Leap into Love: Excerpt from a New Novella by Nicole Clarkston

The month of love is almost over, but the scenes keep coming! I’m sharing a rather half-romantic scene. Well, it’s not actually romantic at all, except that it serves as a meet-cute for our dear couple and sets the stage for the beginning of their relationship in my newest book.

Quirky? Yes. Irritating?  He can be (Darcy, I mean). Plucky? Our girl Elizabeth has  plenty of that. And maybe, if you read between the lines, you will see a bit of admiration  right from the beginning.

Two winners will be drawn at random from the commenters, and the lucky winners will receive an ebook before publication date (which is yet to be announced, but coming soon)!

I hope you enjoy it!

Elizabeth Bennet shifted nervously in her chair. The gentleman behind the desk had little enough to say, but the weight of his pensive glances and oddly punctuated sighs was making her hands sweat. He frowned and tapped his quill on the page before him.

She cleared her throat. “Mr Darcy, I can provide another reference if you wish. Perhaps my former neighbours, Sir William and Lady Lucas, who have known me since my infancy?”

He raised a brow. “You need this position badly.” It was not a question.

A small part of Elizabeth’s heart died. She lowered her eyes and confessed, “I do. There were five of us sisters, and only one other has found work as a governess since my father’s death. I—I know I do not have the formal education typically required, and my connections are not—”

“You are perfect,” he declared, slapping his pen down on top of her references with finality. “You begin at once.” He pushed back his chair and rose, walking around the desk and passing by without a second glance. He stopped near the door, however, and looked back to her. “Are you coming?”

She rose less gracefully than she would have liked, still a bit dazed. “Forgive me, Mr Darcy, but are we not to discuss… ah… details?”

“Do you mean your pay? Naturally.” He opened the door and spoke to the footman just outside. “Parker, will you have Mrs Dobbs prepare Miss Bennet’s room? And send Martha in with tea.”

The footman left, and Mr Darcy walked out into the hall without another word to her. Elizabeth looked hesitantly about, wondering if she ought to follow.

“Miss Bennet, you really must keep up. You will be wishing to send word of your employment to your mother, and you may use the writing desk in the blue drawing room for your purpose while your room is prepared. Have you a change of attire?”

Elizabeth looked helplessly down at her best day gown. “Most of my other clothes have been sold. If these are not suitable, I do know how to make more.”

Mr Darcy waved dismissively. “They will do for now, but I had rather wished you had something to change into, so these would not become soiled.”

She blinked. “Soiled?”

“Indeed, for the Marshalsea is not known for cleanliness. Ah, here we are. The writing desk is just there. Pens, notepaper, all in the drawer.”

“The Marshalsea! Forgive me, sir, but I thought I was to meet Miss Darcy and discover if I suited her.”

“Naturally. My sister is in Derbyshire, and we shall journey there on the morrow.”

“Then, I fail to understand…”

He bit back a sigh, as if explaining to a child. “First, your letter. Then tea, then we depart for the Marshalsea. After the ceremonials, I will have a seamstress come measure you for some new garments.”

“Sir, for what sort of post have I just been hired?” she demanded. “I answered an advertisement for a lady’s companion.”

“Indeed.”

She spread her hands. “Why am I to accompany you to a debtor’s prison?”

“Why, that is where you are to be married, of course.”

Elizabeth’s knees nearly buckled. “Married!”

“Of course, for you cannot pass as a suitably respectable companion for a young lady unless you are married or widowed or something of that nature. I certainly cannot have a single gentlewoman living under my roof without—”

“Married!”

He rolled his eyes. “Did no one explain the conditions of the position to you?”

“Only what was in the advertisement. ‘A single young lady of gentle upbringing sought as a companion.’ That is what the advert said.”

“Why, yes, that is what it said. But did no one tell you what it meant? I shall have to speak to Mrs Dobbs about this. Come, Miss Bennet, your letter. We have an appointment to keep.”

“Mr Darcy!” Elizabeth’s temper flared, and she set down her foot. “I do not mean to put a single drop of ink on paper until I have had a clear explanation of matters. I begin to think this position cannot suit.”

He pursed his lips. “Have you a long list of other options?”

Elizabeth hesitated. “I could work as a seamstress.”

Mr Darcy snorted. “With fine hands such as yours? You would be turned out within a week for working too slowly. I offer you a perfectly agreeable situation suited to a lady of gentle birth, and a better you will find nowhere.”

“In marrying a man I do not know this very afternoon?”

“No one ever said you had to live with him. You needn’t even touch him if you do not wish. In fact, I would advise you to discourage any displays of affection—that sore on his lip has become rather unsightly.”

“Who is this person to whom you would so blithely wed a complete stranger?”

He stared and crossed his arms. “You really heard nothing of this?”

“No, and I am not certain I wish to.”

“But you just asked me. Come, Miss Bennet, you must speak more plainly.”

Elizabeth clenched her teeth and closed her eyes, counting to three before she lost her temper with her prospective employer. “What I meant, sir, is that these details you take for granted are vital to my decision about accepting the position. They ought to have been disclosed before, and I am suspicious about why they were not.”

“Yes, yes, very well. The man you are to marry was my father’s ward. He has a substantial inheritance that will pass to his brother upon his death, which, I daresay, is imminent. For numerous reasons, I prefer that some other will receive his endowment, which is why I took it upon myself to secure for him a bride.”

“But I could not inherit! And surely you do not mean for me to bear this man an heir!”

“Did I not explain you needn’t touch him? Be easy on that score, for there is no prohibition against the widow inheriting. It is a modest estate—Corbett Lodge—worth a little less than two thousand per annum. It is large enough for five or six ladies and a few servants, I should say, but do not set your hopes on carriages and finery. I am afraid he spent the coffers dry before I had him thrown into debtor’s prison, but the land itself should begin to restore—”

“Forgive me, Mr Darcy,” she interrupted, “but did you say that you had this man thrown into prison?”

“Who else would have done it?” he asked reasonably. “I assure you, it was a kindness to everyone concerned.”

“I do not…” Elizabeth shook her head and started again. “I expect he must have no fond feelings for you.”

“Bernard? He despises the very air I breathe. Miss Bennet, do you mean to write your letter to your family or not?”

“I have not decided! Answer me this, sir. Why would this… this Bernard person permit you to choose a bride for him for the sole purpose of diverting his inheritance, if he hates you so much?”

Mr Darcy smiled. “Because the one person in this world Bernard Wickham detests more than myself is his younger brother George.”

Well, there you have the beginning!  Watch out for the Cover Reveal, which is coming soon.