Memory: Volume 1, Lasting Impressions, A Tale of Pride and Prejudice (Memory: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice) by Linda Wells Page A

Serpentine, staring out over the water.  Of course she is not here, it is not as if she lives in Grosvenor Square, is it?   He picked up a rock from the ground, studied its shape and with skill learned from childhood, skipped it across the surface, and stared in surprise when after one hop, it sank.  He heard feminine laughter and looked up only to be disappointed, but not before the ladies stopped and smiled at him expectantly.  He nodded stiffly and looked back to the water, hearing the giggles and discussion of his look as they strolled away.  I suppose that I should simply become used to this.  There will be no excuse next Season.  I may cling to the sight of Lizzy, but she is not the one I will marry someday. That would not be fulfilling my duty.   He picked up another stone and attempted to skip it across the water, and again failed.  I need to stop thinking of her.  I must put her out of my mind.  I cannot let the ghost of her memory prevent me from looking honestly at all of the women who are suitable for me and Georgiana.
    Elizabeth and her aunt approached the Serpentine, and stopped to gaze upon the water.  She looked up to see the back of a tall man standing by the edge, his dark hair touching the collar of his fine coat.  She drew in a sharp breath and stepping forward purposefully, decided that this time, no matter how improper, she was going to speak to him. 
    “Lizzy, what are you doing?”  Mrs. Gardiner asked.
    Ignoring her, Elizabeth moved quickly and approached the man. “Pardon me . . .”
    He turned and looked at her face, then took in her clothes from head to toe, his face wrinkling in a look of disdain.  Elizabeth gasped and blushed.  “Forgive me, sir, I mistook you for someone else!”  She turned and fled.  Mrs. Gardiner met the man’s eye who was regarding her with equal disgust for the display of impertinence.  She curtseyed and followed Elizabeth who had rounded a corner and was sobbing into her handkerchief.
    “I . . .I thought it was him!”  She gasped.  “Oh what a fool I am!  Wanting to come here and perhaps see him, and instead I behave so badly.  I am so sorry for embarrassing you!”  She cried and covered her mouth.  “He looked at me as if I were lint!” 
    “Yes dear, he is rich and clearly we are not.”
    “You are not poor, Aunt.”  She drew her shoulders back.  “I will go tell him that!”
    “Lizzy you will do no such thing!  The incident is over!  Keep your opinion to yourself!”  Mrs. Gardiner whispered.  “He had every right to feel offended.”
    “And I have no right to be here.”  She sniffed again.  “I belong back at home with the mud and the sheep.”
    Darcy walked back along the banks of the water and came upon Lord Reginald Creary.  He nodded at him and saw his expression.  “Is something amiss, Creary?”
    “Indeed Darcy, some little guttersnipe just walked up to me and had the impertinence to presume we were acquainted.  Well, one look from me and she and her companion scurried away.  I looked at her dress; it was not what the Queen would call fashionable.  Women of that sort should not be allowed to walk here.  They should have been stopped at the gate!”  He sniffed and noticed the black armband.  “Sorry to hear of your father, good man.”
    Darcy’s brow furrowed as he listened.  “Thank you.  This woman you described, what was her age?”
    “How should I know, seventeen perhaps?”
    “Dark hair?”
    “Yes, has she tried to talk you up, as well?  Not that I am averse to a bit of fluff now and again, it does not belong here in the daylight!”  He tilted his head, “but if you would care to meet up with her, she went up around the bend.”
    Darcy glared at him.  “I am not interested, but thank you for the concern.”  He walked away and up the path.  Far off in the distance he could see a small young woman walking with another and his pace picked up.  He instinctively knew it was Lizzy,