Having suffered from losing both parents, all five Bennet sisters have separated across England, having to take up professions when Mr. Collins takes possession of their home, Longbourn.

Securing a post in Milton, an industrial town in the North, Elizabeth travels with a family called the Hales. Her close friend is their daughter, Miss Margaret Hale, and they both are suffering from being uprooted from their homes, and the comforts of the South.

Upon her arrival, Elizabeth is surprised to find that her past has followed her there.

Unsettled by Elizabeth rejecting his offer of marriage, Mr. Darcy takes a trip to Milton to visit his friend, Mr. John Thornton. While there, he discovers that bad first impressions are contagious!

Mr. Thornton, like Mr. Darcy, meets a lady with less than welcoming habits—Elizabeth’s friend, Miss Margaret Hale.

Curiosities & Contemplation, A Pride & Prejudice North & South Variation, Book 1, is the tale that unites the characters of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice and Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South.

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Release Date: September 17, 2024
Genre: Historical Romance | Reimagining

A Pink Satin Romance

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Excerpt

Chapter One:
The Departure

It is a tendency, universally experienced, that one sometimes cannot fall asleep when one is awaiting a daunting event the next day.

No matter how comfortable the bed, how kind are the occupants who live at the residence where you rest, how lovely the room that you sleep in, you will remain there, staring up at the ceiling, with the darkness like a weight around you.

Such was I. Every part of my skin felt as if individual pins and needles were pricking it, daring me to fall asleep, while making it impossible to do so.

Every part of my soul was filled with questions and doubts about tomorrow. After all, it was the first day toward a future that was undecided, undefined, and untamed. Most of my life had been so well-regulated, so confined within a set of proper parameters, that I never believed there would be any change in my life.

Although all the signs were there, all the warnings were given, tragedy does not strike you as being something that will affect you—until it does.

And then, you had one option as a young lady of hardly any fortune to her name, of very little to live on, and no dowry of any kind. You had to marry well or begin to do that thing that many people do not find desirable: you had to find your profession and hoped that all chances would fall into place.

Your future is bleak because it is just so unknown. Your solace is visiting friends.

Whatever differences I have with Edith Shaw—forgive me, now Edith Lennox, I adore her and knew that I would miss her company terribly. She had the open temper that suited me well as a companion and was a constantly loyal friend.

I would even miss the whirlwind that surrounded her wedding.

I would miss how safe I was in this house.

How I felt that there was nothing to worry over while I was here.

Even all the days where I had to be taken up by events and social visits that I had no control over—those same events that I would internally rail against because I was never consulted on what I wished to do—now seemed so charming and inviting.

After all, necessary obligations are always more endurable than the unknown.

But tomorrow brought the very unknown before my feet. And my mind could not rest, on both fear and expectation of where my life was going to be headed towards.

 

* * *

 

“Oh, Elizabeth, I wish that you would stay and accompany us,” Edith said, as the servants began to convey my luggage out of my room and into the chaise and four.

“Selfishness is a common failing,” I responded, smiling sadly, “and I have it. Yes, I do wish I could go with you. But in this case, I’m going to do everything in my power to ignore that wicked side of myself.”

“You are not wicked,” Edith said, “and wait there.”

She left my guestroom and returned, carrying two Indian shawls. Reading her mind instantly, I prepared my refusal.

“Oh, Edith, I couldn’t!” I cried, but she ignored my pleas.

“No, I will not be denied,” she argued, unfolding the shawls, and then laying each one on both sides of my shoulder. “If you are to leave me and join Margaret in the North—oh, the dreaded North—then I will give you both a gift of color and something fine to remember me by.” She leaned into me, conspiratorially. “I don’t care what Uncle Hale says… I’ve heard the worst things about Milton. They say that the town has one color to it: gray. Gray, gray, gray!”

I laughed.

“I’d say that you are exaggerating,” I noted, “but this time, I shall have to plead ignorance and admit that you may know something that I do not.”

“How delightful! For the first time ever, I can claim to be the authority on this matter.” She steered me toward the mirror, so that I could see the shawls better. “There, my gift to you and Margaret.”

“You know your cousin better than I,” I said, “you know which shawl would suit her better.”

“You know her as well as me. Now, choose your favorite and Margaret will have the other as a gift.”

“Oh, the decision must be left to me?” I remarked, looking in the mirror. “And now I must be selfish.”

