that bit of anatomy which a young lady ought not to see, then stood contemplating his beaver hat, thinking it would look stupid to don the thing while he was still in such obvious dishabille. He found it a bit more useful in the capacity of a shield for his lower region when he realized her heightened color and the casual direction of her eyes.
“You are master of your own estate, sir?” she asked, laughing at his discomposure. “And how am I to be sure? For all I know you could be a vagrant and that could be your only suit of clothes. After all, I know nothing of you at all.”
He laughed at this. “A rather expensive style of vagrant, if this were so. But if I am but a vagrant on a flight of fancy, then you must be an angel sent down from heaven just to help me indulge in it. So you must call me Master Will, and read to me from that book of yours. Though I dare say, I have read it myself, and found it quite dull.”
“Well, Will, master of your own estate, I am not an angel, I am only a young miss who ought not to remain alone in the company of a half-clothed gentleman on an estate that is no longer to be enjoyed since it has become somebody’s home. And besides, I cannot in good conscience remain in the company of a person who might reveal the end to this little tome before I can reach it alone. I fear you shall have to indulge in all your fancy on your own.”
“A circumspect angel, then,” he amended, smiling. “I should not wish to suspend your pleasure here, madam. It is I who shall go. Feel free to find out the end of the tale at your leisure. Today, the house is not yet a home, for not until tomorrow will the gentleman sign all the paperwork. I wish that you shall enjoy your final visit to the abandoned garden, my dear. Good morning to you.”
Having delivered this speech, the gentleman turned and hurried away. The back of his pants were every bit as revealing as the front had been, much to the delight of his observer. But Elizabeth did not stay there, of course. As soon as he was out of sight, she turned and headed back out the gate, then ran along the road. Of course, since it was a good four miles between Netherfield and Longbourn, she certainly did not run all the way home, but she gave it her best try.
In the parlor were gathered her four sisters, her mother, and even her father, which occasion was somewhat rare indeed. He had, in fact, only just stepped out of his library with a letter in his hands, and upon Elizabeth’s entrance, he smiled with relief.
“Your timing is impeccable, my dear child,” he told her. “You may as well hear what your cousin, Mr. Collins, has written to say as well.”
“I do not wish to hear anything that odious man has to say,” Mrs. Bennet told her husband. “It is unbearable to listen to anything from the gentleman who will one day have this house, since it entailed away from your daughters and meant to go to him. And he could turn us out, sir, before you are even cold in your grave! I do not wish to know anything he has to say!”
“Ah, but, my dear wife, I believe if you will indulge me, I might soon change your mind on that score. Sit down, Lizzy, and I shall read you the important parts—for this letter is so long-winded it would take an hour to get to the point if I should read it all.”
“But, sir, may I not speak first?” Elizabeth asked, disappointed. “I also have news, which will not take me nearly as long to tell you.”
“What is it, my dear?” he asked curiously.
“I have just come from Netherfield Park and learned that it shall soon be let at last!”
“Oh my, such wonderful news!” Mrs. Bennet exclaimed. “And much better to hear of than anything from Mr. Collins.”
“And yet I remain steadfast in my intention, my dear,” said Mr. Bennet sternly. “First, I must tell you that I received a first letter from my cousin two weeks ago, which I felt it was important to answer right away, for in it the gentleman wished most emphatically to extend the olive branch of friendship and say to me that he has always felt the sting of knowing he will one day cause great injury to our five daughters by inheriting their rightful estate.”
“That, at least, seems decent,” Mrs. Bennet had to concede.
“In this second letter of his, he has accepted my invitation and writes that he shall arrive at Longbourn this very afternoon, my dear, so I hope that you have ordered an exemplary meal,” he added. “It is his hope in coming here that he and one of the girls might become amiable, and that this daughter shall elect to marry him before
his departure back to Rosings in three weeks’ time.”
“Rosings? What on earth is that?” asked their youngest daughter, Lydia, as she wrinkled up her nose and giggled at the word.
