Page 17 of Without Pride and Prejudice

I couldn’t tell if he sounded relieved or if he was angry with me for having placed him in such a position.

“Very good.” Winnifred patted her heart as if telling it to calm down. All was well. She still had her shot at the title she’d been scheming with Fitz’s mum to obtain.

I stepped a pace away from Fitz, feeling as if every eye were on me. It wasn’t a good start on my Elizabeth journey. Which I supposed I’d been on for years. So far, it hadn’t turned out so well. But I was hoping here I could prove myself to be worthy of my heroine’s legacy.

Fitz surprised me when he removed the distance I’d placed between us and took my hand. Maybe it shouldn’t have shocked me. He was doing the same thing he’d done back when we were in school together. “You don’t need to protect me.”

“This isn’t protection,” he whispered in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.

What in the world? Was I crazy to get shivers? Did he mean to give them to me? “What is it?” I stuttered out.

He didn’t get the chance to tell me.

“Gather round, everyone,” Agatha called out, sweeping through the hall in her extravagant purple dress.

The attractive couple that had come in with her landed near us. Tony stood to the side, shooting daggers at Fitz and me with the deep-blue eyes I used to get lost in. I couldn’t fathom why he was here. And his excuse wasn’t sitting right with me. He wasn’t a romantic guy, and it was clear when he broke up with me that it hadn’t hurt him to do so. Who was he even playing? I’m pretty sure he still didn’t know who Jane Austen was. I bet he’d spell her last name with anIinstead of aneif asked.

In all the weirdness and uncertainty, I gripped Fitz’s hand tighter, even though I had no idea what was going on between us. And I was too afraid to hope my schoolgirl fantasies could become a reality.

Agatha came to stand in front of the gold fireplace. “Greetings, honored guests.” Her eyes landed squarely on Fitz. “We look forward to making all yourPride and Prejudicedreams come true. To that end, from here on out, we invite you to leave the world behind and immerse yourselves in this glorious experience. We have done our best here to recreate Jane Austen’s world, save a few modern conveniences like bathrooms and electricity. We had an unfortunate candle event several years ago and too many complaints from guests and staff about the chamber pots and bourdaloues.”

Thank goodness for that,I thought. If they told me I had to use a chamber pot or bourdaloue, I would hightail it out of there.

“With that said, there will be no use of other technology except for the fifteen minutes you’re allowed for leisurely pursuits each night. Except for you, Your Grace.” Agatha smiled and fluttered her eyes at Fitz. “Of course, you are free to do as you please.”

Fitz stiffened and stood as regally as possible, his jaw pulsing, holding back his verbal attack.

Agatha plowed on, making Fitz’s Adam’s apple bob repeatedly as he swallowed down his tirade.

“For those of you who don’t know, His Grace the Duke of Blackthorne, Alastair Fitzroy, is joining us this week. Please, show him the proper respect he is due.”

Fitz had had enough. “I wish to be treated like any other guest.” He looked around the room, his eyes boring into every person, trying to make it clear he meant business. “I will tolerate nothing else.”

“Well,” Agatha said, taken aback. “We will respect your wishes.” She hurried on, stuttering a bit. There was nothing like Fitz taking you down a notch. I’d seen him do it to plenty of people. “As part of the experience from this moment forward, you will go by your character’s name, and you will speak in proper English accents,” Agatha trilled. “You should all have memorized your scripts and studied your character’s traits and demeanor.” She zeroed in on me. “Be sure to behave accordingly.”

I can be an Elizabeth. I can be an Elizabeth,I chanted repeatedly in my head.

“It is now time to introduce all our players for this week. I will start with Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.”

The woman next to me squealed a little bit. She was my kind of woman. And obviously a team player. I would squeal for her when they announced who she was playing.

“His Grace, I mean, you know ... um ... him.” She pointed, spluttering at Fitz. “He will play Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. And Monroe Wilde,” she spat out my name, “will play Elizabeth Bennet.” She limply shook her hand in my direction.

I waved uneasily at the rest of the guests, who all stared at me, some surely wondering how I’d won the coveted role, as some jaws dropped and lips curled. It was then I noticed the woman next to me fretting and speaking low and frantically tothe man she was with. I didn’t hear everything, but it appeared she thought she was supposed to be Elizabeth Bennet.

Oh no. I felt awful, especially given that the amount you paid for the experience was based on which role you would be playing. Obviously, Elizabeth Bennet was much more expensive than the other roles—we are talking about ten grand kind of expensive. And then there was memorizing the script.

“Fitz,” I whispered in his ear. “I think the woman next to me thought she would be playing Elizabeth. We need to fix this.”

“Monroe, please let it be,” he begged.

“But—” I made to argue.

“Don’t you want me totalk Darcyto you?” he said in a sexy manner, his eyes dancing. Or at least I thought so. I mean, it sure sounded sexy to me, and I’d never seen his broody eyes light up the way they were now.

The way he was tenderly looking at me had my insides stirring with, well, you know the things men can stir inside of you. Was this for real? Or was it this place making us act uncharacteristically toward each other? Surely Fitz didn’t see me as his future duchess. But not even that thought quelled the stirrings. “Uh-huh,” was all I could articulate.

“Next we have Jane Bennet, played by Macey Bennet.”

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