The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy by Sara Angelini Read Free Book Online Page A

Believe me, before you know it your eggs will be rotten and you’ll have to adopt from some third world country, then where will you be?”
    “Mom, I’m only 28, give me a break!”
    “I had Jane when I was only 20 and I tell you it’s better to have them when you’re young. I don’t think with my nerves I could have children if I had waited until your age, Lizzy.”
    Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Her mother’s nerves, indeed. She looked over at her father, who gave her a secret smile.
    “Why don’t you pick on Jane, she’s not engaged either!” Elizabeth protested.
    “Oh, but she’ll have no trouble, she’ll always be beautiful. But you, Lizzy, you must work to be married before your looks go! Besides, Jane has got her surgeon!” their mother said with glee.
    Jane looked at Elizabeth and they rolled their eyes. It didn’t matter that Jane was also a surgeon. Jane had fairly begged Elizabeth not to mention Bingley’s wealth; the attack of nerves would be intolerable.
    Her mother claimed to be of a delicate constitution, always complaining of flutterings and nerves, but she could often be seen in a fuchsia nylon running suit working on the elliptical machine in the garage while she watched the Dr. Phil show. Her father preferred to spend his evenings in the solitude of his study with one of his scientific journals or puttering on some invention in the garage. He had been excessively proud of Jane and Elizabeth when they went on to professional careers , Mary wanted to be a novelist, Kitty wanted to be an actress, and god knows what Lydia wanted to be - a stripper? . At least there would be two daughters who could take care of themselves when he died.
    “Well, Lizzy, do you have any prospects at all?” her mother asked. Sadly, she did not. Richard had not called her back and she had never had the nerve to ask Jane to discover the identity of Speed Racer. She supposed he was long gone. She shook her head. Her mother wailed.
    “I’ll be in the garage,” said her father.
    That evening, Jane and Elizabeth climbed into their old beds which had been pushed together into a king sized bed by Lydia. They laughed and then spooned in the bed.
    “Lizzy,” Jane said sleepily.
    “Mmm?”
    “I really like him.”
    “Good for you.”
    “I wish he weren’t so rich.” Elizabeth opened her eyes.
    “Why?”
    “Because people will always think I only want his money and I don’t. I wouldn’t care if he were a shoe salesman. Except I don’t think I’d like the constant smell of feet. But really, I wouldn’t care.”
    “Then you really deserve him. How did he make his money, anyway?”
    “His father was a computer millionaire and his mother was an actress. They died in a plane crash a couple of years ago.”
    “Oh, how sad.”
    “Yes. His sister is his only family now. She’s in real estate. She’s got her own millions.”
    “They have a very impressive home.”
    “He wants to sell it. He thinks it’s too much. It came with the helicopter and he’s never used it. I told him he should just buy something a bit smaller, maybe with a bit more land and have some horses. He liked the idea.” Elizabeth smiled and hugged Jane.
    “He seems like a really sweet guy,” Elizabeth said sleepily.
    ***
    A week before Christmas, Georgiana helped Darcy decorate his place by putting up a tree and stringing lights in the windows.
    “This is when I miss England most,” Darcy said thoughtfully as he and Georgiana put the last ornaments on the tree. “I miss the snow and Mrs. R. and seeing the house decorated. You know, I’m thinking about moving back in a couple of years.”
    “Really? I think I’m content to stay here forever,” Georgiana said. She turned off the overhead lights and they sat close together on the floor, looking at the glowing tree before them. “It’s warm and I have friends here. England is just dead parents and an empty house to me.”
    He looked at her in surprise.
    “Dead parents and an empty