Meryton Vignettes: Tales of Pride and Prejudice E-book
Meryton Vignettes: Tales of Pride and Prejudice E-book
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💛 Read the Synopsis
💛 Read the Synopsis
In this collection of six short stories, the people of Pride and Prejudice move on, grow up, and explore paths not taken. Time leads these beloved characters down roads of self-discovery, courage, and heartbreak.
And sometimes the journey takes them to surprising places.
What becomes of Longbourn when the Collins family inherits? How does Charlotte manage both her husband and an estate? How can she truly become the mistress of Longbourn while living in Mrs. Bennet’s shadow?
Caroline Bingley learns there’s more to life than chasing after Darcy. Can she find true affection? How will she live down the humiliation of being passed over?
Sometimes childhood experiences inform adult observations. Unfortunately for Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth’s recollections are not in his favor.
Mrs. Bennet makes a shocking discovery and her family must deal with the consequences.
Elizabeth navigates a situation she never thought she would find herself in, and in so doing, she learns more than she bargained for. Disturbingly more.
A jaded and mature Lydia finally grows up, but is the price she pays worth the wisdom she gains?
In this collection of six short stories, the people of Pride and Prejudice move on, grow up, and explore paths not taken.
Mistress of Longbourn, Charlotte Returns:
The first Sunday after their arrival was awkward for Charlotte. Longbourn Village had a small chapel, but had not had a regular rector for decades. The family attended services in Meryton, the same church her parents had attended when they were alive. Her younger brother and his wife and children now sat in the Lucas family pew. When she came to visit in the past, she had sat there with them. Now she would sit in the Bennet pew. She supposed it was the Collins pew now. Would they change the name on the plate at the end of the row? Should she speak to the curate about it, or would her husband manage it?
Shaking off her silly questions, she stepped into the church on the arm of her husband, her children trailing behind. The room had been filled with hushed whispers, as it was before every service, but today they receded to a dull hum when Charlotte entered.
She didn’t know what they had to gawk about. They had known her since she was a tiny child. She was neither a stranger nor particularly interesting. Even though she was new to her position as mistress of Longbourn, everyone had long known she was destined for that role.
There had been some speculation, a few years after she wed, that Mr. Bennet might remarry and father a son. Mrs. Bennet had become ill with a fever and was not likely to live. The town had been abuzz with the news and what it would mean for the area if Mr. Bennet became a widower when everyone had expected Mrs. Bennet to become a widow!
Alas, Mrs. Bennet had rallied, possibly just to spite everyone who had spoken ill of her, making it impossible for her husband to remarry and sire an heir. She still went into Meryton most days to visit her sister, and only the death of her husband had put a stop to her frequent dinner parties.
Tropes & Themes in this collection:
✔️ Satisfying Set-downs
✔️ Powerful Mothers
✔️ Sisters Coming Together
✔️ Revenge
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Look Inside
Look Inside
MISTRESS OF LONGBOURN
Charlotte Returns
Charlotte ran her hand along the back of the sofa, her gloves skidding lightly along the upholstery. Her eyes scanned the room. The pair of chairs by the empty fireplace, the windows covered in lavender drapes, the aged mirror over the mantle.
Of all this, she was now mistress.
She gazed at the portrait of Mr. Bennet, painted in his prime, and remembered the man who had been her neighbor for twenty-seven long years, and who was now, by his failure to produce an heir, the means of her husband having his own estate. In a way, he could be credited with her having a husband at all. If he had not agreed to host Mr. Collins all those years ago, and supported Elizabeth’s refusal of her cousin’s proposal, Charlotte would have never met and married Mr. Collins.
And now, seventeen long years after her wedding, she was here. The mistress of Longbourn. Second only to Netherfield Park, it was one of the most respectable estates in the area, belonging to one of its oldest families.
And now, it was hers.
“Was your journey pleasant?”
Charlotte jumped and looked over her shoulder. “I didn’t hear you come in. Forgive me, Mary. How do you do?”
“As well as can be expected, Mrs. Collins,” replied Mary Bennet.
“Please, call me Charlotte. We are such old neighbors,” said Mrs. Collins kindly.
“I think not,” Mary said plainly. “Nearly everything is packed. We shall be gone tomorrow.”
Mary turned and left the room, leaving a bewildered Charlotte behind her.
Charlotte shook off the feeling of guilt that had tried to settle on her shoulders and went upstairs to see to her children. She did not particularly enjoy her husband’s company, and she found the act of begetting children quite off-putting, but the results of her endurance were more than adequate recompense.
“Mother, have you considered my request?” asked a voice to her left.
She turned and looked into the face of Charlotte Rose, her eldest daughter. She was quite a pretty thing if Charlotte could say such about her own daughter. She had the look of her Aunt Maria about her.
“I have, Lottie, and since you have been so helpful throughout this move, I have decided to grant your request.”
“Oh!” the girl squealed, jumping on her toes and clasping her hands in front of her. “May I choose my chamber now?”
Before her mother could answer, the eldest of the Collins children ran off and began opening doors and comparing views. Charlotte shook her head at her enthusiasm.
“Oh, to be fifteen again!” she mumbled to herself.
She went into the nursery to help settle in her younger daughters.
Two years after her marriage, she had been delivered of a girl, Charlotte Rose, Lottie to her family. Only eighteen months later she had born a son, William John. He was followed in two-year increments by Catherine Ann and Mildred Grace. Believing she had done her duty, and not wishing to die in childbirth as her years increased alongside her womb’s fecundity, Charlotte told her husband she wished for no more children. Having birthed four babes, he couldn’t possibly expect more of her.