“Comfort and Joy” Excerpt

With only one week until the release of my holiday novella, “Comfort and Joy,” I wanted to share an excerpt with you to ‘make [your] spirits bright!’

This scene takes place instantly after the last I shared on October 25th. Elizabeth, her young cousins and their friend have finally found shelter in stables they came upon in the Derbyshire countryside. A ‘highwayman’ has just ridden into the stables and been bunched in the nose by eight year old Emily Gardiner.

You and I both KNOW it is not a real highwayman, but only the ‘best of men,’ who OF COURSE lives near by. Please enjoy this bit of fun and stay tuned for next week when “Comfort and Joy” is available for you to dive into and get lost in its pages.

Chapter 2

It had been many years since Fitzwilliam Darcy had been accosted other than in his club’s gymnasium and even longer since a lady had been his assailant. Which was, of course, by Wickham’s doing!

But this was no lady. This was a girl—a child. And she and another child were in his stables in the middle of a snowstorm.

“Who are you, and where are your parents?” he asked, wincing at the pain in his nose and gingerly checking the nostrils for blood.

“We won’t answer you. You are a highwayman, and I will hit you again if you hurt us!”

Darcy held up his hands in surrender and stepped back. “There is no reason to hit me again, Miss.” He noted the girls’ appearance in the dim light. The feisty one was roughly eight years old and the screaming one perhaps the same age. Both were dressed fashionably, so these were not children of servants or beggars.

“Our parents are in Matlock and will not be back until this evening,” the pugilist answered, waving her fist at him.

“Matlock? But that is fifteen miles away. How did you get here?”

“We were on a walk with Miss Lizzy, and the snow began to blow so hard!” The crier sniffled as she pointed to the back of the stables.

“And Tory hurt her ankle, and we could not get into the cabin,” the other one added.

Darcy felt a presence coming up behind him. Preparing for he knew not what, he turned and caught his breath as the embodiment of his dreams stood before him.

Hollow fingers, first of disbelief and then of frustration, crawled up her neck upon hearing the voice of the gentleman standing by her cousin.  It cannot be him!

Yet she knew it was. She would know that rich baritone anywhere, even in the middle of a snowstorm in the Derbyshire countryside. Tory was still wincing in pain, but Elizabeth laid her down in the hay and stood. Straightening her dress and picking the loose straw from its folds, she chastised her own vanity.

Elizabeth, you are being ridiculous! Why would you concern yourself with your “tolerable” appearance at a time like this? Gathering her courage, she made her way toward the man with whom she had argued at the Netherfield ball only weeks before.

When he turned, they were both at a loss.

“Miss Lizzy, I think he is a highwayman!” Katie Joy screeched, ducking behind Emily, who balled her fists.

“Should I punch him again? Or kick him in the leg?” She took a step toward Mr. Darcy.

“No, Emmy, this is no highwayman,” Elizabeth said, her voice holding little emotion.

“Miss Bennet!”

“Mr. Darcy. How do you do?” She curtseyed and then mentally groaned at the absurdity of the inane question and action, which had come forth from ingrained habit.

He looked at her with great confusion as she attempted to remain placid. Their last conversation had been an argument about Mr. Wickham, and she was confident she was the last person Mr. Darcy expected to find in Derbyshire.

AND the last person WE expected to find in Derbyshire, as well! I hope you are looking forward to another fun holiday read!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, Happy/Merry/Joyful all the holidays you celebrate!