*****
Since seeing Charles Bingley at Mr. Darcy’s residence a week ago, Truman had both anticipated and feared this moment. It was unusual for a valet to be invited to a wedding, but Richard insisted that he was more friend and family than anything else and Mr. Darcy welcomed him at his wedding. It took no thought at all to realise there was some match-making afoot.
During the wedding, Truman had not been able to seek out Caroline’s face. He was seated too far to the front. Now, during the wedding breakfast, he drank his fill of her. How was she still unwed? She had grown in height, and her figure had rounded to a full-blossomed woman since last he saw her. Her hair was as shiny as ever, her hair just as smooth. Her eyes…he could not make them out. Drawing closer, he attempted to peek at them.
The youthful look of wonder was gone, but in place of the sadness was apprehension. Was it for him she looked thus? Did she desire to approach him and was she as aware as he that this might be their last chance? He shook his head at the fanciful thought. She would have no reason to care. Her sentiments were made plain. It was not that he was invited out of her desire, but rather because Richard could not leave well enough alone! All the more now that his own wedding was postponed.
Originally, Darcy, Arlington, and Richard were all to wed on the same day. However, news was learned of an intended attack on a Bingley mill. One of the things Truman admired most about the Matlock family was the way they would band together when needed. The Earl, Bingley, and Darcy would go to Huddersfield and hope to speak with local landowners to alleviate their concerns. Darcy was able to move up his wedding, at his bride’s insistence, but Richard and Lady Belinda chose to delay theirs. And so Lord Arlington would be the only one to wed in three days’ time. He intended to remain in London to lessen the cries for blood from vocal members of Parliament. Nothing would provoke a riot faster than a greater sense of injustice coming through an unnecessarily harsh punishment. Currently, transportation to a colony was the penalty for frame breaking, but those that desired to make it a capital offense grew daily.
Truman was saved from continued concerns about Caroline by the Earl’s signalling him. The other gentlemen were gathered as well. It had been arranged that Truman would journey to Leeds and speak with shopkeepers of the area. Perhaps if together they were willing to lower the price of flour and bread, matters would not feel so desperate to the farmers. The Regiment had arrived just after Christmas and after a short holiday, they were now sent to East Riding of Yorkshire, where General Gordon held a parliamentary seat. He was using the Regiment to supplement the militia units assigned to the area, lest the frame breakers in West Riding spread the matter east.
Returning to Leeds was just as well for Truman. He had unfinished business. He had half made up his mind to take over his father’s shop and marry Sally Johnson. Seeing Caroline Bingley again, changed everything, though. He was far from settled. Did she think differently now than she did all those years before? Even more, he could now appreciate how lively her concern for her family must have been, having recently suffered such losses himself.
*****
Anne hummed a happy tune as she readied for her wedding night. A cough still lingered some but was not as bad as before. At last, she would get to live. She still had insecurities about her marriage and her abilities as a viscountess, but having seldom stirred from the half dozen rooms she had known her whole life, Anne understood she would rather be a failure because it meant she had at least tried.
And so, she would give her marriage her best try. James, at first, had taken her mother’s side and agreed Anne should return to Rosings after the wedding. He soon saw reason, however, between Anne’s temper and a few kisses. Anne smiled to herself at the memory. She would not have thought when she wrote to her aunt that she would become so proficient at the art of kissing as to use it against her husband. She still feared his ability to remain faithful, but at Darcy’s wedding Belinda had encouraged her to have hope.
Anne vowed that she would not be the sort of wife her mother had been. Lady Catherine had a way of doing everything and was convinced her way was the only correct way. She ran over the opinions and feelings of everyone. Anne may not always agree with James, but she intended to respect him. She would make their home a comfortable place, as best she could while both sets of their parents lived, and would be the sort of pleasant wife worth coming home to. She had worked it out in her head that they would be the most content of couples.
Looking in the mirror, she nervously tapped her fingers on her thigh. The Matlock residence was like most London houses. Even the master’s and mistress’ chambers were on separate floors. Guest rooms were smaller than at the manor house, nor were there any connecting doors. She waited for her husband to knock on her door to enter. Both her mother and Lady Matlock had talked to her of wedding night duties and had sufficiently confused her in their contradictory accounts. All Anne considered for sure was that she enjoyed James’ kisses, so why would she not enjoy more lovemaking? After all, certainly all the other ladies he had known had.
