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#1: A Truth Universally Acknowledged Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 8:05 pm
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“Oh Grizel, everyone knows that a young man with a good income, needs a wife! For goodness sake, who would run the home? It is the greatest happiness a man, and a woman, could hope for,” Joey Maynard settled the removeable green ribbon on her hat more securely and continued. “Perhaps not the greatest happiness,” she said a little more softly. “I think my Margot may have attained that.”
Grizel Sheppard grinned and picked up another sock of Nigel’s to darn.
“Have you heard,” she replied to Joey, “about the new doctor that is coming to work at the San? Neil was telling me about him last night. He’s been hired to replace old Dr Smith – but as Dr Smith isn’t due to retire for another two months, this new doctor will be spending his time finding a chalet and getting to know the area. He’s coming next week, you see,” she finished.
Joey’s eyebrows rose into the crown of her hat. She put her knitting into the basket at her feet and clasped her hands round her knees, to listen more attentively to her friend.
“What did you say his name was?”
“I didn’t,” laughed Grizel. “But I’ll tell you now. His name is Dr Bingley and he’s going to be the new cardiac surgeon.” She could see the interest glowing in Joey’s black eyes. With six daughters living at home, Joey was forever arranging evenings where they might socialise with suitable young men. Actually, Grizel corrected herself, it was five daughters, seeing as Margot had already been enrolled as a novitiate. Five daughters then, gathered around the table at various dinners, dances and of course, at Joey’s wireless parties, which were famous on the Platz. Grizel couldn’t blame Joey for taking an interest in the lives of her children – at the same time though, she was rather glad that her own Nigel was still young enough to escape Mrs Dr Maynard’s attentions.

“I wonder where he’ll settle,” mused Joey. “Maybe at Die Ehe – that chalet has been empty for the last eight months.”
Grizel picked up her miniature steel sewing scissors and snapped her thread in two. She nodded, “Maybe. I can’t see where else he would stay. It’s not as if the Platz were teeming with spare houses.”

***

Last edited by Róisín on Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:11 pm; edited 31 times in total

#2: Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 9:02 pm
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Oh this sounds amazing! Will Con be Elizabeth?

And Jane, Len? Always quiet and leping her sisters- it fits...

Thanks Roisin.

#3: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 10:08 pm
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Poor Dr Bingley won't know what's hit him!

Thanks Róisín

#4: Author: Rosalin, Location: Swansea

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 11:29 pm
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Is Dr Darcy coming too?

Thanks Róisín.

#5: Author: Caty, Location: New Zealand

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 12:05 am
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Laughing

I can just see the entire scene. Thank you Roisin.

#6: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 12:31 am
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Oh yes! With Jo as Mrs Bennett - lovely. Con isn't edgy enough for Lizzie, though ... ? Looking forward to more.

#7: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 6:24 am
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Then I wonder who Lydia is? Thanks

#8: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 9:08 am
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The next day Joey was walking briskly along the little street that led to the Platz Post Office. She passed the turn-off to the tiny station, and a fluted giggle of laughter attracted her attention. She looked down and saw a tall, handsome, red-haired young man, walking with a girlish woman who looked about twenty five. Behind them strode another couple, a little older and obviously married. She stared, but decided that this was not the time to introduce herself, and hurried on with her errands. But she made up her mind to question Jack about it later.
That evening she brushed out her hair before bed. It was quite a task, as her plaits reached to her knees when let fully down. Jack was sitting up, still reading by the light of a small bedside lamp which he kept there for that purpose.
“Darling?” Joey murmured, for most of the household was, or should have been, asleep by this time.
“Hmm?”
“Darling, do you know what that new Dr Bingley looks like? I think I may have seen him earlier on today – was he due to arrive today? Darling?”
“Oh...” Jack closed his book and screwed up his forehead, trying to remember. “Yes, yes, I think so, now that you mention it. But he’s not due to start work for another couple of months, you know.”
“No, Grizel mentioned that.”
“Must have brought a few friends out to help him explore his new landscape, eh?” And Jack opened his book again and resumed his reading.
If friends is what they were, thought Joey. She did hope that that woman he was with was his cousin, or sister. There would be no profit in inviting an engaged man to a dinner party. Although, perhaps that might be a way to find out...

“Jack!” she broke into her husband’s reading again. “I say, Jack. If I organise a little get-together, will you send an invite to the new visitors? It seems rough leaving them out of our little social circle – Dr Bingley will, after all, be a part of it once he starts actually working in the San.”
Jack smiled and nodded. It wasn’t the first time he had heard this type of request, and he really did enjoy their little evenings in the salon. He promised to pass on the word as soon as a chance came his way.

***

#9: Author: Elbee, Location: Surrey

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 3:50 pm
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This is very amusing, thanks Roisin Very Happy

#10: Author: Sunflower,

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 8:47 pm
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i absolutely cant wait for more. I'm already giggling madly, and keep on imagining Joey as Mrs Bennet from the BBC film..

thank you!

#11: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:49 pm
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Lovely to see it updated and recontextualised - can really imagine Jo trying to marry off all those daughters. Very Happy

#12: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 11:29 pm
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Joey smoothed down her best satin evening frock and cast a glance down her line of girls. They were all pretty and demure young ladies, she congratulated herself, and thanks to the Chalet School, they were able to converse in three different languages as well as sing and dance in a fine way. They deserved to be happy, she smiled again, just as she had been so happy for all these years. She would make sure that none of her girls found their happiness as late as, say, Grizel, had done – or had that funny, small family that Simone had ended up with! Well. She shook herself and then told herself that all that mattered was the happiness of her girls, no matter what form God chose to provide that for them in.

Len and Con were the eldest at twenty-nine and they wore soft pink and lemon colours respectively. Joey remembered how she used to dress them as baby girls, and thought how ironic that Margot was still, somewhere, wearing her blue. Next in line came Felicity at twenty, wearing a deep brown silk that brought out the flaxen of her hair. Cecil was small and black-haired at seventeen, and she wore a jolly red Christmas-coloured velvet. Last in the queue of sisters was Phil – very tall and thin for her age of just fifteen – but graceful and elegant with it. Yes, they would do, thought Joey. They would do.

#13: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 9:11 am
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The worrying thing is that I really can imagine Joey as Mrs Bennet Laughing

#14: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 1:42 pm
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Yes, well she does enough gossiping.

#15: Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:33 pm
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Alison H wrote:

The worrying thing is that I really can imagine Joey as Mrs Bennet Laughing

So can I! This is fabulous!

#16: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 9:52 pm
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“Stephen, do let Anna know that it’s time to warm up the canapés!” Joey, now fully transformed into Mrs Dr Maynard, called up the hallway. A grunt from her eldest boy came back in return. She nodded to a very neat looking Charles, who stood waiting to act as doorman. He smiled patiently at his mother. Into the salon strode Joey.
“Mike,” she said anxiously. “Do tell me the wireless is working properly now?” Her big burly teenage son grinned. “Don’t worry so, Ma. Pa – tell her to relax!”
A quick glance around showed the salon to be ready, and there was nothing to do but await the guests.

