The Ladies of Rosings Park – OFFICIAL LAUNCH and Chapter 9

Every Monday, I have been posting a new chapter of The Ladies of Rosings Park. But this Monday is special; it’s also Launch Day! That means you can continue reading the first sixteen chapters here at Austen Variations at the pace of one per week, or you can get your own copy now and read all the way through to the end with no more waiting!

So, without further ado, here’s the official book blurb and cover, followed by chapter 9. Happy reading!

At first glance, Anne de Bourgh doesn’t seem a promising heroine. But beneath that quiet exterior, there’s a lively mind at work, imagining how one day she will escape her poor health and her mother’s domination to find love and a life worth living.

Now Anne finally gets the chance to speak her mind. But Lady Catherine demands equal time. Even Charlotte Collins and Mrs. Jenkinson get into the act. Chapter by chapter, these ladies of Rosings Park take turns telling the tale from the moment Elizabeth Bennet sets foot in Hunsford, changing everything. Is Anne heartbroken or relieved to discover Mr. Darcy will never marry her? As an heiress, even a sickly one, she must have other suitors. Does Lady Catherine gracefully accept the defeat of her original plan or keep conniving? Will Anne’s health ever improve? And what really happened to her father?

Complete in itself, this work expands The Darcys of Pemberley series laterally, beginning during the timeline of Pride and Prejudice and carrying beyond to reveal the rest of Anne’s story. When a young lady is to be a heroine… something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way. (Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey)

The Ladies of Rosings Park is available in paperback and Kindle here. For more inside information, fun original posts, and prize opportunities, please join me on my virtual book tour. It begins today on my own site, shannonwinslow.com! Now, here’s chapter 9.

Today, Lady Catherine corners Darcy, demanding he stop stalling and get down to business – the business of proposing to her daughter. Will he sidestep the issue again or give his aunt a piece of his mind?  (To catch up first, see these previous posts: Prologue, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight)

– 9 –

 Lady Catherine

 On the Serious Business of Marriage

I was happy to see that my serious talk with my daughter had some helpful effect. Although still too reticent for my taste, Anne made much more of an effort to be agreeable to our guests afterward. She ceased to be always cowering in silence, wringing her hands and asking to be excused. In addition, there was more in the way of easy conversation going forward between herself and the gentlemen than when they first arrived. She even extended overtures of friendship to Miss Bennet and Miss Lucas.

I considered it wise to enlist Mrs. Jenkinson to the cause as well, instructing her to make sure Anne was always rested and in her best looks before presenting herself. “Take care not to shield my daughter away from our guests,” I also told her. “I know it may go against her natural reticence to put herself forward, but it is important that she avails herself of every opportunity to make a good impression on the gentlemen, especially Mr. Darcy. Do you understand? I expect you to encourage her in this, Mrs. Jenkinson.”

When dealing with one’s subordinates, it is important to make one’s expectations clear.

There was just one more thing required; I decided I must speak to Darcy himself, to be sure matters stayed on course. So I watched for an opportunity for a private exchange with him. This was more difficult to find than expected, with him keeping Fitzwilliam always by his side or going off on some ramble or another. Finally, one day I saw my chance.

Fitzwilliam yawned, clapped his hands together, and then abruptly stood. “Well, I have clearly stayed sedentary too long. I believe this will be as good a time as any for me to take my annual tour of inspection round the park. The weather is fine. Darcy, will you come?”

Darcy glanced up from the newspaper he had been studying. “You must excuse me, John,” he said. “I really ought to finish reading this before doing anything else. It could be important, and it is my duty to stay informed. Please go ahead without me.”

“If you wish. I tell you what I shall do. I shall commit every one of my insightful observations to memory and enlighten you with my report later this evening. I will, of course, make very free to embellish the facts quite extensively in order to render my report more entertaining for you all,” he added with a bow. “Just see if I do not.”

So off he went. Then I sent Anne and Mrs. Jenkinson on an errand upstairs, leaving Darcy to me.

I began without hesitation. “Now then, Darcy, I know your stay is soon coming to an end, and I must have some assurance from you for how things stand before you go.”

He raised his eyes from his paper, looking instantly uncomfortable, possibly even annoyed – without reason, I maintain – but he pretended ignorance instead. “I cannot imagine what you mean, Lady Catherine. Assurance of what?”

“How can you be so obtuse, Darcy? You must know that I am thinking of your intentions toward Anne. I have been extremely patient, you must admit, and so has she been. But we grow weary of this waiting game you seem to be playing.”

A look of real concern crossed his countenance. “Has Anne complained? Is she vexed with me?”

“Anne? Why, you should know that she is the mildest creature in the world. She would never dream of saying a word against you, to me or anybody else. But even she cannot help but be distressed by this perpetual delay. It is not a flattering thing for a young lady to be kept waiting. I am very fond of you, Nephew. You are the only son of my dear dead sister, and for her sake I am loathe to criticize you. However, this has gone on long enough. You have a duty to perform, and you had best get to it.”

“I am perfectly aware of your wishes in the matter, Aunt.”

“And of your mother’s? Remember, it was her earnest desire as well as my own that our children be united in marriage.”

“I have not forgot. You may believe that I shall always endeavor to do my true duty and also to please my family wherever possible. In that, I know we will never disagree. However…” Here, he paused, whether from some distraction of mind or otherwise, I cannot say. “However, I am not a child. I am a grown man, and I reserve for myself the responsibility of deciding what is right for me to do, including when and how to do it. As for my cousin, what I can assure you is this. Anne possesses my true affection and highest respect. My coming to Rosings this time has been of great benefit, for I believe she and I now clearly understand each other as we did not before. That will have to be enough for you, Madam. I have nothing more to say on this subject and no apology to offer.”

So saying, he left the room.

His reply was not everything I could have hoped for, but I decided to be satisfied. The young people had an understanding, which was as good as an engagement. Most likely, I thought, they had also settled on an approximate date for the wedding. I wondered when all this had transpired, for rarely had they been together out of my sight.

When I put my questions to Anne afterward, she was peculiarly circumspect. “It is as William has told you,” she said. “We have arrived at a mutual accord as to how things stand between us. That is all I may say for now.”

“Why this need for secrecy?” I asked.

No answer.

“You needn’t worry that I shall intrude into your private affairs, Anne. I only wish to know what was said between you and when the wedding will take place.”

Not another word would she utter on the subject, however, not for all my coaxing, then ordering, and finally threatening. Perhaps I should have been made suspicious by her sudden obstinacy, which was not consistent with her usual behavior.

Here is another instance of how I am sometimes led astray by my generous nature. Against my own better judgment, I am at times too trusting, too yielding, too forgiving of the follies of others. So I put the most charitable construction possible on Anne’s behavior that day. I interpreted it as another symptom of her shyness.

From my position of greater wisdom and experience of the world, I recognized the marriage contract for what it was: a piece of serious business. I imagined Anne saw it very differently. In her innocence, she was probably thinking of it purely as an affair of the heart, something her maidenly modesty would not allow her to speak of before others, even her mother. “Poor sad girl,” I thought. “We shall allow her to preserve her fairy tales a little longer. She will find out the truth about marriage soon enough.”

(Continue reading Chapter 10)