by Leenie Brown
“He is selling his commission.” Lady Catherine straightened the hem of her sleeve.
“Does he know this?” Darcy asked.
Lady Catherine shrugged. “He has been considering the idea, but I may have helped it along.”
Darcy shook his head and chuckled. His aunt had always been meddlesome, but in the last three years, she had become even more so.
She straightened the hem of her other sleeve. “It is time he marry.” She looked up with a knowing grin. “And I believe I have found just the lady.”
Not an Heiress
A Sequel to Discovering Mr. Darcy
Mary Bennet tucked the book she had just finished reading back on the shelf and pulled out another. The selection of books at Rosings was not small, but — she sighed, there were just not enough books of substance, at least, not the substance she sought. She flipped through the pages covered in verse.
There was only so much poetry she could read, and she was certain she had surpassed her limit. In her opinion, poetry did nothing to secure the mind in the realities of propriety. In fact, lately, it had done the exact opposite. It had her dreaming of walks in the forest and along streams with her hand in that of a very handsome gentleman — a gentleman that was not within her reach.
She shoved the book back onto the shelf. Poetry was not what she needed. He would be here soon. She needed to have something more serious to read. Something that would keep her mind from wandering to his wide shoulders and muscular calves. Young ladies should not have such thoughts, especially young ladies who were determined to be an example of propriety to one and all. However, no matter how she tried, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam could not be thought of as serenely as other men. It was really quite vexing how he tormented her with thoughts that caused her to smile at impropriety. A sermon was needed and the sooner the better.
“If Lady Catherine is looking for me, I will be at the parsonage,” Mary told Fletcher, Rosings’ butler, as she tied on her bonnet in preparation for her walk. “I will not be long.”
“The parsonage?” Lady Catherine de Bourgh stood in the doorway to her sitting room just down the hall from where Mary was attempting her escape. “We have guests arriving. It would not do for you to be gone when they arrive, and if I know my nephews, they will be early just to vex me.”
“I will not be long,” Mary tried to keep the pleading tone from her voice. “I only wish to borrow a book from my cousin.”
Lady Catherine’s eyebrows rose. “Are there not enough books in the library?” She knew precisely the sort of book Mary sought, but it was better to not let the young lady know.
“It is lacking in sermons.” Mary looked at Lady Catherine’s toes. Lady Catherine was not pleased to have her library or any part of her home criticized, nor was she particularly fond of Mary’s choice of reading material. Mary had endured more than one lecture on broadening her repertoire.
“It is lacking in nothing that a young woman should need.” Lady Catherine had taken a liking to Mary when she met the young lady at Pemberley the second summer after Lady Catherine’s nephew Fitzwilliam Darcy and Mary’s sister Elizabeth had married.
Mary was the most likely of the three youngest Bennet sisters, who were in residence that summer, to need improvement and need it the earliest. Lydia and Kitty did not seem to lack an interest in society the way Mary did, nor were Lydia or Kitty in as great a need of a husband since they were younger than Mary.
However, there was something else that endeared the young lady to her — nothing that could be quantified beyond a spirit of gentleness mingled with a will of iron. She smiled. It would be lovely to have such a lady added to her collection of relatives in a closer fashion. It had not escaped her notice how often she found the young lady watching Richard nor how often Richard found reason to be in the presence of Mary.
Mary’s shoulders drooped. “I have faithfully read the novels you gave me and the book of poems. May I not read just one book of sermons?”
Lady Catherine pursed her lips. “One book?”
Mary nodded.
Lady Catherine sighed. “Very well, but be quick.”
Mary dipped a curtsey. “I will, my lady.”
Lady Catherine watched her scurry out the door. It might be best if Mary were gone when the others arrived. It would make discussing her with Darcy and Elizabeth a good deal easier.
“Have the tea things brought in in half an hour,” she said to Fletcher before returning to her sitting room. She sighed. The house was so empty these days without Anne and Mrs. Jenkinson to keep her company. It was partially why she had requested of Mr. Bennet that Mary come to stay with her.
She chuckled. Her meeting with the gentleman had been very productive. Not only had she gotten permission for Mary to come stay at Rosings, but she had also received his blessing to play at matchmaking for the one whom he considered his least-likely-to-marry daughter.
She settled into a chair that stood in just the right place to see the drive and took up her stitching. She would not be caught unawares. Her nephews might attempt to ruffle her feathers by thwarting her carefully scheduled life, but they would not succeed. The thought of ruining their fun with a bit of her own pleased her excessively. She would know when her guests had arrived well before they had stepped one foot from their carriage.
She did not have to wait very long. The tea service was just being laid out when she spotted them. Darcy’s fine carriage appeared first, and then Richard followed, seated high on his horse.
