Page 2 of Darcy’s Guarded Heart

Her mother, newly delivered of Lydia, had been most put out by her continued failure to produce a son, and Elizabeth had taken it upon herself to remedy the matter, praying earnestly every Sunday in church and each night before bed that a brother might miraculously appear. And in a way, one had.

Of course, Thomas Bennet—though he bore the family name—was no true brother. They shared the last name due to his mother, Bessy Bennet, her father’s unfortunate cousin.

“What are you smiling about?” he asked, perplexed.

“Nothing—nothing to do with our present predicament. Only that I recall the first time I saw you sitting on a bale of hay just like this.”

“The day I arrived.” He nodded. “I remember it well. I was terrified. I had no notion who these Bennets were, nor why I was to live among them. I felt as though I had been in that carriage for days and days, though upon further reflection, Brighton is but a day and a half away. At the time, it seemed an eternity.”

“I know it. And I remember how quiet you were at dinner—so unlike the Thomas I know and cherish now,” she said, giggling.

“Yes, well, your mother had prepared some dreadful dish—the memory of which I have done my best to suppress.”

“It was haggis.”

“Did you not hear me? I do my best to suppress such a memory. But if you insist on torturing me with this memory, I shall indulge you. Haggis. Dreadful. She made it because she had been informed that my branch of the family had settled in Scotland and thus presumed, I would appreciate it. I did not.”

“No, and nor had you ever even been to Scotland,” Elizabeth remembered.

The aunt and uncle who had taken him in after his mother’s death had moved to Scotland and deposited Thomas with another relative in Brighton from where he’d joined them.

Though Mrs Bennet had never been one for paying attention to detail.

“Quite right. I thought she was exceedingly displeased with me for not eating it. That is why I came out here to hide—I thought she would be cross with me.”

“She was not. Only disappointed. But you could not have known. You had yet to become acquainted with the delight that is my mother.”

“Indeed, not yet.” He smiled wryly. “I did, however, become acquainted with you that evening. I remember looking up to find you lurking in the shadows, watching me as though you expected me to steal a horse.”

She laughed aloud. “I did not! I merely wished to marvel at you, for I was convinced that my prayers had summoned you.”

“Yes—the infamous brother prayers,” he said with a chuckle. “It is a shame I am not truly your brother. Perhaps your mother would not be in such perpetual agitation over the matter of finding husbands for you girls.”

“Indeed. Which brings me once more to our current predicament, what on earth has Mother discovered that sent her into such raptures?”

Thomas chuckled. “She has discovered not one, but two eligible bachelors, of course. The gentleman who is to occupy Netherfield Park is Mr Charles Bingley of Sheffield—a man of trade, with considerable means.”

“And how, pray, did she gather this information so quickly when they have only just arrived?”

“They have just arrived by Mr Bingley’s staff arrived days ago.

You know how she is. She has her ways,” he said.

Then he pulled back his shoulder and heightened his voice with a smirk before speaking in the high tone they all used when imitating their mother.

“Oh, Jane, can you imagine? You must set your cap on him posthaste. It will be a delight to have a daughter married so well.”

Elizabeth shook her head but couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, dearest Mama. Of course, it would be Jane she sets to this particular task.”

“She is the oldest and most refined. And by far the most kind-hearted.”

“And prettiest,” Elizabeth added, but Thomas shrugged.

“That is in the eye of the beholder. In any case, you are all to attend the Meryton assembly. None is to be left behind.”

Elizabeth sighed. “Very well. We shall see what this Mr Bingley is all about. But pray, you said there were two eligible gentlemen? Who is the other?”

“I am unsure. A friend of Bingley’s, but Mrs Bennet was not able to find out more just yet. But fear not, she shall not rest until she does.”

Elizabeth shook her head in bemusement, for she knew this was true.

She glanced at Thomas. A part of her wanted to ask why he still referred to her mother as Mrs Bennet after all these years, but another part did not want to pry.

She knew it must be difficult for him to be a part of this family while also being somewhat on the outside.

They shared blood and a name, but he was still not really one of them—not in the eyes of outsiders, anyhow.

To her and her sisters, Thomas was like a brother.

Indeed, at times she forgot he was not. But to others, he was always the Bennet’s ward.

It was a difficult position to be in; she recognised this and did not want to draw attention to it by asking him questions such as why he preferred a formal address for her parents.

For the time being, she pushed these thoughts aside. It was time to head inside—and hope that for once, her mother had quite exhausted herself with her excitement.