It's Snowing at Pemberley •●• A Frosty Sneak Peek!

This weekend, I achieved a major milestone: 500 Facebook Likes! Hooray! As part of the celebration,  I  shared an excerpt from Hope and Sensibility, the long anticipated sequel to He Taught Me to Hope on my Facebook Page. I've decided to share it here as well. 

I selected the excerpt from my completely unedited 50,000+ word manuscript and cleaned it up for your reading pleasure. Mind you, it is very much a work-in-progress.

Enjoy!

After excusing the maid who brought in the tea service, Darcy prepared Elizabeth’s favourite black tea, just as she liked it - sweetened with a dash of spice and a single lump of sugar. His fingers swept against hers when he offered her the cup. 

She cradled the steaming hot beverage with both hands as if relishing the cup’s warmth. “Thank you, my love.” She took a sip, and then made known her satisfaction with a warm smile. Her eyes fixed outside, she said, “If I might venture a guess, I would say this is the reason you were so adamant in insisting that I sit by the window.”

Darcy sat beside her, and he leaned forward and kissed his darling wife atop her head. “Indeed. Ben felt you needed a bit of liveliness to brighten your day.”

“What a thoughtful gesture that was. It is just like Ben to worry about my spirits; however, I wish he would not suffer the burden of attending to my happiness.”

“Those are my sentiments precisely, for such is my goal in life. I fear I have failed you, my love.”

“No … on the contrary. I could never wish for a more attentive husband.”

Not desiring to make light of a matter which he attributed to his wife’s disheartenment of late, and certainly not wanting to add to her woes, he carefully weighed his next words. “I am as eager as you are to expand our family.” He traced his thumb along her cheek. “I am very eager. It is just that I do not wish for you to think that begetting Pemberley’s heir is my principal consideration.”

Elizabeth placed her porcelain cup aside and returned her gaze to the happenings outside her window; thus giving Darcy to know this was not something she wished to deliberate. She arose from her seat and drifted to the window. Darcy did likewise. At length, he tore his eyes away from her. He, too, peered out the window. By now, Georgiana and Ben had noticed them standing there, and they appeared to be trying to garner their share of attention. Elizabeth waved. Ben subsequently jumped up and down, joyfully flailing his arms all about, beckoning Darcy and Elizabeth to join them.

Elizabeth turned and met Darcy’s attentive scrutiny. “What do you think? Shall we brave the frightful outdoors and show those two how to fashion a proper ball of snow?”

“Are you certain, Elizabeth? I do not wish to see you overtaxed.”

“Indeed, I am quite sure.” Her voice filled with playfulness which, to Darcy’s delight, now shone in her eyes. “Is that hint of reluctance on your part your way of suggesting that you have no interest in such diversion? How long has it been since you last frolicked in the snow?”

Darcy gave his waistcoat a sharp tug and jutted his aristocratic chin. “The master of Pemberley does not frolic, madam.”

Elizabeth placed her hand upon his chest and started fingering his buttons. “In the snow perhaps, but I declare I have known you to frolic in this very room as well as your own, or has it been so long ago that you have forgotten?”

He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “How could I possibly forget, regardless of the passage of time? My nights spent frolicking with you in these rooms constitute some of the happiest moments of my life.”

Elizabeth graced him with that beguiling smile which never failed to warm his heart. “Now that we have established that the master of Pemberley has been known to frolic, what say you that we join Georgiana and Ben outside?”

“If you truly want to do this, I suppose there will be no harm. The three of you will likely benefit from my supervision.”

“If I know anything at all about Ben’s power over you, you will be doing far more than supervising.”

“Indeed, that is a sound assertion.” Darcy pursed his lips. “I shall make certain to summon assistance from one of the footmen.”

Elizabeth lovingly rapped him on his chest. “You would not dare. And should you indeed carry out your scheme; I shall incite a fierce snowball combat that pits Georgiana, Ben and me against you and your footman.”

Darcy held up his hands in feigned capitulation. “Heaven forbid that should happen.” Standing with the intention of quitting the room, he said, “Shall I wait for you downstairs?”

“Yes, I must arm myself for battle. Shall we say fifteen minutes?”


Elizabeth and Darcy happened upon Ben and Georgiana in time to see the former lying flat on his back, with his arms and legs outstretched and moving back and forth. Georgiana barely contained her enthusiasm. When Ben saw his parents approaching, a warm smile brightened his face. Young Ben jumped up and dashed to Darcy and Elizabeth.

“Mama, Da!” He shook most of the snow from his mittens and slipped his hands into either of theirs. Pulling them along, he said, “You must have a look at what I have done for Aunt Georgiana.” Ben’s eyes were full of pride over his accomplishment as his family marvelled over his angelic masterpiece.

Doing everything to brush away as much snow from her son’s clothing as she could, her manner awash with love and affection, Elizabeth said, “Ben, it is simply amazing. I am certain I have never seen anything as wonderful as this. Where did you learn to do such a thing?”

Ben diverted his eyes to Darcy, who placed a finger to his lips in a manner intended to encourage him not to give away their secret. The fact is that Darcy had taken Ben out of doors just the evening before, and the two of them had made quite an adventure of dishevelling the pristine, newly fallen snow. 

Darcy darted his eyes in the direction of the fruit of Ben and Georgiana’s earlier endeavour. “If I might hazard a guess, I would say the two of you were crafting a rather oddly shaped snow creature? Why did you abandon your efforts?”

Georgiana said, “We decided it was an arduous task for the two of us, but now that Elizabeth and you are here, what say we resume where we left off, Ben?”

Requiring only the slightest bit of encouragement, Ben raced over and started piling fists full of snow upon the rotund heap. After a few moments, he looked back at the others who seemed perfectly content merely to admire his hard work. “Why are the three of you standing there? Mr. Peters is not going to build himself.”

Caught by surprise, Darcy and Elizabeth exchanged questioning glances before looking back at their son, and then spoke in harmony. “Mr. Peters?” 

Elizabeth said, “Ben, dearest, wherever did you happen upon that name?”

Young Ben pointed at the bulging mound of snow with two tiny tree limbs poking from both its sides, a bulbous pine cone nose, and two brown eyes made of stones. “He told me!”

•●• Questions, Thoughts? You're welcome to share! •●• 

Please take a moment and add HOPE AND SENSIBILITY to your Goodreads TBR List now.