Lady Elizabeth's Affectionate Heart Read online

  Lady Elizabeth's

  Affectionate Heart

  

  A Pride and Prejudice Alternative Story

  by

  Gillian Smith

  Copyright © 2019 Gillian Smith

  Editor:

  Patsy Adams

  Cover image:

  Painting “Mrs. Dottin” by John Hoppner from 1804

  All rights reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 1

  Matlock House, London

  12 April 1805

  A young Fitzwilliam Darcy sat in a chair in the sitting room and watched as his cousins Richard and Elizabeth played a game of chess, while the Earl and the Countess sat around the fireplace with their eldest child, Lord Fitzwilliam, discussing what breed of horse Thomas wanted for his approaching one-and-twentieth birthday.

  “You do know, taking longer to make your next move does not intimidate me one-bit, Brother,” Elizabeth teased.

  “Quiet child, I am thinking,” Richard replied without looking up from the board, an evil smirk forming on his lips.

  “No, you’re only prolonging your imminent defeat. Now, make the only move you can and move your knight. I will put you in checkmate and you will have to convince Mama to let me skip out on going to Rosings for Easter,” she stated whispering the latter part so that her parents would not hear.

  Every Easter the family would visit Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Kent and as beautiful as the estate Rosings was, the woman’s overbearing attitude and high airs of useless wisdom was not worth the sight of the magnificent gardens and breathtakingly lakefront walks Lizzy enjoyed so much. The girl was very fond of nature and though there were parks in London, this was nothing compared to the wildness and freedom of the grounds surrounding Rosings. There was one place that absolutely out-shined it: Pemberley. But with Lady Anne’s recent illness and death, their visits to the estate had stopped as Mr. Darcy had taken his wife’s lost very severely and hasn’t been up to visitors much.

  “Lizzy, am I to believe that if you are the victor of this chess match, Richard will have to convince your mother to allow you to miss the yearly Easter visit to Rosings?” Seventeen-years-old Darcy asked panicky, hoping that by some miracle Richard would win if this was in fact true. Rosings would be dreadful if Elizabeth did not go. She was always up to some sort of mischievous scheme that never ceased to entertain him.

  “Will you ssshhh, Fitzwilliam? My mother will hear you and these past forty-five minutes of waiting for Richard to make his move will all be for naught,” Elizabeth whispered practically irritated with her brother’s childish antics sat prolonging the game.

  “Well, aren’t you a confident, little lion?” Richard teased; he also did not want to go to Rosings without his little sister. She was his partner in crime since Fitzwilliam was always the poster boy of proper manners and good behaviour. When it came to getting on Lady Catherine’s nerves, no one could do better than Elizabeth. The only problem was, he was going to lose this chess match. However, he knew that Darcy also was not in favour of leaving Lizzy behind, thus an idea popped into the young man’s head. If he somehow managed to maneuver a way to let his cousin expose the bet, he could not be held accountable for their parent’s ending the wager. Smiling mischievously, he put his plan in motion counting on his sister’s firm belief in honesty to end the deal.

  “Darcy, what do you suggest my next move should be?” he asked feigning true curiosity.

  “Oh no, you don’t. You will play this match using your own wit and strategy!” The girl demanded. “Now, make your move.”

  “Calm down, Lizzy, I only want his opinion,” Richard said louder in an attempt to gain his parent’s attention. His face smug with a victory when out of the corner of his eye he saw both his parents staring at the three of them.

  “You two have been at that game for quite some time now,” Lady Matlock called out and seeing the way Elizabeth was staring at Richard, realized that her youngest was up to something. Nudging the Earl in his side to get to the bottom of whatever mischief their children were up to, she sat looking on with a critical eye.

  Lord Matlock rose and walked over. “Which one of you is going to tell me why a game that should have taken Lizzy only five minutes to win has now lapsed the better part of the hour?” He questioned patiently at his children. The father was obviously too optimistic and realized that neither Richard nor Elizabeth was going to speak. “Well, Nephew, it seems your cousins are quite determined to remain silent. Would you care to elaborate on what exactly is going on here?”

  Darcy swallowed deeply looking at the scene playing before him. Lizzy was glaring intently at her brother with murdering eyes, while Richard sat with a smug grin on his face. Fitzwilliam realized that his cousin may have played the game of chess horribly, but turned the tables by using Elizabeth and himself to emerge the victor by having the beat revealed and voided by default.

  Turning to his uncle, he revealed all he knew, as he could not disregard the Earl’s request. “Lizzy waged the loser of the match would have to convince Aunt Helen and yourself that the victor could not attend Easter at Rosings,” Darcy said averting his eyes from everyone in the room. He could feel the girl’s gaze piercing the skin on his face and hearing her brother snicker in victory.

  “Elizabeth!” Lady Matlock’s voice echoed through the room. A wager of such a negative nature was completely unacceptable. No child of hers was going to behave so disrespectfully. “That type of behaviour is insufferable. You are the daughter of an Earl and Lady Catherine is your aunt, whom you will respect. Do I make myself clear?” The woman scolded her child firmly as she rose from her seat and walked over to the group assembled around the chessboard.

