Women of Pemberley Read Online Free PDF

heart."
    Jane spoke quickly, and James Wilson was a little disconcerted, but seeing tears in her eyes, he stopped and taking her hand, said, "Mrs Bingley, I want you to know that I would do anything to ensure that Emma and her children are happy. When I called to see my mother, who as you know is recently widowed, I found them all looking very unhappy. It was my mother who revealed the cause of their disappointment and, immediately, I saw that I could help. Pray, do not imagine that it has inconvenienced me in any way at all.
    "I have heard so much about Pemberley--this beautiful house and its great estate--it has been a great pleasure to visit here and meet so many members of this distinguished family. Believe me, the pleasure has been all mine," he said, adding with a smile, "so, in truth, you have nothing to thank me for. Indeed, I am in your debt and Mrs Darcy's for a wonderful evening and such generous hospitality," he said with so much grace and sincerity that Jane was quite overwhelmed. Not for the first time did she wish that her daughter had married the elder and not the younger Mr Wilson.
    Not long afterwards, he was preparing to leave and, though pressed to stay, insisted that he had to be at a meeting in Derby very early on the following day. Darcy and Elizabeth invited him to return and dine with
xxix
them, while Fitzwilliam urged him most cordially to visit them when he was next in Derbyshire.
    "Occasionally, I miss the cut and thrust of Parliament and would welcome some news straight from the horse's mouth," he joked, and Mr Wilson said he would look forward to their next meeting.
    "I may even have some good news for you on the Public Health Bill," he said as he took his leave of Fitzwilliam, who had declared that it was a long overdue measure and a great scandal that sanitation was left to the whim of slum landlords.
    Before he bade them all goodnight, James Wilson sought out Emma and arranged to call for her and her daughters after breakfast on Monday.
Elizabeth unwittingly overheard the end of their conversation:
"Are you sure we can stay until Monday?" Emma asked anxiously, to which he replied, "Of course, my mother will explain it all. David knows you are in safe hands. There will be no trouble, Emma. I give you my word."
Emma smiled and gave him her hand, which he kissed lightly, and minutes later, he was gone, leaving Elizabeth wondering how much Mr Wilson knew of Emma's troubled situation.
As she watched his carriage drive away, Elizabeth recalled a conversation with Jane, sometime before Emma's wedding. She had expressed a distinct preference for Mr James Wilson over her intended son-in-law, David, and when Elizabeth had queried her attitude, she had hastily produced a reason--it was simply that he reminded her of Bingley.
But it was not as simple as it seemed.
Elizabeth remembered her words clearly, as if they had been spoken yesterday, "Lizzie, not since that Summer when Mr Bingley came to Netherfield have I met so kind, amiable, and modest a young man as Mr James Wilson," she had said, with so much certainty that Elizabeth had been convinced that Emma was marrying the wrong Mr Wilson.
Now, almost ten years later, it seemed she was right. Unfortunately, it gave her no satisfaction at all.
xxx C HAPTER O NE
Emma
A
    S E MMA W ILSON TRAVELLED back to London, her mind was in turmoil. As for her heart, well, that had been left behind with her family and friends at Pemberley. Her two daughters, still weary
from enjoying themselves so thoroughly, had fallen asleep. Their nurse, equally exhausted as her little charges, had nodded off as well.
    While she was herself rather tired, she had stayed awake, trying to read, but the movement of the carriage would not let her concentrate.
Sitting across from her, James Wilson was immersed in his papers, which he had explained related to his client's business and were very dull indeed. Dull they may have been, but Mr Wilson applied himself to their study most