Elizabeth Bennet's Excellent Adventure: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary by Regina Jeffers Page A

pen, and pager,” his cousin instructed. “You will write Miss Elizabeth your regrets, and I will ferry it to Longbourn. Promise the lady you will be on her doorstep as quickly as you recover.”
    Darcy sighed heavily. The colonel’s suggestion was all that was reason, but Darcy’s heart ached to know Elizabeth would still be his.
    “You will send an express detailing Miss Elizabeth’s willingness to hear my apology,” Darcy confirmed.
    “If it is your wish,” Fitzwilliam placated. “Now, permit me to retrieve your ink well and paper. You write while I speak to Cowan regarding Mr. Sloane. Then with your letter in hand, I will set a course for Hertfordshire.”
    * * *
    It took Elizabeth another quarter hour to convince Mrs. Bylane to accept Elizabeth’s offer. Only when the innkeeper announced the arrival for the coach set for Portsmouth did the woman relent. Elizabeth wished the woman well, and with a feeling of excitement and a bit of trepidation, she boarded the coach to a town of which Elizabeth held little knowledge. She felt the exhilaration of claiming a bit of freedom. Surprisingly, no one took note to her traveling unescorted, providing her the privacy to enjoy the journey: Elizabeth’s eyes were open to the absolute beauty of the English countryside.
    From Hertfordshire to London, then the coach crossed Bucks and the southern most points of Oxfordshire before entering Berkshire for the passengers to spend the night at a small coaching inn. Having heard horror stories of women attacked upon the road, Elizabeth stayed to her room for the evening.
    In the morning, she was the only occupant of the coach until a naval officer joined her at the second stop. If Elizabeth had her choice, the coach would pass close to Windsor and the royal castle so she might enjoy the splendor of the signts, but coming from the north, it only made sense to a make a large arc toward Reading and Basingstoke and Winchester.
    The gentleman appeared to take up more than his share of the coach, although, in truth, he kept himself very compact. Elizabeth studied his weather-beaten face with interest. His eyes missed few of the objects outside the coach’s window, but Elizabeth thought he truly did not see the rolling countryside or the dense forest. She wondered if, like her, the officer thought of another.
    The gentleman’s frame was square, much in the look of Colonel Fitzwilliam, rather than that of Mr. Darcy’s lanky form. The man’s eyes were a cross between a dark brown and a metal gray. His mouth, set in a tight line, displayed the firmness of his rank: A captain, if Elizabeth correctly recognized the insignias.
    When the coach stopped for a change of horses and a stretch of the passengers’ legs, they spoke for the first time.
    “May I assist you, Ma’am?”
    The officer reached to steady Elizabeth’s balance upon the coach’s narrow steps.
    “Thank you, Sir.”
    She placed her gloved hand in his and knew a twinge of disappointment that the gentleman’s touch did not affect her composure, as did Mr. Darcy’s. Even when they both wore gloves, Mr. Darcy’s caress of the back of her hand with his thumb always set Elizabeth’s heart fluttering.
    “Captain is it not?” she said with practiced politeness.
    The officer released her when Elizabeth claimed solid footing. He offered a bow of respect.
    “Yes, Ma’am.”
    He glanced about as if seeking someone.
    “As there appears to be no one about to provide a proper introduction, I pray you will forgive my gauche behavior. I am Captain Wentworth.”
    A second bow followed the gentleman’s declaration.
    Elizabeth smiled warmly at him.
    “Although we should claim propriety, as we are the only two passengers, such appears foolish. We are likely denying ourselves stimulating conversation because of Society’s strictures. I am Mrs. Elizabeth…”
    She hesitated, not wishing to use her family name. Instead, she chose a form of the surname of the woman Elizabeth left