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    The Colonel's Cousin: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
    The Colonel's Cousin: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
    The Colonel's Cousin: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
    Ebook108 pages1 hour

    The Colonel's Cousin: A Pride and Prejudice Variation

    By Meg Osborne

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Reunited at Rosings…

     

    Fitzwilliam Darcy can avoid calling on his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, no loner, but he can certainly avoid doing so alone. He convinces his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, into accompanying him in an effort to deflect from his aunt's incessant matchmaking, but does not foresee the presence of another obstacle in Kent – the distracting Elizabeth Bennet.

     

    Lizzy has enjoyed her time with Charlotte and is planning to return to London to mend matters between Jane and Mr Bingley when fate sends the orchestrator of their great separation right into their path. He is not alone, though and Lizzy finds herself caught by the funny, charming Colonel Fitzwilliam. It should be simple, for his affection for her is immediately clear, yet despite the objection of Lizzy's rational mind, her heart knows what it wants, not the colonel, but his cousin.

     

    This is a sweet regency Pride and Prejudice variation novella.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMeg Osborne
    Release dateOct 19, 2018
    ISBN9781386405061
    The Colonel's Cousin: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
    Author

    Meg Osborne

    Meg Osborne is an avid reader, tea drinker and unrepentant history nerd.  She writes sweet historical romance stories and Jane Austen fanfiction, and can usually be found knitting, dreaming up new stories, or adding more books to her tbr list than she'll get through in a lifetime.

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    • 5/5
      A sweet little alternative where everyone communicates and the story is wrapped up so much faster.

    Book preview

    The Colonel's Cousin - Meg Osborne

    Chapter One

    I still do not see why I need to accompany you, Darcy.

    Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam was reclining into his seat on one side of the carriage. His eyes opened a slit and he fixed a sly smile on his cousin. Surely you are not afraid to visit our shared aunt alone?

    Fitzwilliam Darcy said nothing, but his eyes darted towards the window and he watched the Kent countryside slide past them. He was not afraid to visit his aunt, what nonsense! And yet, he could not help but admit that there was a glimmer of truth to Richard’s words. He had invited his cousin to accompany him not for entirely selfless reasons.

    I merely thought you would care to see Aunt Catherine as well. How long is it since you were last in Rosings? One year? Two?

    Richard scowled, sensing a very real charge being levied at him despite Darcy’s off-hand tone.

    I, at least, have an excuse for my absence. He leaned back further in his seat once more, yawning. I have been in the service of His Majesty.

    Indeed. Darcy rolled his eyes skywards. And how long since you were released from that duty?

    Richard grinned.

    Long enough that I have been able to visit all the family I choose. His eyes opened, wider this time. Tell me, Darcy, why could we not go to Pemberley? I have not seen Georgiana in longer still, and surely she would be far more enthusiastic a hostess.

    Georgiana did not write with the express request that we call on her, Darcy said, unable to conceal his own sigh, this time. Would that she had! Darcy would much prefer to be journeying north, to Derbyshire, with the promise of residing in his own home for a while. He would happily have taken Richard with him, even, and endured the lecture, by letter, he would doubtless receive from Aunt Catherine for taking such a course of action. Believe it or not, Richard, your family is eager to see you. You must be at least a little eager to see Anne again.

    Colonel Fitzwilliam smiled, but the expression was not an entirely genuine one.

    Oh, indeed! And be forced to scour my mind for acceptable topics of conversation. Tell me, you who have seen her more often and more recently than I, has poor Anne developed the ability to string more than three words together?

