Hello my dear readers! Yes, I did just release a book (if you haven't bought your own copy, run to Amazon now! or read it again in KU), but a writer's work is never truly done. If I want to be able to support myself by writing full time - and you can bet I do - I need to get another book out in the next few months. I'm thinking of a September release for this one.

That said, read on for the first chapter of a new adventure for Darcy and Elizabeth!

Chapter One

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the mission of a lady with children is to see them all married very well.

Better than she did, if at all possible.

This mission is the same for sons as well as daughters, though the former are generally more stubborn than the latter at being properly directed. Many a mother over the ages despaired for sons that preferred more to enjoy the pleasures of life than to do their duty of seeking a suitable wife with whom to sire an heir and continue the family.

Frances Faulkner Fitzwilliam, Countess of Disley, was one such woman. Lady Disley had two grown sons well past their majority—her eldest, in fact, was already four-and-thirty, and his younger brother was but five years his junior. She often lamented the single state of her sons, Philip and Theodore—occasionally joined by her husband—and was not shy about haranguing them about their duty. Philip, Viscount Rowarth, was adamant that he would marry for love or not at all, and as he'd yet to meet a woman who inspired the emotion, he steadfastly remained a bachelor. Only Theodore had some excuse for being single in their parents' eyes, as he was a soldier in His Majesty's army, and was often away from home for months at a time. In fact, his most recent return from the campaign in France had been after more than a year's separation from his family.

And that was more than a year ago—plenty of time in which to find a wife and settle down. But neither of the brothers seemed inclined to be serious about the matter, choosing instead to visit with friends, enjoy their clubs, and go to parties where they were very much admired, but with no intention of forming any serious attachment to any of the girls to whom they were introduced.

Their cousin, Fitzwilliam Darcy, was too much the same. Nearing eight-and-twenty himself, and already in command of a vast estate, Lady Disley felt it was past time he select a wife to manage his household. Her nephew, unfortunately, was not as outgoing as her sons, and so had more difficulty in conversing with those he had not met before. Darcy had made it clear some time ago that could he stay at Pemberley all year round, he would.

"My lord," said the lady to her husband one day, "we really must do something about the boys."

Richard Fitzwilliam, the Earl of Disley, did not look up from his newspaper. Emitting a light scoff, he replied, "So you have said, my dear, at least once a week for the last five years."

"Fie, my love," Lady Disley said with a flip of her hand. "You know you are as adamant as I am that they should marry! Philip will be the last Earl of Disley if he does not soon take a wife. Do you not understand that we shall never have grandchildren if our sons do not marry?"

"Frances, you know very well that we will once our daughters are married," Lord Disley reminded her. The couple also had twin daughters, Cecilia and Olivia, who were seventeen. They were to have their come-out in the upcoming Season—which they and their mother were looking forward to with great pleasure and which their father and brothers were not. Lord Disley had said to his wife on more than one occasion that he was just not ready for his "surprise girls"—called so due to their coming so long after the birth of their second son—to be grown up.

"Yes, and then if one of them should have a son, the title will pass to him and out of the family," his wife reminded him in turn.

That was the one point on which His Lordship most agreed with his wife—that the earldom should remain with the Fitzwilliam line. It had been his family's honor for nearly three hundred years to have the Disley earldom and Rowarth viscountcy, and it would pain him indeed to see it passed to another.

Disley lowered the newspaper slowly, casting a shrewd gaze to his lady. She was a sharp one, his wife, as she knew precisely which points to needle every time the subject of their sons' bachelorhood was brought up. Lady Disley did not bother to hide her triumphant smile.

"All right, my lady, I see what you are about," said he. "You've some scheme in mind, haven't you?"

Lady Disley grinned. "I do indeed! I should like to invite some friends to the Court for a few weeks' visit—"

"Frances, do you not recall your own determination to have the girls in London in only a fortnight?" her husband interjected. "You said yourself you wanted to arrive in Town a little early, that they might have several new gowns made for all the balls and parties you intend to take them to."

