Author's note: I will use a few lines from 'Pride and prejudice' but only a few. I won't emphasize them for you'll recognize them, won't you?
This story isn't finished yet, but I've written enough to ensure bi-weekly updates for a while.
Chapter 1
It is widely known that the brave men of the navy, the army and the militia, who need to act swiftly when facing danger, are inclined to exhibit the same quickness of mind when it comes to other important things, such as selecting a bride. Colonel Forster made no exception to this rule: in between ending one assignment and starting the next he planned to find himself a wife. A Cambridge friend invited him to spend his leave at his place and he organized an evening party in his honour. Of all the single women he then met Forster liked Miss Harriet Maynard best: she was pretty and smiled a lot and she was in awe for his uniform and rank. She was also barely eighteen and though no doubt a maiden, she didn't struck him as a shy maiden. This pleased Forster. His well-informed friend revealed that Miss Harriet had a six thousand pound dowry and that did not displease him. With three full weeks to make up his mind he made sure to see Miss Harriet as often as he could, which was nearly every day, but he was careful not to raise expectations even though he could only picture one young lady in his future living quarters in Meryton. This picture always included some envious officers, though to Forster's credit they were merely background figures.
At one gathering he was enjoying a conversation about Bonaparte with a widow his own age. When his eyes drifted off she hinted that she'd noticed his interest in Miss Harriet.
'I'm sorry Mrs Burgess. Be assured that I was keenly listening to you.'
'Miss Harriet is a pretty little thing, I don't blame you for giving her your eye and me your ear.'
The young lady might have heard her name, for she cast them a glance and when Mrs Burgess gestured her to come over she readily obliged. Miss Harriet joining them proved to make a change of topic necessary. The colonel asked her how she had liked the play she'd seen the previous evening. The young lady replied that she'd greatly admired the dress of Lady Spencer and the feathers in Miss Davenport's hair. She then realised that he must have been in the theatre as well, and playfully swatted his arm for not coming to see her in the foyer. When someone started to play the pianoforte it didn't take long for the host to suggest dancing, to the pleasure of almost all present. The colonel felt that dancing at a ball was utterly acceptable for an officer but that an impromptu dance was something altogether different. He didn't mind when Miss Harriet agreed to dance with the single brother of the hostess.
The next afternoon found the colonel on an errand for his friend's wife. While waiting for her order to be wrapped, he heard giggling outside the shop. Girls, he judged. They were talking about how attractive uniformed men looked, especially when they were handsome. 'Like your beau Harriet,' one girl said. Having heard her name Colonel Forster now recognized her voice: 'Which one?' This caused a new fit of giggles. 'F is a colonel and a commanding presence, but T is so very handsome. I wouldn't mind a kiss from him and I'm sure that in due time he too will make it to be a colonel.' "F" pictured young and keen officers trying to get in his good graces by being charming to his wife. He also pictured worse.
At the next occasion where he met Miss Harriet he kindly greeted her and then engaged himself in conversation with other people, single ladies among them. Miss Harriet did the same and – to his relief – her spirits did not seem affected by not being in his company. A week later he arrived in the small town of Meryton a single and unattached man.