A Summer Shame

A Summer

Shame

The Third Season of Serendipity

Elizabeth Ann

W E S T

© 2014, Elizabeth Ann West. All rights reserved.

To contact the publisher, please write to

41 Silas Deane Road

Ledyard, CT 06339 or email

[email protected]

What do you regard as most humane? To spare someone shame.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Acknowledgments

This series would not be possible without the love and kind support of the Jane Austen Fan Fiction community. I am a proud author member of BeyondAusten.com and Forum.Darcyandlizzy.com. The readers and other authors at both communities make writing in this genre such a joy.

I also want to say a huge thank you to both April Floyd and Betty Madden. These two women help me push my prose to very best it can be, and both are fantastic to work with. I feel so blessed to have both of them on my team.

The readers at TheCheapEbook.com are also wonderful friends of my writing and without them, my launches would fall flat on their faces! The “Piggies” are savvy readers with hearts of gold.

Finally, to my husband who supports me 110%, my super stepson who tells anyone and everyone his mother is an author, and to my five-year-old daughter who insists I do not
write
stories, I
type
them, thank you. Mommy couldn’t do this without you. Don’t worry Catie, Mommy will write enough stories to take you to see the princesses.

Always Smiling,

Elizabeth Ann West

ALSO BY ELIZABETH ANN WEST

AUSTEN INSPIRED

The Trouble With Horse
s

Darcy falls off a horse, Elizabeth saves him and the whole town is talking about it! A sweet historical romance novella.

A Winter Wrong

First book in the Seasons of Serendipity novella series. When Mr. Bennet dies of an epidemic, Elizabeth Bennet learns that the kindness of a stranger can be quite dashing! A sweet, historical romance novella.

A Spring Sentiment
Second book in the Seasons of Serendipity novella series. It's going to take all of the Bennet sisters to get Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth to march down the wedding aisle!

OTHER TITLES

Cancelled

Original novel, a modern romance told mostly from the male point-of-view. A robotics engineer becomes engaged to his perfect match when a previous one-night stand shows up to return his shirt. Pregnant. And it’s his.

To my dentist, because writing this after wisdom tooth surgery would have been utterly impossible without your care.

Pitched over the rail of the
Hermes Bounty
, Elizabeth Darcy lost the contents of her stomach for the second time that day. It appeared neither breakfast nor luncheon was destined to fortify her. Her most stoic husband stood nearby, torn between showing his wife comfort and not embarrassing her further over a momentary lapse in ladylike behavior. Seasickness never cared much for the status of its victims, afflicting the gentle and the lay in equal measure.

"Is that a gull? Mr. Darcy, how far are we from Scotland? I'm sure I can see it now!" Lydia Bennet squinted at the horizon in the wrong direction towards the vessel's stern.

Mr. Darcy cleared his throat and tugged his coat sleeve back into place.

"Lydia . . ." Elizabeth tested her stomach's mettle before continuing.  She discretely accepted the handkerchief from her husband with the utmost decorum and used it to blot her mouth. The bitter taste mirrored her feelings. "We are days away from our arrival. You cannot see Scotland as yet, and not when you are looking southward."

Cheeks burning red, Lydia, despite being a few months gone with child, whipped around to face her older sister. The Darcys warned her about the frequent leers from the crew directed at her svelte figure, but Lydia remained adamant in her jolliness. Elizabeth tried to remember her sister was a fifteen-year-old girl, still naive as the day she anticipated her vows with George Wickham. The same vows never to be taken as he ran off to the underbelly of London to escape debt collectors.

"You are merely cross because you cannot keep your meals down." Lydia inhaled an audible breath of sea air. "I find travel by sea quite invigorating!"

"Should not she remain in the cabin?" Elizabeth suggested, sincerely wishing her husband to establish some rule over her younger sister. Lydia's pregnancy and presence was ruining Elizabeth's honeymoon trip after an insufferable six months' worth of pain and obstacles at every turn to marry her Mr. Darcy. From unruly relatives trying to break them apart to losing her father's protection, running away from her own wedding breakfast to conceal her sister's growing belly had been the last straw for Elizabeth's patience.

"It might be wise, Miss Lydia, for you to take a rest," Darcy cleared his throat again, his face paling, "in your condition."

"But­—"

"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy! How is this morning fairing for ye? Oh, I see you are a bit behind the blow fish there, Mrs. Darcy, but fear not, most find their sea legs by the third day."

"Thank you, Captain Tompkins. I do believe I am growing accustomed to the constant shifting beneath my feet." Elizabeth managed a weak smile.

"There now, it's as I said.  My, you look well, Miss Lydia! There's no question but the sea agrees with you." The captain bowed with his hands clasped behind his back.

Lydia Bennet, guileless as a dove, altered her petulant pout to a flirtatious smile looking up through her eyelashes. "How kind of you to say, sir."

The captain laughed. "On board a boat, madame, to call a captain 'sir' is a disgrace! You must call me by my first name."

Lydia straightened at such familiarity, seeing this as a sign the great man took an interest in her. "I should be delighted to do so, pray what is it?"

Tompkins leaned in close and looked Lydia right in the eye. "Captain."

Darcy laughed at the jest, as Lydia resumed her pouting and Elizabeth frowned. "The joke is much too old, yet still, I laugh every time." Darcy proffered his hand to the captain. Turning to his wife, he began to explain. "I had not told you, dear, because you were so very ill yesterday, but John Tompkins here and I share a history."

"Aye, it was his bloody fault I became lost in Rome and almost killed by vagrants."

"He misrepresents the truth. I returned to our rooms after viewing the Coliseum. He chose to go back out with some locals. If I hadn't gone in search of him after I noticed he had not returned, indeed he might be dead."