The first to arrive were Biddy Courvoisier and her husband Eugen, with Hilary Graves and Phil.
“Ouf! I’m hot after that walk,” sighed Hilary, and she threw her coat down on a chair. In walked old Dr Smith from the Sanatorium, with his bosom friend, Dr Murphy. They strode straight to the corner of the room where the men were already beginning to break out the cigars, and began talking shop.
“I hear my arrogant young replacement is coming to visit you tonight, Maynard!” boomed Dr Smith. Jack laughed. “Well, he was certainly invited, sir.”
The room filled up quite quickly. Len was kept busy as she saw that Felicity did not flirt with any of their brothers’ friends, and that Phil did not look too tired. Cecil kneeled cosily before the great fireplace and hugged Bruno, dreamily staring into the flames. The sister she looked most like, Con, had been drawn into a conversation with Mrs Dr Courvoisier about some part-time teaching she had done recently for the School. It was quite half an hour past the time specified on the invitation when the doorbell rang again, Charles answered it with his usual quiet smile, and there was quite a big party on the step.

#17: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 10:32 pm
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Ooh, is Felicity going to be a Lydia Bennet-esque flirt Laughing

#18: Author: Sarah_K, Location: St Albans

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 10:35 pm
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*claps hands togther with glee*

What a wonderful thing to find when coming online after the very end of Cranford!

Looking forward to how much trouble Jo and her girls can cause with an eligible doctor on the loose!

#19: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:15 pm
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Looking forward to seeing how this all pans out.

#20: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:14 am
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I'm curious how this will go and with what happened to Reg. Did he die or something?

#21: Author: Liz K, Location: Bedfordshire

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:11 am
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This is interesting, VERY interesting. Rolling Eyes

#22: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:35 pm
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I bet Joey does the matchmaking with all the subtlety of a jackhammer.

#23: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:41 pm
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This is great! Thanks Róisín.

#24: Author: Sunflower,

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:24 pm
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Absolutely loving this!
thank you.

#25: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:29 pm
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He took their coats and showed them in which direction the salon was. Dr Bingley offered his arm to the same woman he had been with before, and they proceeded through to the party. Behind them walked the same couple as before. And behind them, stepping purposefully, was a very tall and very handsome new gentleman. Joey was quite sure that neither she, nor anyone else in the room, had encountered him before.
“Welcome, welcome!” she cried. “Don’t worry – the concert on the wireless doesn’t start for another ten minutes, so you haven’t missed anything. Now you must be Dr Bingley, I presume?”
Dr Bingley blushed a little. “Yes, I see my reputation proceeds me,” he laughed.
“Mrs Dr Maynard, may I present my sisters – Caroline Bingley and Maria Hurst; my brother-in-law, John Hurst, and my great, great friend, Dr Fitzwilliam Darcy.”
Joey nodded and smiled to all of them.
“Fitzwilliam? What a silly long name!” she laughed. “You were surely in trouble at boarding-school with that name... I think ‘Fitz’ suits you much better, Dr Darcy. Yes, that is what I will call you, I think!”
Dr Darcy glowered.
Con, from across the room, saw the look that this stranger was giving her mother and wondered. But at that moment Joey caught a glimpse of her watch and clapped her hands together swiftly. Mike, on cue, put down his glass of beer and tricked the wireless into working. A BBC-voice wafted in a staccato manner from the machine, and then soft waves of traditional English folk-music blew over the room.
Joey turned back towards her newest acquaintances. “It’s a bad time of the year for tuberculosis, I’m afraid, so all our usual men are working overtime in the San. We’re a little short on dance partners, but I’m sure you will do your best to help us out!” And with a smile she melted away through the people, to join her husband in leading ‘Oranges and Lemons’.

“What an absolute dive,” Caroline Bingley had leaned back to tell Dr Darcy. Grinning sardonically, Dr Darcy inclined his head just a fraction. Dr Bingley turned on his sister Maria and whirled her up in the dance they had learned as children. Mr Hurst had quickly found some like-minded contemporaries in what Con described as ‘the cigar corner’.

“Did you see the look that that man gave Mama?” Felicity whispered angrily to Cecil, who hadn’t noticed at all. Con, behind them, bumped her head in. “I did,” she said quietly. “I’d like to know the cause of it alright. Although really, he looks like a man who wears that kind of face all the time!” For Dr Darcy was staring around the room in a most contemptuous manner.

The strains of ‘Hey, Boys’ came next and partners were changed and chosen and picked. Dr Bingley found himself next to a tall and elegant young woman, whose chestnut hair was bound up in a neat chignon.
“Hello,” he introduced himself. “I’m Dr Bingley. Do you know this one?”
Len laughed and nodded. “Of course! We were all drilled in this kind of dancing at school here – I’m Helena, well, Len really. Len Maynard.” They danced and though the dance was quick and intricate, they somehow found time for talking. It turned out that Dr Bingley (though he told Len to call him Charles, and he promised her that he would never call her Helena) had also attended a Swiss boarding school, and it also had been one that specialised in languages. The music stopped too quickly, Len felt, but she knew that others would want a turn with the new doctor, so she stepped back to the punch table, laughingly scolding him into doing his duty as her mother had bade him.

He strode over to his friend Dr Darcy. “Come on, man,” he said. “You look like you’ve swallowed a fish bone! Why don’t you dance? What about that clever-looking girl over there – the bobbed one.”
Dr Darcy peered over before replying in cold tones to his companion. “If you find her so attractive, Chas, why don’t you dance with her. I must say, I’ve always found girls who cut their hair a little ... wanting in the looks department.”

Phil, who had been circling the room with a tray of champagne flutes, had just passed behind the two men while these sentiments were being shared. She gasped silently, then carried on walking with her head held very high, in the direction of her sister Con.

#26: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:36 pm
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Oh dear, Jo seems to have borrowed several peoples' feet to jam into her mouth.

#27: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:56 pm
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Laughing

#28: Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:06 pm
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Jo and Dr Darcy have both dropped clangers worthy of Jane Austin's originals.

#29: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:53 am
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PaulineS wrote:

Jo and Dr Darcy have both dropped clangers worthy of Jane Austin's originals.

They certainly have! Laughing

#30: Author: babycassied,

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 1:10 pm
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Loving this! Very Happy

#31: Author: Jenefer, Location: London

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 3:37 pm
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This is good

#32: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:13 pm
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Joey had spoken the truth when she claimed that it was a bad season for tuberculosis sufferers. It was just coming into November and the skies were beginning to fill up with those yellow clouds that were heavy with threatened snow.

A few days after the wireless party, Joey bade Marie-Claire to fetch the post from the box at the front gate. Marie-Claire wrapped up warmly and ran out; soon she was back in with a pile of postcards, envelopes and parcels that she began to share out among the family members. The rest she brought back to her adopted mother.

