Page 41 of Moments Frozen in Time (Pride and Prejudice Variation)

LYDIA

P emberley was absolutely stunning—far grander than anything I had imagined.

It was like something out of a novel, with its elegant rooms and endless grounds stretching out in every direction.

Although it was winter and we could not explore as freely as I wished, I could already picture how glorious it would be come spring when the gardens would be in bloom, the woods full of birdsong, and the lake sparkling under a clear sky.

What did I care for soldiers when there was so much beauty to be found in nature?

I laughed at myself; I sounded like Lizzy.

What surprised me most was how quickly Georgiana Darcy became just like another sister.

Mary, Kitty, and I wasted no time bringing her into our fold.

She might not have been born a Bennet, but it hardly mattered.

Within days, she laughed with us, shared secrets, and teased as if she had grown up beside us all our lives.

The only thing that could have made it more perfect would have been having Lizzy there with us.

For years, I had kept my distance from her, always assuming we had little in common.

But over the past two months, we had grown closer—something that surprised even me.

I had come to admire her strength, her wit, and her willingness to speak plainly, even when doing so was uncomfortable .

Her efforts to guide Kitty and me—especially when our parents seemed so disinclined to instruct us in the proper behaviour of young ladies—were commendable.

Perhaps she ought to have done so sooner, but was it truly the elder sibling’s duty to raise the younger?

I do not know what changed after the assembly, but something had, for until then, I would not have believed Lizzy cared very much for me.

And yet, I had come to enjoy reading novels with her and discussing them, and it had been lovely—even comforting—to feel, if only for a short time, that I was not as silly or thoughtless as Papa so often implied.

Now that she was not here, I felt her absence more keenly than I ever could have imagined—especially here, in the very place she was meant to call home.

I refused to believe she would not be found and brought back to us.

Mr. Darcy would never allow it to end this way.

If anyone could find her, it would be him.

I had no doubt he would move heaven and earth to bring Lizzy back where she belonged.

Unfortunately, Christmas came and went without further word about Elizabeth.

Mr. Darcy returned home the day before Christmas Eve, clearly tired from his search.

I admired that, even in his distress about Elizabeth, he valued his sister enough to keep his word to her.

I do not think she would have minded his remaining to search, but I suppose there were other considerations, and perhaps with everything else, Mr. Darcy did not wish to be alone for Christmas.

On New Year’s Day, Mr. Darcy once again departed for the north. This time, I did not expect him to return until he had found Elizabeth.