Release of Netherfield Park Is Let at Last by Mary Simonsen

Hello! I’m back! It was only two months ago that I released my novella, Dear Sir, Dear Madam, and I would like to thank all of you for such a warm reception for my story. It was so well received that it inspired me to write another novella, Netherfield Park Is Let at Last, and here is the blurb:

“Netherfield Park is let at last! Or is it?

“Charles Bingley is looking for a place in country, and it appears that Netherfield Park in Hertfordshire is perfect for his needs. After hastily signing a one-year’s lease, Bingley is having second thoughts and asks his friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy, to visit Netherfield Park to look over the property. It is while inspecting the manor house that Darcy encounters Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn. An interrupted introduction has Elizabeth believing that she is meeting a certain Mr. Fitzwilliam, Mr. Darcy’s aide, a mistake Darcy declines to correct as it affords him the opportunity of enjoying a lovely afternoon in the country where deference to rank is set aside. But what happens when Elizabeth learns Darcy’s true identity?”

Below is a passage from Netherfield Park Is Let at Last. Lizzy has just arrived at Netherfield Park to meet Mr. Bingley’s “agent.”

“I hope I am not late,” Lizzy said as she removed her bonnet, freeing a cascade of curls. Having been summoned by her Aunt Phillips, and pushed out the door by her mother, she had not had time to put up her hair.

“It is nearly three o’clock,” Darcy answered, holding out his pocket watch as proof. But rather than looking at the watch, he eyed Lizzy, admiring her dark hair that complimented even darker eyes with a hint of mischief in them.

“I am sorry that you have been kept waiting, but when I awoke this morning, I had no idea I was to come to Netherfield Park.”

Lizzy explained how it was that she, and not Mr. Morris, had come to lead the tour of the house. While holding out the keys, and giving them a jingle, she assured Mr. Bingley’s agent that she could turn a key with the best of them.

“By the way, I am Mr. Bingley’s neighbor, Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn…”

“I am Mr. Fitzwilliam—”

“It is very nice to meet you, Mr. Fitzwilliam. And you are Mr. Bingley’s agent?”

“No, I am not Mr. Bingley’s agent. I am…”

When Darcy had agreed to take on this task for Bingley, he had assumed that he would identify himself as Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley, but in an instant, he decided that if he were to act as an agent, then he would assume the role of agent.

Lizzy waited for a reply and leaned forward to hear what the man had to say, but he said nothing. In fact, he looked rather confused as to who he was.

Finally, Darcy repeated that he was not Mr. Bingley’s agent. “Rather, I am in the service of his friend, Mr. Darcy, who will join Mr. Bingley here at Netherfield…”

Netherfield Park Is Let at Last, a novella, is available on Amazon Kindle for $2.99. It’s a light read that, I hope, will put a smile on your face.