“Tsk,” said Joey. “The mid-term half-holiday finished last Tuesday, but Cecil, Phil and Geoff are still receiving post. We’ll have to run over next door after lunch and hand the girls theirs... what’s that Len? Why are you looking so surprised?” For Len was frowning into her cornflakes thoughtfully. She reached for the jug of cream and poured some into her bowl before she answered.
“I’ve had a note from Caroline Bingley, Mama. I don’t know why she didn’t just ring us up.”
“Oh, that’ll be because the line was disconnected at Die Ehe when the last tenants left,” answered Joey knowledgeably.
“What did the card say?” asked Con curiously.
“She’s having a little afternoon tea-party on Wednesday, she says. She’d like all of us girls to go, so she can get to know us better.”
“Well, I can’t anyway!” interjected Felicity. “We have that show coming up on Saturday night so Lucy and I are going into Interlaken to buy new tutus.”
“And Cecil and Phil are at school, like Mama said,” Con pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I’m sure that Hilda won’t want them leaving for something like this.”
“What about you, Con?” quizzed Joey.
“I promised I’d meet Biddy that day, actually. I’m thinking of a new historical novel, you remember I told you, and she’s promised to give me a bibliography of reading for the right period.”
Len sighed. “It looks like I’m going alone so. What a poor show! Unless you’d like to come too Marie-Claire?”
Joey laughed and hugged her youngest to her. “Marie is only here so I can take her to the dentist this afternoon, aren’t you darling? No, she won’t be attending any sophisticated afternoon teas this time!” and she laughed.

#33: re. Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:15 pm
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hello! thanks for this. am REALLY enjoying it but please don't make claire lydia. she's too sweet! thanks

#34: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:48 pm
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Jo has no idea, has she?

#35: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 7:38 pm
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Thanks this is great

#36: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:09 pm
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“Good, it’s just three,” Len whispered to herself as she sneaked a glance at her watch. Then she raised her hand and banged the brass doorknocker three times loudly. It was opened almost immediately by a maid, who asked her name and when Len answered, showed her into the parlour. Surprisingly, there was nobody there, so Len took a seat and waited patiently.

After a few minutes, a door opened and in rushed Caroline Bingley.
“Dr Maynard! Thank you for coming!” she began, before realising that it was Len she was seeing in her parlour. “Oh! Helena! I say... I’d quite forgotten you were coming! And now it’s too late... oh dear, this is a pickle.” And, quite unable to help herself, she sat down on the nearest chair.
“What’s wrong, Caroline? Can’t you tell me? Why were you waiting for Papa?” inquired Len gently.
Caroline shook her head. “They shouldn’t have let you in – I told them only to let Dr Maynard through. It’s Maria – she has measles. We’re all in quarantine. Oh, not the boys,” she added quickly. “They left to climb the Jungfrau yesterday. They’re due back this evening though, although where they will stay, I don’t know!”

Len gasped. As a doctor’s daughter, she fully realised the seriousness of the situation. She certainly wouldn’t be returning to Freudesheim any time soon. Thank goodness none of her sisters had come! While she was in the dangerzone, she decided, she may as well help.
“Who is nursing Mrs Hurst?” she asked.
“Just myself for now,” answered Caroline. “All the nurses at the San have been tied up with the T.B. outbreak.”
“I should have guessed as much. Well, let’s do what we can. Why don’t you show me to Mrs Hurst’s room and I’ll check her temp. and see that she is comfy.”
Relieved to share the burden, Caroline led the way.

#37: Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 6:25 pm
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Thanks Roisin this is great.

#38: Author: Sunflower,

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 7:39 pm
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Thanks for the updates. Very Happy

#39: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 9:33 pm
—
Len smoothed a cool flannel onto Maria Hurst’s brow and then helped her sip some water. She watched the patient fall back asleep. There was a small light coming from a lamp on a table a little way away from the bedstand and by this light, Len worked quietly. She was currently engaged by a large firm in London to translate some of their bestselling books from English to German. This was work she could easily carry out from the Platz, so she had eagerly taken on the contract. It was slow going at times though. Mr Hurst had sat with his wife until just an hour ago, and then Len had taken over – glad, she had assured him, to be given the chance to tackle some of her notes.

So engrossed was she in the dictionary that she didn’t notice the door swing slowly open.
“I say, Caroline has been telling me, and it’s awfully good of you to sit with Maria like this,” whispered a deep baritone. Surprised, Len was momentarily speechless.
“Papa didn’t catch you at the station then? You aren’t supposed to be here, we’re in quarantine!”
“He did catch us, actually,” answered Dr Bingley. “But as it happens, both Darcy and I have had measles. And of course, I wanted to come and see how my little sister is doing. It’s simply terrible for her to catch something like this on her holidays!”
Len nodded. “She’s feeling a little better, and she’s been sleeping quite a bit, which is the best thing in the world for her. Why don’t you sit in my seat for a while? I could do with a breath of fresh air anyway,” she smiled.

Outside, Len pulled out her cigarette case and her carry-lighter. She smoked one blissfully peaceful cigarette and then packed away the paraphenalia again. Just turning to return to the house, she yelped as someone grabbed her from behind.
“Con! What are you doing here?!”
“On my way back from Biddy’s,” answered Con laconically. “Didn’t expect to see you ouside Die Ehe as I passed though! What’s up?”
“You’d better come in,” replied Len gloomily. “We’re in quarantine, now, both of us.” And then seeing Con’s crestfallen face, she added “I’ll explain inside.”

#40: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 10:29 pm
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Oh good, does this mean that Con gets to be Elizabeth Very Happy

#41: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 12:49 am
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Clever, Roisin, and very nicely modernized!

#42: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 10:07 pm
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“I believe the quarantine for measles is a fortnight, eh Darcy?” smiled Dr Bingley on the second night of Con and Len’s stay in Die Ehe. Dr Darcy did not deign to answer his friend, but Dr Bingley seemed to take no notice.
“How shall we amuse ourselves until then!” Bingley continued. Caroline rolled her eyes. Maria, swaddled in shawls and sitting up for a brief time now, sniffed. Con and Len exchanged exasperated glances with each other. Len rose gracefully.
“I’m afraid I have some work to complete,” she said apologetically. “Thank you for dinner, it was delicious. I’ll work in our room for a while, and then I’ll go to bed. It’s been a long day. I’m glad you’re feeling a little better, Maria,” she added, before leaving.
Con threw a furious glance after her elder triplet. It would be rude if she too left now. She pressed her lips together. Normally lost in her writing, when Con was roused she was wide-awake. What she wouldn’t do to Len when she got hold of her...
“So. You are a triplet then?” a voice interrupted her thoughts in a very abrupt manner. She raised her eyebrows into her fringe, then nodded.
“Darcy specialises in multiple births,” contributed Bingley.
“How old was your mother when she had you?” shot out Darcy again. Con’s nostrils flared. This man was so rude!
“I believe,” she answered frostily, “That that is a concern only for my mother, and for my father, who is also a doctor. Caroline?” she rushed smoothly on. “Didn’t you say you had a length of silk that you wanted to show me? Yes? How about now?” And she and Caroline left the room together.

It wasn’t until Con had gone, that Dr Darcy had the grace to blush.

#43: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 10:28 pm
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Róisín wrote:

“Darcy specialises in multiple births,”

Oh, that's absolutely brilliant Laughing

#44: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:53 pm
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This is fabulous Laughing

#45: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 12:13 am
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I'd forgotten Darcy was a doctor! Love the multiple births, and Con's fury with Len.

#46: Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 11:55 am
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Thanks Roisin this is great!

#47: Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 8:42 pm
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Am loving this, Roisin!

