Chances Come, Ney Mitch [snow like ashes series TXT] 📗

retire for the evening.”

“But of course. Get some rest because I am certain that you are emotionally overwhelmed at this moment.”

“You have not the slightest idea.” He expelled a great sigh, and then he left Darcy alone.

At first, Darcy had paced back and forth, alone, in his parlor. Soon, he retired after his cousin and went to bed. One of his servants, Henry, was helping him to undress, and Darcy felt comfortable enough around him to ask him a few silly questions.

“Henry, have you ever been in love?” Darcy asked.

This sudden query surprised Henry, but he was more than happy to answer.

“Yes, sir. I have. Many times.”

“Many times?”

“Yes. Almost everyone that I know has. It is a common agony.”

“A common agony. I like that phrase. Love is a constant agony. Well, have you ever been in love with a woman that another man also liked?”

“Oh, yes,” Henry said with a roll of his eyes, “that horrible beast!”

“What did you do when that occurred?”

“Sir, I know that this advice will be hard to hear, because the heart often wants what it wants, and cannot hear tell of other advice. Yet, from my experience, unless the woman feels for you as well, just let her go. She is not worth having a duel with your close friend over.”

Darcy gave Henry a look.

“Close friend?” Darcy asked, his eyebrow raised.

Henry looked embarrassed.

“I was drunk at the time,” Henry admitted.

“Ah.”

“But still, sir. I know it can feel as if she is so special that there is no other sort of woman in the world for you, but I have often found that there is. Unless the woman loves only you, there are plenty of other women in the world. And they should not be punished or forgotten about, just because we could not get ahold of our first love.”

Darcy considered the rest of Henry’s advice, and then he realized that Henry had made one awkward assumption.

“Henry, when I was mentioning this all, I was not speaking of myself. I was speaking about a friend.”

“Of course, sir.” Henry secretly could not have been less convinced over this. And Darcy knew it.

“Henry, I mean it. I am not talking of myself now.”

“I know. You are talking about your cousin.”

Darcy flinched.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You are talking about Colonel Fitzwilliam.”

“How would you know that? Not that you are correct at all. But how could you know that?”

“When you were all being served dinner, some of the servants witnessed how the Colonel doted on Miss Bennet. Despite your best efforts, you can never stop servants from talking to each other.”

Darcy scrubbed his hands over his face. “No, I suppose that I cannot. Is there any way that I can convince you all to keep this secret among yourselves?”

Henry gave him a significant look.

“What secret, sir? We were not talking about anything.”

Darcy smiled. Thank the lord for good, hired help.

Thank you, Henry.”

“You are welcome, sir.”

Darcy went off to bed.

Chapter 8 Letting Oneself Go, Despite the Consequences

The next morning, we sent a letter to Longbourn to inform Kitty of the invitation. It was sent express so that Kitty would be prepared to pack and quickly come by the end of the week.

While in London, Jane and I immediately began to prepare ourselves for our relocation to Darcy’s home.

“I cannot believe it,” Diana said with glee. She was our uncle and aunt’s eldest daughter, and she was sitting in our room when we began to pack our things. “To be staying in Grosvenor Street! I never would have believed that could happen.”

“Nor could I,” Jane said, putting her gowns in her chest.

“I wish I could go to such a place!”

“Diana, you need not worry about your good fortune,” I said, patting her cheek, “for we shall bring Mr. Darcy and his sister to come and visit. You shall get to meet them both.”

Diana waved the comment away. “Oh, who cares about people? I just want to see pretty buildings.”

“The trick is to appreciate the people who are within it.” I kissed her forehead and finished packing.

“Diana!” Aunt Gardiner called. Diana rolled her eyes.

“Mama needs me. It is always when something important is about to happen.”

Aunt Gardiner entered.

“Jane,” Aunt Gardiner said, “I know that you are amidst packing, but are you still willing to take the children for their daily walk with you?”

“Oh yes,” Jane exclaimed. “I feel so foolish for forgetting. It is simply that I was so distracted by our good fortune that I quite forgot our daily routine.”

Jane went out the room with Diana.

“I shall continue to pack for us!” I called after her as Jane left with the children. When alone, I saw that Aunt Gardiner was still keeping me company. Not willing to play coy, I decided to get to the heart of the matter. “Aunt, we do not have much time alone. So, whatever it is that you are about to say, you can say it.”

“It is always nice you are not so delicate that you get flustered by confrontation so easily,” she began, closing the door. “Lizzy, I know that you and Jane are to be trusted, yet I wish for you to do everything in your power to look after Jane.”

“Jane? Whatever for? She knows how to always act in the proper way.”

“It is not that for which I speak. I can assume that you noted how Colonel Fitzwilliam doted on her.”

I expelled a nervous sigh.

“Yes, I did.”

“The Colonel is a very kind man, but I feel as if I should worry.”

“With any luck, you should not have to. I know, for a fact, that the Colonel needs to marry a woman with a dowry. Hopefully, he was just struck with Jane’s charms. He knows that our family has no money. Perhaps, he was just enjoying her company.”

“I would have thought so as well, but this new predicament with Wickham has left me uncertain now. You know that I had originally been against you and Wickham having any romantic inclinations