He was a fine specimen of a gentleman. Even she could see that. For all the detractors that found him less handsome than his cousin — which he was since there were few as handsome as Darcy — there were an equal number who found him enticing, especially when he was riding his horse or causing a general stir with some fascinating tale. Mary would be a very fortunate young lady to have such a husband.
And he would do well to have a sensible and devoted wife. Lady Catherine gave a little shrug. It was perhaps Richard who was getting the better end of the bargain. Mary was no wallflower, no matter how much she might attempt to be one. True, she did not shine like Jane or sparkle like Elizabeth, but she was not without charm. It was just that hers was the kind of beauty that lay quietly, waiting to be noticed.
Lady Catherine laid aside her stitching and watched as the carriage came to a stop, and Richard jumped down to claim Alexander from his parents. He would make an excellent father despite his tendencies to exuberance and impropriety. She could not help smiling as he trotted off toward the garden with a laughing child on his shoulder.
It appeared the moment had come, and she smoothed her skirts nervously as she rose to greet Darcy and Elizabeth. With neither of the objects of her scheming present, now would be the best time to inform her other guests of her intentions to see Mary and Richard happily wed.
Before You Go
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Acknowledgements
As with all of my books, there are many who have had a part in the creation of this story. Some have read and commented on it. Some have proofread for grammatical errors and plot holes. Others have not even read the story (and a few, I know, will never read it), but their encouragement and belief in my ability, as well as their patience when I became cranky or when supper was late or the groceries ran low, was invaluable.
And so, I would like to thank Zoe, Rose, Betty, Kristine, Ben, and Kyle, as well as the lovely readers in my private Facebook group, Leenie’s Sweeties, who read an advance copy of the story and helped me create both the epilogue and sequel to this book.
I have not listed my dear husband in the above group because, to me, he deserves his own special thank you, for without his somewhat pushy
insistence that I start sharing my writing, none of my writing goals and dreams would have been met.
Leenie B Books
Novels ~ Novellas ~ Shorts
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Oxford Cottage: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
For Peace of Mind: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
Teatime Tales: Six Short and Sweet Austen-Inspired Stories
Through Every Storm: A Pride and Prejudice Novella
Listen To Your Heart: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
~*~
The Choices Series: Pride and Prejudice Novellas
(available as a bundle and individually)
Her Father’s Choice (book 1)
No Other Choice (book 2)
His Inconvenient Choice (book 3)
Her Heart’s Choice (book 4)
~*~
A Dash of Darcy Duo One
(available individually or as a bundle)
Finally Mrs. Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Novella
Waking to Mr. Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Novella
~*~
A sequel to Waking to Mr. Darcy
A Very Merry Christmas: A Pride and Prejudice Novella
~*~
Willow Hall Romances
And Then Love: A Pride and Prejudice Variation Prequel (book 1)
The Tenant’s Guest: A Pride and Prejudice Variation Novella (book 2)
So Very Unexpected: A Pride and Prejudice Variation Novel (book3)
Available Spring 2017
At All Costs: A Pride and Prejudice Variation Novel (book 4)
About the Author
Leenie Brown has always been a girl with an active imagination, which, while growing up, was a both an asset, providing many hours of fun as she played out stories, and a liability, when her older sister and aunt would tell her frightening tales. At one time, they had her convinced Dracula lived in the trunk at the end of the bed she slept in when visiting her grandparents!
Although it has been years since she cowered in her bed in her grandparents’ basement, she still has an imagination which occasionally runs away with her, and she feeds it now as she did then ─ by reading!
Her heroes, when growing up, were authors, and the worlds they painted with words were (and still are) her favourite playgrounds! She was that child, under the covers with the flashlight, reading until the wee hours of the morning…and pretending not to be tired the next day so her mother wouldn’t find out.
In addition to feeding her imagination, she also exercises it ─ by writing. While writing has been an activity she has dabbled in over the years, it blossomed into a full-fledged obsession when she stumbled upon the world of Jane Austen Fan Fiction. Leenie had first fallen in love with Jane Austen’s work in her early teens when she was captivated by the tale of a girl, who like her, was the second born of five daughters. Now, as an adult, she spends much time in the regency world, playing with the characters from her favourite Jane Austen novels and a few that are of her own creation.
When she is not traipsing down a trail in an attempt to keep up with her imagination, Leenie resides in the beautiful province of Nova Scotia with her two sons and her very own Mr. Brown (a wonderful mix of all the best of Darcy, Bingley and Edmund with a healthy dose of the teasing Mr. Tilney and just a dash of the scolding Mr. Knightley).
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