Mr and Mrs Darcy 02 Suspense & Sensibility Read Online Free PDF

worse rake."
    "What about Mr. Fillmore?"
    "Too old."
    "Mr. Sinclair?"
    "Too young."
    "The Marquess of Avonbury?"
    "I am told he snores."
    "Darcy! Can any gentleman who wants to court your sister possibly
win your approbation?"
    "No."
    Although she detected a flash of humor in his eye as he made the declaration,
she knew he only half jested. Any suitor of Georgiana's would have to prove
himself a man of flawless character, spotless reputation, and substantial
fortune just to win permission to cross their threshold.
    Darcy took his hat from the valet, who then disappeared as discreetly as
he'd arrived. She handed the cards back to her husband, who pocketed them.
    "Are you even going to show those cards to Georgiana?" she
asked.
    "Yes. She will want something to read after I lock her in the tower
you seem to think I am building."
    "So that is why you agreed to a London season for Kitty - so that
you could dispatch masons to Pemberley in our absence."
    "You have found me out. They are constructing a turret with a
winding, rickety stair as we speak."
    The repartee softened her mood, and she allowed a smile to reach her
lips. "Will the moat be finished by the time we return?"
    "It is under way. I am having difficulty, however, locating a troll
to guard the entrance."
    "I thought you would entrust that duty to no one but yourself."
    "They must pass by me to reach the troll."
    "Then he will soon become a very lazy troll, for he shall have
nothing to do."
    The sound of a carriage pulling up indicated that Darcy's driver waited.
Darcy bade her farewell and started to go, but turned round before he reached
the door.
    "Do you truly believe I am unreasonable concerning Georgiana?"
    She paused a moment before replying. "I believe you will not allow
her to settle for anything less than a man whose conduct and sense of honor
equal your own, and I admire your determination to protect your sister from choosing
poorly." She walked to him, to better hold his gaze. "I hope, however,
that when the time comes, you will allow her to have a voice in the matter of
her own marriage."
    "Of course I shall."
    She heard restless footsteps above - no doubt Kitty, crossing to the
front window yet again only to discover that the carriage below belonged to the
Darcys, not to Mr. Dashwood. In a way, Kitty kept watch from her own tower.
    "Will you hold Kitty's suitors to the same standards?" she
asked.
    "Your father's authority supersedes mine in that matter, but I hope
you know I will guard her interests as vigilantly as if she were my own sister."
    "I do know." She looked toward the door, wishing a caller for
Kitty would suddenly materialize on the opposite side of it. "I only hope
she will have someone for you to be vigilant about."
    "I thought you expected Mr. Dashwood to call?"
    "Last night I was certain of it. He seemed so sincere in his
attentions, even after he found out Kitty was not Georgiana. But each hour's
delay makes me fear that either his intentions were never as serious as he led
Kitty to hope, or - "
    "Or that in the bright light of morning, he more fully considered
the implications oi marrying a young lady with no fortune."
    "Any sensible man would. You did."
    She knew Darcy had weighed his love for her against the financial and
social benefits of marrying more advantageously. She had no fortune, no title,
no connections; in fact, in wedding her he had allied himself with a family of
compromised reputation following her sister's elopement. The very notion of an
engagement between them had brought the wrath of his aunt, Lady Catherine de
Bourgh, down upon them both.
    "Yet despite worldly considerations, I chose you."
    That he, whose every action was dictated by reason, had done so remained
a source of wonder to Elizabeth. "Not every man has the ability or the
willingness to disregard all that you did."
    "If Mr. Dashwood cannot, then his absence today is for the best.
Better he lets reason cool his romantic impulses now than rue them later."
    Had