Colonel Fitzwilliam's Dilemma Read Online Free

final year at Cambridge, and the other is in Europe doing whatever young men do when they have finished their tenure at university and need to let off steam.” Lizzy glanced up at Will. “Presumably you had a Grand Tour.”
    “I did.”
    “Ah, so you will be able to satisfy my curiosity on the point. I have often wondered what young men of fortune and privilege do with themselves in Italy, and Greece, and all those other places that are considered de rigeur .”
    Will chuckled. “You would be too shocked. I am sure it’s not good for you to be shocked, not in your condition. Suffice it to say that idle young men do need, as you so charmingly put it, to let off steam away from their own doorsteps.”
    Lizzy sent him a speaking look. “Your son needs to be informed.”
    Will rested a warm hand possessively on her belly. “What makes you so sure you are carrying a boy?”
    “I certainly hope I am.”
    “Good heavens.” Will flexed a brow. “Why?”
    “You need to ask me that?” Lizzy lifted her head from its comfortable resting place, genuinely surprised. “Of course you want a son to inherit and carry on the Darcy name. I know the anguish my mother suffered each time she produced a girl. She told me recently, as each confinement approached, she was convinced she would have a boy at last, cutting off the Longbourne entail. But she never did. I would prefer to know at the earliest opportunity that I have not inherited her inability to bear sons.”
    “Lizzy, as far as I am aware, it is impossible to inherit such traits.” He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her brow. “Besides, I have nothing against daughters, so please don’t spare the matter another thought. Pemberley isn’t entailed, nor will it ever be. If we have no sons, then our eldest daughter will inherit.”
    “Thank you.” Lizzy felt a welling of deep love for her husband’s consideration. She knew he couldn’t possibly be telling the truth. All men secretly desired at least one son, did they not? He sought only to put her mind at rest. “It is silly to worry about such things, I know, but I feel rather sorry for your cousin Anne, having the future responsibility for Rosings resting upon her shoulders. I am not suggesting that management of a large estate is beyond a woman, but it would be harder for her than it would be for a man. Any woman in that position would be viewed as an easy target and taken advantage of.”
    Will laughed. “In Anne’s case, not while there is still breath in Lady Catherine’s body. It would be a brave man who tried to take advantage of my aunt.”
    “Quite, but Anne is not cut from the same cloth.”
    “Which is why my aunt wishes to see her married. If not to Fitzwilliam then to someone equally suitable.”
    “Of Lady Catherine’s choosing?”
    “Very likely, but we cannot interfere.”
    “No, I suppose not, but…oh, I don’t know, it all seems so clinical somehow.”
    “Lady Catherine has many faults, I will be the first to admit that, but she does love her daughter and wants the very best for her. She understands Anne’s limitations and wants to ensure she, as well as the Rosings estate, prospers after she is gone.”
    “If you are trying to tell me not to get involved, then you need not waste your breath. It is not my concern.”
    “And we seem to have drifted a long way from the subject of the Briars.”
    “That’s because you very cleverly turned our conversation away from the subject of your infamous Grand Tour.”
    Will sent her a smouldering smile. “What makes you suppose it was infamous?”
    “If it was not, you wouldn’t be so keen to avoid talking about it.” Lizzy reached up a hand and gently traced the line of her husband’s face. “However, I will not press you. And, as to the Briars, I saw Lord Briar only briefly but he seemed like an agreeable gentleman, very affable. He sent you his compliments, by the way. As to Lady Briar, I thought her quite charming, although she is