Lydia Bennet's Story Read Online Free PDF

only good looking man in the room?
    Mr Wickham said he would like to show me Brighton, especially as I am a stranger to that part of the world and have never even seen the sea, but I do not know if I shall accept his invitation, kindly meant or not. That gentleman has a habit of teasing me, and though he can be the most diverting company, I am determined to find myself new favourites.
I cannot wait for tomorrow. I am the luckiest girl in the world!
Chapter 3
    LYDIA WAS AWAKE JUST after dawn for the start of the journey to Brighton, checking her luggage twice through in case she had forgotten anything. Harriet was up early too, having said goodbye to Colonel Forster, who was obliged to travel with his regiment, leaving in the small hours by horse, carriage, and wagon train to set up camp on Brighton’s Downs. “Poor things,” Lydia cried, “what an arduous journey they will have to endure and what’s more, it will not be eased by the delight of our company!”
    The girls set off in the Colonel’s coach for London, along dry roads in good weather, and soon entered the yard of the Bell Inn at Holborn to change the horses and take some much needed refreshment, for having been so excited before leaving Meryton, they found that they could not face a morsel on rising. “Lord, I’m starving,” Lydia shouted above the din. “I hope there will be some food left after these wretches have gone.”
    “Do not worry. I am sure we will be well catered for,” Harriet insisted, “and we have plenty of time. How I long for a cup of chocolate and some hot buttered toast!”
    All was bustle and confusion. A stagecoach was leaving for Brighton as they alighted; young maids dashed about with pitchers of porter, snatching them from the hands of those about to be bundled into and onto their conveyances, lovers were unwillingly prised apart, babies bawled and children mizzled, whilst a red-faced coachman twitched and snapped the ribbons to the call of the horn and the clatter of hooves on the cobbles. A very smart curricle, all gleam and polish, arrived just as Lydia and Harriet were handed out of the carriage by a surly boy who offered them breakfast, newspapers, and a chair in which to rest. The owner of this splendid vehicle was clearly not only a soldier of rank but a man of fashion, impeccably dressed from head to foot in beautifully cut and fitted apparel, with his curricle, horses, and even his boy servant all in shades of the same buff and blue to match his uniform. The small boy who held the ribbons leapt down before his master had stirred and, with a onehanded flourish, accomplished the task of quieting the horses and opening the door. All eyes were turned on this gentleman, for it was clear he was a rich man with a very decided air, and as he rose out of his seat, he caught Lydia’s eye and stared at her in a way that she confessed was not unpleasant to her.
    “Did you ever see such a fine-looking gentleman, Lydia?” Harriet indulged in another fit of giggles, punctuated with winks and nudges in the direction of the beau in blue as they made their way into the breakfast room. A few passengers were seated at a large table by the window, hurriedly consuming their rolls and coffee before they were called to the next coach.
“He is rather handsome, I grant you,” Lydia agreed, “and next to a scarlet coat, I would say that blue is very becoming!”
    They sat in a corner which afforded an excellent view of the company and noted that their fellow traveller, who had followed them in, sat opposite, where he continued to quiz them and unnerved Lydia to the point where she could scarcely meet his eyes. This encouraged Harriet to abuse her further.
    “You’ve made a pretty conquest there,” said Harriet, out of the corner of her mouth, as she spread her toast with thick yellow butter. “I’ve never seen such behaviour in all my life; such open admiration, he can hardly keep his eyes off you. I do hope that he is for Brighton and