An Autumn Accord: A Pride and Prejudice Novella Variation (Seasons of Serendipity Book 4) by Elizabeth Ann West Page B

sharing the same wall as the fireplace. Elizabeth Darcy furiously scribbled a heartwarming invitation to her Aunt Gardiner for them to winter together at Pemberley.
    Since the departure of Lady Matlock, Mrs. Darcy had taken the reins of household management and set the younger girls on reading literature and practicing French conversation to help them improve their minds. There was little she could do to make up for lost time, but an ally at Pemberley would certainly help.
    As she reached the place in her thoughts imagining the grand family reunion on an estate she had not yet actually seen, the question of Mary’s peculiar situation with Richard Fitzwilliam paused her writing endeavors. Brushing the quill along her jaw line, Elizabeth wondered how to tactfully request for her aunt’s knowledge concerning Mary’s romantic interests, so she might best help her sister, without asking Madeleine Gardiner to betray any confidences. Two large hands clasping her shoulders startled Elizabeth Darcy and she suddenly jumped in her seat. She dropped the quill on her letter, scattering inkblots across the carefully written lines.
    “ Fitzwilliam!”
    “ I made suitable noise upon entering this room. When you stopped writing, I thought you expected my touch. What keeps you so distracted, Mrs. Darcy?” Darcy looked down at his petite wife with mild amusement at the angry expression she offered him with her jaw most pointedly sticking out. He had just come from his own study, after nearly falling asleep while responding to the last piece of correspondence.
    “ I had penned the invitation for the Gardiners to join us, but it’s all ruined now and I shall need to rewrite it in the morning. There’s also the menus and questions from a Mrs. Reynolds which must have an answer, yet we are to away to Hertfordshire in the morning.” Elizabeth Darcy sighed, still tired even though she had again taken an afternoon rest.
    Darcy frowned at the stress and worry he read flitting across the lines in his wife’s face. He had intended this little trip to be a relief from the heavy burdens of responsibility they had both carried from the very day of their nuptials.
    “ If you wish me to delay our departure…”
    Elizabeth yawned and waved her hand. “No, no, there is no need to spoil your plans just because mine have become so. I will give the letter from your housekeeper in Derbyshire more careful thought as we ride and write to her from Meryton. The post should arrive not too much later and makes no reason for us to delay our departure past noon.”
    “ A wise plan, my dear.” Darcy lifted her hand to bestow a kiss. “May I suggest we retire for the evening? With still so many details for both of us to decide in the morning, I find myself at odds with the very idea of staying awake any longer.”
    Elizabeth nodded and carefully stowed her writing instruments and tightly sealed the pot of ink. Watching her arrange her items just so, Darcy reflected on ordering a desk purely for her needs to join his in the study at Pemberley. He had no interest in being separated from his Elizabeth by multiple rooms and floors when there was much business to be done by both of them. It was only when her laughter startled him out of his thoughts for the particular style and furniture maker he wished to commission for such a piece, he noticed his lithe wife had not only risen from her desk, but now stood by the door connecting the master suite.
    “ I believe I have caught the Master of Pemberley, the great Fitzwilliam Darcy asleep on his feet!”
    Darcy shook his head and stroked his chin. “I’m awake enough to play maid.” He offered her a devilish smile reserved only for those moments when the two of them were alone.
    “ Then I shall play valet.” Elizabeth offered her famous arched eyebrow to her husband’s tease. She had long sent her maid Becky to bed when she realized the late hour. There were few nights in which Elizabeth Darcy retired before