#48: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:40 pm
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Caroline Bingley propped up the door as she watched the two figures leaving the front garden of Die Ehe.
“Goodbye! Goodbye!” she called sweetly and then turned away into her brother’s salon. “Well, thank fury they are gone,” she grinned. “A more boring pair of twins I’ve never met!”
“They are triplets, not twins,” said Dr Darcy quietly from a corner.
Caroline made a face at him, but was surprised not to see his usual smile at her. What was going on? Surely he wouldn’t miss their quarantine visitors.
“What about a game of ...” she began, but got no further as at that moment Dr Darcy himself rose and made for the hallway.
“I have some reading to do,” he said. Caroline squinted at the book under his arm – ‘Napolean’s Women by Mary Constance Maynard’ – and exhaled huffily.

#49: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 8:55 am
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Laughing

#50: Author: Sandra, Location: Oxfordshire

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 5:30 pm
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Excellent. Who is going to turn up as Mr Collins? Also, please, please make Mary-Lou Charlotte Lucas and marry her off so that she is out of the way.

#51: Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock

Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:48 pm
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Great! Thanks Laughing

#52: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:23 pm
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Len and Con linked arms and walked steadily through the snow to Freudesheim.
“It wasn’t a bad fortnight, was it?” mused Len.
“Not too awful,” grinned Con. “At least when Caroline was busy.”
Len laughed. “I don’t know why she took such a dislike to you. I mean, she’s only just met you!”
“She has plans for Dr Darcy,” said Con wisely. “Or ‘Fitz’, as Mama insists on calling him.”
“And he has eyes for you!” contributed Len, giggling as her triplet adopted a scornful expression.
“That imagination of yours could be put to better use, Helena!” she said strictly. “Even if that silent, snobbish, rude man did look at me, he would find no welcome here,” she continued. “I’m far too busy to entertain any notions of marriage. And marriage to that kind of husband, I can most certainly do without!”
“Ok! I’ll back off,” grinned Len.

They were just reaching the door of Freudesheim and fell silent as they approached it. Anna opened it for them and took their snowy outdoor things to hang in her warm kitchen. Con rubbed her cold nose as she pushed open the door to the salon. Then she gasped involuntarily as she saw who Joey was entertaining within.

“Have another lemon biscuit, Reg, do. Oh! And here are Len and Con. Come in darlings, and sit down! Dr Entwhistle has come to pay us a call.”

#53: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2007 10:51 pm
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Is Reg going to be Mr Collins (I can't imagine him as Mr Wickham)? Oh I do hope so Laughing

! Love it!

#54: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2007 11:35 pm
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Alison H wrote:

Is Reg going to be Mr Collins (I can't imagine him as Mr Wickham)? Oh I do hope so Laughing

! Love it!

Thank goodness for small mercies. If he was Mr Wickham then he would be eloping with Felicity Shocked

and I wouldn't want that!

Thanks for the update

#55: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 5:07 am
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Thanks Róisín! Very Happy

#56: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 1:33 pm
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I can just see Reg as Mr. Collins. Will he read to them from a book of sermons?

#57: Author: ibarhis, Location: Dunstable

Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 4:29 pm
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Jennie wrote:

I can just see Reg as Mr. Collins. Will he read to them from a book of sermons?

Or an interesting article from The Lancet?

#58: Author: Sarah_K, Location: St Albans

Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 8:51 pm
—
Intriguing Very Happy

If Reg is Mr Collins then will he be after Con rather than Len?!

Thank you Róisín

#59: Author: Katherine, Location: London, UK

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 3:36 pm
—
Of course, why didn't I see that Mr Collins' place must be taken by Reg!

#60: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 3:57 pm
—
Just found this, absolutely brilliant!! Thanks Róisín, can't wait to see more of this Very Happy

#61: Author: Ruth M, Location: London

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:33 pm
—
This is absolute genius, I wish I was finding it later so there was more of it!

#62: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 5:01 pm
—
Dr Entwhistle smiled graciously at the two women as they entered the Freudesheim salon. “Out in the dark, all alone?” he asked. “How daring of you both.”
“Oh, Reg, the Platz is hardly a ghetto!” Len felt compelled to answer in a light tone. When she had been a young girl, some eleven years ago now, it had been expected that she would marry Reg Entwhistle. In fact, it was still expected by her Mama that she might marry him. But while Len had been at Oxford, the attraction had fizzled out, on her side at least. Reg’s gracious smile said clearly, however, that if she had married him when she had been supposed to, that she wouldn’t be walking around on the Platz in the dark as she was now. Inwardly, Con rolled her eyes at the exchange. Con had been delighted when Len had refused Reg, once and for all.
“What brings you here today, Reg?” she asked now.
Dr Entwhistle exchanged glances with Joey before answering – Con thought she could detect a raised eyebrow and a slight nod. Then Joey turned to answer her.
“Girls, you know that your Papa has been thinking of retirement for some time now. Next year he is sixty. A new Head of the San has to be chosen in advance and, well, Reg has always been almost like a son to us...”
“...and it would have been so nice to see my eldest daughter married to the Head of the San, just as I was,” finished Joey silently to herself.
“Oh, congratulations!” said Len, and she leaned forward to kiss Reg’s cheek. Con followed likewise. Neither girl was really surprised by the announcement. Most of Jack’s colleagues were near enough to him in age to be thinking of retirement soon themselves. Reg Entwhistle, having been with the San for many years now, while still a young enough man, was the obvious choice. That he should not also inherit a Maynard daughter with his promotion, was, alas, a disappointment to Joey.

#63: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 5:05 pm
—
So who gets to be Charlotte Lucas and get both Reg and the "prestigious" Rolling Eyes

position of wife to the Head of the San Laughing

#64: Author: Elbee, Location: Surrey

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 6:22 pm
—
This is most amusing, lovely to see more of it.

Thanks, Roisin.

#65: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 2:07 pm
—
Reg stayed to dinner of course, as he always had done. Jack carved roast chicken and Felicity poured lemonade. Joey busied herself with filling Reg in on some gossip.
“...and Caroline Bingley is quite musical too, you know. She played her accordion most beautifully for us here when she came to my wireless party,” she finished.
“Oh, how I remember Mr Wychcote playing the harp,” said Reg. Con sighed silently. Reg had always made a heroine of Phoebe Peters – had done since they were small children and he was a boy of twelve. “Phoebe’s father was a delightful player, so charming to hear in concert,” he added. “Of course, Phoebe herself inherited his talent, if only she could have exploited it properly,” he concluded wistfully.
“Hmph,” grunted Joey. She tried to turn the conversation a little. “Lucy Peters is doing very well for herself now, have you heard, Reg?”
Reg sighed audibly. “Children are a great boon,” he said. “Someday I might be blessed myself.” And he glanced and smiled earnestly at first Len, then Con and finally at a startled Felicity. “I was talking with Phoebe the other night, you know,” and he adopted a confiding tone. “She was teasing me dreadfully about how long I have left it to start a home properly.”
Con made a noise that was somewhere between a choke, a giggle and a hiccup. Joey threw a furious gaze her way.
Len attempted to divert the conversation once again. “When is Ruey coming, Mama?”
After a deep breath, Joey smiled calmly down at her eldest. “Her school breaks for mid-term this weekend, so we will collect her from the station in Interlaken on Saturday afternoon. That reminds me – if any of you need any alterations made, I’m visiting Mlle Dupartier that morning.” And so the talk around the table descended into tailoring matters.

