Letters

Jaina Kenobi

Summary: A series of letters that pass through Pemberley have a variety of effects.

Disclaimer: Well, technically, since Jane Austen is in the public domain, I don't need a disclaimer at all... but I still don't own any of it. Sigh.


Mr. Darcy was pleased to find his wife's letter among his other papers, and so made it his first order of business to read and reply to her missive. Short as it was, it was sufficient to bring a smile to his face, albeit a reluctant one, as he penned his response.

Dearest Lizzy:

It is good to know that all is well at Pemberley. However, I fear you shall have to hold on to your news as long as we had originally anticipated, for though my business is indeed going well, I cannot leave until the appointed time. Unless you change your mind and decide to write me the news after all, there is little that can be done save wait. I admit, you have piqued my curiosity, but as nothing can be done about it at present, I must ask that you not torture me with repeated requests for my hastened return. Rest assured that I wish nothing more than to be back at your side, and I hope very much that I will not be delayed at all. But no, madam, I cannot hasten my return any more than I have already done.

As you will note, I have enclosed a letter to my sister, as well. I hope you will be so kind as to deliver it to her, though it contains little more than what I have here told you.

Until that happy time when we are again united, I remain

Your humble servant,

Fitzwilliam Darcy

He had, in fact, written to Georgiana the previous evening (as he had failed to include a letter to her in his first communication home), so it was no trouble to place her letter with Elizabeth's and send them both off, as he did immediately.

That was, he knew, going to be the most pleasant aspect of the day, and once it was finished he almost wished that he had postponed it. However, he still had Elizabeth's letter (and a half-dozen of her old handkercheifs, the ones that she threw away in favor of new ones a few weeks after they married and that he, in a moment of uncharacteristic sentimentality, rescued from the dustbin), and he could read it later. For the moment, the sooner he was able to conclude his business, the better. Then, perhaps, he could read something. Maybe he would even read Elizabeth's letter, and then he might daydream about her. After all, they had only been married a year. It was perfectly natural for him to be more in love with his wife than he could ever have dreamed possible upon his marrying her. She had been so beautiful that day, and her beauty had only increased...

This will never do, he told himself sternly. You have work to do, and the sooner you get it done, the sooner you can return to Elizabeth. He carefully avoided all thoughts of fine eyes and dark curls that accompanied that reminder. Willing himself to concentrate, he settled in for a long, tedious day.


Well, I was hoping for more of a response, but I suppose people were waiting on me to write more before they bothered reviewing. So here's the next chapter, which is still painfully short, I know. This is the last of the really really short ones, though, I promise. After this, chapters will be a reasonable length. And I have the whole story already written--it only needs editing--so frequency of updates depends only on how much I have to work and how motivated I am to post. Hint, hint.

Jaya