Growing tired, she decided to wait in the bed and read. Her candle burned low before she fell asleep, the book still opened and tossed to the side. She awoke the next morning noting that she most certainly did not have any sort of visit the night before. Confused and hurt, she was uncertain what to do when her maid entered and said Lord Arlington requested her presence downstairs. Dressing as swiftly as possible, she obeyed his wishes but gasped upon seeing him. It looked as though he slept in his clothes.
“James, are you well?” she asked. Had he caught her illness?
“Yes.” He paused and then shook his head. “No.”
“I do not understand.”
“I cannot do this, Anne.”
Her stomach seized at his words. He could not possibly mean what she feared. “Do what?”
“Us. This. Marriage.”
He could not have wounded her more than if he had slapped her. “What—what do you mean?”
“We should have waited,” he said.
Feeling slightly relieved, but angry at the worry he caused, she answered testily. “We did wait. You had ten years to become accustomed to the idea of our marriage. You assured me you had no qualms.”
“I know, I know. But that was before there were lunatics in the North setting fire to factories, hoping to maim and kill the owners. Our cousins are up there now! I am an owner. And so are many in Parliament. They are angry and frightened. I have a duty to try and prevent rebellion and civil war.”
“I do not understand. Tell me plainly,” Anne said before coughing.
“Exactly that. London makes you ill. You cannot remain here, and I cannot leave Town.”
“I am recovering!” She coughed again. It always seemed to happen when she grew agitated.
“Please,” he said. “I need to know you are well. I cannot go with you, but you cannot stay here. I will not let you kill yourself just to be with me.”
Anne wanted to argue more but instead saw the beseeching look in James’ eyes. He had lost his first love to illness. The fact that he now worried about her welfare must mean something good. “What do you wish for me to do?”
“Return to Rosings with your mother.”
“For how long?”
“Until all this is settled and then I will come to you.”
“You will come?”
Even as James vowed, Anne was uncertain if she could believe him. He had taken ten years before. This time, she would not play the princess locked in the tower. Marriage gave her respectability and independence if nothing else. She could make her own demands and travel if she chose. Boarding the carriage later that morning to return to Rosings was the greatest feat of strength Anne had ever shown. And while she looked like the obedient, docile new wife, she began to scheme. James Fitzwilliam, Viscount Arlington, would have thirty days to come to her or she would come to him.
The intersecting lives of the Bennet, Darcy, Fitzwilliam, de Bourgh and
Bingley families continues in Extraordinary Devotion. Coming Autumn 2016!
Acknowledgments
To my author friends Cat, Elizabeth, Leenie, Pamela, Rosie, and Zoe that always were willing to hold my hand, nothing can take your place in my heart.
Thank you to the countless other people of the JAFF community who have inspired and encouraged me.
Last but not least, I could never have written, let alone published, without the love and support of my beloved husband and babies!
About the Author
Rose Fairbanks hears book characters talk in her head. They whisper to her of a time when the sun never set on the British Empire. More than having a love story for the ages, these characters face struggles inspired by historical events such as market crashes, Napoleon, embargoes, Luddites, the Year Without a Summer and more. Merging historical research with the timelessness of Jane Austen, Rose currently has eleven Pride and Prejudice variations published with several releases planned for 2016 as well as an original Regency Romance series in the works.
Rose proudly admits her Darcy obsession and addictions to reading, chocolate, and sweet tea. Always in the mood for a healthy debate, she also dearly loves to laugh. Having completed a BA in history in 2008, she plans to complete her master’s studies...someday. At the moment, having a career combining her life-long interest in history and research with her love for Jane Austen and the Regency Era consumes all of her professional time. When not writing or reading, Rose runs after her two young children, ignores housework, and profusely thanks her husband for doing all the dishes and laundry.
You can connect with Rose on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and her blog: http://rosefairbanks.com
To join her email list for information about new releases and any other news, you can sign up here: http://eepurl.com/bmJHjn
Also by Rose Fairbanks
The Secrets of Netherfield Abbey
Compromising Mr. Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Anthology
Sufficient Encouragement
Mr. Darcy’s Kindness
Once Upon a December
Sisters Bewitched
Love Lasts Longest
A Sense of Obligation
No Cause to Repine
Undone Business
Letters from the Heart
The Gentleman’s Impertinent Daughter
Renewed Hope Page 13