The Trouble With Horses: A Pride & Prejudice Novella Variation Read Online Free PDF Page B

but she had missed the departure of the Bingleys and Darcy.
    That was six days ago and this morning she was going to stop her sulking and walk into town, if only to see if the book store had any new offerings. Wiping from her face the last remnants of her sorrow, Elizabeth refreshed her dress and searched for one of her sisters to accompany her journey.
    "Elizabeth, don't clamor down the stairs, oh my poor nerves!" Mrs. Bennet lounged on the sofa in the parlor fanning herself while keeping a keen eye on the lane out front. Elizabeth sighed and smoothed her skirts before entering the parlor proper.
    "Kitty?" Her younger sister looked up from the stitching in her lap. "Would you care to walk to Meryton with me?"
    Kitty, the second-youngest Bennet daughter, properly named Catherine at birth, wrinkled up her nose. "You only like the book store." She returned her attention to her stitches.
    "Well, yes, I do plan to stop in the book store, but I also hoped to retrim one of my old bonnets and thought you could help me select the ribbon? I'll give you the extra."
    "Oooh, take me Lizzie, take me! Miss Lettie has just received the loveliest shade of pink that would go perfectly with my complexion!" Lydia, pranced about the room in exuberance, completely forgetting that Elizabeth would be picking out ribbon to go with her own complexion, not Lydia's who had the darkest features of the Bennet daughters.
    "Lydia, Aunt Phillips is to arrive any moment! No, I really must insist you girls stay home today." Mrs. Bennet had paid calls around the county just yesterday with the daring tales of Elizabeth's most valiant rescue of one of the richest men in London. She made sure to include how the poor man in his delirious state repeated her daughter's name over and over again.
    Yes, she was sure that a proposal of marriage was just around the corner though the small voice in her head reminded her that Mr. Darcy had not come to call since his accident. But this little annoyance was quieted by the jubilation Mrs. Bennet felt as she remembered that Jane was continually invited to Netherfield Park, so perhaps Mr. Darcy liked her prettiest daughter instead. Either way, the prospects for her girls were looking up and she was sure to tell everyone of her acquaintance of her expectations.
    Without fail, a carriage rolled up and Elizabeth recognized it as her aunt's. Exasperated it was too late to make her escape, she found a seat by the window to pay courtesy. A slender woman of nearly forty alighted from the carriage with her smile fixed in place as she steadied her hat. The pale lavender cover clashed with her wine red dress, but then again, Aunt Phillips wasn't known for her keen fashion sense. Elizabeth watched as the arrival progressed through the typical pleasantries and she mostly closed her mind to the gossip the two former Gardiner sisters swapped freely with each meeting.
    After a few minutes, Elizabeth was able to excuse herself to see about the tea tray. The departure wasn't long enough as by the time she returned, the talk had turned to a most uncomfortable subject. Humiliated, Elizabeth's hands shook as she served her aunt and mother before finding her seat again.
    "-- and I said to Lady Lucas that it was impossible. No niece of mine would dare to enter the bed of an unmarried man."
    "Of course not! Lizzie read to Mr. Darcy in his ill state and helped treat his most violent fever with cold cloths. She saved his life!" Mrs. Bennet sniffed in indignation at the gall of Lady Lucas to spread such lies about her daughter. Just like a mother of a shelved daughter to sow sour grapes about the girls still able to catch a man's eye!
    Aunt Phillips stirred her cup slowly, keeping a keen eye on Elizabeth who was redder than a beet in the face. "So Elizabeth was never alone in Mr. Darcy's room?"
    Flustered, Mrs. Bennet took the bait. "Never with the door closed!"
    Elizabeth cringed. It was all Caroline Bingley's fault! She was certainly the reason these