A Holiday in Brighton Read online

  A HOLIDAY IN BRIGHTON

  A PRIDE AND PREJUDICE VARIATION

  PORTIA APPLETON

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Darcy

  Chapter 2

  Elizabeth

  Chapter 3

  Darcy

  Chapter 4

  Elizabeth

  Chapter 5

  Darcy

  Chapter 6

  Elizabeth

  Chapter 7

  Darcy

  Chapter 8

  Elizabeth

  Chapter 9

  Darcy

  Chapter 10

  Elizabeth

  Epilogue

  Coming Soon to the Maplewood Stables Saga…

  Coming Soon from Penelope Talbot

  Also from Daisy Chain Publishing

  CHAPTER 1

  DARCY

  Fitzwilliam Darcy took a long, sad sip of his port and stared in silence at the fireplace, as he had been for an hour at least. He arrived at his London Gentleman’s Club, White’s, some time ago but had yet to offer a greeting to a single other member. He had just suffered one of the longest and most exhausting months of his life and this escape to London was meant to bring him some peace. Instead, it had done the exact opposite of its intended purpose.

  While he had adamantly objected to the marriage, his Aunt Catherine de Bourgh spent the last year badgering him to wed her daughter, Anne. He had no romantic interest in Anne, and hardly found her tolerable as a cousin. Darcy was only just working up the courage to tell his Aunt that he intended to refuse the marriage when Anne contracted some sort of terrible illness. Within three days, she passed away in her sleep and there was nothing the doctors could do to prevent it from transpiring.

  Rather than channel her emotion into grief, Lady Catherine instead chose violence. Her rage at Fitzwilliam for putting off the marriage knew no bounds, and she blamed her daughter’s death on him. According to Lady de Bourgh, if Anne were married, she would have had something for which to live, something the doctor’s tried to assure her was not true. But she would hear none of it. As far as she was concerned, Darcy might as well have run Anne through with a sword.

  Exhausted from the sentiments that overwhelmed him for days, he left Rosings Park for the comforts of his own home, Pemberley. And when he arrived, he found that a storm caused a tree to fall into the east wing of his home. The damage would take months to repair. In his frustration, once the needed repairs were planned, Darcy immediately left Pemberley for his flat in London. At least while there, he could find some peace. And yet, he did not feel like he could calm down. Even the port was not bringing him any joy, and the port at White’s was some of the best he had ever tasted.

  “Darcy, old chap, you look as if you have lost your fortune in a game of hazard!”

  Aaron Flint, one of Fitzwilliam’s friends from the club, sat in the chair next to him, a cigar in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. Darcy would not say they were good friends; frankly, he had always considered Flint to be a bit of a cad. But he was generous with his family’s money and good for a laugh if one had a touch too much to drink.

  Fitzwilliam drank down the last of his port and sighed.

  “It has been a difficult month, Flint. I thought a trip to London would ease my woes but it seems they have followed me from Pemberley.”

  Flint gestured for the attendant to bring them two more glasses of wine, then reached into his pocket and handed Darcy an ornate silver key.

  “What is this, Flint? The key to your wine cellar? I do not solve all my troubles with the drink, like you.”

  Aaron laughed heartily and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Continue with your jokes, Darcy, and I will retract my generous offer. I have a home on the coast of Brighton. It is a lovely little cottage with a view of the ocean. It is only a short walk to town and you will find the peace you so crave.”

  Darcy looked at the key in utter surprise.

  “Why in the world would you share such a place with me? More importantly, why are you not there yourself?”

  Flint ran his hand through his hair and laughed with an awkward chuckle.

  “I have business to attend to in London, old chap. We can not all run off on a holiday in Brighton whenever we choose.”

  Darcy knew that was a lie. Aaron Flint had not worked a day in his life; his father never asked anything of his only son. He simply had to come home for holidays and keep his undesirable secrets hidden from society.

  “And you will simply allow me to stay there as long as I wish?” Darcy asked as he rolled the key over through his fingers.

  “Of course! Consider it a favor. Or rather, a gift, as I expect nothing in return.”

  Highly unlikely, Darcy thought as he examined Flint’s anxious face. Yet, given all that had transpired over the last month, escaping his usual haunts seemed like a capital idea.

  “Flint, I will take you up on your generous offer, and find a way to repay it in the near future.”

  Fitzwilliam would have been a fool to miss the look of relief that washed over Aaron’s face, but he was too fatigued to consider the ramifications of his decision…

  A holiday by the sea was exactly what he needed.

  CHAPTER 2

  ELIZABETH

  “Elizabeth, I do not think this is a good idea, my love. William has been dead for just a year. What is the hurry?” Mr. Bennet said after he sipped his tea.

  Elizabeth Collins’s little boy, Edward, pretended to read a book at her feet, whispering words to himself as he told stories only he understood. The Bennet family was overjoyed as Edward grew to have both his mother’s appearance and her good humor and imagination. As his father spent the majority of days and nights at Rosings Park, he grew entirely by his mother’s side. So, when William Collins passed away on one of his walks to Rosings one day, little changed about the relationship between mother and son.