“It is the name of the estate belonging to his noble patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh,” Mr. Bennet explained, his own nose wrinkling just a little as well. “It seems she has just given Mr. Collins a large parsonage now that he has taken his orders, which he shall begin to reside over once he has selected a suitable wife. For, so the lady says, it is the duty of the minister to show a good example to his parish in all things, even in his choice of bride.”
“And one of us is to marry him?” asked Lydia. “Well, it certainly shall not be me. I would never wish to be married to a man of the cloth.”
“It would do you good if you were,” Elizabeth commented dryly. “Perhaps it might slow down your avid pursuit of every gentleman in sight.”
“Lizzy, leave it be,” her mother scolded. “Lydia does nothing wrong by taking stock in the local men before deciding which one suits her fancy. If you ask me, it would not hurt if you were to pay a bit more attention to such matters yourself.”
“I do not care for Lydia’s way of searching for a husband,” Elizabeth insisted. “In fact, if one or the other of you do not soon check her, she will become the most determined flirt in all of Hertfordshire, and she will make all of her family ridiculous by association.”
“Enough, Lizzy!” her mother exclaimed. “If you are to be such a prude, maybe you ought to put yourself forward to Mr. Collins when he comes and save the others the trouble.”
Elizabeth scoffed. “No, ma’am, I am determined that only the deepest love would ever induce me into matrimony, and I am certainly not meant to be the wife of a minister. I should balk greatly under such censure, I assure you.”
‘Well, then why don’t you make yourself useful and tell us how you know about Netherfield Park,” she suggested. “I should like very much to hear more.”
Leaving out the details which might greatly shock her mother, Elizabeth told her that she came across a gentleman there who said his friend intended to sign paperwork to let the place tomorrow.
“Oh, I should certainly go and pay a call to Lady Lucas then,” she said excitedly. “For her husband has the running of that old estate, and he shall certainly know all.”
“Madam, you shall not leave this house today,” Mr. Bennet scolded her. “Do not forget, we must all remain home and wait to greet our guest.”
“Lord,” complained Lydia. “He is not even here and already he is more trouble than he is worth!”
All the other girls scoffed at this.
“It is certain he will choose one of the older girls,” said Kitty with a sigh. “If he is sensible, he will set his sights on Jane. And that will be good for us, don’t you think? One less older sister making us wait for our own time to shine.”
“Kitty, don’t be so tiresome,” her mother complained. “Of course he should ask for Jane. She is the eldest daughter.”
“I see no occasion for that, my dear,” said Mr. Bennet as he headed for the door. “The other girls all have arms and legs enough between them. I shall heartily consent to the man marrying whichever girl he chooses, you can be sure. And that should set your mind at ease about what shall happen to you when you are a widow quite nicely. Though I can assure you, I have no intentions of soon shuffling off my mortal coil. In fact, let us consider better things. Let us suppose that I might even outlive you, and thereby you may not have to suffer my absence at all.”
“Mr. Bennet!” she gasped. “You do not know what I suffer. Must you always be so cruel to my poor nerves?”
Smirking as he went, Mr. Bennet returned to the solace of his library, leaving his poor daughters to listen to all the rest of her complaints.
Chapter Two
“Do you think Mr. Collins will be a sensible man?” Elizabeth asked her father as they all stepped to the front of the house at the sound of horse hooves in the near distance.
“I sincerely think that he is not,” Mr. Bennet replied as the hired coach came through the gate and headed for the drive. The man who sprang out of it as it came to a halt was of an average height and girth, seemingly quite fit but not especially handsome. He wore a patrician hat and carried a walking stick which he grasped using both of his hands, even though it was clear that he did not need the thing since its tip never even touched the ground.
“Mr. Collins, at your services,” he said with a somewhat theatrical bow.
“Sir, you are very welcome here,” said Mrs. Bennet magnanimously.
“You know that I have come fully prepared to make amends to your amiable daughters,” he reminded her as he turned to bow to all of them collectively. “The rumors I have heard of their beauty do not do them justice, Mrs. Bennet. I find that each cousin is more beautiful than the last. How will I even begin to make up my mind?”