#66: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 2:32 pm
—
Ah - how does Ruey fit in, especially if she's young enough to be at school still?

#67: Author: Pat, Location: Doncaster

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 2:40 pm
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Or is she teaching somewhere?

#68: Author: ibarhis, Location: Dunstable

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 3:27 pm
—
Ruey as Charlotte Lucas?

#69: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 7:36 am
—

ibarhis wrote:

Ruey as Charlotte Lucas?

In that case poor Ruey is that's the kind of Reg she ends up with

#70: Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:13 pm
—
Oh no! Don't do that to Ruey!

Thanks Roisin

#71: Author: ibarhis, Location: Dunstable

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:53 pm
—
In P&P Charlotte does it to herself!

#72: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 4:15 pm
—
“How is the new book coming along, Con?” asked Reg as he settled cosily in next to her on a sofa in the corner of Joey’s salon.
“Oh, it’s still in the beginning stages yet, I’m afraid,” she answered with a laugh.
“Con,” began Reg, as he dropped two sugarcubes into an annoyed Con’s coffee-cup (she took it black). “Con, do you ever think about the same things that I do? That Phoebe did?” he added as Con looked blankly at him.
“Children, you mean?” she gasped.
“Yes,” smiled Reg.
“Not,” answered Con, “in the slightest.”

***

#73: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 4:16 pm
—
“Auntie Jo! We’re here!” came a ringing voice from the hallway of Freudesheim. Joey jumped up from her writing desk and rubbed the ink from her fingers hastily. We? Who were we? She emerged from the door of her study to find her answer standing before her, all six foot of manhood that he was.

“Roger! How lovely! Ruey, darling, you certainly kept that under your beret,” Joey kissed her charges and bade Anna take their coats.
“The team is taking a holiday after the last cup win,” said Roger Richardson. “Speaking of the team, Auntie Jo, I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve brought a friend along. We two are only passing through really – there’s a special rugby centre in Milan and we’re both travelling down to attend that.”
“Of course, of course, there is plenty of room. Freudesheim used to be a hotel you know! Is this him?” Joey ungrammatically asked as another tall, broad man entered her hallway and shut the door behind him.

“Yes. Wickham, this is my guardian, Mrs Dr Maynard,” introduced Roger.
Joey stepped forward to greet her new guest. He was handsome and, she saw very soon, charming. He grasped her hands and kissed both of her cheeks.
“I say, Mrs M., thank you for having me, at no notice too!”
“That’s all right dear, we love having friends of the children around.”

Ruey and Roger grinned at the thought of their being children. Ruey was just shy of thirty, and had been working as a gym mistress in a big High in London for the last seven or eight years. Roger, at 32, was nearing the end of his sporting career on England’s rugby team. They hung back while Joey ushered Wickham upstairs and into the east corner of the big house, to show him where he would be sleeping.
“Wickham seems nice,” commented Ruey absently, as she stashed some spare hockey sticks in the coat cupboard.
Roger nodded. “He certainly has a way with the ladies anyhow,” he grinned.

***

#74: Author: abbeybufo, Location: Romsey, Hampshire - UK

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 4:26 pm
—
Soooo...is it Cecil or Felicity - or Phil - that will run away with Wickham Shocked

I've forgotten if Lydia was the youngest Bennett girl or not Confused

Thanks Roisin

#75: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 4:31 pm
—
Lydia was the youngest Bennet girl.

I love the idea of Roger as an international rugby star Laughing

#76: Author: abbeybufo, Location: Romsey, Hampshire - UK

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 4:36 pm
—
That makes it Phil, then - I had a feeling that Lydia was the youngest - and I too, having just read Joey & Co., [where of course Roger says he's a 'rugger man'!] was pleased to see him turn up as the CS Jonny Wilkinson Laughing

#77: Author: Mona, Location: Hertfordshire

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 5:04 pm
—
Thank you! I am really enjoying this.

#78: Author: Rosalin, Location: Swansea

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:00 pm
—
Just re-discovered this and had a good giggle. It's inspired Róisín, thank-you.

#79: Author: Sunflower,

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:53 pm
—
Am really enjoying this! 2 things I love - Pride and Prejudice and the Chalet school. what could be better? Very Happy

Thank you!!

#80: Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:45 pm
—
This is great Roisin thanks

#81: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:02 am
—
Thanks. I'm really enjoying this though I haven't read P and P for years and really need to brush up on it

#82: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:26 am
—
“Follow me, Mr Wickham, yes that’s right, down this way,” said Joey, as she led her latest guest through the hallways of Freudesheim and down towards her salon. Sitting within was a pretty sight to greet him. Felicity sat in a large yellow armchair, her legs curled underneath her as she darned a legwarmer. Len and Con sat on either side of a large worktable, both busily scribbling and stopping occasionally to check some fact in one of the large tomes they had piled up between them. Felix and Mike were poring over huge flat ordnance survey maps for a skiing trip they were taking the following weekend. The room was lit by lamps in corners but a great hot light came from the fireplace too.

“I say, what a beautiful dog!” exclaimed Wickham. Five heads plus Bruno’s all turned to see the newcomer. Len rose, smiling questioningly at her mother.
“Everyone, this is Mr Wickham, he plays with Roger. Wickham, this is everyone...” began Joey.
“What? Roger’s here?” said Mike, surprised.
“Yes, they arrived with Ruey, he’s upstairs now changing – ah! Ruey, here you are,” continued Joey, laughing as she watched her eldest girls throw themselves upon their friend. “Well, I’m sure you all have lots to catch up on – I’ll go and help Anna with the dinner.”
Mike and Felix ran out of the room to greet Roger and hear all about the latest match, while Len and Ruey fell over each other in exchanging news and gossip. Con felt it her duty to welcome the visitor – it would usually have been Len’s role but just now she was busy with her best friend – Len had always been closer to Ruey than either she or Margot. Sitting on a small sofa, she invited Wickham to join her, and she proceeded to make small talk of the kind she normally hated. Felicity listened absent-mindedly, watched both conversations lazily through her eyelashes, and threw the odd comment out between stitches.

“You must be excited about this training trip to Milan?” asked Con politely.
“Not really,” answered Wickham. “We are sent on so many of these types of ‘holidays’ that it gets a little dull. That’s why I was so thrilled to stop here for a while. Another hotel would have broken me completely,” he finished, laughing. Con laughed in sympathy. He had the most delicious dimples when he smiled, she thought.
“I’m afraid that when I travel somewhere, I usually stay with friends. Our School was quite an international one, so there are quite a few schoolfriends scattered about the globe.”
“You are lucky,” said Wickham. “I suppose there are a fair few ex-pats living up here on the Platz?”
Con nodded, her black bob shining in the firelight. “Quite a few!” she smiled. “And we get a steady stream of visitors, of course, which is always a pleasure.”
“Except when they are like Dr Darcy!” giggled Felicity from her corner. She hadn’t had the benefit of two weeks quarantine with that man, as Con had had, and she refused to believe that he was anything but an arrogant snob. Con frowned. Wickham raised his eyebrows.
“We have a party staying in a nearby chalet for a while – Drs Bingley and Darcy, Mr Hurst, and Bingley’s two sisters. I’m sure you’ll meet them soon enough,” she explained.

