Archive

Summoned by a maid, Elizabeth left off reading in her father’s study to join her mother and sisters in the front parlor. She entered and took her usual seat with Jane, relieved to find Mr. Collins absent. He’d only been with them for the lesser part of a week, but already she knew she could not abide his company. Rather than sit, Mrs. Bennet stood […]

Twisting to peer out the front parlor window, Kitty continued to stare at the tall woman as the heavy set gentleman turned back to the carriage. “Who is that?” Mrs. Bennet asked, a sharp edge to the words. “Mr. Bennet, you said your cousin Collins would arrive today, alone.” “In truth, I did not say he would arrive alone. It is I who assumed he […]

Elizabeth Bennet sat down to breakfast with her mind awhirl. Their normal, in retrospect dull, existence had of late been quite disrupted. A gentleman had let Netherfield Park. An unmarried gentleman. One who, moreover, could afford to let the finest property in the region. Rumor named him Mr. Bingley and said he was quite handsome. The former Elizabeth believed. The latter she suspected would be […]

Steven answered General Padgett’s summons promptly, as commanded, and even though he’d planned on an outing with Louisa. He didn’t like to add even one more transgression to his list of offenses, but hopefully this would be the last of them. The runners and some of Padgett’s men had been monitoring Madame Dentelle’s and the Hind & Hound for several days now, and Steven had […]

Darcy settled back in Bingley’s carriage, pleased. While the neighborhood appeared sparsely populated, the estate of Netherfield Park itself seemed pleasant enough. Furthermore, the steward with whom they’d met, who showed them about the house and grounds, gave every indication of being both capable and honest. As did the housekeeper and butler, who were to be kept on. That meant Bingley would not be required […]

Steven sat back, rubbing his neck. He’d been bent over the Bow Street Runners’ notes on the Peacock thefts all morning. And the whole of the day before. And the one before that. And… He let that thought trail off with a sigh. “We must be missing something.” Where he sat across the table in the cramped, windowless room the Runners had allotted him, Sergeant […]

Kitty Bennet slid out of her bed, careful not to wake her younger sister Lydia, with whom she shared a room. Not that much care was required, for Lydia snored contentedly, burrowed in blankets despite the summer heat. Experience made dressing in the near dark easy, and soon Kitty eased her little journal and a pencil from under a loose floorboard beneath her bed. Sticking […]

Steven Hurst glanced about as he descended the steps of his carriage, his slightly stoop, disinterested demeanor calculated to cover how carefully he searched the street about him. General Padgett would have men watching the street outside his home, but Hurst’s habit of care was too ingrained to be denied, and another pair of eyes never hurt. Not that there was anything suspicious about a […]

Fitzwilliam Darcy trudged up the front steps of his Aunt Catherine’s town home, trying to ignore the stickiness of the overly warm air that had settled into London of late. He did not wish to be here. Cared not at all to enter. Aunt Catherine had summoned him, however, and disobeying a summons from Lady Catherine de Bourgh generally resulted in more aggravation than obeying. […]