Blog Tour -- "The Husbands of Elizabeth Bennet"

Hello, dear readers! Thank you so very much for stopping by my blog today for the last leg of the tour. I really hope you’ve been enjoying the tour for my duet The Husbands of Elizabeth Bennet so far.

Aren’t these covers lovely? I chose a castle for the background of volume one because the Marquess of Stashwick lives in a castle when he’s not in London, and my favorite stand-in for Pemberley, Chatsworth House, is in the background of volume two! Yes, the female models are different — unfortunately, I just could not find a pose of the first lady with a different male model that really worked to represent an older Elizabeth and Darcy, so… Just remember that nine years have passed between the epilogue of volume one and the first chapter of volume two, and you should get on well, lol.

Now, how about a look at the first time Darcy and Lizzy see each other in years?

***

“Lady Stashwick, Lord Stashwick, Lady Isabella Faulkner, and Lord Thomas Faulkner.”

Darcy’s breath caught in his throat as soon as the butler stood aside, and he got his first glimpse of Elizabeth in four years. Time had by no means diminished her beauty and having borne four children had only enhanced her already pleasing figure. She wore a gown of lavender chiffon with matching headwrap, and the little girl on her left side whose hand was in hers wore a very pretty gown only a shade darker than her mother’s. The two boys were dressed like the young gentlemen that they were.

“Lady Stashwick, I am so pleased you could join us,” said Lady Disley as she approached where Elizabeth and her children stood just inside the doorway.

Elizabeth looked about her and lifted an eyebrow. “Upon my word, I had forgotten that when you say ‘family dinner,’ Lady Disley, you really do mean the entire family.”

Several of the family laughed at her quip. “And why should I not? I enjoy having my family about me,” said Lady Disley.

Elizabeth’s gaze fell on Darcy and her eyes widened in astonishment. “Mr. Darcy! What a surprise to see you here.”

“Am I not family, Lady Stashwick? Should I not have come to a family dinner to which I was invited?” Darcy said teasingly.

His jest appeared to surprise her further, then she gave a little laugh. “Certainly, you are, and you should,” Elizabeth replied. “I just did not expect it. You seemed to have given up town after…”

She colored and looked away. Darcy knew she referred to his not having been to London since the death of his wife.

Wishing to ease her sudden discomfort, he said, “I can understand you thought I’d gone the way of the hermit, my lady. The last time we saw one another was at Disley Court for Christmas four years ago.”

Elizabeth’s expression brightened, though there was a hint of melancholy in her eyes even as she smiled. “Oh yes. You started the snowball fight.”

“I did no such thing!” Darcy retorted, feigning indignance. “That was Colonel Fitzwilliam!”

“La! What nonsense you say, Darcy!” cried Fitzwilliam.

“Oh, I do not know, mon cher,” said Antoinette, his wife. “It was a rather precise aim which struck your brother in ze back of ze head—and you have ze best aim of anyone I know.”

“She’s got a point, Theo!” said Lord Rowarth. “You were standing right next to Darcy, and as I recall, you looked rather guilty.”

“It wasn’t Cousin Theo,” spoke up the elder of Elizabeth’s sons. Everyone looked to him, and young Lord Stashwick lifted his chin as he said, “It was Mr. Darcy that threw the first snowball—but Cousin Theo did hand it to him and challenged him to hit Cousin Philip in the head.”

Elizabeth then favored Darcy with a pointed gaze, as if to say Are you going to call my son a liar?

Chuckling, he held his hands up in surrender. “You have caught me out—I cannot continue to plead innocent when there are two eyewitnesses to my guilt.”

“Mamma, I’m hungry,” said Lord Thomas.

“You will have dinner very soon, Tom,” Elizabeth told him.

Mrs. Faulkner stepped forward. “Shall I take the children to join the other little ones?”

“If you would be so kind, Cate; thank you,” said Lady Disley. “And Antoinette, my dear, would you give that bellpull behind you a tug so that I can tell the kitchen to send dinner up to the children now?”

Darcy watched as Elizabeth kissed her children goodbye and urged them to have fun with their abundance of cousins, which made the eldest boy laugh. Her sister then took Lord Thomas by the hand and led him and the twins out of the room.

