Chapter 5

Anne stepped out of her bedroom dressed warmly for the trip to Meryton, to find her cousin Darcy lurking in an alcove near her room. A moment later, she spied the diminutive woman standing next to him; in fact, Darcy was soundly kissing his new wife.

Anne froze with a mixture of amusement and embarrassment. Really, it was quite shocking to see Darcy in such a position. He had always seemed a strangely passionless man, but clearly he was just waiting for the right woman to come into his life.

“Oh!” Elizabeth squeaked suddenly, stepping back with a vivid blush. “I do apologize, Anne! I fear that we, well, yes, we just ...” she trailed off and then chuckled, “I will see you downstairs in a few minutes, Anne. I believe my husband wishes to speak to you about something.”

Anne waited until Elizabeth disappeared and then turned a cocky face toward her slightly flushed cousin.

“Darcy, did you wish to speak to me?” she inquired.

Darcy stepped forward, cast a nervous glance up and down the hall, and then looked down at her.

“Do you have any money, Anne?”

Her amusement fled, to be replaced by bewilderment, “Money? No, why would I need money?”

“You might wish to buy something in the shops at Meryton,” he explained, thrusting a small bag at her which jingled, “Elizabeth and I were afraid that you might not have brought any money with you, since your trip here to Netherfield was unexpected, so ...”

She accepted the bag hesitantly and was surprised to find tears filling her eyes, “Thank you, Darcy, that is very thoughtful. I will pay you back someday.”

“No, no,” her cousin assured her, taking a hasty step backwards. “Consider it a gift, Anne. You and I both should celebrate this Christmas season that we no longer face the terrible specter of being pressured to marry one another.”

“Would you have ever married me?” she asked suddenly, boldly.

He frowned thoughtfully and sighed, “Perhaps ... perhaps if I had not fallen in love with Elizabeth. I love you as a cousin, of course, and I have always been a slave to duty ...”

“I am very thankful that you did fall in love with Elizabeth,” she returned with a somewhat tremulous smile. “I would have found it difficult to say no to you but truly, Darcy, I would not have made you a good wife.”

He reached down to take her free hand and pressed a kiss to it, “Not a good wife, perhaps, but a most beloved cousin, Anne. Thank you for your support and kindness to my wife and her family.”

“It is my honor and pleasure.”

/

“Oh, such lovely paper!” Georgiana breathed, staring intently at something beyond Anne’s line of sight.

Anne took a step to the right and tilted her head to observe the thick sheets of creamy, smooth drawing paper stacked on a shelf.

“Would you like me to buy some for you, Miss Darcy?” Mrs. Annesley asked kindly.

“Yes, please. I did not bring enough paper with me from London.”

The blonde and her companion carefully counted out twenty sheets of paper and then moved toward the proprietor of the book store, the middle aged Mr. Smyth, who sported a shock of red hair and a ready smile.

Anne, in turn, gazed longingly at the writing paper which was located two shelves up from the drawing paper. Mrs. Jenkinson had not slept well the night before, and Anne had ordered her to stay at Netherfield and take a nap; if her companion was here, if Mrs. Jenkinson had enough coin, she could buy the paper while Anne distracted her mother...

Wait.

Tears filled the eyes of Anne de Bourgh as she stretched out a hand toward the paper. She could just buy it, by herself, right here, right now.

Her mother was not here!

Her autocratic, rude, demanding, critical mother was at Rosings, and thus Anne could purchase paper without being subjected to a barrage of questions and censure. In her own pocket was a bag with enough money to buy thirty sheets of paper if she liked.

Anne looked around the store, her vision blurred through the liquid in her eyes. What kind of life had she led until now that she, one of the wealthiest heiresses in all of England, felt the need to hide her purchases? Where she was kept so short of funds that almost everything she owned was vetted and approved by Lady Catherine?

She straightened her body and took a deep breath, attempting to subdue her rapid heartbeat and flushed face.

She would have to return to Rosings after the New Year, but she was determined that it would not be for long. Elizabeth Darcy had offered her an open invitation to visit the Darcys wherever they dwelled, and Anne would take her up on it. She would no longer live as a prisoner, trapped by her mother’s raging need to control everything.

“Are you well?” Darcy inquired, appearing suddenly at her elbow.

Anne gulped and nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, Cousin, I am very well indeed.”