Wickham paled. “Are you all right?” asked Con. He nodded slowly, and sipped some water which she handed him. “Whatever’s the matter?”
“I never thought I should meet Darcy again, certainly not in a place like this,” Wickham said.
“You know Dr Darcy?” quizzed Con. Wickham nodded again. “We were at school together, in Eton. We were both bound for the rugby pitch but ... well... there was an accident. We had been friends, but I’m afraid we haven’t been close since that time. Nobody’s fault of course. But it was hard for Darcy to watch my star rise on the field since then.”
Con was all sympathy. “He was jealous of you?”
Wickham’s silence confirmed her suggestion. Just then the gong went and the group in the salon roused themselves to walk into the Speisesaal. Con worried all the way through dinner. Was this the reason that Dr Darcy seemed so bitter all the time? And what would happen when he met Wickham again, as he was bound to do in the next few days?

***

#83: Author: Mona, Location: Hertfordshire

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:22 pm
—
Excellent, thanks for the update!

#84: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:46 pm
—
Brilliant! Thanks for the update Smile

#85: Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:01 pm
—
Great, Roisin. A lovely update!

#86: Author: Sarah_K, Location: St Albans

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:16 pm
—
I think someone should be keeping a close eye on Felicity!

Thank you Roisin!

#87: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:54 pm
—
Yes, indeed. Those legwarmers sound most seductive ...
Thanks, Roisin, this is both a lot of fun and very intriguing.

#88: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:33 am
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My favorite stories mixed

#89: Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:37 pm
—
Thanks Roisin. I am enjoying this!

#90: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:58 pm
—
Joey stirred the soup thoughtfully while Anna got on with warming the welshcakes. It was good to see her two eldest wards again, but it was a little bit of a surprise too. Ruey had written only last week that she would be arriving on the Saturday. Joey wondered what she had come for; she was sure that Ruey had something of a secretive air about her at the moment. Her musings were interrupted by a tap on the outer kitchen door.
“Jo? May I come in?” a soft, manly voice asked. Joey frowned to herself, but smiled outwardly as she nodded. It was most strange of Reg to pop around like this, midday! “Stay for dinner Reg, we are just about to sit down to it,” she added.
Dr Entwhistle agreed happily and said he would just take off his outdoor things and hang them in the closet.

Joey picked up her wooden spoon again to continue her work but held it mid-air as she listened to sounds from the hallway float through to the kitchen. Anna, oblivious, had finished her welshcakes and was just starting to spread the lemon cream on the biscuits for tea. Joey gasped, and wondered. She heard a muffled shriek of delight, followed by a silence that could have been a hug, or some sort of embrace. Then she heard some indistinct murmurings, the snap of a box and a quietly breathy “Oh, Reg!”. Joey was quite transfixed. She almost let the soup burn, but luckily Anna came to its rescue.

***

#91: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:07 pm
—
Shocked

i'm guessing ruey is Charlotte then... this gets better Smile

#92: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:13 pm
—
Joey could hold herself back no more. Entrusting the preparations to Anna, she armed herself with some salt and pepper for the table, and then entered her Speisesaal. Instead of the quietly waiting family members she expected, there was instead quite the party going on. Con, Len and Felicity were gathered around Ruey, while Roger was energetically shaking Reg’s hand.
“Children!” she said. “Just what is going on?”

“Mama, look!” Con pulled Ruey forward. There on the fourth finger of her left hand was a gleaming sapphire. In amazed tones, Len confirmed Joey’s hazy impressions. “Mama, Ruey and Reg... they’ve ...”
“We’ve become engaged, ma’am,” said Reg proudly.
“But when did this happen? I had no inkling!” gasped Joey.
Ruey came shyly over to stand next to her new fiancé. “We’ve been exchanging letters for quite some time now,” she smiled. “And last summer we spent almost all of our vacation in the Tiernsee doing things together. It hasn’t been as sudden as all that, Auntie Jo.”
Wreathed in smiles, Joey hugged first Ruey and then Reg, welcoming him to the family and assuring him that Jack would be delighted to hear the news.
“Dr Maynard already knows, ma’am,” grinned Reg. “I asked his permission just this morning.”
“Wonderful,” agreed a still-bemused Jo. “Well, now that this shock is over, perhaps we can sit down to some of that soup.” Felicity laughed and sat her Mama down while she finished bringing in the food. Joey looked down at her table and saw that most of its inhabitants were still totally in shock. Ruey and Reg’s heads were bent in towards each other in a most intimate fashion, and she saw that they looked very happy. “I hope they will be as happy as Jack and I have been,” she thought softly to herself.

***

#93: Author: Mona, Location: Hertfordshire

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:58 pm
—
Laughing

#94: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:06 pm
—
Glad Joey was nicer about it than Mrs Bennet was to Charlotte and Mr Collins!

#95: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:23 pm
—
yes, she wasn't too mrs bennett there luckily Smile

#96: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:29 pm
—
Glad everyone is happy for them

#97: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:18 pm
—
“Con,” whispered Len, as she let herself quietly into her sister’s bedroom. “Are you awake? I need to borrow some toothpaste.”
“Yes, of course,” answered Con somewhat groggily. “Finished your pow-wow with Ruey then? What – toothpaste? It’s over in the corner. At least you’re asking this time, and not just using salt!” And the two women giggled over an incident from their childhood. Len sat on the bed.
“Con, may I ask you something?” she said, in between scrubbing furiously at her small, even, white teeth. Con nodded and pulled the covers more closely around her shoulders. It was a bitterly cold night.
“When we were at Die Ehe last week, I thought that Dr Bingley and I got on quite well. Yet he hasn’t called since. In fact, I haven’t heard anything from him at all,” she concluded. “Wait, this is silly,” she interrupted herself.
“It’s not silly,” soothed Con. “It’s only natural. I’ve no idea why he hasn’t called. I know the phonelines are still down at Die Ehe, but it’s not as if the Platz were more than three miles long! It’s rude, almost as rude as Dr Darcy generally is. In fact, maybe that’s who has put Charles up to this,” she giggled.
“Oh Con, Fitzwilliam isn’t that bad. You and he had some quite good debates while we were there!”
“True,” acknowledged Con. Then she remembered her earlier conversation with Wickham. Speedily, she filled Len in. Len’s brow crinkled prettily. “You know what Mama says about gossip, Con. I’m sure Dr Darcy has his side to tell too. Perhaps Roger would know more.”
“No, I’ve already quizzed him,” said Con seriously. “I’m not sure why I’m bringing it up, I suppose. It’s not as if Dr Darcy mattered so very much to me. Now, Wickham, there’s a specimen of manhood!” The two dissolved into giggles which grew louder as Felicity came in and demanded to be told the joke.
“Indeed he is!” she agreed vociferously. “The men at the ballet company are all so slender – strong, yes, but they look like twigs compared to Wickham.” She brushed her long white-blonde hair thoughtfully. “I like his stubble,” she finished.

