Trouble With Wickham by Olivia Kane Read Free Book Online

sat near the fire netting a purse, she shouted, “Anne, Anne! Good news! I have just learned that the Radcliffes have a handsome son whom you will soon meet!”
    Turning back to the game Lady Catherine looked at her hand, laid down her cards and declared herself the winner.
    Lord and Lady Radcliffe could not immediately think of a reason to object to Lady Catherine’s enthusiasm for the match. The aforementioned Anne, a thin, pale girl who sat placidly upright in her seat at the dinner table without uttering a single word, was an enigma to them. But the same cloud of mystery hung over their own son’s preferences, as Hugh was a careful young man who did not have a history of bringing home women or breaking their hearts.
    In possession of an ample dowry, the young Anne was clearly not a gold-digger.  On the surface, she did not seem to possess visible charms of the type that rich men were known to swarm about; however, Lord Radcliffe had taught his son to esteem inner beauty and a good Christian character in addition to a fine female form; therefore he did not think Anne’s muteness or lack of vitality reason enough to dissuade an introduction.
    “Perhaps the introduction to Anne is the push that he needs,” Lord Radcliffe wondered aloud, a mistake he immediately regretted.
    “I am convinced that no other effort will be needed,” Lady Catherine decided, so convinced was she of her daughter’s desirability as a spouse. And so both families determined that uniting their offspring in happy and holy matrimony required only the necessary introduction of the two principle players. Lord Radcliffe offered up an invitation to their annual hunting party as a means to that end. The invitation was accepted immediately despite the warning that Fitzwilliam and his wife were already on the guest list.
    Lady Catherine shook off any apprehension regarding the awkwardness of mixing socially with her nephew and his new wife. “A large hunting party on neutral grounds is a splendid setting. Besides, I will not allow Fitzwilliam to ruin every chance for my daughter’s happiness. There is no greater proving ground for the start of a romance than a country house party.”
    “Is that not how we met, my dear?” Lady Radcliffe said, exchanging a look of affection with her husband.
    “Is that so?” said Lady Catherine, gazing with approval at her guests.
    Her unbridled excitement regarding the match caused the ensuing weeks to pass at a glacial pace. Lady Catherine was also brought up to believe that timing was everything; hence Hugh Radcliffe’s appearance in Anne’s life, uncannily on cue, was interpreted not as a matter of chance or coincidence, but as merely the graceful working out of her daughter’s destiny by a higher power.
    The match was obviously meant to be.
    Soon the journey to Bennington Park was upon them, the luggage trunks packed, the Darcy’s wedding gift crated and strapped securely into their carriage, and the party eagerly, if sleepily, set out soon after sunrise. They stopped for a small picnic on the way, otherwise the journey proved uneventful.
    “Do not forget that Fitzwilliam and his new wife will be in attendance. Remember, we must act as if we had no hopes dashed,” she reminded her daughter as their chaise rumbled down the lane, nearing their destination.
    “What hopes?” Anne asked plainly.
    “Hopes that you would be the mistress of Pemberley one day.”
    Anne blinked, unmoved by her mother’s disappointments.
    “That was only your hope. Clearly he and I had esteem for each other but no other feelings.” Anne’s total indifference to her cousin, as well as Fitzwilliam’s reciprocal lack of interest in Anne, was plain as the daylight, but Lady Catherine refused to see.
    Then, to please her mother, Anne added, “Fitzwilliam does possess many good qualities, punctuality being one of them and prudence. He is also a good shot. I am not unaware of his recommendations. I wish him and his wife a happy