There was a knock on the door and we both turned to who was the intruder. Our faces relaxed as we saw that it was Edith’s new husband, Captain Lennox. Lennox was a tall and handsome man, in his late twenties and with all the charm to go with his looks.

“What is this?” Captain Lennox asked, amused as he walked up to us. “Miss Elizabeth, this is your day of departure and you and my perfect bride are acting like you are preparing for a dinner party.”

“From dinner party to departure,” I said to him, “you must allow ladies to be ladies. I refuse to believe that your taste in women was not so experienced that you didn’t know what you were marrying.”

“He did indeed know what he was marrying,” Edith said, resting her chin on my shoulder.

“And I would have it no other way,” Captain Lennox responded. “Miss Elizabeth, first Miss Margaret Hale leaves my wife and now you.”

“Margaret and I left with no desire to abandon a good friend,” I urged him to believe. “Margaret’s duty was to family and mine is to life. Now, I believe that Edith wants you to decide a matter for both of us.”

“Indeed, I do,” Edith responded, going up to him and taking his arm. “This is your chance to see how proficient you are in ladies’ fashions.”

“Now what would a lowly captain like me know about that?” he asked, amused. As I put my last item in my carpet bag, I looked on them both as they stared into each other’s eyes.

From Edith’s lovely and charming face, framed by her perfect blonde curly hair, to Lennox’s tall frame, they were perhaps the most handsome couple in London. Neither one of them were people of great information nor deep thought, but that was why I liked them. Altogether, they were the model of a happy couple who I was aware possessed a love that might never reach me. When looking on them, I knew that one thing was certain: they were the model of an ideal marriage.

How different it was to a year ago, when I beheld my elder sister, Jane, who was in the very throes of love with a man who would have made a marriage worth the earning. However, that match never came to be, and all my hopes were dashed against the rocky grounds of Fate. Now, I had Edith and Captain Lennox as the ideal model, and they were living up to the few matches in the world that I could admire.

With the rest of us, life was constantly playing a cruel joke—a hope for an ideal love or life that would always be just out of our reach. But here, on Wimpole Street, London, a dream did come true. I had that knowledge as a warmth that often revived my faith in Man.

Once they stopped looking longingly into each other’s eyes, Captain Lennox turned and analyzed the shawls that were draped across each of my shoulders.

“I am to decide which one looks best on you,” he determined.

“And the other will go to Margaret,” Edith clarified.

“Well, I have only one lady before me, so I shall oblige.” Captain Lennox walked up to me, scrutinizing the craftwork that went into each shawl. At last, he pulled the one that was on my left shoulder.

“This is the one for you,” he declared. “Margaret shall look splendid in the other one.” He turned to Edith. “How did I do?”

“Splendidly! What do you think, Elizabeth?” Edith asked me.

“I think he passed the test,” I surmised.

“I was being tested?” Captain Lennox asked.

“This is women’s fashion; of course, you were being tested!”

We were interrupted by Mrs. Shaw, Edith’s mother.

“Oh, Poor Elizabeth!” She declared. “Here come the bad tidings. Your luggage is packed away in the carriage and is ready for departure.”

Walking up to her, I pressed her arm lovingly with my hand and kissed her cheek.

“I will miss how you always call me Poor Elizabeth whenever you had bad news to tell me.”

“You will miss us, surely.”

“Of course, I will.”

They escorted me downstairs as I put on my coat, scarf, bonnet, and gloves.

When done, I took one last look at everything.

“I will never forget how you have helped me recover since mama’s passing,” I said to Mrs. Shaw and Edith.

“She was my dearest friend,” Mrs. Shaw said, “when your mother left this earth, you lost much. I know the feeling of losing a mother, and I knew that it would be especially harder on you girls. No offense to your father, of course.”

“I understand.” I smiled wistfully. “You must not blame him for dying too early, Mrs. Shaw. He couldn’t control that.”

“I know. God bless him, but you know my sentiments on the matter. I will always believe that he should have done a better job at providing for your future. And now, Mr. Hale is doing the same thing with poor Maria and Margaret.”

I let her say what she wished because it was wrong to try and contradict her.

“Say what you will,” Mrs. Shaw continued, “but when I had to marry General Shaw, the disparity of age difference between us was too trying for me to ever be happy. I did what I had to do so that Edith would escape my fate.”

“Mama, Elizabeth doesn’t need to hear this again,” Edith said, rolling her eyes.

