by Elaine Owen
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
No part of this work may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
Published by Kindle Press, Seattle, 2017
Amazon, the Amazon logo, Kindle Scout, and Kindle Press are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.
Dedication and Acknowledgments
To my ever-patient husband and family: I love you.
To my friends, both online and in real life: thank you for being my support and sounding board. You mean more to me than you’ll ever know.
My unending gratitude also goes to Jane Austen herself, for creating such memorable characters.
Finally, Darcy’s declaration in chapter one, “I shall make you happy, Elizabeth. I swear it—and the oath shall be kept,” is a direct quote from the masterful novel Jane Eyre. I hope my readers appreciate its use in several parts of this story.
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
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
EPILOGUE
About the Author
Preview: An Unexpected Turn of Events
CHAPTER ONE
Elizabeth Bennet Darcy jumped at the knock that sounded on the communicating door between her room and that of her husband, who had been her husband for all of twelve hours. The sound was expected but still sudden and startling. Without further warning, Darcy entered the room.
Elizabeth’s maid abruptly put down the brush she was using on Elizabeth’s long, loose curls. She made a swift curtsy and addressed Elizabeth. “If that’s all you’ll be needing me for, ma’am?”
Elizabeth did not answer. Indeed, she could not have answered if her life depended on it. “Leave us,” Darcy commanded tersely. The girl gave her mistress an encouraging smile and left the room, and Elizabeth was alone for the first time with her husband.
She watched in the mirror as he slowly approached her from behind, noting that he was in a wine-colored housecoat that made him more handsome than ever. She herself was clad in the new white nightgown and housedress purchased for the occasion and lovingly packed for her by Jane just this morning, a lifetime ago. Darcy halted directly behind her and laid a hand gently on her shoulder. “You are beautiful, Elizabeth.”
“Thank you, sir.” Elizabeth could not get any more words out. Her throat had gone suddenly dry.
“No matter how lovely you looked in your wedding finery this morning, you are even lovelier to me now.”
“You are very kind.”
Darcy placed his other hand upon her other shoulder and bent to kiss the curve of her neck. “I shall make you happy, Elizabeth. I swear it—and the oath shall be kept.”
“I shall do my best to please you,” she answered unsteadily, feeling the warmth of him on her skin and against her back. What other remarkable sensations awaited her? Hill had given her rapid instructions this morning on what was to come, but she had been too nervous to ask many questions and had instead turned away with dread in her heart. But the moment was now approaching quickly.
Darcy had moved his palms caressingly down the length of her arms, and he now took one of her hands in his, lifting her to her feet. “Then—shall we?” he asked, motioning toward her bed with his free hand. She nodded dumbly and followed him as he guided her to it. The coverlet was already turned down, and he indicated that she should get in and pull the blanket up around herself. She did so and waited as he joined her, casting aside his robe.
She understood her duty well and was determined to fulfill it as soon as possible. In accordance with the marriage contract signed by her uncle, she was to produce a son, the heir Pemberley needed for the continuation of the family line. To produce that heir she must take Fitzwilliam Darcy into her life, her heart, and her bed. This was the price of her family’s security. For her family’s sake, she would pay any cost, suffer any indignation, and willingly take on every task asked of her.
Darcy gently folded her in his arms and her eyes drifted shut as he began to fulfill his husbandly duties. She was now Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy, and her life would never again be the same.
CHAPTER TWO
Elizabeth Bennet had never imagined that she might one day be the wife of Fitzwilliam Darcy, the man she roundly denounced to others as the proudest and most unpleasant man she had ever met. Had anyone told her this fate awaited her, she would have laughed and advised them to look to children for more amusing fairy tales.
She had encountered Darcy and his remarkably charming friend, Charles Bingley, at an assembly the previous autumn in Meryton. Darcy had disdained everything and nearly everyone at the country ball. The rooms were too small, the dancing too rustic, the company falling far short of deserving his attentions. He appreciated the presence of Bingley’s family, a Miss Caroline Bingley, a Mrs. Louisa Hurst, a Mr. Hurst, and of course Bingley himself. The rest of the party he found insupportable. He described Elizabeth as tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt him, and he did not hesitate to say that Jane, Elizabeth’s oldest sister, smiled too much.
Great wealth will normally atone for a great lack of manners, but in this case, Darcy’s superior, condescending air ruled the day and confirmed everyone’s worst opinion of him.
By contrast, Bingley contained more appeal in his smallest finger than Darcy could have held in his entire person. He could not praise the countryside enough; the music was to his taste and all the women were uncommonly beautiful. He had confirmed his good nature and superior manners by singling Jane out for his unmistakable attentions, and the two were soon the subject of neighborhood gossip that supposed the couple well on the way to matrimony.