  However, when William died, Lady Catherine de Bourgh immediately evicted Elizabeth and Edward from Hunsford Parsonage. Lady Catherine never cared for her, nor the Bennets, before her marriage to Collins. She thought them poor and Elizabeth a bad match for her precious pastor. While she always thought their relationship to be odd, Elizabeth did not mind how much time her husband spent at Rosings Park. Whenever he was away, the house was peaceful and Edward was allowed to play like a child. William expected him to behave like a little pastor himself.

  But now, it finally felt as if both Elizabeth and Edward’s lives were changing for the better.

  “Lizzy,” Mrs. Bennet said as she handed Edward a carved wooden horse on wheels, “your father is right. What is the rush to marry this Aaron Flint? You only just met him.”

  Elizabeth did not wish to share with her parents that Aaron Flint was handsome, charming, and very affectionate. Those were not details Mr. and Mrs. Bennet would appreciate. But Aaron came from a wealthy family and cared very much for little Edward, which was very important to Elizabeth. And she hoped it would matter to her parents as well.

  “Aaron is a good man, I am sure of it. He will take care of us in a way William never did. You know I never wished to marry him, but it seemed like the best idea at the time. Now, I have the opportunity to marry for love. Should I not take advantage of such a rare opportunity? Just look at how happy Jane and Charles are, and they married for love.”

  Mrs. Bennet nervously tapped her fingers on her lap and shook her head.

  “I do not know, Lizzy. This Aaron Flint, I have heard rumors when I have been in London to visit your Aunt and I am not sure…”

  “They are only rumors, Mama. Aaron has a kind heart and is a decent man. He already thinks of Edward as his own. He has asked us to meet him at h
is family home, where we will be married, and I have agreed. We will be leaving tomorrow morning.”

  Mrs. Bennet gasped. “We are not even invited to the nuptials?”

  Edward crawled into Elizabeth’s lap and she held him close. “It will be a simple ceremony in front of the town minister. As soon as we leave Brighton, we will return to Meryton and we can all celebrate here! It will be wonderful, mama, I promise.”

  She could see the look of suspicion on her mother’s face, but her father was doing his best to appear optimistic.

  “Lizzy, darling, if you believe this is best for you and Edward, then we will support you. And when you return from Brighton the bride of a rich, kind man that you truly love, we will have a wonderful party right here at Longbourn. All your mother and I want is for you and little Edward to be happy. If Aaron Flint will make you happy, then we will pay for the coach to Brighton ourselves.”

  Her mother gasped. “Mr. Bennet! The cost!”

  “Nonsense. We were hardly allowed to contribute or take part in her first wedding. If this is all we can do for her now, then we will do so. But Lizzy, please make me one promise…”

  Edward was making his horse run through the air in front of her face, causing her to laugh as she gave it a gentle shove to lower it.

  “What is it, papa?”

  “If anything feels amiss in Brighton, you will write to us so we can help you. We will support you, no matter what you may need.”

  Elizabeth reached out and held her father’s hand.

  “I know you will, Papa. I know you will.”

  CHAPTER 3

  DARCY

  As Darcy had all the time in the world for his first vacation in some time, he decided to take two days to travel to Brighton. He spent one evening at The George Inn in Crawley, a fascinating place that was full of all manner of interesting people. After a long night sitting in the bar, listening to stories from travelers from all over England, Darcy began the rest of his journey to the seaside early the next morning.

  It was not long before the scent of the ocean filled Fitzwilliam’s coach, and he could already feel a calm wash over him. It was as if all the worry and sadness of the last month disappeared in a moment. It felt as if hardly a moment passed before the coach came to a stop and the driver called out to him.

  “Sir, we have arrived at The Flint Home. Shall I take your cases inside?”

  Darcy stepped out of the coach and took in a deep breath of sea air.

  “Momentarily, my friend. Allow me to unlock the door first.”

  He strolled across the thick Brighton grass with the stride of a man with a weight off his shoulders and slipped the silver key into the lock. When the heavy blue door opened, the first thing he saw was a woman sitting on the floor of the small drawing room, playing with a set of blocks.

  “What are you doing here?” Darcy and the woman said in shock at the same time.

  After some period of time in which Fitzwilliam and the woman shouted at each other with such volume and frequency that neither could understand the other, Darcy was finally able to convince her to quiet for a moment.

  “Please, madam, we are getting nowhere with this incessant bickering. I must say, you look familiar. Have we met before?”

  She sighed and went to the kitchen, then poured her son a cup of milk, which he accepted happily before settling on the front porch to watch the ocean below the cliffs. Once the boy was contently distracted, she turned to him with a look of disdain in her eye.

  “We have met, Fitzwilliam Darcy. A number of years ago, multiple times when your good friend Charles Bingley married my sister, Jane. It comes as no surprise that you do not remember me as it is quite in keeping with your behavior every other time we were in each other’s company.”