  Elizabeth stood apologetic. “I apologize Mother and Father for making such poor judgment and engaging in such a disrespectful wager with Richard. My behaviour is inexcusable. Please accept my sincerest apology and promise to try to behave as a proper young lady should.”

  Lady Matlock nodded her head in acknowledgement to her daughter’s apology, and then turned and swiftly flicked both Richard and Darcy ears. “I expect better from the both of you. Now go on, the three of you are dismissed.”

  The boys bowed to the Lord and Lady Matlock, wished them good evening and left the room. Elizabeth walked over and hugged her parent’s placing a small peck on their cheeks. She was never one to leave a situation tense and having her parent’s look at her with disappointment was such a horrible feeling. Being only thirteen-years-old, she wanted to enjoy her carefree life before Richard would go to Royal Military College at Sandhurst and Fitzwilliam would go back to his first year at Cambridge. As annoying as they were, Elizabeth could not deny how much more exciting life was when the three of them were together.

  Walking out into the hall, she saw them waiting for her at the bottom of the staircase. While most of her anger had washed away with the thought of them leaving soon, the portion that remained was enou
gh to make her square her shoulders and continue walking briskly past them.

  “Come now, Lizzy, will you really go to bed mad at us?” Richard asked eyes sinking and mouth fixed in a begging pout. Fitzwilliam stood next to him, hands intertwined behind his back and a very similar facial expression placed on his face.

  Elizabeth stopped mid-step and turned to face the traitors of the evening. “Richard, you cheated and Fitzwilliam, you are being punished for being the messenger,” she stated firmly, her voice diluted of humour but flooded with determination. “The both of you will only be granted my forgiveness if I am presented with two new books before tomorrow’s trip to Rosings,” the girl finished without waiting for their responses, shutting the door behind her and allowing Sarah to prepare her for the night.

  “Richard, you should be ashamed of yourself,” Darcy hissed while punching his cousin in the arm as they both ascended the stairs towards their rooms.

  “What was that for?” He squealed like a girl.

  “For Aunt Helen punishing me for your lack of skill in chess. For future references, please leave me out of your childish schemes.”

  “You should be thanking me, Darcy. If it were not for my childish schemes, Lizzy would be staying here rather than going to Rosings and leaving us to deal with Aunt Catherine alone!”

  “I should thank you? For what? For getting us scolded by the Earl and Countess? Or for the fact that Lizzy is up in her room planning on how get her revenge? And besides, do you think you would persuade your mother to allowing Lizzy to stay here? I do not think so, Cousin. You are two years my senior but I am the wiser,” Darcy said frustrated that Elizabeth was cross with him.

  “Relax, my parents would never think ill of the great and always polite Fitzwilliam Darcy and Lizzy will forget the entire thing soon enough. All we need to do is just get her new novels.”

  Darcy shook his head at his cousin’s mindless behaviour and closed the door behind him. Elizabeth being angry with her brother happened so often it would be unusual if there was a day when Richard didn’t have to give her some sort of peace offering. Darcy, however, was not used to such vexation from her and he had to admit he did not like the feeling. He liked his little cousin very much; she was entertaining, fearless, intelligent and unguardedly bold. There was no other girl like her. He resolved to rise early and be at the bookshop the moment it opened to get her new books she requested.

  Morning arrived and while his valet Michael positioned his cravat, Darcy’s eyes wandered out his bedroom window facing the garden towards the rear of the townhouse. His eyes focused on a small figure he was sure was Elizabeth’s, sitting on the tree swing with her bunny Dexter situated on her lap. He watched as she slowly combed her fingers through the animal’s fur and smiled at how carefree Lizzy looked. Remembering his plan to be at the bookshop within the hour, he rushed Michael to finish his dressing and ordered for his horse Tiberius to be brought to the front.

  Fitzwilliam rode towards the bookshop he frequented whenever he was in town. Gardiner’s bookshop was one of his favourites for two reasons. First, the selection was great and their ability to locate rare volumes was remarkable. Second, because Edward Gardiner was a very intelligent knowledgeable man that Darcy enjoyed conversing with; an odd occurrence considering his uneasiness with strangers and a small chat banter.

  “Good morning, Mr. Darcy, you’re early today.”

  “Good morning, Mr. Gardiner. I am actually here on a sort of secretive matter,” the boy replied, a slight grin curving at the corners of his mouth.

  “Ah I see. How may I be of assistance, Sir?”

  “You see, Mr. Gardiner, I seem to have gotten myself into a bit of trouble with Lady Elizabeth and I seek to earn her forgiveness by presenting her with two new novels.”

  “Mhhm, and you would like to know if she has placed an order on anything recently?” Mr. Gardiner finished Darcy’s story knowing where it was headed. The youngest Fitzwilliam was his most frequent customer. Lady Elizabeth would come into the shop and sit in the chair located at the back and read. Often times she would sit here with his niece, Miss Jane Bennet as the girls have grown to become very good friends and correspondents.

  “Precisely,” Fitzwilliam nodded in agreement, as he watched the man disappear behind the shelves located in the back of the counter and return holding three new books in his hand.