“She does, however, for her father should have made certain that his daughters could have the same chances in life. I used to say that he did not help you five by letting you all loiter away on Longbourn without gaining more connections in town. A good thing it was that your mother made sure that you all learned a trade, so you all could provide for yourselves. Though, in my opinion, it should have never come to that.”

“I will manage. But I thank you.”

“And I do believe that she would have,” came a voice behind us.

We all turned, and it was Mr. Henry Lennox, Captain Lennox’s brother.

“Sitting still and doing nothing has never been Miss Bennet’s style,” he determined.

 

* * *

 

“Henry!” Captain Lennox called. “I worried that you wouldn’t arrive in time.”

“You have underestimated me, brother,” Mr. Lennox said, coming up to us, “punctuality is a requirement of my profession. If it were not that, I would never win a case.”

Mr. Henry Lennox and his brother, the Captain, were physical and mental contradictions. Captain Lennox got the larger share when it came to handsome looks. Mr. Henry Lennox was not very handsome at all, though his appearance was not altogether unpleasant. Yet his mind and tendencies were very shrewd, and he was a clever attorney, while his brother’s mind didn’t lend itself to any sort of business-like inclinations. Rather, Captain Lennox was made for a military life and his brother was made for a mental one. Overall, I still liked the Captain the most.

“Henry!” Mrs. Shaw said. “Timely met. Do you have all that you need for the journey?”

“Very much so, madam,” Mr. Lennox responded, “my bags are placed in the chaise already.” Finally, he turned to me. “So, Miss Elizabeth, I am to be your chaperone.”

“I wish I could say that we will get along charmingly,” I uttered, lightly, “but how is one ever to know?”

We walked out to the chaise, and he offered me his hand when I got in. Next, he climbed in himself, and we looked down at the family that we were leaving behind.

“Edith and Mrs. Shaw,” I pressed, “do you still have my letter to Charlotte Lucas?”

“Yes, I do,” Edith assured me. “I will mail it to her today.”

“Thank you,” I said, and my eyes grew wistful. “I will miss you all.”

“And we shall miss you, dear,” Mrs. Shaw said.

“Elizabeth!” Edith urged, and she had that conspiratorial look in her eye that I knew I would miss. Leaning forward, I pressed my ear closer to her lips so that she could whisper the secret that she was about to tell me.

“In case you ever see Mr. Darcy again...be kinder to him. I still think you should have accepted his offer.”

I looked at her sincerely.

“You know that I couldn’t,” I said, “and I still feel that I was right.”

“I know,” she responded, “but I still can’t help it.”

“I know. This is just you caring for me.”

“Precisely.”

At last, we said our final farewells, we closed the carriage doors, and we were off.

 

* * *

 

“I was told that we are stopping briefly at Cheapside,” Mr. Lennox clarified.

“Yes,” I said. “I promise, we will be there for no more than a quarter of an hour to twenty minutes. I just need to say farewell to my sister, Mary. Due to her schedule, she couldn’t come to the house to visit me before I left.”

“And she works in your uncle’s factory?”

“Yes. He’s my Uncle Gardiner. He lives only a street away from his factory, and Mary was the most skilled at learning the work there. Her attentiveness paid off and she lives with them. But it all worked out for the better because they only had one bedroom to spare.”

“Because they have children?”

“Four of them. Two girls and two boys. Susan, Ruth, Daniel, and Nathan. They are dear children. And it is no wonder. My Aunt and Uncle Gardiner are very elegant sort of individuals, like Edith and Mrs. Shaw. When meeting my uncle, you would not think him any less than a gentleman, despite him being a tradesman.”

“Many tradesmen have been known to be better than how they are depicted as.”

“And what of tradeswomen?” I asked, with a raised eyebrow.

His eyes twinkled, comprehending my meaning.

“Yes. We must not forget them, must we?”

“No,” I confirmed. “We must not.”

We rode along and very soon, we reached Cheapside.

 

* * *

 

When we arrived, I saw Mary’s face in the window on the second floor. Since she already knew to expect me, she didn’t wait till I entered, but came out of the door as Mr. Lennox offered me his hand to let me down from the chaise.

“Elizabeth!” Mary exclaimed. Her raised voice surprised me, because Mary was usually never prone to raising her voice louder than common volume.

“Oh!” I replied as she embraced me, and I folded my arms around her. “Now this is happiness to see me.”

