Chapter 1
Fitzwilliam Darcy had needed little persuasion to accept an invitation to spend the shooting season in Hertfordshire.
The constant pressures from his family to find a suitable wife among the current crop of heiresses had become unbearable.
As a man of fortune and extensive properties, London society considered him a prize on the marriage mart.
Supper parties, soirées, balls, assemblies, and musicales – his time was not his own.
Thankfully, Charles Bingley had offered a welcome reprieve from these miseries.
For the last month, he had been rusticating at Netherfield Park, a charming estate Bingley had leased.
Now that Georgiana had recovered from her ordeal and had resumed her studies with a new companion, nothing prevented him from pursuing gentlemanly pastimes with his friends.
This escape to the country had been precisely what he’d needed.
Darcy and his friends had just spent an enjoyable night at the Meryton Inn as guests of Colonel Forster and his officers.
In all honesty, Darcy had been relieved to finally encounter suitable company for an evening’s entertainment.
During the supper hour, they had learned that the militia planned to encamp in the area and a large regiment was expected to arrive next week.
The colonel was an intelligent man, and despite the dreadful weather, the night had gone better than expected.
However, as he and his housemates rode back to the house, the relentless rain turned into a deluge.
“What a miserable night,” Henry Hurst, Charles’s brother-in-law said.
Darcy deigned to make no reply to this comment. With torrential rain pelting the carriage windows, this was rather an understatement.
Unfortunately, staying at Netherfield hadn’t been the distraction Darcy had hoped for.
After nearly a month, they had already run out of things to do.
While the area provided excellent sport with shooting, fishing, and riding, the evening entertainment had been rather disappointing.
Unlike London, the small market village of Meryton had no clubs, theatre, symphony, or other amusements.
He had reluctantly attended a local assembly, which Darcy abhorred regardless of the location, but he’d been disgusted by the riotous clamour at this event.
Every resident of the neighbourhood had been in attendance, including the merchants and servants.
How a man of his station should be expected to stand up with the butcher’s wife or a kitchen maid, he couldn’t imagine.
He had agreed to attend only to please his host, but he’d been so offended by the raucous and unfashionable crowd, he had refused all introductions.
Bingley, of course, had the time of his life. His fun-loving friend had danced every set and complained that the evening had ended before midnight.
Not that Darcy didn’t enjoy having fun, but dancing was not his idea of a pleasant pastime.
The world at large placed far too much importance on his choice of dance partner and if this lady would perchance be the one to capture his fancy.
The whispers, speculation, and gossip-mongering were exhausting, and Darcy wanted no part of it.
“We’ll be home in a trice,” Charles said, peering through the carriage window.
Since the night was pitch dark, Darcy couldn’t fathom how Charles could determine their proximity to the house. However, he wouldn’t complain about the weather. At least he’d had an opportunity to escape his host’s abominable sisters for a few hours.
Since he’d arrived at Netherfield, he’d scarcely had a moment to himself.
Charles’s sisters’ constant attentions had become increasingly intolerable.
What’s more, Darcy suspected they intended to secure him for the younger sister.
Miss Caroline Bingley was a handsome, fashionable woman with a generous dowry, but after enduring her blatant overtures for the past four weeks, he thought better of considering her as a potential match.
Darcy couldn’t approve of any woman who constantly put herself forward.
He’d seen more than his share of that sort in town.
He could only wonder why no one in her family ever corrected her behaviour.
Evenings at Netherfield had become dull, and he had welcomed any opportunity to escape the house.
In the past few weeks, they had dined with a few local gentlemen in the neighbourhood, which had given him brief respite from Miss Bingley’s persistent questions.
However, several of those men had marriageable daughters, and their attention had been nearly as awkward.
Nearly, but not quite.
If he were being honest, there was one young lady who had gained his notice, a fetching brunette with dark, expressive eyes and a lithesome figure – Miss Elizabeth Bennet.
He had met her recently at a neighbour’s house and couldn’t help admiring her womanly charms. Unfortunately, her family’s meagre circumstances and relations in trade made her entirely ineligible, but she might be a pleasant diversion while he was in the country.
However, the lady’s older sister presented more of a problem.
Miss Jane Bennet had captured Charles’s attention.
She was without question the most beautiful woman in the neighbourhood, but she reminded him of several ladies in town with their constant smiles.
How anyone could smile so relentlessly was beyond Darcy’s understanding.
While he had no issue with Charles enjoying his own pleasant diversion, she was by no means suitable for a man of Bingley’s status and wealth.
Hopefully, he would lose track of her like he’d done with all his other flirts.
“I need a drink,” Hurst said. “Brandy by the fire would be just the thing.”
“Yes, by Jove. We’ll have a nightcap when we get home,” Bingley said.
Home, Darcy thought. He would rather be at Pemberley, his ancestral estate in Derbyshire, where he was master of all he surveyed.
But with a sister still in the schoolroom, he must reside in town so she could pursue her study of music, dancing, and drawing with the masters.
He had hired a highly regarded lady to serve as her companion and supervise her studies.
Fortunately, Georgiana was a bright girl and an excellent student.
She was destined to make a brilliant match.
He shuddered at the memory of last August – he had nearly lost her to a ruthless fortune hunter.
Thankfully, that disaster had been averted, and her future was secure.
The aftermath of that episode had been fraught with anguish, but Georgiana had recovered from her disappointment, and was now wiser for it.
They had both learned an important lesson about trusting too easily.
Thankfully, he need not worry about her safety during his absence.
His trustworthy cousin and co-guardian, Colonel Fitzwilliam, had promised to visit her frequently.
No, he wouldn’t let his guard down again.