Pride and Prejudice Variation – Page 9

The Surprise (A Collection of Valentines Ancient and Modern, c. 1876)

From the book *The Quiver of Love: A Collection of Valentines Ancient and Modern*, a collection of love poems published in 1876, illustrated by Walter Crane and Kate Greenaway (source)
. The illustration was created for “The Surprise”, a translation of a German poem by Heinrich Heine (source: Google Play eBook edition page 44, 45)
. It reads:

THE SURPRISE
I dreamt I saw you yesternight,
And claspt my hands about your eyes,
Nor dared to venture in your sight
Until you pardoned the surprise.
So take my letter, Valentine,
My name and mission quickly guess —
I fear to offer word or sign;
I wait until you whisper “Yes.”

(Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

“You knew she was behind me?” There was a bit of venom in Darcy’s whisper.

Fisticuff might not happen in the garden, but Bingley was not certain he was going to survive this bit of trickery without some damage to his person.

[from Mr. Bingley Plans a Ball]

MAILING LIST PATREON

When I Fall in Love (Andrea Bocelli and Helene Fischer)

Welcome to a brand new week and a brand new month. Shall we start it with a love song and a quote from a story?

Anne wants to marry the gentleman she loves and not the one her mother has chosen. Doing so will take some scheming but if things go well, she should find herself dancing at her wedding with Alistair and not Darcy. This quote from Becoming Entangled is from the scene where Anne presents her plan to Alistair.

Becoming Entangled is a sequel to Unravelling Mr. Darcy, and the timelines of the two books overlap. The quote above happens on the day Anne meets Elizabeth when she is walking near Rosings before she leaves for London (in chapter 4 of UMD), and it is also the day Anne sends her letter to Darcy (which Darcy reads in chapter 5 of UMD).

Fun Fact: Anne and Alistair are one of my most favourite couples. I love the way these two love each other so completely, which is why today’s song matches with their story so well.

MAILING LIST PATREON

A Winter Story (Brian Crain cover by Yiruma)

Welcome to a brand new week. Shall we start it with some relaxing piano music and a quote from a story?

How does a fellow tell his pretty new friend that he would like to be more than just friends? That’s the colonel’s dilemma in Moonlight, Mistletoe, and Mary. He’s quite smitten with his new friend, as you might be able to tell from the quote below.

Moonlight, Mistletoe, and Mary is a novelette-length sequel to Matching Mr. Darcy. It can be purchased at your favourite retailer or downloaded as part of the welcome library when you subscribe to my mailing list.

MAILING LIST PATREON

Cottage Door, Amberley, Sussex

Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
*The cottages and the village life of rural England.* 1912. Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)

The spitting rain had left muddy trails down Darcy’s greatcoat as it mixed with the road dirt. Keeping to the right branch of the road as the gentleman had instructed, Darcy found himself riding up a path toward a stone cottage. “I think this is the cottage,” said Darcy.

“I do not see any other,” agreed Bingley.

[from Oxford Cottage]

MAILING LIST PATREON

Christmas Prayers (Henry Bacon)

Isn’t this painting fantastic? I saw it when doing an image search and just had to share it with you. There is a lot to like about this image, but do you know what I like most? It’s that little fellow turning to look at the artist capturing the moment in a painting. It just makes the image look so real and unstaged, doesn’t it?

~*~*~

Over the course of the two and a half weeks that Darcy had stayed at Netherfield before departing to collect his sister, Bingley had insisted that they call on so many of the neighbours as was possible so that one and all could see that Darcy was not the cold and uncaring person Wickham had touted him to be. He had also insisted that Darcy be seen in Meryton twice with Elizabeth – once in a carriage and once while walking the streets and visiting the shops.

And then, there had been church, where, each Sunday, Darcy had sat with Bingley, but, immediately upon completion of the service, had sought out Miss Elizabeth. Bingley wished he could take credit for that action as it had set several tongues to wagging immediately, but he could not. That was entirely Darcy’s doing.

from Mr. Bingley Plans a Ball

~*~*~

MAILING LIST PATREON