“Yes, it is,” Mary said, then she turned to Mr. Lennox.

“Mary,” I introduced, “this is Mr. Henry Lennox, Captain Lennox’s brother.”

“And now also having the good fortune to be Edith’s brother-in-law,” Mr. Lennox said, bowing.

“Mr. Lennox, this is my sister, Mary Bennet.”

“Good day, Mr. Lennox,” Mary said, curtsying. When she did so, she noticed that her dress was a little wrinkled. “Forgive me, for you have not caught me at my best. I’ve been working in my uncle’s factory.”

“I begrudge nothing,” Mr. Lennox replied. “I too am tied down to my profession.”

“Let us go inside and you both can learn more about each other,” I said, taking Mary’s hand.

We entered my uncle’s home, but he was not there. Rather, Aunt Gardiner was, and her children were all upstairs, preparing to come down to greet us.

“Mr. Lennox,” I said, “this is my aunt, Miss Miriam Gardiner.”

“Good day,” Mr. Lennox bowed.

“It is nice to make your acquaintance,” Aunt Gardiner replied after she released me from our warm embrace. “Mr. Lennox, I do apologize that my husband was not here to greet you, but he is seeing to work in his factory.”

“I admire such dedication to one’s industry, so no offense is taken,” Mr. Lennox responded.

“Naturally so. For as I understand it, you are an attorney.”

“Yes, I am.”

“And he is often grinding at the grindstone,” I commented. “Even when he is not working, he is working.”

“You flatter me,” Mr. Lennox responded.

“I do nothing of the kind but speak as I find.”

“You are fortunate, Mr. Lennox,” Mary observed, “to be able to go into such a vocation. If the world had been kinder to my sex, I would have liked to have gone into law myself.”

This bold declaration initially startled Mr. Lennox, who was not used to women displaying such ambition.

“My sister has always had a desire for more than is our lot,” I explained.

When I spoke, Mr. Lennox had the ability to compose himself and form an answer.

“I daresay, Miss Mary, that you would have been quite accomplished at being a solicitor, if given the chance. Either way, it is nice to hear admiration for my profession. Yet, factory work is just as vital to society as any other trade. You supply the world with the necessities that it needs to function.”

“I always have desired to be of use, but as Elizabeth has perhaps told you, I was trained to be a governess.”

“Mr. Lennox,” Aunt Gardiner cut in, “I know that you are all staying very briefly before you both board the train to Darkshire, but I was wondering if you would like a cup of coffee before you go?”

“Actually, I would like that, if you can forgive me drinking it rather quickly.”

“I can forgive you.”

Aunt Gardiner wrung the bell for coffee to be brought in and she invited Mr. Lennox to sit down. Being a man of manners, Mr. Lennox engaged with her in polite conversation, which was precisely what I needed.

Taking Mary’s arm, I led her to the window on the other side of the sitting room, so that I could have a private word with her.

“Mary, you look tired,” I noted.

“It’s because... I am, Lizzy.”

“You are overworked.”

“It’s not uncle’s fault. He gives me ample days off. It is merely that—I am so busy that I don’t have time to practice my music and when I try to read, I fall asleep from exhaustion.”

I read the meaning behind her words. Mary’s studies were everything to her, therefore, to have her lose the time that she spent in careful contemplation and emphasis on education it would put a strain on her nerves.

“I know this has been very hard for you. It is the product of our upbringing,” I explained. “Even though we were raised to work, it didn’t matter. We lived lives of leisure, and so we are not prepared for this.”

“Yes. I used to prize myself for my desire to work. Out of all of us, I wanted this life, but now…” She looked away from me, forlorn. “Elizabeth, I have no life left in me sometimes. I don’t know what to do.”

“We were raised to be governesses or companions,” I noted. “We didn’t foresee working in a factory. Even if it’s the best one.”

“We didn’t take into consideration that, when the time came, there would be so many governesses and companions on the market, that there would be a shortage of placements,” Mary whispered. “We should be grateful, I know, because uncle gave me work, I know…”

“But as you say, we are not used to this,” I said, “when I begin my work in the North, I will look out for prospects for you, I promise.”

Mary looked out the window. “If there are any, they would get snatched up by any governess in the area.”

“They won’t if I speak to Mr. Bell. He has property in Milton, and I am likely to see him when I get there, eventually. When I do, he might know of some positions, and he might put in a good recommendation for you.”

