Just Can't Get Enough of Mrs. Bennet

Welcome Back!

Last week's post with Mrs. Bennet was so much fun, I decided to add more from that scene. This comes from my WIP Betrothed to Mr. Darcy. You can find last week's snippet here. 

From an upstairs window at Longbourn, Mrs. Bennet, Kitty and Mary are continuing to observe the arrival of the Darcys and Colonel Fitzwilliam. Mrs. Bennet and Kitty are particularly interested in Colonel Fitzwilliam. 

“Mama, he looked right at me,” Kitty exclaimed.

“Of course he did. Now let me look at you before you go and meet him.” Mrs. Bennet  tugged a bit here and pushed a bit there to magically create a bosom where little had been before.

Mary observed the process and said, “Illusions of beauty are quickly shattered. True beauty lies in the virtuous soul of a young lady.”

“Oh shut up!” Kitty and Mrs. Bennet chorused. 

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What Would Darcy Do----More First Class Fun

This is supposed to be a series of posts about Mr. Darcy, but I keep having ideas for what the other characters would do while they are all together on the plane. This week, though, let's get back to Mr. Darcy.

You can get caught up on last week's post here.

The incessant chatter of the mother/daughter combo seated behind him made Darcy's head throb. Recent changes to air travel which made it possible for anyone with enough frequent flyer miles to upgrade to first class had been a trial for him. To fly in a first class cabin with such company was insupportable.

There was a lovely, serene blonde woman across the aisle whom his chatterbox seatmate had engaged in conversation. She was the only handsome woman in the cabin.

Chuck Bingley continued talking to her, though Darcy had trouble discerning whether she was interested in what he said or if she was just being polite. No matter, the plane would land and they would all go their separate ways.

Or so he hoped.

At that moment, the plane hit some turbulence which rocked the plane a bit from side to side.

"Heavens! We are going to crash," the woman behind him said to her daughter, and everyone else. "I knew it. We are going to die and that is just what your father would want. He cares nothing for me."

"Mama," Lydia said. "We shall not die."

Liz had left the galley to attend to the call button over Mr. Darcy's seat but when she heard the panic in the woman's voice she decided to address that issue first.

"Ma'am," she said leaning close in order to keep their conversation discrete. "It was just a small bit of turbulence. I am sure we will be fine."

"Miss?" Lydia said. "Could we have more of those cookies? I'm so hungry."

Weekend Writing Warriors----Let's Spend Some Time With Mrs. Bennet

I dropped the ball by not including a snippet from Mrs. Bennet last week in honor of Mother's Day, but don't worry, she's here this week! 

This bit is from Betrothed To Mr. Darcy. Mrs. Bennet and Kitty are watching the arrival of the Darcys and Colonel Fitzwilliam from an upstairs window of Longbourn. 

“Mama, he is a younger son. He will never inherit his father’s title.” Kitty admired herself in a full-length mirror. “What is the point if he will never be an Earl?”

“He is an officer. A colonel! And what’s more,” Mrs. Bennet pulled Kitty away from the looking glass to tuck a piece of her daughter’s errant hair back into place, “you don’t know but that his older brother might be in poor health or could meet with a horrible accident.”

“Mama,” Kitty was all amazement, “what a thing to say!”

“Oh fiddlesticks! It’s not as though I said that I wished he would die. I simply mentioned the possibility. ” 

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WWDD---What Would Darcy Do?

Welcome Back!

When I got the idea for What Would Darcy Do posts I thought it would be a different scenario every week but I'm having so much fun with the plane that I'm going to stay there until I get tired of it.

If you'd like to go back and relive the fun. Week One is here and Week Two is here.

Which brings us now to Week Three. I got this idea while vacuuming this morning. If you all like it, that might mean I'll have to vacuum more so I am torn about what sort of response I hope to get.

Enjoy!

Liz patted her hair to make sure it was in place, then softly tapped on the cockpit door before entering. 

Her heart fluttered when Captain George Wickham turned from his piloting duties and smiled at her. She'd met many pilots in her day, but none looked so handsome in their uniform as George Wickham. Perhaps it was the way he wore his hat in rakish disarray, but she suspected it was the way his eyes looked at her and made her feel tingly and naughty; like he knew just how to get her wheels off the ground. 

Their hands touched when she handed him a glass of soda and a shot of electricity spurted through her body. 

"We're all meeting up for drinks at the hotel bar after we land, Liz. Will I see you there?"

 The invitation was just what she'd been hoping for. "Of course I can't stay out too late, but it would be nice to get out and see everyone." 

Wickham winked at her. "I'll make sure you're in bed early." 

Flustered, Liz retreated to the galley where her friend, Charlotte, was preparing hot towels for the first class passengers. She surveyed Liz and said "I see you've been flirting in the cockpit again." 

"You told me that a woman needs to let a man know she's interested. I'm just following your advice." 

"I would advise you to stay away from Captain Wickham. He is a notorious flirt and rumor has it he is broke since his first two wives have taken him to the cleaners. Better to find a nice steady man who has his feet firmly on the ground." 

"Charlotte! What about love and romance?" 

"Finding love is really just a matter of chance. Better to make sure you have a roof over your head and money in the bank or you'll be serving coffee and danish until you're old and gray." 

This discussion was interrupted by a signal that the passenger in seat 1A needed assistance. "Oh, that man is so disagreeable. I can't imagine what he wants other than to complain," Liz said. 

"I was just out there," Charlotte said. "I think he wants to see you." 

"I am sure that nothing that I can do will please him," Liz said then left the galley to see to the somber gentleman's needs. 

Hmmm. Any ideas for what happens next?

