CONTENTS
The Adventures of Lizzy Bennet
Year 1809 Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Year 1810 Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20/Epilogue
The Adventures of Lizzy Bennet Book 3
By Kate Speck
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
Year 1809
Chapter 1
New Year’s Day, 1809
“Lizzy?!” Fitzwilliam Darcy whispered to himself. “Lizzy Bennet?”
He had been incredibly relieved to return home to Netherfield, eager to see his family and to share of his adventures from the past two and a half years after his long journey through England, Ireland, and Scotland. His original schedule had been to sail for Sweden a few months ago, but with John Knightley’s courtship of a neighbour’s daughter and due to his John’s father’s declining health, they had agreed to await further word then cancelled the remainder of their travels and returned to England earlier, and William had kept his homecoming a secret. Travelling from Highbury to Pemberley to fetch his horse and other belongings, then continuing south to Hertfordshire to arrive on New Year’s Day, William had wished to surprise his family with his unannounced arrival. After speaking with Mrs. Nicholls, the housekeeper at Netherfield, who was stunned to see the young master return to Hertfordshire, he headed to the back gardens, where he was told everyone was gathered this late morning.
William had watched the fencing match from a distance and laughed to himself that it must be Lizzy and Richard in a duel. He noted how much taller Lizzy had grown as she stood in front of his cousin and was parrying swiftly to block the strikes. He watched her movements and was proud to see her win, and began to walk closer to surprise them when he saw Richard embracing Lizzy.
For reasons unbeknown to himself, William felt a stir of jealousy to find Lizzy in an affectionate embrace with his cousin, the dashing Colonel of the army, and had stood frozen until Richard saw him and his parents and sister came rushing towards him.
He shook off his thoughts and spoke merrily to his family then turned to greet his cousin and his friends.
“Richard! It is wonderful to see you so well. I was concerned for you but you appear to have completely recovered from your injuries, and even though I saw you lose soundly to a young lady, I will not speak of it to anyone you know,” William laughed, “as long as you promise to bribe me with a fine bottle of brandy!”
William turned and avoided Lizzy for a moment, bowing to the other girls. “Miss Bennet, Miss Mary, Miss Lucas, how do you do? It is a pleasure to see you. Happy New Year!” He slowly turned to Lizzy and held his breath for a moment. “Lizzy, you are so much grown. I hardly recognised you.”
Lizzy beamed brightly and answered, “Welcome back to England, Will.”
Mr. Darcy gathered and led everyone back indoors. “Let us return for luncheon. Lizzy won a great battle today and we must celebrate.” He gathered the rest of the girls and nodded to Richard to lead the way. He and his wife had wished to give their son a moment to speak with Lizzy.
“You look very well, Will.” Lizzy began as she reached for his arm and held it. “You have certainly grown taller and it is good to see that you have kept yourself healthy. I hope you are not planning to travel again for quite some time now.”
“No, I shall remain quite affixed at home for several months.” William answered. “You... you have... I know you wrote that you decided to come out into society but I did not expect you to be...” he gulped nervously, “...so tall. You look like a lady now, Lizzy. And you speak and act like one now. Well, except for the fencing part.” He began to relax and chuckled. “I was glad to see you beat Richard. It was my special attack that we practiced, remember?”
Lizzy smiled as she looked up at him, “Yes, I remember it well and I have been practicing. There are few who will practice with me, other than a little with my papa and Uncle Edward, so I have had to use our tree to battle my imaginary enemies and remember the steps. Richard lost our duel so he has to teach me how to fire a pistol and my life’s goal of learning how to be a great warrior will be complete.”
“I will teach you!” William blurted out. “I mean to say,” he softened his voice, “Richard might be able to teach you but he will not be here for much longer, will he? He is to return to his men soon, is he not?”
“He has one more week of holiday, I believe. He returned from Matlock after visiting his brother and has been deliriously happy. He said he is planning on finishing out one more year before retiring. I think he is desiring to settle down and finally take his inheritance to live at Rosings Park. He deserves every happiness and I wish him the best, Will. After his services to King and Country, any woman would be privileged to marry such a man.”
Lizzy was curious when William did not respond for several minutes. They had reached the house by then and entered the dining room with everyone waiting for them. She could not understand why William was glaring at his cousin and speaking very little, but with Georgiana asking Jane questions about the dinner party last night and Mr. Darcy and Lady Anne asking their son about his trip, she turned her attentions to the conversations around her and spoke merrily as they partook their meal.
~*~
“What is on your mind, son?” Mr. Darcy asked gently the next day. His son
