Its Release Day for The Best Part of Love Audiobook!

Happy holidays to everyone and wishing many blessings in the new year for all!

I’m excited to announce that The Best Part of Love is now in audiobook, read by Sarah Jane Rose.  I have also recently re-released the paperback version of this book. In celebration of both, I am giving away one audiobook and one paperback to a commenter on this post! Just specify which one you would like to win or indicate either!

Thank you and again — happy holidays!

AN EXCERPT FROM The Best Part of Love

“Lady Courtenay, I wonder whether you would be so kind as to grant me a private audience.” 

Oh no. Elizabeth dismissed her housekeeper with a sinking feeling in her heart and indicated Mr Darcy should sit, but he did not. Instead, he paced slowly as he appeared to gather his thoughts. 

“I was dismayed to learn of your opinion of our acquaintance in Hertfordshire. I wish to apologise for any offence I have caused you.” 

“Thank you for your apology, sir, but as you have already offered me your regrets for the incidents at the assembly and at Netherfield, I assure you, further expression is unnecessary.” 

“Thank you.” He took a deep breath and paused for several moments. “In addition, you must allow me to tell you that I ardently admire and love you. I have struggled with these feelings but it will not do. I beg that you would relieve my suffering and marry me.” 

For a brief, mad moment, she wondered whether she had heard him aright. She resolved to be courteous as she declined him. “Thank you, sir, but I am afraid I cannot accept you.” 

He appeared to receive the information with equanimity, and he stood. She assumed he intended to take his leave and so rose with him. It was then that she saw it: the slight spasm of a muscle near his jaw that betrayed he was barely clinging to his self-control. “Might I ask why?” 

“What?” 

“I am rejected, and I ask only that you kindly explain why. I apologised for the hurt I caused you and told you that I love you. You, in turn, coldly dismissed me with nothing more than a few polite words. I believe I deserve more than that.” 

Elizabeth’s jaw dropped. “What more do you want?” 

“An explanation!” he exclaimed, a flush coming across his cheeks. “Surely you see, as my aunt did, how alike we are in wit and temper, and with the obstacles before us having been removed, I would wish to understand what it is you seek!” 

Elizabeth struggled to retain control of her vexation. “Mr. Darcy, I do not expect to find the sort of love that I had with my husband. However, what I shall not do is unite myself with someone who disdained me as Miss Elizabeth Bennet yet has decided that I am acceptable due only to my fortune and consequence.” 

“Mercenary?” Darcy looked incredulous. “Do you accuse me of being mercenary?” 

“Mercenary, prudent, practical — call it what you will. Your disgust of me in Hertfordshire was plain, and now you dare to profess affection for me?  Nothing about me has changed–only my circumstances. Therefore, I must conclude it is my circumstances you love.” 

“You could not be more wrong.” 

“How can you say so?” she cried out. “Surely, you would not think me so foolish as to imagine that your professions of affection are true.” 

“I fell in love with Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn in Hertfordshire. The fact that you are now known to me as Lady Courtenay has neither increased nor decreased my ardour or my desire to have you as my wife. Should my word be insufficient on this matter, I would urge you to apply to my cousin Saye, who heard all the particulars long before you came to town.” 

“Ah! So you loved me and wished to have me as your wife in Hertfordshire? Tell me, Mr. Darcy, when did you plan to return to Longbourn and speak to my father? Does Lord Saye know that too?” 

Mr Darcy was silent. 

“I did not think so,” she said triumphantly. 

“My feelings for you were not all that I had to consider in my selection of a wife. I have my family name and reputation, my fortune, and my sister to consider, and I take those responsibilities seriously. I could not be run away with sensibility; reason had to be my counsellor.” 

“Was it your reason that caused you to act so rudely to nearly all whom you met in Hertfordshire? My opinion of you was decided the first night we met at the assembly where you not only insulted me so grievously but also held yourself above the entire populace of Meryton. You did not enter into conversation, nor did you so much as consent to introduction. You spurned the kindness extended to you by Sir William, Mrs. Long, and many others and raised an almost uniform disgust in your manners.”

Not unexpectedly, he attempted to justify his actions. “I am not at ease in a society so wholly unknown to me.” 

“You did not try to know anyone in Hertfordshire because they were not of your circle. You did not trouble yourself to form an acquaintance with people so beneath you.” 

“It was unlikely that I would ever spend much time in their company.” 

“Nevertheless, they deserved your respect.” Elizabeth inhaled deeply. “You claim to love me, but that is mere trumpery. Regardless of my position, the truth is, I am Elizabeth Bennet, a simple girl raised in a modest way in an insignificant place no one cares about, save those who live there.  Those people you scorned are the people who raised me, who loved me, and who protected me these two years when my life was endangered. You cannot claim to love me when you have so determinedly despised what is an essential part of me.” 

He said nothing, but his eyes were intent upon her. 

“While I appreciate your apologies for your actions, what you could never deny is the opinions that supported them. If I were still Miss Elizabeth Bennet, you would not have condescended to know me, nor would you have encouraged your friend to re-acquaint himself with my sister. 

Elizabeth inhaled deeply, regaining her composure along with her civility. “Mr. Darcy, you have honoured me with your offer, and I do recognise the compliment of your affections.

“However, if nothing else, I hope to enter into a marriage with someone who might have liked Miss Elizabeth Bennet as much as he likes Lady Courtenay. I cannot have that belief where you are concerned because I know, without a doubt, that you rejected me as Miss Elizabeth Bennet. You doubted my character, and you insulted my person, and those things cannot be changed by the lustre of fortune.” 

Darcy did not speak for several long moments. Finally, he said, “I shall not take any more of your time. Pray forgive me for expressing these thoughts that have so disgusted you. You may be assured, you will not hear of this subject from me again.” 

Comment below for the chance to win a signed paperback or an audiobook! 

The Best Part of Love ebook will be on sale for $1.99 on December 26