Six months later, circumstances had changed so much as to be almost unrecognizable. Charles Bingley had left Jane behind while he traveled to London, making his desertion of her clear, and exposing Elizabeth’s dearest sister to the pity and scorn of half the county. He had certainly felt affection for Jane, but that affection was not enough to overcome the disadvantages of an uncle in trade and an immediate family with no fortune at all, and with a noticeable lack of decorum. In the end he had allowed his sisters and friend to talk him out of the match, and Jane had suffered low spirits for several months as a result.
Elizabeth had meanwhile traveled to Kent to visit her dearest and closest friend, Charlotte Lucas, now Charlotte Collins, who had married Elizabeth’s pretentious fop of a cousin. Mr. Collins
would inherit Elizabeth’s family home upon her father’s death, and now, it seemed, so would Charlotte. However, Elizabeth did not blame Charlotte for accepting such an advantageous offer of marriage. She had in fact been somewhat relieved, since Mr. Collins had proposed to her first, and she had incurred her mother’s anger by turning him down emphatically.
While in Kent, Elizabeth had again encountered Fitzwilliam Darcy, who was visiting his aunt, the noble and imperious Lady Catherine de Bourgh. After meeting his aunt Elizabeth understood where the family pride originated and was amazed that Darcy could be at all civil to her while in his aunt’s presence. Lady Catherine’s smug superiority made Darcy seem almost congenial at times.
She met Darcy several more times as she took her customary solitary walk each morning in the environs around the parsonage where the Collins family lived. Mr. Darcy had asked odd, unconnected questions, asking her impressions of her cousin’s household and her enjoyment of Kent. She had thought nothing of it, and certainly did not think he had developed an interest in her at all.
Abruptly, in the middle of the night, she had received an urgent missive from home. Her father had collapsed from a weakness of the heart and was thought to be near death. She had traveled home with all possible speed but was not in time to see her father take his last breath on this earth. Mr. Bennet had slipped quietly from this world only an hour before she arrived, leaving behind a widow, five unmarried daughters, an entailed estate, and a fair amount of debt. Elizabeth’s world was now a very different place than it had been only a day earlier.
The household would have to be broken up. Neither Mrs. Bennet’s sister, Mrs. Sophia Phillips, nor her brother, Mr. Edward Gardiner, had enough room in their home to take in six more people. The three youngest members of the family would stay in Meryton with Mrs. Phillips and her husband. The three eldest would need to remove to town to live with the Gardiner family in Cheapside. All their belongings not immediately necessary for daily living would have to be sold to cover the cost of the unpaid debts and to assist with the family’s support in their new homes. Their estate, Longbourn, would shortly devolve to Mr. Collins and Charlotte. With breathtaking speed, immediately following Mr. Bennet’s funeral, arrangements began to be made.
They came to an equally rapid halt when Darcy suddenly appeared on the front steps of Longbourn, mere weeks after Mr. Bennet’s death, and requested an immediate interview with Edward Gardiner. Two hours later, Elizabeth was summoned to her father’s former study and informed by her uncle of the new arrangements to save her family’s home and their place in society. Her cooperation was needed, of course, but she knew very well that she had no choice in the matter. Too much advantage to her family rested on it. She assured her uncle that she would, indeed, marry Mr. Darcy in return for Darcy leasing Longbourn from Mr. Collins. Her sisters would have dowries and her mother would receive a small yearly allowance from him. This, together with support from Mr. Gardiner, would ensure her mother and sisters of their continued presence and position in the only home and neighborhood they had ever known. She accepted Darcy’s gloved hand reluctantly as he took hold of hers, but she faced the future bravely.
Now she slept in her new bed in her new home, at Darcy House, in town. She had married Darcy yesterday, and he had entered her room and made her his wife last night. He had not left afterward, to her surprise. As she began to stir she felt him also move, and she opened her eyes to see that he was leaning up on one elbow, looking down at her with concern. He smiled slightly when their eyes met. “Are you well?” he asked.
“Am I in a dream, or is this real?” she asked him sleepily.
“Dreams this sweet never come true for me,” he answered. “It must be real.” He began to kiss her again, and Elizabeth allowed her mind to drift effortlessly away.
She looked at her husband carefully over breakfast sometime later, served in the small dining room by a discreet staff that exited the room after his brief nod in their direction. What would life be like now with Fitzwilliam Darcy, she wondered, when she would be subject to his will in everything? She belonged to him in every way, down to the very name by which she would now be called. His word was law in this household, and his wishes would prevail utterly.
She began to discover his wishes immediately. Darcy spoke brusquely as they began to eat, laying out plans for the day.
“I have matters to attend to at my club this afternoon. You shall use that time to speak with Mrs. Moffat and begin to learn the management of the household accounts. I suggest that you start with the kitchen accounts and plan our meals for the next week or two. That should keep you occupied for some time.”
