A Spring Sentiment: A Pride and Prejudice Novella Variation (Seasons of Serendipity Book 2) Read Online Free
Author: Elizabeth Ann West
drink. His eyes struggled to focus on the signs around him, and he turned around a few times to look in all directions for the alleyway he had come in on.
"George Wickham. Fancy seeing you again." A familiar woman's voice called out to him in the mist. He shakily stumbled forward with a lopsided grin on his face.
"Sally Younge! What brings a good girl like you out here on a night like this?"
"Just looking for boarders. I run a house around the corner. Warm bed. Clean linens."
"Awww, you offering me a place for old times' sake?" He gallantly placed his arm around her shoulder as she began steering him toward the far corner of the street.
"Old times nothing. You pay, just like everybody else!" She threw his arm off as her boots made crisp, curt connections with the stone steps to her run-down row house. She stopped on the top step and looked back. Wickham held the railing and swayed gently in his drunkenness.
"How's about I pay the way I used to?"
Sally Younge laughed. "You're too far gone for that, but come inside all's the same. You won't be freezing on my front doorstep."
Mr. Wickham tipped his shabby hat and lurched forward with assistance from the railing. Using a wide gait, he managed to stumble up the steps and into the meager warmth of the tenement before Mrs. Younge, the former companion to Miss Georgiana Darcy, shut the heavy wooden door against the chill.
Chapter Three
Elizabeth Bennet skipped down the three flattish stones that she considered to be the steps of Oakham Mount. The morning was bright and cool with the scent of dew in the air. She had absconded from her aunt’s home for a much needed escape. The smokestacks of Longbourn puffing in the distance, she felt tears well up as she greatly missed her former life. Coming back to Hertfordshire was a daily trial in keeping her emotions regulated, and living a life in limbo between pitied orphan and married woman was doing little to quell her inner turmoil.
The familiar sound of horse hooves thundering down the road made Elizabeth smile in spite of herself. Last night at the disastrous Netherfield dinner, she and her betrothed had made a tenuous agreement to meet surreptitiously. Hastily, she wiped her eyes of any sign of tears and pinched her chilled cheeks for good measure.
The horse slowed as it neared and she heard the rider jump down from the mount. As she turned, her bonnet was caught in a February gust and fell to hang around her neck. She giggled at Mr. Darcy’s sudden gasp at her undress, covering her mouth with a gloved hand.
“Good morning, Mr. Darcy. What a delight to encounter you during my morning walk.” Elizabeth bowed her head into a curtsy.
“Well, at least this time you’re not falling out of a tree.” Darcy linked his arm with hers as poor Poseidon once again was forced to endure their human pace.
“Jumping, William. I jumped out of that tree.” She looked up at him without the intrusion of her bonnet and laughed. “And I make no promises as to the future inspection of trees at Pemberley, sir.”
After a moment, Darcy cleared his throat. “I may be able to show you one or two great climbers.” He looked down and winked at her, causing Elizabeth to blush and bump into his side for his tease with her hip.
As the turn for Longbourn came, the two continued to walk on past and Darcy noticed Elizabeth’s shoulders tensing. “I believe, madam, that we have yet to discuss our nuptials. And while I would prefer they had occurred yesterday, perhaps we had better agree upon a date?” Elizabeth sighed. She did wish to discuss these matters as they’d dined at Netherfield, but with the day’s dawning she wasn’t sure what to say with everything up in the air regarding her family. Should she marry before Lydia? Would that make the gossip worse? Would it be best to wait a full year from her father’s passing? Where would her mother and sisters live?
“I am afraid you’ve caught me once again unsure of my
"George Wickham. Fancy seeing you again." A familiar woman's voice called out to him in the mist. He shakily stumbled forward with a lopsided grin on his face.
"Sally Younge! What brings a good girl like you out here on a night like this?"
"Just looking for boarders. I run a house around the corner. Warm bed. Clean linens."
"Awww, you offering me a place for old times' sake?" He gallantly placed his arm around her shoulder as she began steering him toward the far corner of the street.
"Old times nothing. You pay, just like everybody else!" She threw his arm off as her boots made crisp, curt connections with the stone steps to her run-down row house. She stopped on the top step and looked back. Wickham held the railing and swayed gently in his drunkenness.
"How's about I pay the way I used to?"
Sally Younge laughed. "You're too far gone for that, but come inside all's the same. You won't be freezing on my front doorstep."
Mr. Wickham tipped his shabby hat and lurched forward with assistance from the railing. Using a wide gait, he managed to stumble up the steps and into the meager warmth of the tenement before Mrs. Younge, the former companion to Miss Georgiana Darcy, shut the heavy wooden door against the chill.
Chapter Three
Elizabeth Bennet skipped down the three flattish stones that she considered to be the steps of Oakham Mount. The morning was bright and cool with the scent of dew in the air. She had absconded from her aunt’s home for a much needed escape. The smokestacks of Longbourn puffing in the distance, she felt tears well up as she greatly missed her former life. Coming back to Hertfordshire was a daily trial in keeping her emotions regulated, and living a life in limbo between pitied orphan and married woman was doing little to quell her inner turmoil.
The familiar sound of horse hooves thundering down the road made Elizabeth smile in spite of herself. Last night at the disastrous Netherfield dinner, she and her betrothed had made a tenuous agreement to meet surreptitiously. Hastily, she wiped her eyes of any sign of tears and pinched her chilled cheeks for good measure.
The horse slowed as it neared and she heard the rider jump down from the mount. As she turned, her bonnet was caught in a February gust and fell to hang around her neck. She giggled at Mr. Darcy’s sudden gasp at her undress, covering her mouth with a gloved hand.
“Good morning, Mr. Darcy. What a delight to encounter you during my morning walk.” Elizabeth bowed her head into a curtsy.
“Well, at least this time you’re not falling out of a tree.” Darcy linked his arm with hers as poor Poseidon once again was forced to endure their human pace.
“Jumping, William. I jumped out of that tree.” She looked up at him without the intrusion of her bonnet and laughed. “And I make no promises as to the future inspection of trees at Pemberley, sir.”
After a moment, Darcy cleared his throat. “I may be able to show you one or two great climbers.” He looked down and winked at her, causing Elizabeth to blush and bump into his side for his tease with her hip.
As the turn for Longbourn came, the two continued to walk on past and Darcy noticed Elizabeth’s shoulders tensing. “I believe, madam, that we have yet to discuss our nuptials. And while I would prefer they had occurred yesterday, perhaps we had better agree upon a date?” Elizabeth sighed. She did wish to discuss these matters as they’d dined at Netherfield, but with the day’s dawning she wasn’t sure what to say with everything up in the air regarding her family. Should she marry before Lydia? Would that make the gossip worse? Would it be best to wait a full year from her father’s passing? Where would her mother and sisters live?
“I am afraid you’ve caught me once again unsure of my
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