A Summer Shame by Elizabeth Ann West Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Elizabeth Ann West
Bingley offering the most play-acted apologies Jane had ever witnessed. Anger at Caroline humiliating another one of her sisters festered in Jane's mind and she completely ignored Lord Bergamote's question about her family's connection to the Bingleys.
When the music ended, Jane watched as Mary was taken under the Colonel's arm to return to Matlock House as her dress was beyond ruin. The smug look on Caroline's face seared in Jane's mind. Without thinking it through, Jane turned to Lord Bergamote and told an absolute truth.
"My aunt's husband assisted Mr. Bingley with the lease of an estate in my home county last summer. Mr. Bingley sold the last of his family's factories and was looking to purchase. Unfortunately, he struggled to manage and my sister's husband, Mr. Darcy, intervened to keep the property afloat." Satisfied Lord Bergamote's ears were not the only to hear how inexplicably close the Bingleys were to trade, though Caroline and Louisa had always attempted to hide it, Jane excused herself and walked to the older Fitzwilliam brother on her own.
"I do believe I am feeling a touch faint. Should we follow Mary and Richard?" she asked sweetly, and Robert Fitzwilliam did not need to be asked twice. Giving a quick nod to his red faced mother standing across the room, trapped in a conversation with one of the Earl's friends, Robert and Jane made their escape.
❂❂❂
Chapter Five
Playing a triumphant nine, Elizabeth Darcy laughed. "Fifteen for two!" She pegged her points, desperately trying to catch up to Lydia's pegs on the cribbage board.
Lydia played a seven. "Twenty-two," she said flatly.
"Thirty for a run of four!" Elizabeth wiggled in her seat after paying her eight, marching her pegs four more spaces.
"Go."
Elizabeth frowned. "Are you even attending the game? You are winning you know."
Lydia pushed back from the table and stood, her round belly weighing her thin frame down. She rubbed her midsection and paced. "I so wish to go out of doors, to shop, to do anything but sit inside and read or play cards with my sister!"
Elizabeth frowned and picked up the cribbage board and playing cards, annoyed that her efforts to cheer her sister met with failure. "There is nothing I can do to undo your tragic decisions. Do not be mistaken in thinking I enjoy spending my wedding trip fulfilling the whims of a mad woman heavy with child."
For two months now, Elizabeth had endured the rants and ravings of her youngest sister who still refused to accept even an ounce of responsibility for her condition. There was no remorse, no contrition, only constant whining and complaints and Elizabeth Darcy had reached her limit.
Mr. Darcy stood outside the door, listening to the latest sisterly spat and chose an opportune moment to enter. Elizabeth rose to greet her husband, inquiring if his work was finished for the day.
"Yes, madame, though we've had a delivery and I wondered if you might assist me?"
Elizabeth glanced at Lydia who made a face and crossed her arms before asking the maid for more refreshments. Resisting the urge to remind Lydia she had eaten luncheon recently, Elizabeth pressed her lips together and accepted her husband's arm.
She began to giggle as he escorted her upstairs, but her expectations came to halt when he led them to her bedroom, not his. Laid out upon the bed was a riding habit of the latest fashion, a long coat in a military style with matching slit skirt.
"I know horse back riding is not your preferred mode of transportation, but I had hoped, that perhaps if you would try a few lessons, you might ride out with me on occasion?"
"Yes!"
"Now, I know lessons are daunting . . . wait, did you say yes?"
Elizabeth spun around with a broad smile for her husband. "Yes! Anything, everything to remove myself from the company of that spoiled child!"
Darcy chuckled and accepted his wife's embrace, looking over her head at the handsome riding habit he selected from a fashion print of his sister's back in
When the music ended, Jane watched as Mary was taken under the Colonel's arm to return to Matlock House as her dress was beyond ruin. The smug look on Caroline's face seared in Jane's mind. Without thinking it through, Jane turned to Lord Bergamote and told an absolute truth.
"My aunt's husband assisted Mr. Bingley with the lease of an estate in my home county last summer. Mr. Bingley sold the last of his family's factories and was looking to purchase. Unfortunately, he struggled to manage and my sister's husband, Mr. Darcy, intervened to keep the property afloat." Satisfied Lord Bergamote's ears were not the only to hear how inexplicably close the Bingleys were to trade, though Caroline and Louisa had always attempted to hide it, Jane excused herself and walked to the older Fitzwilliam brother on her own.
"I do believe I am feeling a touch faint. Should we follow Mary and Richard?" she asked sweetly, and Robert Fitzwilliam did not need to be asked twice. Giving a quick nod to his red faced mother standing across the room, trapped in a conversation with one of the Earl's friends, Robert and Jane made their escape.
❂❂❂
Chapter Five
Playing a triumphant nine, Elizabeth Darcy laughed. "Fifteen for two!" She pegged her points, desperately trying to catch up to Lydia's pegs on the cribbage board.
Lydia played a seven. "Twenty-two," she said flatly.
"Thirty for a run of four!" Elizabeth wiggled in her seat after paying her eight, marching her pegs four more spaces.
"Go."
Elizabeth frowned. "Are you even attending the game? You are winning you know."
Lydia pushed back from the table and stood, her round belly weighing her thin frame down. She rubbed her midsection and paced. "I so wish to go out of doors, to shop, to do anything but sit inside and read or play cards with my sister!"
Elizabeth frowned and picked up the cribbage board and playing cards, annoyed that her efforts to cheer her sister met with failure. "There is nothing I can do to undo your tragic decisions. Do not be mistaken in thinking I enjoy spending my wedding trip fulfilling the whims of a mad woman heavy with child."
For two months now, Elizabeth had endured the rants and ravings of her youngest sister who still refused to accept even an ounce of responsibility for her condition. There was no remorse, no contrition, only constant whining and complaints and Elizabeth Darcy had reached her limit.
Mr. Darcy stood outside the door, listening to the latest sisterly spat and chose an opportune moment to enter. Elizabeth rose to greet her husband, inquiring if his work was finished for the day.
"Yes, madame, though we've had a delivery and I wondered if you might assist me?"
Elizabeth glanced at Lydia who made a face and crossed her arms before asking the maid for more refreshments. Resisting the urge to remind Lydia she had eaten luncheon recently, Elizabeth pressed her lips together and accepted her husband's arm.
She began to giggle as he escorted her upstairs, but her expectations came to halt when he led them to her bedroom, not his. Laid out upon the bed was a riding habit of the latest fashion, a long coat in a military style with matching slit skirt.
"I know horse back riding is not your preferred mode of transportation, but I had hoped, that perhaps if you would try a few lessons, you might ride out with me on occasion?"
"Yes!"
"Now, I know lessons are daunting . . . wait, did you say yes?"
Elizabeth spun around with a broad smile for her husband. "Yes! Anything, everything to remove myself from the company of that spoiled child!"
Darcy chuckled and accepted his wife's embrace, looking over her head at the handsome riding habit he selected from a fashion print of his sister's back in
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