  “These arrived yesterday. Lady Elizabeth has asked repeatedly for updates regarding their arrival so I am quite sure these will do the trick.”

  Darcy’s eyes scanned the titles and he could not help but smile. The novels were exactly the sort of titles Elizabeth would be impatient to receive.

  After thanking Mr. Gardiner for his services, he mounted Tiberius and rode back to the Matlock House.

  Chapter 2

  “Where is Fitzwilliam?” Lady Matlock questioned surveying the occupants of the breakfast table and noticing her nephew’s an uncharacteristic absence.

  “I am here. My apologies, Aunt,” Darcy said entering the breakfast room. He bowed and took his seat next to Thomas. The place happened to be directly across from Elizabeth, giving him a perfect view of her questioning stare.

  “Nephew, what could have possibly had you away this early in the morning?” the Earl asked, taking a piece of bread and buttering it.

  “Just a small matter of business, Uncle. Nothing to worry over,” he replied placing his napkin on his lap.

  “We’ll be leaving for Rosings at noon. Fitzwilliam, will your father and Georgiana be joining us at Rosings this holiday?”

  “Yes, Aunt. He and Georgiana should be arriving before our party.”

  “I’m extremely excited to be seeing Georgie again. I’m sure she has grown much taller than I am,” Lizzy exclaimed.

  “Are you admitting you want to go to Rosings?” Richard looked up from his plate. “And as to Georgie’s height, no offence, dear sister, but a two-year-old would be taller than you,” he teased.

  “Blasphemy, I would never wish such a thing and do not tease me for my size, Brother, for I can murder you in your sleep,” Elizabeth spat defensively.

  “Lizzy, do remember to lock all the impertinent and flaring remarks in a box before we arrive at Rosings,” her mother spoke. “Can we have a peaceful Easter this year? I’m sure Lady Catherine has had too many filled with finding you caught in some tree or hearing about your wild escapades in trying to catch a duck,” her mother stated hoping her daughter would take her words seriously this year.

  “Mama, I said I would try to be a proper young lady, so I fully intend on trying. Please, have a bit of faith in me. I am capable of holding my tongue and pouring tea,” Elizabeth said, hearing Richard snort at her remark. She looked towards him to spit fire, but Thomas halted the insult forming in her throat.

  “Richard, I suggest you follow Lizzy’s example as we’re all aware that it was you who pushed her into the lake last Easter, causing her to get the brilliant idea to catch a duck.”

  “Well, I’m finished. Remember, we leave promptly at noon,” Countess reminded rising with her husband. Thomas excused himself directly after, leaving only last night’s chess party remaining in the breakfast room.

  “Will you not tell us where you were this morning?” Richard requested eyes pointed sharply at his cousin.

  “Only if Lizzy agrees to forgive me for last night,” he replied tossing a very sly look towards the girl.

  “The terms of my forgiveness have already been spoken for, they’re not negotiable,” Elizabeth reminded, her eyes conveying her seriousness towards the matter.

  “Then it seems you’ll just have to wait, Richard,” Darcy stated mockingly at his cousin who had a strong look of being put out plastered across his face. He rose and after politely bowing to Elizabeth, he exited the breakfast parlour and went to prepare for the trip to Kent.

  Sharply at noon, the carriages left Matlock House with Thomas riding with his parents in their family carriage, and Fitzwilliam riding with Elizabeth
and Richard in Darcy coach.

  “Well Lizzy, since it is quite evident that you’re still fairly upset over the events of yesterday, please allow me to offer you my sincerest apologies for Richard being a coward,” Fitzwilliam spoke after they had been travelling in silence for over half an hour. He reached under the seat, pulled out the three novels, and passed them across the carriage to Elizabeth who was seated next to a sleeping brother.

  The girl was caught by surprised looking at the bundle of books her cousin had just handed her. “Fitzwilliam, is this the reason you were late for breakfast?” She asked while slowly unwrapping the packaging to reveal their titles.

  He nodded, a smug grin of victory planted on his face.

  Once the packaging was removed, her eyes widened and she let out a small gasp.

  “I’ve wanted these novels for over a month now. How did you know to get these?”

  “Will you believe me if I say I only know you too well?” He responded mischievously.

  “Certainly not,” Elizabeth raised her eyebrows and from the way Fitzwilliam was staring at her, she knew exactly how he got her these books. “But I will be sure to thank Mr. Gardiner for acquiring them for me,” she smiled.

  “Am I forgiven?”

  “Of course. After all, it was Richard who snaked his way out of an agreement. Thank you for the novels, Fitzwilliam. I will very much enjoy reading them,” she said beaming widely at the cousin. “And if you do not mind, I think I will start one now.”

  *****

  “Catherine, how pleased we are to find you in good health,” Lord Matlock said walking into the large sitting room.

  “Andrew, what took you so long? It’s already time for dinner!” Lady Catherine scolded.

  “We’re here now, Sister,” he replied as he watched everyone make their greetings and settle down.

  “Fitzwilliam, come and sit here next to Anne,” Lady Catherine ordered, seeing him stand next to the settee Elizabeth was settled on.