***

#98: Author: Mona, Location: Hertfordshire

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:19 pm
—
Laughing

#99: Author: abbeybufo, Location: Romsey, Hampshire - UK

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:16 pm
—
So it must be Felicity who equates to Lydia rather than Phil, then Confused

#100: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:31 pm
—
i thought lydia was marie-claire myself!

#101: Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:04 pm
—
Thanks, Roisin. This is fascinating reading!

#102: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:58 pm
—
I'm really enjoying this, thanks

#103: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:47 pm
—
In fact it was only to be another day before Con and Len ran into Drs Bingley and Darcy again. Biddy had hosted elevenses and they were walking back from there, full to the brim with creamcakes and coffee.
“Oof, I’m glad we have the walk back to work this off!” laughed Len.
“And I’m glad we took a walk ourselves, because now we have met you!” came a male voice from somewhere behind them. Both women twisted around to see who was speaking so good-humouredly. It was a now-blushing Dr Bingley. He cleared his throat, embarrassed now at his enthusiasm. Dr Darcy looked less enthusiastic.
“How nice to see you again,” smiled Len. “How have you been?” She fell into step beside him and they talked eagerly. Con, silently furious, found herself walking beside Dr Darcy.
“How are you?” she inquired stiffly. She was wondering why it was that they hadn’t heard from the doctors in so long.
“Cold,” answered Darcy, equally stiffly.
“Yes, well, it is January and you are in the Alps,” grinned Con.
“I am aware of those facts,” said Darcy humourlessly. “Miss Maynard, alright then – Con,” as Con interrupted him to correct her name. “I have finished one of your books. I found some inaccuracies and would like to give you my corrections. Are you free this evening? I thought of a restaurant down in Interlaken at which we could, er, carry out our discussion.”
Con gasped. How utterly rude, and yet – was he asking her out to dinner? Thoroughly confused, she could only nod in disbelieving agreement. Darcy then nodded curtly and swung away into a different part of the road. She discovered that they had reached Freudesheim, and herself and Len turned in.

***

#104: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:56 pm
—
thanks, am really enjoying this and really love Con! Smile

#105: Author: Mona, Location: Hertfordshire

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:13 pm
—
How very Darcy your Darcy is!

#106: Author: DuncanD, Location: Dublin

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:35 pm
—
This is great, Roisin - more soon please! By the way, my favourite line from P&P is "There were several much worse int the shop" - I seem to have occasion to use it quite often!

#107: Author: Sarah_K, Location: St Albans

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 9:31 pm
—
Congratulations Ruey and Reg! Now for the rest of them *g*

I still think Felicity needs to be kept under lock and key though!

#108: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:35 am
—
Very Happy

at Jo desperately trying to find out what's going on! She was sweet when she did, though.
Can't imagine Con taking kindly to Darcy correcting her writing!!! No wonder she's confused.

Thanks, Roisin.

#109: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 7:14 am
—
Thanks Roisin

#110: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:48 pm
—
The waitress took the order and then, propping the menus into her elbow, left Con and Dr Darcy alone. Darcy examined his wineglass. Con straightened up her knife in line with her fork. Darcy fingered his napkin. Finally, Con decided it must be she who broke the ice.
“So,” she began hesitantly. “You read my last book?”
Darcy nodded curtly. “It was good.” Con brightened. “In a ... frivolous kind of way, of course,” he added. Con’s cheeks flamed and Darcy thought she looked so pretty in the candlelight.
“Women must have something to do to fritter away their hours,” he mused thoughtfully.
“Well, I...!” spluttered his companion.
“But that is not what I really wanted to talk to you about,” he interrupted her. He coughed. “I would like to... I...” Con began to frown blackly. “Miss Maynard, I would like to propose that we become married.” There, it was out. He relaxed against his chair, relieved. He looked across at Con – her beautiful black eyes threatened to swallow him up, so big and shocked looking were they. Her mouth worked soundlessly. Darcy was a little surprised that she said nothing.
“I have a substantial income,” he spoke again. “I think we might have interesting conversations in the evenings, and to be frank, I would like to study your family a little more closely. It’s a rare opportunity for any multiple-birth specialist, and really, one I couldn’t turn down.” When Con still didn’t speak, he smiled confidentially at her. “I’m sure we will be very happy. Ah – what good timing, here comes our starters. Little crispy sausages in soup, just what I was looking forward to!”
Con took several deep breaths and a sip of water before she spoke. When she did, it was in a strangely calm voice. Nostrils flaring widely, she first folded her silk scarf more warmly around her neck, and pulled her beret down onto her sleekly bobbed black hair. She rose (and of course Darcy rose, puzzled but mannered to the last) and she replied.
“I have never,” she enunciated, “encountered such high-handed rudeness. Take my answer firmly in the negative, Dr Darcy, very firmly in the negative! You have, I’m sure, had something to do with discouraging Charles from visiting Len this past week. I have heard all about your past doings from Mr Wickham, who is staying with us this week. Even if these things had not occurred, let me assure you that you are, indeed, the very last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry!”

***

#111: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 1:13 pm
—
Laughing

This is great!

Are we going to get to see Lady Catherine de Bourgh? It's a shame Mary-Lou's too young to be her or she'd be perfect!

#112: Author: babycassied,

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 7:03 pm
—
Laughing

Loving this!

#113: Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:41 pm
—
Lovely mix of characters. So true to both books.

#114: Author: Sunflower,

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 9:59 pm
—
Fantastic! Thank you thank you thank you. I'm giggling madly as I write this! Very Happy

#115: Author: abbeybufo, Location: Romsey, Hampshire - UK

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:32 pm
—
Enjoying this so much Very Happy

Thanks Roisin

#116: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 11:10 pm
—

Quote:

Women must have something to do to fritter away their hours

#117: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:08 am
—
brilliant - thanks Smile

#118: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:23 pm
—
Con walked from the restaurant to the station and took the very first train back up to the Platz. Her mind was a whirl of emotion. She expected to get back to Freudesheim and cry it all out to Len and to Mama, but strangely, when she reached home, she didn’t tell anyone at all. She felt pensive and uncertain about what had happened, so she kept silent, and just mulled over her thoughts by herself for the next few days.

The days rolled on by and she took comfort in her normal routine. She rose in the morning and breakfasted with the family, before spending the hours before lunch at her desk, writing (or thinking about that evening in Interlaken more often than not). Then she took a walk or did some errands before returning to help her mother in the evenings. It was a comforting routine and one that she shared with Len. Of course, spending so much time with her triplet, Len could not help but see that something was wrong, that something had happened. And when, a week later, she brought the post in and there was something for Con, she shrewdly guessed what it was.

***

#119: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:24 pm
—
My Dearest Con,

I find that when I am around you, I am clumsy in both thought and speech, so this letter is my attempt to get around that disability. It must be said that this clouded mind you inspire is a welcome disability to me, caused by it is by my very strong feelings for you.

