Lessons In Gratitude – Kate Speck

Georgiana heard him speak with her brother. “I was right! Two days!” He laughed. “Well, it was only yesterday so only one day, Wickham!” Darcy beamed. Wickham laughed loudly and opened his pocket watch. “But it is past midnight so technically, it is two days!” They all laughed, as Darcy pulled out a guinea and handed it to his friend.

“No more bets!” Darcy scowled in jest. Elizabeth laughed, “Mr. Wickham, I understand I have you and Mr. Denny to thank for your intervention against a rogue. I appreciate your defending my friendship with Mr. Darcy, sir. Please send my regards to Mr. Denny.” Wickham smiled as he bowed to Darcy and congratulated Elizabeth, and then he bowed over Georgiana’s hand without kissing it. “Good evening, Miss Darcy.” Wickham started. “I hope you are having a good time.

I must congratulate you in your fortune of a most wonderful sister-to-be. Darcy and I had a good talk this morning and I wished to apologize to you for any pain I caused you and humbly beg for your forgiveness. I had forgotten your father’s generosity and tried to take advantage of your family. Darcy has also been more than generous and I will do everything in my power to show you both my gratitude.

I know you were like a sister to me and I hope to one day earn your trust and respect again.” He concluded. Georgiana stood taller and she eyed Will and Lizzy who were smiling and standing near her to support her. She smiled and replied, “Yes, Mr. Wickham. I do forgive you. It will take time to trust you again but I know with my brother and future sister’s help, I will learn from my past mistakes and hopefully be worthy of a good man’s notice.

Good evening, sir.” She curtseyed.

Barely tolerable! Slighted by other men! Elizabeth Bennet replayed those words over and over in her mind. She could not understand why it had affected her so much when she had heard all her life that she had little beauty and was too wild from her mother, but a handsome gentleman uttering such comments in a public assembly had shaken her confidence like never before. Elizabeth Bennet was a twenty-year old young woman with four sisters and no brothers to inherit the family estate, which was entailed to a distant cousin.

She would have 1,000 pounds dowry upon her mother’s death and her mother’s constant worry was that they would be all thrown out to live in the hedgerows should Mr. Bennet die. Longbourn, her father’s estate, would go to a Mr. Collins and Mrs. Bennet and the five Bennet daughters would be left destitute, and Mrs. Bennet’s goal in life was to marry off her daughters to wealthy gentlemen so that she would have some comfort in life. What Mrs. Bennet did not know was that both Elizabeth and her elder sister, Jane, had both turned down several offers from prominent gentlemen and had kept it a secret from their desperate mother.

Whenever Jane and Elizabeth visited their uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, they were highly sought after. Jane had kindly turned down an offer from a landowner with 7,000 pounds a year, and Elizabeth had only recently refused the proposal of a viscount. Elizabeth thought of Lord Frederick, who preferred to be called by his first name amongst friends, and his obnoxious offer this past summer, as he spouted demeaning comments about her lack of dowry and low family connections but that she was suitable enough to be his viscountess as she had beauty and intelligence and that even though it was below him, he would marry her because he loved and admired her so much.

Elizabeth found herself laughing out loudly during her walk near Oakham Mount. Lord Frederick was very handsome and came from a prestigious family, son of an illustrious earl who was known to be honorable and kind. Lord Frederick would have 12,000 a year and be an earl someday and his family was very caring. His mother was a wonderful lady who was close friends with aunt Madeline and served on several charities together. The Earl was also a genial gentleman who was not ashamed to associate with a tradesman and had been a favorite of hers.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 71a792df293c8a28
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,842,465 bytes (1.757 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 158
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 292.25 minutes
• Total Words: 58,450
• Total Characters: 316,554
• Average Words per Page: 369.94
• Average Characters per Page: 2003.51

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