A Question of Admiration: A Pride and Prejudice Variation

By Anna Lockhart

She never expected London to be like this...

Elizabeth Bennet and her dearest childhood friend, Joshua Mallard, arrive in London for an extended holiday with Elizabeth's aunt and uncle. They intended to have a grand time, but what Elizabeth never anticipated was to draw the eye of two of the richest gentlemen in London, Fitzwilliam Darcy and Coulter Arrington.

Suddenly, Elizabeth and Joshua are invited to grand parties, concerts, and lavish dinners, events that are a far cry from their normal peaceful lives in Meryton.

As their status in London grows, Elizabeth must decide what kind of life she wishes to live, and with whom she wishes to live it...

A Question of Admiration is a clean and sweet Pride and Prejudice variation novella with a guaranteed happy ending, and more than a few delightful misunderstandings along the way!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charlotte Kingsley
• Release date: Jan 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393505761

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

O h, Mallie! Can you believe it? Can you even begin to believe our terrible luck?

The coach that Elizabeth Bennet’s aunt hired to bring her and her dearest friend to London was only just entering the city as the sun started to set, a fact that made Elizabeth more than a little nervous. Aunt Molly Gardiner, the wife of her mother’s brother, sent the coach to collect Elizabeth and the Bennet’s charge, Joshua Mallard, early in the day so they could all attend dinner together at her uncle’s club before he left for business. Their early arrival in London was meant to assure that Lizzie and Mallard would have plenty of time to change into some of the proper city clothing that Aunt Gardiner chose for them. Instead, Mallard had wasted precious time unpacking and packing his trunk again, a process that seemed to take hours and resulted in such a delayed departure from Meryton, they seemed to be racing the sunset the entire way. 

Now that they were almost at Uncle and Aunt Gardiner’s home in Cheapside, Elizabeth glanced down at their less formal Meryton frocks, and she knew they could not possibly attend an elegant supper with the richest families in London looking the way they did. It came as no surprise, however, that Mallard was not the slightest bit concerned.

Come now, Eliza! How could you wish to dress like these London bores? You are worth ten of them, with their dull dinner conversation and dreary frocks. I am sure Aunt and Uncle Gardiner will not be the least bit concerned by our appearance.

Elizabeth always appreciated that her best friend remained confident in the face of the most sure of negative odds. But she feared that London might take some of the wind from Mallard’s sails.

I fear that you undervalue the pretension of the London crowd, Mallie. You have never left Meryton, my darling. You do not know what acts of cruelty these people are capable of committing.

Mallard could not hide the hearty laugh he was about to have at the expense of his best friend, though it was almost entirely shared with both kindness and concern.

Eliza, you were in London one time when you were a child. Surely you do not remember the behavior of people that have perhaps even passed on from this good earth. In fact, I will promise you the first dance at our first ball if you can remember the name of a single person you met in London when you came here last with your father.

Elizabeth frowned at Mallard because she knew he was correct. It had been almost twenty years since the Bennet family was last in London and in truth, she remembered little of their time there. Her sister Jane would likely remember more, but as Jane was in Paris with their grandmother studying music, Elizabeth did not have time to ask before she and Mallard left for their visit the Gardiners. Instead, she was forced to rely on Mr. Bennet’s memories and he had the endearing, though occasionally distressing, habit of casting a sunny light upon those days when Mrs. Bennet was still with them.

She was just about to give Mallard a playful slap on the arm when the coach came to a stop. Elizabeth thought they were at her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner’s home, but when she looked outside, she saw they were instead in the center of Cheapside. Mallard was distracted by the sights outside of his window and seemed not to notice they had even come to a halt, sudden though it may have been. Elizabeth poked him in his side.

Elizabeth! he shouted, swearing under his breath. That hurt!

Oh, hush, Mallie! The coach has stopped and we are not at Auntie’s yet. Ask the coachman why we have stopped!

Elizabeth could see that her friend wished to say something smart in return but he was just as anxious to reach their final stop as she.

I say, coachman! Why are we stopped here? he called out the window. The driver did not step down from his perch. He only raised his voice loud enough for his riders to hear.

There is some foot traffic ahead preventing us from passing the street. No carriages in or out until it clears. If you want to walk the rest of it, I can deliver your things when the road opens up again, he called down in a voice that sounded similar to that of Mallard’s departed father. Elizabeth saw a bit of sadness in her friend’s eyes and she knew he was lost in a memory that he would not share with her. In order to prevent Mallard from a public display of emotion, she answered for both of them.

We will, indeed, walk. Should you arrive at my Uncle and Aunt Gardiner’s before we do, please let them know we shall be along soon enough.

Then Elizabeth took Mallard’s hand and led him from the coach. Together they pushed through the crowds of strangers gathered in