Mrs. Bennet laughed as she began to follow her husband toward the door. “Sir, I think that you will soon discover beauty is not the only deciding factor. Each of my girls is amiable, of course, but also each one has a personality of her own, quite distinct from the others. When you have discovered which of the personalities suits you best, you shall certainly know which of my girls most attracts your regard.”
“That is a very wise assertion, Mrs. Bennet, indeed it is,” he agreed as they entered the parlor. “My, what a splendid room you have here. It puts me in mind very much of a small sitting room at Rosings. For you must understand, Rosings is a much larger estate than Longbourn, and it has many such rooms to choose from. But this place is quite nice as well. It is not nearly so large or so fine, but it feels much more like a home.”
“I am certain that you must think so,” she said, trying to keep the tinge of resentment out of her tone. Elizabeth could tell what her mother must be feeling, to know that the gentleman beside her must truly be thinking Longbourn was his home. Surely, he must be busily taking stock of the place in the back of his mind, in her estimation. Not that Elizabeth believed this was actually the case, but after all, her mother had built the man up in her mind as a monster, and such long-held beliefs would not be so easily replaced.
“Now, Mama, do try to remember that Mr. Collins is here in a friendly capacity,” she admonished her. “It simply will not do to let your former sensibilities interfere with the current plan.”
“You’re quite right, Lizzy,” she agreed.
“And now, Mrs. Bennet, if you would be so kind as to introduce the ladies?” Mr. Collins prompted, smiling at her with hopeful interest.
“Yes, of course, sir,” she said, bobbing her head at him respectfully. “You see here my eldest, Jane, and Elizabeth beside her. My third, Mary, is off to play her piano, I see. And here is my youngest, Lydia, and beside her sits my other daughter, Kitty.”
“Kitty?”
“My name is actually Catherine, sir, but nobody calls me that,” Kitty explained.
“Catherine? That is a most lovely and respectable name,” he replied, smiling. “I cannot think why anyone would think to shorten it in such a way, my dear.”
“You flatter me, sir,” she answered, blushing. “To tell the truth, nobody has much considered the name in any depth. Elizabeth is called Lizzy, and so I became Kitty. There was no reason behind it other than that, as far as I can tell.”
“Well, sir, I imagine you will want to get settled into your rooms and ready yourself for dinner,” said Mrs. Bennet to him then. “I shall have Mrs. Hill show you the way, and we shall hope to see you return here at six o’clock directly.”
“Very well, Mrs. Bennet, and I must once again thank you for your hospitality. If it is not too much trouble, I shall ring for a bath and wash off the grime of the road.”
“A wonderful idea, sir, I shall direct the kitchen staff to begin your water immediately.”
After he was gone, Mrs. Bennet told Kitty to run upstairs and change into better clothes, for it had not bee
n lost on her that of every girl she had just introduced, the only one he seemed to have singled out was her. “If you play your cards right, Miss Kitty, one day it’s very likely that Longbourn estate may be yours.”
“Do you really think he liked me, Mama?” she asked, smiling. “I’ve never been singled out over any of my sisters before. I wonder at such a pass, for I am overlooked so often it has become the only expectation in my world.”
“Well, it hasn’t happened this time. Hurry up and go, my dear.”
Kitty now had a determined yet desperate look on her face as she got to her feet and started toward the door. “But, Mama, I’ve no idea what to wear!”
“Jane? Lizzy?” Mrs. Bennet said, snapping her fingers. “You two go and help her out. I am confident that collectively, the two of you should know what to do.”
The three young ladies left together and did not return until shortly before six themselves. Not only Kitty, but Jane and Elizabeth had also changed their clothes. It had been at Kitty’s request, since she did not want to look desperate by being the only one who had changed her clothes. Apparently, both Mary and Lydia had also gone upstairs at some point as well, leaving poor Kitty feeling much less self-conscious overall.