Dear lovely readers,
I hope you like the edited version of the "Happiness in Marriage" and leave me good rating at the ebook stores. Below is the blurb and teaser.
Big hugs from raining Sydney,
Enid
When Elizabeth Bennet arrives at Hunsford to visit her good friend, she finds herself embroiled in a mystery and clashes with Lady Catherine in a battle of epic proportions. Can a befuddled Mr Darcy, torn between family loyalty and his admiration for Elizabeth, come to her rescue? Can Mr Darcy and Elizabeth solve the mystery and find her friend? Be warned – this Regency tale contains blood, brawls and a somewhat annoying Colonel Fitzwilliam.
~P&P~
'Well, the fact of the matter is that no, I do not know for certain if Mrs Collins is ill or well,' Mr Collins snapped pettishly. 'I would give a great deal to know the answer to the question myself! Mrs Collins has not done me the courtesy of responding to any of my notes or letters in the months since she left to attend to Lady Lucas during her recovery from the carriage accident.'
'Carriage accident? What's all this about? My wife hasn't been in a carriage accident!' mumbled Sir William, confusion furrowing his brow.
'Certainly, she has! The day after our wedding, Friday the 10th of January, Mrs Collins received an express letter at The Partridge at Bromley, stating that Lady Lucas had been in a carriage accident and required the assistance of her eldest daughter immediately. Out of natural family concern and feeling, I sent my bride straight back to Hertfordshire while I returned to Hunsford to resume my duties. I confess I have been disappointed to receive no word from my bride during this time. I had thought that your note apprising me of your visit, Sir William, meant you would be accompanying Mrs Collins herself from Lucas Lodge. It is, after all, high time she returned to her husband.'
~P&P~
'So, Charlotte has been missing for months, not responding to your letters, and you did not think it worthwhile to come to Hertfordshire to make sure she was alright?' Elizabeth demanded, feeling frustration and fear well up in her heart.
'I assumed she was too absorbed in caring for her mother to make time to answer my letters,' Mr Collins protested. 'It cost me great expense in procuring The Partridge for our wedding night, to please Mrs Collins, when we could have made the arduous 50 miles journey to Hunsford. I shall not spend a penny more on her!'
'I am shocked by your lack of urgency in this matter, Mr Collins. If Charlotte received a false express telling her that her mother was hurt, someone must have sent it. And if she left immediately for Hertfordshire but never arrived, I fear that someone must have deliberately kept her from arriving. Which means she has been in terrible danger for months!' Elizabeth rose from her chair to pace before the fire, unable to sit still any longer. Sir William sat back down to comfort Maria, who had begun to cry loudly.
~P&P~
'I beg your pardon, cousin, but what was that?' Mr Darcy asked his cousin.
'I can hardly believe it myself, Cousin,' Anne replied, not seeming to notice Darcy's abstraction. 'It is the most shocking thing in the world that Mama was arrested yesterday morning!'
'Arrested? That is exceedingly shocking!' Darcy exclaimed wholeheartedly, Anne having captured his attention fully with the statement, even though he was certain he was missing something.
Anne recounted the dinner Lady Catherine had planned for her clergyman and his guests; what dishes were deemed unsuitable, and what wine was just right for the lowly visitors. Darcy's mind was soon dulled by Anne's voice and drifted to the thoughts of his lovely Elizabeth. He wondered how Anne could speak so calmly about everything, including the argument and brawl that ruined the dinner, as though she had hardly been affected by the great outpourings of emotion and distress that she had witnessed. Who did Anne say had been injured? Anne's blandness, he thought, seemed to go right through into her soul, there could be no hidden depths of feeling in her.
'And then quite early yesterday morning,' Anne concluded her tale, 'Lord Metcalf called and explained to Mama how Mr Collins had said that she was the one who gave him the vase to strike Sir William, and that this made her an accessory to the crime and she would be held accountable. For now, because Sir William did not die of his injuries, the crime is assault and not murder, but Lord Metcalf said that would change if Sir William did not recover, which he felt was quite likely.' Where did this Sir William come from? Darcy remembered a Sir William Lucas of Hertfordshire; his daughter and Elizabeth were great friends. And how did magistrate Metcalf come to be in Rosings? Who sent for him? Darcy must have missed a big part of Anne's story.
~P&P~
'Mr Darcy, I believe you are labouring beneath some rather large misconceptions. I am most decidedly not a married woman!'
Darcy's expression softened with sympathy at her words, and he crossed the remaining distance between them, taking her hands gently in his.
'I understand you must have suffered terribly in the care of Mr Collins; I assure you that you are safe now, the wretch is locked away. You were wonderfully brave to return here after everything you must have endured-'
'Mr Darcy!' Elizabeth pulled her hands away and interrupted him, refusing to rest in the warmth of his tender words. 'You misunderstand me still. I have never married Mr Collins, thank Providence! I refused his proposal on no uncertain terms, at which wholly shocking turn of events, he turned his affections completely upon my dear friend and neighbour, Charlotte Lucas. She is the unfortunate Mrs Collins, not I!'