When they had gone, Elizabeth stepped further into the room, and greetings were exchanged between her and the others. Her keen eye took note of the fact that Lady Scarborough had been crying and she asked her what was wrong; Lady Scarborough insisted it was only her condition.

Elizabeth looked at Lord Scarborough with a mildly scolding expression. “Thomas, you really must leave the poor girl alone,” she said in a low voice, which led Scarborough to blush.

“Lady Stashwick, it really is a very great pleasure to have you with us,” said Georgiana.

Elizabeth returned her smile. “Thank you, Lady Winterbourne. I … I am reminded how very much I have missed being among so many with whom I share a bond of family.”

She looked between Georgiana and Winterbourne then. “As Lady Disley insisted all but the youngest children should come, that they may spend time with their cousins, may I presume that Lady Charlotte is here as well?”

“She is, yes,” Lord Winterbourne replied.

“Oh, wonderful. I should like to see her before the evening is over,” Elizabeth replied, before turning to Lady Scarborough. “And your children as well, of course.”

“And you will, certainly,” said the younger marchioness as she stood and embraced the elder. “Oh, how I have missed you, Elizabeth!”

Elizabeth returned the embrace. “And I have missed you, dearest.”

Lady Disley moved to where Darcy and her younger son stood. “Darcy,” said she.

“Yes, Lady Disley?” he asked as he gave her his attention.

“Far be it for me to encourage Catherine’s fancies, but be a dear and sit across from Lady Stashwick at table, will you?” Lady Disley asked. “I wasn’t certain she would come until I spoke with her, and now the number of gentlemen to ladies is uneven! The husbands will be sitting across from their wives, and I do not wish to remind her any more than is necessary that my brother is no longer with us.”

“I should be happy to oblige, Aunt, but rather than having the company sit ladies to one side and gentlemen to the other according to rank, why not tell everyone to sit where they please?”

“You’ve a point there, I suppose,” his aunt said. “She will have her sister sit by her then, unless Cate sits by Stephen. In which case Addy might sit next to her.”

“Is that such a bad thing?” Darcy asked.

“Certainly not. But though I have some idea what your uncle will say to his sister, I fear that if she sits near Elizabeth, she may yet say something that upsets her, and I don’t want Catherine’s behavior to drive her back to Berkshire. The timing is awful, yes—I suppose I ought to have waited another month or so to ask her to come—but Elizabeth really does need to rejoin society. Hiding herself away from the world isn’t good for her.”

“You mean like it was not for me?” Darcy challenged her.

His aunt lifted an eyebrow. “Frankly, yes.”

“She’s got you there, Will,” said his cousin. “The farthest you’ve been from Pemberley in seven years is Disley Court, and that’s but half a day’s travel by carriage.”

“And he only came to one Christmas gathering,” Lady Disley reminded them. “With you, I suppose it was not so very unexpected—you’ve always been a reticent creature, Darcy—but Elizabeth is not you. You are acquainted with her; you must remember how lively her spirt was before Henry…”

She paused; her own pain at having lost her brother was evident in the moisture that gathered in her eyes. Fitzwilliam put an arm around his mother and turned his head to kiss her temple.

Suppressing a sigh, Darcy took up his aunt’s hand. “Do not distress yourself, Aunt Frances,” he said softly. “I will take the seat across from Eli—Lady Stashwick if it becomes necessary. No doubt my uncle will have her sit beside him, which is her due as she has precedence; Mrs. Faulkner or Lady Scarborough will no doubt sit beside her.”

“And I will endeavour to make sure Aunt Catherine is forced to sit as far from Elizabeth as possible,” added Fitzwilliam.

***

Well now, what do you think of that—was it a good scene? I certainly hope so! Thank you once again for stopping by my blog today to finish up the tour. Tell me what you think in the comments below and remember to visit each blog on the tour and write down the keyword for each day. Comment here with the sentence the words create to enter for your chance to win print copies of both novels! Contest open worldwide!

Keyword: BENNET

If for any reason you cannot comment on the last blog, reach out to me via email or Facebook with the full sentence to qualify for the drawing. Drawing to be held on March 17th, 2024 and announced here and on Facebook.

Both volumes of The Husbands of Elizabeth Bennet are available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover from Amazon. Also available to read in Kindle Unlimited.