Lady Disley's expression became thoughtful. "Yes, there is that… Not to mention we have the girls' presentation at Court and their come-out ball to prepare for."

"And yet with so much shopping and party planning to be done, you still have time to be concerned over the unmarried state of your sons," Lord Disley mused. "I cannot fathom how you manage it all."

"I am a mother, Lord Disley. It is what we do."

He could not argue the point. "I agree, my dear, that both our sons marrying is long overdue."

"And Fitzwilliam," said Lady Disley. "He's but two years younger than Theodore, and Pemberley really is too large a house for only him and Georgiana. He needs a wife!"

"Indeed, Lady Disley. With your plan to be in London early to raid the linen drapers and buy up all the most fashionable fabrics for your daughters' wardrobes, therefore to have an edge on the other mothers of the ton, how then do you propose to have both of your sons and your nephew married by the end of the Season? All three of them do their utmost to spend as little time in Town as may be during those six months."

"Philip and Theodore are already to be in London for the girls' come-out ball," Lady Disley replied. "We must insist that Fitzwilliam attend also."

"That won't keep any of them in London for long, Frances," said her husband with a snort, before lifting his newspaper and giving it a slight shake to even it out again.

Lady Disley scoffed. "They will stay in London if they know what is good for them, Richard," said she. "As we cannot have a house party—it probably is too close to the Season anyway for such a scheme—then I shall just have to see to it they are all of them invited to every ball and party the girls will be attending. It will stir up a little brotherly protectiveness in our sons, and give Fitzwilliam a taste of what it will be like for Georgiana next year."

"I doubt Fitzwilliam will allow his sister to debut next year, given what happened this summer."

"I hardly think he will punish her for that long," Lady Disley said then.

"And I hardly think he would have his sister debut at an age younger than our daughters," said Lord Disley. "Cecilia and Olivia are already seventeen, Georgiana little more than fifteen. Her birthday's not until the Season is over, so I'd not put it past my nephew to wait until the year she's to turn eighteen."

"The poor child. To miss so much gaiety… I am sure that seeing her cousins having such a grand time will make her envious," observed Lady Disley. "Perhaps that will draw her out of her melancholy and lead to Fitzwilliam allowing her to debut early."

Lord Disley sighed. "My dear, why don't you concentrate on your own children, and leave Georgiana to her brother."

"Oh, if you insist I should, I will. For now," the countess agreed. "But I still mean to see to it that both of our sons and our nephew are married by the end of the Season. I'll not settle for anything less."

Once again the earl lowered his newspaper, and in noting the determined set of her features, began to wonder if she might just succeed in marrying off her sons at last.

-…-

Fitzwilliam Darcy watched as Mrs. Annesley touched the arm of his sister and gave a very subtle incline of her head toward the tea set that had just been delivered by the housekeeper. Georgiana colored, put her needlework aside, and stood to serve.

"H-how do you take your tea, Lord Rowarth?" she asked their eldest cousin hesitantly.

Philip offered her a smile. "Georgiana, you really needn't address me so formally. Cousin Philip, or just Philip, will do."

Georgiana blushed again, her eyes darting between Darcy and Mrs. Annesley. "But… but we are taught in school that a viscount—"

Philip waived off her words. "Any other viscount, yes—be as formal as you were taught. But we are family, dearest. Others may differ, of course, but when not in company you are more than welcome to address me by my Christian name, as I do you."

He sat forward and smiled at her again. "And I take my tea with a wedge of lemon and two sugars."

With a hand that only shook a little, Georgiana poured a cup of tea, adding the lemon and sugar as he requested, and handed it to him. Philip smiled and nodded, and sat back with ease. Georgiana flicked a glance toward Darcy again and he also offered a nod and a smile. When serving Philip's younger brother, Theodore, she was a little less reserved, and with Darcy even less, but even with him she kept her eyes cast down. After pouring for Mrs. Annesley and then herself, Georgiana sat down again.

