Read Online Mr. Darcy Forever by Victoria Connelly - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Victoria Connelly
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she was in a strange place. At one point, she’d got out of bed and had sat in a little chair with a lamp on, reading a few chapters from Northanger Abbey . Sarah loved the line ‘Catherine felt herself in high luck’ from Chapter 3 and she couldn't help hoping that some of that luck might come her way. She felt ready for it. The past few years had been rather luck less . But Bath was a magical place where anything could happen. It was where Catherine Morland had met Henry Tilney and it was where Captain Wentworth had declared his love to Anne Elliot.
Sarah had gone down to breakfast in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt but was now in full Regency splendour, her white muslin dress trimmed with burgundy looked serenely understated and elegant and was very much Sarah. She loved the neatness and grace of fashion in Jane Austen's time and often wished that fashion would forego the graceless jeans and trainers of the twenty-first century and return to a time when women flitted around in pretty dresses and weren't afraid to be feminine.
She had removed all vestiges of her modern self from the digital gold watch to the contact lenses she wore. Even though they would never be noticed, Sarah liked to do things properly although her hair was sporting a colour that probably hadn't been available in Regency England. She looked in the mirror, thinking that the colour looked natural enough, tucked neatly under her bonnet.
Leaving her hotel, Sarah walked out onto the street and couldn't help feeling rather conspicuous in her costume for she was the only one that she could see who was wearing such an outfit. An awful horror struck her - what if she'd got the date wrong? What if she'd arrived in Bath a week early? But that could never happen to somebody like Sarah who planned every day down to the last minute in it.
Sure enough, approaching the bridge into town, she saw a young couple ahead of her, both in Regency costume. How happy they looked together, their arms intertwined. Once again, Sarah felt the full weight of being on her own. She liked to think of herself as an independent woman. She was happy being her own boss and she didn't feel that she needed anybody to tell her what to do in life but it was at times like this when a companion made all the difference. She thought about Jane Austen's novels and how most of her heroines had confidantes. Elinor had Marianne, Elizabeth had Jane and Charlotte, and Catherine Morland had Isabella - she may not have been the most trustworthy of companions but she'd been a companion nevertheless. But, walking through the streets of Bath on her own, Sarah felt more like Anne Elliot for she had never quite been a part of things but always hovered on the outskirts of companionship. Even Anne’s relationship with Lady Russell had been wanting because she could never tell her mentor of her true feelings.
‘ But Anne got her happy ending,’ Sarah told herself, ‘right here in Bath too. She had to wait for it but it came.’
And, with this feeling of optimism, Sarah took a deep breath and headed into the heart of the city.
* * *
‘ Mia! Have you seen my bonnet?’ Shelley shouted from the hallway. As Mia walked out of her bedroom to look down the stairs, she couldn't help thinking that it wasn't often you'd hear such a question in the twenty-first-century life.
‘ Wasn’t it on your mannequin?’
‘ Lady Catherine? Yes but it isn't there now,’ Shelley said. ‘My goodness - if Bingley has got hold of it, I swear he'll be sent to the dogs’ home before the end of the day.’
Mia started the hunt for the missing bonnet upstairs but it wasn’t in any of the rooms. ‘It’s not upstairs,’ Mia called as she joined Shelley in the kitchen a moment later.
‘ I can’t go without my bonnet,’ Shelley said. ‘I’ve been looking forward to wearing it all year.’ She was buzzing around the kitchen looking under tables and chairs when Pie entered the room.
‘ Oh, Pie – you’ve got my
Sarah had gone down to breakfast in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt but was now in full Regency splendour, her white muslin dress trimmed with burgundy looked serenely understated and elegant and was very much Sarah. She loved the neatness and grace of fashion in Jane Austen's time and often wished that fashion would forego the graceless jeans and trainers of the twenty-first century and return to a time when women flitted around in pretty dresses and weren't afraid to be feminine.
She had removed all vestiges of her modern self from the digital gold watch to the contact lenses she wore. Even though they would never be noticed, Sarah liked to do things properly although her hair was sporting a colour that probably hadn't been available in Regency England. She looked in the mirror, thinking that the colour looked natural enough, tucked neatly under her bonnet.
Leaving her hotel, Sarah walked out onto the street and couldn't help feeling rather conspicuous in her costume for she was the only one that she could see who was wearing such an outfit. An awful horror struck her - what if she'd got the date wrong? What if she'd arrived in Bath a week early? But that could never happen to somebody like Sarah who planned every day down to the last minute in it.
Sure enough, approaching the bridge into town, she saw a young couple ahead of her, both in Regency costume. How happy they looked together, their arms intertwined. Once again, Sarah felt the full weight of being on her own. She liked to think of herself as an independent woman. She was happy being her own boss and she didn't feel that she needed anybody to tell her what to do in life but it was at times like this when a companion made all the difference. She thought about Jane Austen's novels and how most of her heroines had confidantes. Elinor had Marianne, Elizabeth had Jane and Charlotte, and Catherine Morland had Isabella - she may not have been the most trustworthy of companions but she'd been a companion nevertheless. But, walking through the streets of Bath on her own, Sarah felt more like Anne Elliot for she had never quite been a part of things but always hovered on the outskirts of companionship. Even Anne’s relationship with Lady Russell had been wanting because she could never tell her mentor of her true feelings.
‘ But Anne got her happy ending,’ Sarah told herself, ‘right here in Bath too. She had to wait for it but it came.’
And, with this feeling of optimism, Sarah took a deep breath and headed into the heart of the city.
* * *
‘ Mia! Have you seen my bonnet?’ Shelley shouted from the hallway. As Mia walked out of her bedroom to look down the stairs, she couldn't help thinking that it wasn't often you'd hear such a question in the twenty-first-century life.
‘ Wasn’t it on your mannequin?’
‘ Lady Catherine? Yes but it isn't there now,’ Shelley said. ‘My goodness - if Bingley has got hold of it, I swear he'll be sent to the dogs’ home before the end of the day.’
Mia started the hunt for the missing bonnet upstairs but it wasn’t in any of the rooms. ‘It’s not upstairs,’ Mia called as she joined Shelley in the kitchen a moment later.
‘ I can’t go without my bonnet,’ Shelley said. ‘I’ve been looking forward to wearing it all year.’ She was buzzing around the kitchen looking under tables and chairs when Pie entered the room.
‘ Oh, Pie – you’ve got my
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