Read Darcy & Elizabeth: A Season of Courtship (Darcy Saga Prequel Duo) for Free Online Page A

to burst
forth. It did not help matters when she finally noted the condition of her
hair. The pins and combs hastily placed earlier that day to restrain her heavy
locks were loose and not at all where she had originally secured them. It was
as if her hair had come alive, with whole clumps purposefully deciding to veer
off into a different direction than nature, or her clips, intended. It was
truly frightful, and even the echo of a resonant male voice declaring she was “incredibly
beautiful” was insufficient to squelch the other voice that chided, “This is
how the future Mistress of Pemberley presents herself?”
    Before she could analyze why that
second voice sounded more like Lady Catherine than her, the door opened. Relief
flooded her body when only Jane entered and closed the door behind her.
    “Oh, Jane! Your timing is perfect!
I have much to tell you, but first you must help me with my hair. I am an utter
fright!” She turned back to the mirror, pins and clips tossed haphazardly onto
the vanity surface before attacking her snarled hair with a brush. “If Mr.
Darcy were to return and see me like this, I am sure he would change his mind.
You always were better skilled at arranging hair, and if only I had previously
attended to your instructions, I would not now appear a bedraggled mess. I am
mortified to recall how often I eschewed proper styling in my impatience.
Somehow he saw past that, thanks be to heaven, but at the least I can
henceforth attempt to look the part of a respectable woman worthy of
being his wife and mistress to Pemberley.”
     “You are in love with
him.”
    Lizzy paused mid-stroke and
swiveled her head toward Jane. “Of course I am! Did you think I would consent
to marry Mr. Darcy otherwise?”
    “I never imagined you marrying Mr.
Darcy under any circumstance, Lizzy! Consenting based on a mercenary
inclination or a sense of obligation to help the family is unimaginable, and I
have spent the past several hours arguing with Mama that this would not induce
you to accept him. I assured her your opinion of Mr. Darcy improved after your
stay in Derbyshire, citing this and perhaps greater appreciation for his
character—and maybe a burgeoning affection—as plausible reasons for
this stunning development. Never, however, did I entertain the notion that you
might actually love him! How did this transpire, Lizzy?”
    “Oh, Jane! I am indeed a wretched
sister!” Lizzy crossed the room and clasped on to Jane’s hands. “You would be
justified to chastise and then never forgive me for being so secretive with my
feelings—”
    “I cannot chastise for that, Lizzy.
Was it not I who so recently affirmed that I was indifferent to Mr. Bingley and
quite over him? I suppose it is just that while I knew full well you did not
believe my self-delusions any more than I believed them, I detected nothing
indicating you thought of Mr. Darcy at all, let alone were in love with him! I
suspect I am annoyed at myself more than I am you.”
    Laughing together, the sisters fell
onto the bed.
    “For sisters who care for each
other as deeply as we do and have inhabited the same limited space for nigh on
twenty years, we certainly can be ridiculous in keeping ourselves reserved. A
lesson to be learned fortuitously before we are wed and carry the unhealthy
attitude into our marital relationships, is it not?”
    “I daresay it is, and”—Jane
patted Lizzy’s hand firmly—“you can practice your avowed newfound
openness by telling me how it is that you came to love a man you once swore to
loathe forever.”
    “It is a tedious story, Jane.
Convoluted. Embarrassing in places. Dismaying in others. I hardly know how to
make sense of it myself or how to comprehend that I came to love a man I once
detested! I am not sure I can explain it.”
    “You must try. I refuse to fix your
hair until you do.”
    Lizzy ran both hands through her
snarled tresses. “I am a fright, yes?”
    “Fairly so. But you are also
radiant,