“If he does, have it be for Kitty first. I know that she must secretly despise working as a chambermaid at the hotel.”

“Kitty can withstand the work there for longer, I daresay. She enjoys meeting new people. Also, would you like me to convey any letter to she and Jane when I reach Milton?”

“I was hoping that you would suggest it.”

She reached into her pocket that was on her apron and produced two letters.

“Any word from Lydia?” I asked her.

“No,” Mary said, surprised by my question. “I would have thought that she would have written to you.”

“Well, like she said, married life would make her too busy to write letters to the family.” I chuckled.

“What’s amusing about that?” Mary asked.

“Just something that I recalled. Remember when Lydia once said that she wanted to be married before any of us?”

“Yes,” Mary sighed. “Should I be upset that she got her wish?”

I raised an eyebrow, amused.

“That sounds close to jealousy. Well, behold Mary Bennet; the moral one has admitted to having a vice.”

“I do not!”

“You do too. It is quite comical.”

“Oh, dear lord,” she groaned, rubbing her head.

“Never fear, I needed a laugh before going on the road. You supplied it.”

“How can you be so lighthearted, in spite of everything?”

“Because mother and father would not have wanted me to spend my life in mourning. I will not disgrace their memory by always falling away from man, and into darkness.”

Mary scratched the side of her face.

“I miss them. Is that not funny? I was never their favorite child. But I miss them all the same.”

“As do I. They did love us, it’s just that things are quite complicated—the way that we live now. True affection is not encouraged in the way that it is supposed to be. Like Uncle Gardiner said, Victorian values have not enhanced things, but made humanity a little colder to each other.”

“He talks about better times that were before we were born.”

“Yes. I want to believe that things were better than this, at some point. Besides, Uncle Gardiner wouldn’t lie. The way that he talks, things must have been better once.”

“Miss Bennet?” Mr. Lennox called to me. “I think it is time that we began our journey to Heston.”

“Quite right,” I responded, standing up. Looking around, I grew sorrowful. “Oh, how I do wish that I could stay.”

“I wish that we had the means to provide for all five of you,” Aunt Gardiner stated, kissing me on the cheek. “I really do wish so.”

“I know,” I assured her. “Truly, I do. Tell Uncle that I do wish that I could have seen him before I had left.”

Aunt Gardiner assured me of such when they saw us to the chaise. Before Mr. Lennox offered me his hand to help me in, Mary grabbed my arm.

“I almost forgot,” Mary voiced. “A week ago, we saw Mr. Darcy!”

 

* * *

 

When hearing his name, I froze. It was one thing for Edith to speak of him, but another thing entirely, to hear Mary mentioning seeing him.

Instinctively, I looked around the street, as if frightened that Mr. Darcy’s shadow would rise up from around a corner and engulf me.

“You saw him?” I finally inquired. “When? And where?”

“Oh, when we were walking through the marketplaces. Mr. Darcy was by himself. He was riding along on his horse. It was strange seeing him without Mr. Bingley at his side. I had grown accustomed to seeing them side by side so often.”

“Did...did you speak to him?”

“No. We weren’t close enough to acknowledge each other.”

I closed my eyes, relieved. If he didn’t know that Mary was here, then he perhaps didn’t know of my family’s present circumstances. And, regarding our past, Mr. Darcy was the last person in the world who I wished to cast my eyes upon. By so doing, our presence would antagonize the other immensely.

I was certain that he despised me.

And while my anger towards him had subsided somewhat, it did not fully leave.

My trip to Milton in the North came at the perfect time, it seemed. Give me clouds of gray, smoke from chimneys—I could weather it all, provided that I was saved from the awkwardness of the man who left me in a constant state of being offended, and me save him from his broken heart—if I did indeed break it.

Giving my final farewells, Mr. Lennox and I closed the carriage door, and we were off, where we would travel to the railroad station and then the carriage would be sent back to Mrs. Shaw’s house.

Out of the window, I watched Aunt Gardiner and Mary grow smaller until we turned a corner and they disappeared. Emotion swelled up within me, for god knows when I would see either of them again. After all, I was now a leaf along the winds of chance. My life was no longer my own to organize and plan.

“Who is Mr. Darcy?” Mr. Lennox asked me.

“What?” I asked, coming from out of my thoughts. “Forgive me, what did you say?”

“Your sister mentioned a Mr. Darcy? Who, pray tell, is that?”

 

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