    He laughed, to show he did not mean the criticism unkindly, and Darcy swallowed the urge to refute his words. They were not untrue, after all. Miss Anne de Bourgh, their shared cousin, was, at best, agreeable company. She scarcely spoke a word unprompted, and if she had a single idea worth exploring Darcy was yet to hear of it. He frowned. Usually, he would have admired such delicacy and thought it entirely proper that a young lady stay silent, speaking only when spoken to, and encouraging all around her to converse freely without fear of censure. When had his feelings on the matter changed, and so dramatically? His frown deepened. Since he had met Elizabeth Bennet, that was when. He groaned. How was it that those traits which had at first so dissuaded him from pursuing an acquaintance with the second Miss Bennet of Longbourn, still teased at his memory now that they had been parted more than a month? Why was hers the face he sought to locate in a crowd, despite his better self reminding him that her presence in London was a nonsense? Why was it her laughter that sounded in his ear whenever he chanced to witness something particularly absurd, and her voice which teased him whenever he acted in a way that he would, previously, have considered perfectly proper?

    Oh dear! Colonel Fitzwilliam chuckled. I make a single mention of Anne and you respond with a groan? What a delightful time we are to have at Rosings, if that is the response even her name evokes. He grinned. "Still, I suppose I must rejoice in my own social inferiority. ‘Tis not my future that is mapped out before me with such care."

    Darcy reddened, in spite of himself, and Richard, always adept at exploiting his cousin’s awkwardness, warmed to his topic.

    Yes, I suppose I ought to speak more generously of the future Mrs Darcy. I imagine it is this, rather than your concern for my calendar, which has you insisting upon my accompanying you to Rosings. You wish for my presence to be a distraction, I imagine, to put off the discussion of any wedding between the two lovebirds.

    Darcy scowled again, fixing the force of his gaze firmly on his obnoxious cousin, who merely beamed at him, rejoicing in his ability to successfully goad his stoical cousin into a response, albeit a silent one.

    Look, here is Rosings! he exclaimed, pointing Darcy towards the window, and letting the matter drop. It would be a reprieve, only, Darcy knew, and braced himself against the resurgence of teasing that would surely begin once he and Anne were in company with their cousin. Colonel Fitzwilliam found their situation endlessly amusing, and, since their youth, he had never tired of teasing Darcy about the fact that their aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh had constructed a vision of the future where her own daughter, Anne, was mistress of Pemberley, and Darcy’s wife. It had been amusing enough when they were children, Darcy supposed, and when his own father was alive, Old Mr Darcy was well able to quash Lady Catherine’s engineering, insisting that Darcy could not begin to think of marriage for many years yet. Well, many years had passed, along with Darcy’s father, and Lady Catherine’s campaign for the marriage had grown increasingly insistent. This visit was, in part, designed to forestall her persistent letters inviting Darcy to call at Rosings, talking in excruciating detail of Anne’s talents and beauty. Darcy did not need reminding several times a month that his cousin was both elegant and accomplished, and he had run out of ways to congratulate her on the same, by letter. He hoped he would summon some fresh way, in person.

    Come, Darcy, do not look so glum! Richard cajoled, leaning across the interior of the carriage and punching him, painfully, on the arm. Do not fret over Aunt Catherine. You’ll see, we shall manage her between us, and perhaps even encourage poor pious Anne into having a little fun while we are there. In fact, I consider it my duty to make my cousin laugh before I quit Kent again.

    Darcy smiled, wryly, surreptitiously rubbing his now-pained arm, for Richard did not seem to know his own strength.

    Oh, indeed. And which cousin would that be?

    Richard sat up, adjusting his collar so that his features were a little obscured, and Darcy could not quite see the sparkle of amusement in his eyes.

    Either one of you, I mind not which. Would that I be graced with company that had at least a vague sense of humour, and it would not be a challenge. As it is, I rise to it and shall have the victory, just you wait and see.

    Darcy’s eyebrows settled into their familiar frown. He did not counter Richard’s assertion, but he felt a heavy, sinking feeling in the vicinity of his stomach as the carriage lurched to a halt. Laughter? At Rosings? He did not like Richard’s chances...

    MY DEAR COUSIN ELIZABETH, I have news! Yes, such news as is sure to be met with great rejoicing!

    Elizabeth Bennet looked up from her book, forming her features into something approaching a smile. Her cousin, Mr Collins, seemed incapable of noticing when she was otherwise occupied and thus not entirely eager to begin a conversation. Either that, or he did not care. He clearly placed little enough importance on the occupations

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