WeWriWa More from Betrothed to Mr. Darcy

Thanks for stopping by! We're moving on from the discussion about the marriage settlement. This scene takes place a couple days later when Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth and Miss Darcy are discussing Elizabeth's move to Pemberley. 

“Why yes, very much. I fear I may miss walking these familiar paths once I move to Derbyshire.”

“But will you not enjoy exploring new paths at Pemberley?” Miss Darcy asked.

“Yes,” Elizabeth said, “I am sure I will find much to enjoy at Pemberley as well.”

“I look forward to showing you all the pleasures of Pemberley.” The tone of Mr. Darcy’s voice was unfamiliar to her and the feelings it evoked were equally foreign.

Elizabeth, who had taken a bite of toast, found that her throat had closed up and she had difficulty swallowing. An unladylike gulp of tea resolved the matter, though it did nothing to calm the slamming of her heart against her chest. 

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WWDD--What Would Darcy Do? More High Flying Fun

Last week my first WWDD was about Mr. Darcy on a plane. You can read that post here. I had so much fun that I decided to continue that scene.

The plane was just about to pull back from the gate. Mr. Darcy glanced around and noticed the two seats behind him and his new friend, Chuck, were empty. If no one showed up, perhaps he'd be able to move and have those two seats to himself. He was ill qualified to recommend himself to strangers and thus preferred to travel without the necessity of social chit chat. 

Just as he was about to release his seat belt and make his move, a clatter arose at the entrance to the plane and two women, presumably mother and daughter, clamored onto the plane, their hands overflowing with shopping bags. 

"Oh my dear Lydia," the elder woman said. "We made it. Right on time. I always knew we would." 

The commotion created by the two newest passengers brought Liz out of the gallery. Mr. Darcy noticed that the look in her eyes went from vibrant to horrified to calm in an instant. She assisted the two women to get their bags stowed so that the plane could take off on time. 

"Lord, I'm so hungry," the younger woman said. 

"Look at us, flying first class. I always knew we were meant for such luxury. How fortunate that the odious Mr. Collins died before you father so that we were able to keep all of his frequent flyer miles." 

"I never thought I'd have so many miles on me," Lydia said. 

Oh...I have to stop. I think this is taking a bad turn. What do you think?

Another 8 From Betrothed to Mr. Darcy---More From the Marriage Settlement Discussion

As we saw last week, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bennet are in disagreement about the marriage settlement. After diffusing the two men's tempers, Elizabeth asks to speak with Mr. Darcy alone. When Elizabeth objects to the amount of money Mr. Darcy plans to bestow upon her, the following discussion takes place: 

Darcy retrieved the document from her and set it on her father’s desk before taking her hands in his. “My dear Elizabeth, have you no notion of the value of Pemberley and the Darcy estate?”

“I care not for such things and well you know it.” She pulled her hands away from his and turned to pace the room.

“Whether you care about pecuniary matters or not, you are soon to become the mistress of Pemberley and,” he paused to gather his emotions, “my wife. Did you not think that I would provide handsomely for your needs?”

“It seems,” Elizabeth stopped pacing and faced Mr. Darcy “that everyone else was sufficiently concerned with your finances that I did not give it much consideration. It was not your wealth that caused me to wish to be your wife.”

“Though your tour of Pemberley did not dissuade you from the notion,” Mr. Darcy teased.

“Oh, you are abominable. Do be serious. My father’s pride has been wounded. You must allow him to contribute to my future.” 

Thanks for stopping by!

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WWDD---What Would Darcy Do?

Is it a sign that I have spent too much time in Jane Austen Land (is that possible?) when I am standing at the airport gate looking at the mass of humanity and thinking "I wonder what Mr. Darcy would think of all this?" And Viola! A new feature for my blog was born.

Okay...it's a new blog so pretty much everything is a new feature, but humor me here.

Today's inaugural installment of WWDD---What Would Darcy Do on an airplane?

Of course, he'd fly first class. And he most certainly would not be one of those people who cram all their belongings into a carry on bag and jam it into the overhead compartment. So unseemly.

He would not partake of the free alcohol in first class and he most certainly would not flirt with the flight attendants.

In all likelihood, he would be the man who closes his eyes and pretends he's asleep in order to avoid any conversation.

The more I thought about this scenario, the more the other characters from Pride and Prejudice appeared in the scene which now looks something like this:

"I dearly love to fly, is it not the most invigorating experience?" The eager faced man took his seat next to Mr. Darcy who did his best to be polite without encouraging further discourse. Undaunted, the other man put out his hand in a manner which required a response from Darcy. "I'm Chuck, Chuck Bingley. Just love flying. On my way to a sales conference. My father died and left me the business and now I'm learning the ropes." 

"I am sorry to hear about your father," Mr. Darcy said and turned to look out the window. 

"Pops was quite a guy. I just hope I can do as good a job with the business as he did." 

"So, you're in trade?" Darcy turned back from the window and examined his seatmate. 

"Trade, buy, sell. We do it all." 

"Fresh from the oven cookies, gentlemen?" A flight attendant with vibrant eyes and a name tag that said "Liz" presented a tray of gooey confections in front of Mr. Darcy and his new, unwanted, friend. 

"They appear tolerable, but not enough to tempt me," Mr. Darcy said. 

"Upon my word, man, I would not be as fastidious as you for a kingdom. I've never seen such temptations." Chuck Bingley said reaching for a chocolate chip and a Snickerdoodle which he gobbled with delight and washed down with an enthusiastic gulp of milk. 

Liz, the flight attendant observed all of this without speaking further, then turned away, though Darcy could swear he heard her giggle once she returned to the galley. 


Oh...I must stop. This is too much fun!

What do you think? Who else is on the plane? Imagine Mrs. Bennet in the seat behind them. Or Lydia and Wickham trying to join the Mile High Club?