A Spring Sentiment: A Pride and Prejudice Novella Variation (Seasons of Serendipity Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

fairly healthy as though it had been recently tended and a number of candelabras remained lit on the tables.
    “Hello? Lord Matlock? Lady Matlock?” Mary asked timidly in the night’s quiet. With no response, she tiptoed into the room and closed the door behind her.
    She didn’t take but five steps when a large snore made her nearly jump out of her skin. She couldn’t help it, but she called out, and the snorer began a frantic snorting as he awoke and popped his head up from the sofa in front of the fire. Mary covered her mouth to prevent a further scream and the hand holding her candle trembled most fiercely.
    Colonel Fitzwilliam rubbed his eyes and looked at the vision before him of Mary Bennet with her hair loose and her porcelain features hauntingly beautiful in the candlelight. “Miss Mary. Good evening.” He cleared his throat of the last congestion from sleep interrupted.
    “I-I, good evening, sir.” She quickly curtsied. “I came for a novel, but clearly I’ve disturbed you. Please forgive me.” She curtsied again and turned to leave.
    “Wait!”
    Her hand on the door knob, Mary let out a sigh. This was just like those silly novels she had been reading. Every voice in her principled mind screamed she should open the door and not look back. This was that moment that would be her downfall. Instead, her heart smiled and told her to have an adventure for once. Besides, no one would believe that the pious Mary would sneak to a secret meeting with a man in a library in the middle of the night. “Colonel, this is highly irregular. I really shouldn’t stay.”
    The colonel rose from the sofa and tugged on his regimental coat. “Miss Mary, you can trust that I will behave as the perfect gentleman. This is my mother’s house, and I would never dare to dishonor her or her guests, and never a lady as gentle as you. I simply didn’t want you to run away from me.”
    Mary’s heart melted a little as she took a good long look at the man who was cousin to her future brother-in-law. He was tall and a built fighter. She found his face to display a hardened look she suspected served more to protect his private feelings than to actually reflect a granite heart. “I cannot sleep. I suppose I can sit for a few moments with you.”
    The colonel smiled. “We are two of the same. I can rarely fall asleep in my own bed. Mrs. Henry swears the maids love that they need never to tighten my ropes, but the footmen hate the mess I make when I fall asleep with a drink in my hand, or worse, a cigar.” He laughed lightly.
    “You really mustn’t! What if you burn the house down?”
    The colonel shrugged. “If you’d seen what I have, you wouldn’t be so hasty to judge.” He handed her a small pour of brandy and Mary sniffed at it. “Never had the stronger stuff, eh?” She shook her head. “Well, sip slowly,” he said as he sat in the arm chair to allow her space on the sofa.
    Mary took another sniff and raised the glass to her lips. Just barely allowing the amber liquid to wet her tongue, she pulled back and made a sour face. The colonel laughed. “It tastes better with practice.”
    For a few moments they were quiet as Mary was at a loss for words. Here she was in a grand library with a dashing man, alone, at night. Her mind was busy wondering what her mother and sisters would think about such a situation when finally, the colonel broke the silence.
    “You know why I can’t sleep. What causes your insomnia?”
    She shrugged. “Since Papa died, I haven’t had a full night’s rest. I was never his favorite, nor Mama’s, but so much has changed . . ., I don’t ever feel safe.”
    The colonel nodded, which surprised Mary. She expected him to laugh at her again.
    “You are wise beyond your years, Miss Mary.” The colonel took another large gulp of his own drink, prompting Mary to try another sip of hers. This time her tongue was better prepared, and she could taste the sweetness after the burn.
    “Mr. Wickham is