OC Refresh, Part One: The Path to Oxford Cottage, Ch. 1 (October 1797)

You will need a password to access all future chapters. That password is OCR24. (It stands for Oxford Cottage Refresh 2024 if that helps you remember it. 😉 )

This story is broken into three parts. This is the first one in which…

A bright-eyed child captures the attention of an earl and, unbeknownst to her, begins a journey that will lead to Oxford Cottage. 

The four chapters in this section are not numbered as chapters but are rather numbered with the date on which the events took place.

This story has already been published, and can still be purchased at your favourite retailer. The plot will not change, but I hope to deepen the emotions and limit the number of points of view – something I did not do when I first started writing but I do now.

Updated chapters will be posted on Thursdays as I get them ready.

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October 1797

Elizabeth Bennet clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle as one of the marbles she had taken from her pocket rolled across the floor and hit the boot of the finely dressed gentleman sitting in the armchair across from her uncle.

The gentleman’s leg leapt in the air, and he muttered a startled oath as he looked around the floor, trying to discover what had thumped his foot.

In her hiding spot behind the velvet draperies in Uncle Gardner’s study, Elizabeth sat as still as a five-year-old girl possibly could.  She was sure she was not supposed to hear the words that man had said. Mama scolded Papa when he said that.  She waited, counting to ten before she sent another marble rolling.  This time, she could not quite catch her giggle as she watched this marble hit her uncle’s boot.

His leg did not leap. Nor did he look for the marble. Instead, he continued his conversation with the man in the other chair and selected one of his chess pieces to move.

Elizbeth gasped. He was going to lose! He had placed his pale-coloured piece directly in the path of a dark horse. She stuffed her last marble into her pocket. Perhaps it had been the tap against his foot which had distracted him from the game and was going to be the cause of his loss. Her heart pinched at the thought. She loved her uncle and hated to lose. Therefore, she simply could not be the cause of something so tragic happening to Uncle Gardiner.

Taking care to not move the drapery too much and keeping low by not standing up completely, she crept out of her hiding place and tip-toed across the floor.  Fortunately, the back of her uncle’s armchair was just as tall as she was, so she could stand behind him without being seen. She waited until her uncle had started talking about something that had happened a long time ago when he was a boy, and then, cautiously, she reached out her hand and grabbed the chess piece that her uncle had moved.  She had just wrapped her fingers around it when she was snatched from behind.

“I caught you.”  Uncle Gardiner swung Elizabeth around and placed her firmly on his lap.

Elizabeth squealed and laughed.  Her eyes sparkled with delight.  She loved playing games with her uncle.

“What are you up to my little scamp?” he asked.

“You were going to lose. You moved the wrong one.”  Elizabeth reached over to the table and placed the chess piece in what she considered a better location – safely out of danger from the dark horse.  “There. That is better.” She felt quite pleased with herself until a startling thought crossed her mind.

She placed a hand on each of her uncle’s cheeks. Tipping his face so she could look in his eyes, she whispered, “Did you mean to lose?  Papa does that sometimes when he is playing with Jane. I can put the piece back where it was if you wanted to lose.”

Her uncle chuckled.  “No, my dear Lizzy, I did not mean to lose. Lord Matlock is perfectly capable of winning without my help. What I meant to do was tempt my tormentor from her hiding place, and it worked.”  He gave her nose a little tap. “Matlock, I would like you to meet my niece, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Bennet’s second daughter.  Lizzy, this is Lord Matlock who is a dear friend and has been for many years.”

“It is an honour to meet you, Miss Elizabeth.” Lord Matlock’s eyes crinkled as he smiled at her. He looked very friendly.

“Thank you, my lord.” Elizabeth used her most proper voice and bobbed her head instead of a curtsy since her uncle still held her securely within his arms.

“Have you been in here since before we began our game?” Uncle Gardiner’s friend asked. His voice was as friendly as his smile.

Lizzy nodded. She had been sitting behind the drapery for a long time. That is why she had started the game of seeing how many marbles she could roll across the floor before Uncle Gardiner found her.

“And what is a young lady such as yourself doing hidden away in a study?” Lord Matlock asked. “Should you not be playing games with the other children?”

That was the best part! Even while she was playing with Uncle Gardiner, she was also playing with her sister. “But, I am, my lord,” she answered. “I am playing with Jane.  I am hiding, and she is looking for me, and since Jane never comes in here, I am going to win.”

“Now, why would Jane not come in here?” Her uncle raised his eyebrows as he questioned her which meant both he and she knew that answer to that.

Elizabeth looked at her hands as her stomach did a little flip. She disliked being scolded, and being in here deserved a reprimand. “Aunt told us not to disturb you because you were working.  But you are not working.  You are playing.”  She caught the corner of her lower lip in her teeth and turned soft brown eyes up at her uncle.

Her uncle chuckled.  “It definitely would appear that way to young eyes, I suppose, but I assure you, we are working.  Now, I think you should go back to the nursery before your aunt discovers you here.”

“Yes, Uncle.”  Elizabeth slipped off her uncle’s lap and gathered her marbles – all five of them.  She stuffed them in her pocket before dipping a quick curtsy that caused her chocolate brown curls to bounce and then, opening the door to the study. She paused at the doorway to look up and down the corridor before racing toward the nursery.