Darcy sighed softly, but was gratified by Mrs. Annesley's presence; the widowed lady had been working very diligently with his sister to draw out the smiles and cheerfulness she'd always had at the ready before Ramsgate. Before Wickham. Georgiana had withdrawn so far into herself after learning the truth about that scoundrel that she rarely spoke more than two words together. She often had to be reminded to do her duty as hostess when they had guests, as she was now so painfully shy.

Grinding his teeth together, Darcy forced thoughts of his nemesis from his mind. It would not do to have either of his cousins or his sister take notice of a darkened mood, for the former would only needle him with questions, and his sister would only be discomfited by the answers.

Viscount Rowarth and Colonel Fitzwilliam were at Pemberley with him and Georgiana because they were avoiding their mother. Of late she seemed to have renewed her mission to see her sons married, despite being kept busy with plans for their sisters' debut in the coming Season. But Philip was over thirty and Theodore would soon reach that age, and in the countess's mind, they should have both of them already made her a grandmother. Darcy could well sympathize, as his aunt had also taken it upon herself—in the absence of his own late, honored mother—to begin pressing him to at last give Pemberley a new mistress.

And he would...when he was good and ready.

Ralston, his butler, entered the parlor then, carrying a letter on a tray. He stopped by Darcy's chair, and when he had taken the folded paper, the older man bowed and departed as quietly as he had entered.

"Who's it from, Will?" asked Theodore.

Darcy examined the handwriting on the front and tried not to frown. "Your mother," he replied, then turned the note over and broke the seal. He was not altogether surprised by the message within, and stifled another sigh as he finished reading and folded it again.

"What did my mother have to say, Will?" asked Philip. "Does she fear we will not make our required appearance at the twins' come-out ball? It's not for another six weeks, for goodness' sake!"

Darcy scoffed. "Not precisely. Though it is mentioned that you and Theodore will be there, my aunt's letter is a strong request for my presence also."

The brothers looked to one another, with Philip grinning as Theodore laughed. "You mean you've been summoned to appear!" he cried.

"So it would seem," said Darcy sourly.

"Come, Theo—you know that Mamma's been as much on Darcy to marry as she has the two of us of late. You'd think she had a third son, the way she's been after him," Philip mused.

"So you will go to London for the winter, brother?" Georgiana asked softly.

Darcy looked to her. "We will go," said he with a smile. "I'll not leave you and Mrs. Annesley here alone."

Mrs. Annesley's serene expression brightened. "Oh, that would be delightful, sir! I have family in London I've not seen in some years that I will be able to renew my acquaintance with."

A genial smile lifted the corners of Darcy's mouth and he inclined his head. "You are welcome, ma'am."

Though the debut of his female cousins was still six weeks hence, Darcy began making plans for an extended stay in London that evening—it was always his preference to plan ahead when he could. There were many matters to be settled about the estate and in the villages over which he was patron before he could pack himself and his sister off to a city neither of them truly enjoyed for however long his aunt demanded he play her game. Like Philip and Theodore, he wished to make rather a different sort of match than so many of their friends' parents—the three all desired to marry for love in a society where making an advantageous match to preserve or increase property and wealth was the main goal of marriage. The viscount and his brother had long said that was why they had waited to marry.

Darcy, of course, had a much different reason for putting off marriage. The death of his father near five years before had thrust upon him the mantle of "master of Pemberley" long before he'd expected it. He knew something of how to manage the estate and tenants, of course, but losing his father in such a tragic way as he had and taking on the guardianship of his much younger sister had been almost more than he could bear. It had taken time to get used to his new role, to ensure that the staff in the house and the tenants without not only respected but also trusted him.

Though he had always been somewhat fastidious, the change in the dynamic of his household—where already one parent had been years gone—had led to his becoming more so. Whenever he could, Darcy planned ahead so that contingencies were in place should anything happen to him. If he died tomorrow, every person who depended on him would be well-looked after.

Although the ball presenting his cousins Cecilia and Olivia to society was still six weeks in future, his design was that he, Georgiana, and her companion would arrive just after the new year. Darcy would have time to take pleasure in his club and visits with friends before the family's first grand display of the Season, and his own unwilling immersion in the marriage mart.

At least Philip and Theodore would be suffering along with him.