Mr. Darcy Forever Read Online Free PDF

which was funny because she'd never imagined herself working with children. As an only child, Shelley had no experience of looking after anyone other than herself but there was something very satisfying about picking a child up when they’d fallen over or buttoning up a coat before home time or wiping a nose that needed wiping. She'd always thought of herself as the least maternal of women but perhaps things were changing.
    She laughed at the thought. She'd have to get a love life before she had a child and that didn't look very likely at the moment. The only man in her life was a strange lodger called Pie. Shelley wasn't even sure if that was his first name or last name because he didn't say much - he just sort of drifted in and out 6 Southville Terrace on his way to and from goodness only knew where. And, even if he had been able to hold a half-decent conversation, he wasn't her type at all - spending most of his time filling the enormous armchair in the front room whilst watching dreadful sitcoms, his mop of brown hair hanging loose and hippie-like over his shoulders.
    So, here she was, living a contented life in Bath. It really was one of the most beautiful cities in the world and she knew that it was a privilege to live there. She still got such a buzz from walking around the streets and discovering crescents and squares that Jane Austen and her family would have known. It was pretty amazing to be living in the very city her idol once lived in.
    Jane Austen was the reason that Shelley and Mia had bonded so quickly at drama school. Shelley would never forget walking into rehearsals one day and seeing Mia slumped against the wall, totally absorbed in a book which had turned out to be Sense and Sensibility .
    ‘ Oh, my goodness!’ Shelley had exclaimed. ‘I just love this book.’
    ‘ You do?’ Mia had said, looking up from her book in surprise.
    Shelley had slumped down on to the floor next to her. ‘I have to admit to being just a little bit in love with Willoughby.’
    Mia had giggled. ‘Me too. Apart from him breaking Marianne's heart and almost being the cause of her death, that is.’
    ‘ Well, that goes without saying. But he's no different from most of the men I've dated. They were all handsome heart-breakers too.’
    Mia nodded in sympathy. ‘They’re the best and the worst, aren't they?’
    And the two of them had been friends ever since.
    It was whilst Shelley was remembering this that a taxi drew up to the kerb and a crumpled-looking figure emerged.
    ‘ Mia!’ Shelley cried, running to the front door and flinging it open. She watched as Mia struggled with her suitcase and a large bin bag.
    ‘ What on earth is all this?’
    ‘ Oh, you know me – I never could travel light.’
    ‘ Is it your costume?’
    ‘ Yes, don't crumple it.’
    ‘ I wouldn’t!’ Shelley said. ‘Is it the old standby?’
    Mia nodded. ‘I couldn’t afford a new one.’
    ‘ Well, we can re-trim it and make it a bit special, can’t we?’ she said, daring to peer into the bin bag.
    ‘ Do you have any money for the taxi?’ Mia interrupted just as the taxi driver honked his horn. ‘I’m absolutely broke.’
    Shelley nodded, running into the house and coming back out a moment later to pay the red-faced cabbie.
    Then the two of them embraced.
    ‘ Gosh, I've missed you!’ Shelley said.
    ‘ I’ve missed you more,’ Mia said. ‘London’s not the same without you.’
    ‘ Well, of course it isn't but you wouldn't expect the inhabitants of Bath to do without my scintillating wit and vibrant personality, would you?’
    ‘ I wish you'd come back.’
    Shelley linked Mia’s arm and the two of them went inside with the bags. ‘I can’t come back. I've got this place now and I've even got a job - a proper job, this time.’
    ‘ You mean you’re not busking outside the abbey anymore?’
    ‘ I haven't done that for years!’ Shelley said. ‘I’m working at the nursery down the road.’
    ‘ A nursery? As in