“I need no assignments in order to keep me occupied. I am well able to order my own activities.”
He continued as though he had not heard her. “If you have time, visit a modiste today to have new dresses made. Mrs. Moffat will give your driver the directions to the proper locations. Everything will be placed on the Darcy account, and I expect the new clothing to be completed and delivered here for you within a week, unless there is something that requires more specialized work. They already know to expect you and what will be required.” He had not looked up from his plate as he delivered these instructions in a crisp, businesslike tone.
“Are my present clothes inadequate for your purposes?” Elizabeth asked, stung by the implied criticism.
Darcy must have heard the edge in her voice. He looked up at her for the first time. “Your current wardrobe was adequate for the station in which you were raised, but you are much greater than that now. You are no longer Elizabeth Bennet of Hertfordshire, but Elizabeth Darcy of Pemberley. Your clothing should reflect your new status. And besides, I cannot have you act as hostess or accompany me to events in town in your mourning clothes.”
“I intend to mourn my father for a full six months,” Elizabeth said with her chin raised defiantly.
Darcy nodded approvingly. “And so you should. You have my permission to wear your mourning clothes inside Darcy House as much as you desire, unless you have callers. Then you must change into something appropriate for the occasion. Outside the house, of course, you will dress in normal attire. I want no gossip about our union. Nobody is to know the circumstances of our marriage.”
“You are all consideration, sir,” she said aloud. “And all condescension besides,” she added privately to herself, her mouth curling down.
Darcy finished eating in silence and then took his leave of her for the day. “You need not plan any meal here for this evening,” he told her. “My aunt and uncle have invited us to dine with them. You should be ready to leave at eight o’clock. My uncle does not favor tardiness. I will see you then.”
Elizabeth waited until he had kissed her on the cheek and gone out of the house before rising from her seat. Facing the direction in which he had gone, she made the deep curtsy she imagined appropriate for a member of the royal household—perhaps even the prince regent himself. Then she returned to her room, determined to find the very blackest mourning attire she had. Perhaps Mrs. Moffat would be able to add black ribbons or combs for her hair. Prince Darcy, she decided, had little idea of the woman he had married.
CHAPTER THREE
“Why does he want to marry me?” Elizabeth had asked her uncle on the fateful day when Darcy came calling, while she and Mr. Gardiner were alone in the study at Longbourn. The shelves of books had been removed in preparation for packing and the desk was mostly bare; the room had a general feeling of upheaval.
“He wants an heir,” her uncle answered. “He needs one, in fact, as all great men do.”
Elizabeth nearly snorted in disbelief. “Of course he does, but it does not follow that I am the only one who can provide him with one.”
“Perhaps he finds you attractive.”
Now Elizabeth really did snort. “No. On that point, he made his opinion quite clear last autumn. He finds me tolerable, nothing more.”
“Does it really matter why he picked you, Lizzy?�
�� her uncle asked. “This offer he makes will save your family and add to their security in no small measure. What more really matters? Accept his proposal; it is a godsend.”
“Not until I understand more of what he wants, and why.” Elizabeth looked at her uncle defiantly.
Mr. Gardiner rose and walked across the room to the window, already denuded of its curtains, which overlooked the lawn. “My dear, there are certain things that do not need to be spelled out between gentlemen who understand one another.”
“I wish you would not be so obscure, uncle.”
“I may offend your feminine sensibilities by speaking plainly.”
“You will offend me more by not so speaking. Please say what you are thinking.”
“Very well, I will be explicit.” Her uncle turned to face her. “Darcy thinks that he can get what he wants from you, and that you will make no further demands on him.”
Elizabeth was truly puzzled. “I cannot imagine what you mean.”
“How many carriages do you suppose a man like Darcy owns? How many servants are under his command? What family jewels are his?”
“I have no idea.”
“Of course not, because you are not of his sphere. His manner of living is so high above yours that you can scarcely imagine it. Therefore, you will not ask him for the luxuries that a woman from a higher social standing might expect.”
Elizabeth let one corner of her mouth tip up. “Then he does not know my mother. There is no end to her imagination.”
“Nonsense. Even your mother has only a vague idea of the resources that will be at your disposal as Mrs. Darcy.” He paused. “Darcy also thinks that you will be biddable, that you will make no complaint when he takes his mistress to his bed instead of you.”
Now Elizabeth was truly shocked, not by her uncle’s words but by the fact that he was speaking of such things to her. “Does he have a mistress?”
Mr. Gardiner shook his head. “Again, there are certain things understood between gentlemen. One does not ask another about his paramours, but a man of Darcy’s standing has probably had at least one, perhaps several.”