  Darcy could not help but laugh, as not only did he remember Elizabeth Bennet well, but he very much remembered her cheekiness.

  “Miss Bennet, I have not forgotten you, I assure…”

  “Mrs. Collins. My name is Elizabeth Collins, for the time being. My fiancé should be here any day now at which point I will become Mrs. Elizabeth Flint.”

  Fitzwilliam sat in a chair next to the fireplace and stared at the woman in shock.

  “You are… engaged to Aaron Flint?”

  At first he thought she was going to pour herself her own glass of milk, but instead, she reached for a bottle of wine and filled a cup. He watched in fascination as she drank half of it in one long sip.

  “Why,” she asked as she set down the cup, “is every so surprised to hear that a man like Aaron Flint would be interested in marrying the likes of me?”

  “Miss… Mrs. Collins, that was hardly my intended meaning. What I would like to know, why would a woman of quality such as yourself have any interest in marrying a scoundrel such as Aaron Flint?”

  Elizabeth looked at Darcy in surprise, and for a moment, seemed too shocked to answer. But the wine appeared to clear her temporary fog, and she was suddenly brought back to the present.

  “I do not understand… Aaron is meant to be here right now. What are you even doing in this house? How did you get a key to the Flints’ Brighton home?”

  This was the question that Darcy was waiting for the young woman to ask during their initial argument and he was surprised it took this long for her to raise it.

  “Mrs. Collins, I am beginning to believe we have found ourselves in a spot of trouble neither of us anticipated.”

  CHAPTER 4

  ELIZABETH

  “I am afraid I do not understand. Why would Aaron give you the key to the house when he was intending to meet us here the very same week?”

  Darcy looked at her as if he wished he could give her an answer that would satisfy her, but they both knew that was not possible.

  “I can not presume to understand the ways of Aaron Flint, Mrs. Collins.”

  Elizabeth waved a frustrated hand at him. “Please, call me Elizabeth. I may not be Elizabeth Bennet anymore but I am certainly not Elizabeth Collins, either. I am… a woman without a surname. So, you may call me Elizabeth.”

  He smiled gently at her and gestured at the couch across from him. She sat down, but did so with a shiver of nervousness down her spine. Try as she might, she could seem to make sense of anything that was happening. She was simply grateful that Edward was too excited that he was introduced to a new friend to question where Aaron had gone. He may have only been five, but he was intelligent, and he seemed to understand things faster than some adults…

  Certainly faster than his father.

  “You said Aaron proposed marriage to you before he invited you to come to Brighton?”

  She scoffed as she considered everything that led to this moment. Had she been a fool? When Aaron suggested they go to Brighton ahead of him and that he would meet them there when he completed his work in London, she should have known something was wrong. Aaron never worked. What could he possibly be doing that would prevent him from joining them in Brighton right away?

  Darcy was watching her with pity in her eyes and she could hardly stand it.

  “Please, do not look at me like that, Mr. Darcy. I feel poorly enough as it is.”

  He laughed as Edward came back inside and tapped the gentleman on the leg.

  “Mr. Darcy, sir. Would you like to see the ocean with me?”

  Elizabeth was just about to promise her son they could go later when Darcy ran his hand through Edward’s hair and took his little hand in his own.

  “I think a walk on the shore would be a lovely idea. Some fresh sea air would do us all some good. Give me a moment to compensate my driver and have him bring my trunks inside, and then we can walk down the path.”

  Elizabeth jumped to her feet quickly.

  “Your trunks? In here? I do not know if that is wise…”

  “What is wise, Elizabeth? This house is far enough away from the town that if something were to happen to either of you, you would not get help in time. Worse, if someone were to come here, you would
be a woman and a child completely alone. I am not willing to leave you to such risks until we find Mr. Flint. I promise you both, I will be the picture of a gentleman.”

  Elizabeth bristled for a moment, worried about what the people of Brighton might think if they saw a man who was not Aaron Flint staying with her at the Flint Home. But he made an excellent point. While Brighton was a relatively safe town, it was not an intelligent idea for Elizabeth and her son to stay in a home alone, especially if gossip began to spread that she had been abandoned by Aaron.

  “I will accept your offer, Mr. Darcy. But only until Aaron returns.”

  He nodded, but she could see the pity in his eyes again and found it intolerable.

  “You and young Master Edward should begin down the path to the ocean. I will tend to my driver and meet you there momentarily.”

  Elizabeth nodded and took her son in her arms, then started down the path that led to the shore. Once she set him down on the sand, he immediately began to dig around, searching for shells and tucking them into his little pockets until they were full.

  “You can not take every shell on the beach, my love! We must leave some for others.”

  “But mama, they are so pretty! I would like to take them home and set them all out on the table. Do you think Uncle Aaron will help me sort them?”

  Elizabeth glanced up at the house and watched as Fitzwilliam’s coach drove off. He was already making his way down the path and in their direction. How could she explain any of this to her son when she did not understand it herself? How could Aaron simply disappear?