"And you wouldn't have a private crew to ferry you about."

Elizabeth shook her head and rubbed her temples with her eyes closed. "So this is how you were able to arrange our travel with such speed? You keep a ship's crew in your employ at all times?"

"No, John is more of an independent merchant captain. This vessel is one your uncle has a majority stake in so we were able to leave without delay."

"Captain, would you show me how the ship is steered? I would dearly love to learn more about sailing." Lydia jumped into the conversation as it had gone on far too long without her inclusion. As Mr. Darcy made to divert the girl's request, Captain Tompkins gave a slight motion with his hand that he did not mind.

"Of course, Miss Lydia. It is uncommon to meet a woman interested in the navigation of a vessel. Have you a mind to join His Majesty's Navy?"

Lydia giggled as the captain guided her up towards the higher deck. Elizabeth watched with a weary eye. "Is she quite safe with him?" she asked, reaching out to take William's arm, uncaring who should see this public display.

"I believe so, my dear. He is a gentleman, married with two children."

"However did he escape the Navy?" Elizabeth gazed up at her husband, learning to focus more on the objects and persons on the boat rather than the rise and fall of the sea and landscape behind them.

"He was injured in a riding accident. He and Richard were fierce competitors, and when they were sixteen, John fell and his leg was never right again. Being a second son himself, but with plans to join the cavalry like Richard, he was too late to be a midshipman, even if he wasn't disqualified. The merchant fleet had need as their best captains were conscripted."

Elizabeth allowed Darcy to begin leading her on a slow walk around the main deck. It wasn't a large circuit, but the physical activity calmed her nerves and the ache in her head. She sighed against her husband's arm, content that the man she had married was a most attentive partner, even after the wedding ceremony.

After three rounds, the Darcys turned back towards the forward section of the vessel and the cabin they had rented for their little adventure. Traveling by boat, Darcy managed to avoid any prying eyes of the Ton seeking a glimpse of Lydia's waistline at inn after inn between London and Edinburgh.

"William, I believe I would care to rest for awhile." For two nights, Elizabeth's sleep was scarce with the ship's constant movement. She had always wished to see the world, but after this sea-faring adventure, she was finding her island country more and more appealing.

"As you wish." Mr. Darcy bent down to give his wife a chaste kiss on the cheek. With Lydia in tow, Elizabeth's illness, and a topsy-turvy ship, the new husband and wife were still a mystery to one another. "I shall attend to Miss Lydia and coax her back into the cabin."

"Thank you." Elizabeth opened the door and slipped inside, gripping the bolted table as the ship moved with a violent lurch. She could hear shouts and Lydia's giggles. Restoring her balance, she realized somehow her sister had talked Captain Tompkins into letting her try the wheel. Two more days and they would be on land again. Elizabeth focused on that certainty as she steadied her breathing.

Pulling a worn quilt from her trunk, Elizabeth curled up on the bottom cot bunk she was sleeping in to give Mr. Darcy the larger bed on the far side of the cabin. Willing her anger to dissipate, she worked hard to not dwell on how ungrateful Lydia was for her rescue. Because of Lydia, she was unable to unite with her husband in every sense, and it should be her as the first sister married to welcome a babe. Instead, with every angry thought, Elizabeth turned her turmoil over to God, praying for a safe journey, praying for patience, and most fervently, praying for time alone with her William in Scotland.

Hours later, Elizabeth awoke to find she was no longer in the cot she began in, but instead nestled safe in the arms of Mr. Darcy in the larger bed. The ship groaned as if it were coming apart and she could hear shouts from outside the cabin. As her eyes adjusted to the dimness, she blinked a few times to resist the nausea sweeping over her. The ship pitched and rolled. A lone stub of a candle hanging from the cross beam swung with wild abandon, casting a kaleidoscope of shadows. Elizabeth let out a whimper and tried to open her eyes again and turn over, but Mr. Darcy's arms held her still.

"Ssh, ssh, 'tis only a summer storm. Will soon pass, love," he mumbled, groggily.

"But the boat! Will it not sink? We must get out!"

One of Mr. Darcy's eyelids popped open and he smiled at his wife as she managed to turn over into his chest. Elizabeth snuggled further into the safety he provided, wondering if the loud beating of her heart in fear was so thunderous as to be heard throughout their cabin. The boat seemed to rise and fall with great velocity. She swallowed down the bile rising in her throat. Elizabeth Darcy would not and could not retch upon her husband!

As the boat thrashed to and fro, a great thud came from the other side of the cabin. Lydia had fallen out of the low bunk that Elizabeth had fallen asleep in earlier and she cried out as if in great pain.

"Lizzie!" she sobbed, covering her face with her hands.

Mr. Darcy released his wife to permit her to dashed from the bed and tend to her sister. The pitch and roll set Elizabeth unsteady and she flailed at her loss of balance, veritably stumbling to her sister crumpled on the floor.

"Are you injured? The babe?" Elizabeth held Lydia in her arms as the younger girl continued to sob. "Ssh, hush now, we are safe. The Lord will protect us and give us safe passage. He will, I promise." Still Lydia cried, her wails increasing in volume. "Lydia!? Where, where does it hurt? We'll fetch the doctor."

"It does not . . . hurt . . . I . . am uninjured . . ." she sniffed, gasping for air between heaves. "I want to go home to Mama! I don't want to have a baby!"

Elizabeth gripped her sister tighter as they remained on the floor and began rocking Lydia in time with the storm's waves. For a few moments, she thought passing the storm in such a position was about the best she could hope for until two strong hands began to lift her.