I am not, as you thought, responsible for Charles not calling around to see your sister. We heard here at Die Ehe that there had been an engagement at Freudesheim – that Dr Entwhistle had at last succeeded in persuading one of Dr Maynard’s girls to marry him. Charles concluded that this must only mean Len, as she had spoken to him before of her previous relationship with Dr Entwhistle. The facts presented themselves and, erroneously I see now, convinced us, so we stayed away. Charles was nursing quite the broken heart!

It’s true, Wickham and I were at Eton together, and did both play rugby. The accident did also happen, but not in the way he seems to have described it to you. In a fit of pique, Wickham hurled a snowball at me that had within it a shard of rock. Whether he knew that the rock was there or not isn’t clear, but the force at which he hurled it put paid to my rugby career forever, and I followed my father after that into medicine, specialising, as you know, in multiple births, as he had done. I don’t know why Wickham embroidered the truth in such a way – I can only presume he was embarrassed to meet me again. Also, I suspect that he was attracted to you, as you are extremely beautiful my dear, and so wanted to gloss over his past imperfections.

That is all I have to say and I hope I have said it clearly this time. I apologise profusely for offending you in Interlaken – as I said, I seem unbearably stupid and incoherent when I am around you.

Sincerely, Dr Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Con read the letter through again and then let it fall to her desk. She blushed when she thought of how she had been taken in by Wickham, and resolved furiously not to have anything more to do with him. She knew that Len was downstairs with Charles Bingley right now, having coffee and lemon biscuits, so things were alright in that regard. Well, well. Dr Darcy was quite a different man than she had thought, it seemed. Still not quite sure what to make it things, Con took up her knitting in order to sort through her thoughts more efficently. Her opinion, she concluded, was to be urgently reconsidered.

***

#120: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:33 pm
—
Another update...yay! Smile

Thank you

#121: Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:43 pm
—
Hope Con does not find she is dropping stiches as she becomes lost in thought.

Please Len and Charles are getting to know each other.

#122: Author: abbeybufo, Location: Romsey, Hampshire - UK

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:04 pm
—
Great Very Happy

Thanks Roisin

#123: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm
—
Brilliant use of an EBD plotline with the snowball Laughing

#124: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:31 pm
—
I liked the snowball, too. And at least Darcy has indicated feelings for Con going beyond the fascination of her family's multiple births!

#125: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:55 am
—

Alison H wrote:

Brilliant use of an EBD plotline with the snowball Laughing

I noticed that too. This is fabulous Roisin

#126: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:59 pm
—
“Pass the marmalade, Flix,” said her father, from behind his morning newspaper. Felicity dreamily picked up the butter and handed it to her mother.
“Felicity! I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately,” admonished Joey. Felicity blushed and endured some jibes from Felix before retreating into her cereal again.

“Mama,” interrupted Con into all this, the usual breakfast bedlam in the Maynard household. “Mama, may I speak to you this morning?”
“Of course, darling,” replied Jo, presuming this to be something to do with Con’s latest novel. She did usually get her mother to proofread everything. Joey had written many historical novels and had much advice to impart to her second-eldest, which that daughter appreciated fully. But an hour later, over small black coffees and welshcakes, Con confided quite a different purpose to their talk. Joey listened, astounded to hear how close Con had grown to Dr Darcy, how impenetrable were the signals he was sending, and how confused she was about it all. She listened patiently, however, and Con was much the better for it, and a few tears, afterwards.
“I think you need a break from it all,” said Joey. “I don’t know what that doctor is up to,” (privately she resolved to talk thoroughly to her husband about it all that night) “but you aren’t fit for much. I’ll write to Madge – why don’t you spend some time at the Round House? It will help you in your backdrop research anyhow, to Elizabeth’s Exile.”
Con nodded, smiling. “I’ll write too, Mama,” she agreed. “It’s a super idea. I can’t wait to see the twins again, and Uncle Jem too of course!”
Joey did better than write – that night she put in a long-distance telephone call to the Welsh border and spoke to Madge herself. And just two days later, Con was put on an aeroplane flight leaving from Basle, by her father, to arrive in Cardiff Airport later that night.

***

#127: Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:17 pm
—
Hope the break gives Con time to sort out her feelings.

It will be good to meet Madge and Jem in this universe.

#128: Author: Mona, Location: Hertfordshire

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:18 pm
—
So is Darcy's home near the Round House? And will we get to meet Georgiana?

#129: Author: ibarhis, Location: Dunstable

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:23 pm
—
Or do Madge and Jem take Con away on holiday (love the idea of Madge and Jem as the less socially acceptable aunt and uncle!)

#130: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:25 pm
—
thank you Very Happy

#131: Author: JB, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:51 pm
—
This is so good.

#132: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:29 pm
—
“Auntie Madge!” squealed Con, as she pushed through the throng at the arrivals section of Cardiff airport. She hugged her small, black-haired aunt tightly.
“Jem is seeing to the customs men for you, darling,” said Madge, and led her niece over to a little airport café. “You must be dying for a coffee.” Con was. She guessed that her mother had said more than a little about Dr Darcy in Tuesday night’s phonecall, so she didn’t bother with secrecy on that subject. But Madge steered the conversation to her research for Elizabeth’s Exile.
“You’ll have a fairly packed fortnight,” she told Con. “You know Kester is crazy about history, well, he has picked out some of the sites you need on a roadmap, so that you can borrow the runabout that we keep here for the girls when they visit.”
Con assured her aunt that that all sounded wonderful. Jem came back with her suitcase and, after greeting him vociferously, they packed into the car and drove to the Round House. Con gazed up at the Welsh Mountains as they drove through them, and peered eagerly out the window as Jem drove through Howell’s Village and Armiford. Madge pointed out places that Con barely remembered from her childhood.
“Gwensi is still living in the village,” added Madge, “and the Lucys and Chesters aren’t too far away either. We must pay them a call while you are here.”
“I’ve kept Saturday free to take you to the San,” said Jem from the driving seat. “As it’s the main building to feature in your book, I thought I’d take you around myself!” Con thanked her uncle. He was retired from being Head of the Welsh San now, but still went in most days for reasons of research. The San had been founded there during the War, when the Austrian San that her uncle had started had run up against Hitler and his plans. Luckily, Jem had found an old residence in the hills, big enough to convert to his uses. Luckily for Con, this was in fact one of the houses that Queen Elizabeth I had retreated to, and would be a major focal point in her story.
She sat back in the comfortable carseat and sighed. It was such a relief to get away from the pressures of home for a couple of weeks. Spring was just coming in, and Wales was a beautiful country, a gorgeously soft landscape that Con’s dreamy eyes relished. She resolved to really relax for the next few days, and most certainly not to think about a doctor who, she confirmed to herself, was hundreds and hundreds of miles away, on the Platz.

***

#133: Author: ibarhis, Location: Dunstable

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:04 pm
—
So that's the Darcy's of Armishire is it?

#134: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:54 pm
—
twice in one day!n Very Happy

#135: Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 5:08 pm
—
Very Happy

Thanks!

#136: Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 5:20 pm
—
Is Con sure she has left Dr Darcy behind?

#137: Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:22 pm
—
Thanks Roisin, just caught up on loads of this- its really great!!!

#138: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:22 am
—
Thanks Roisin

#139: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:20 am
—
Con spent a peaceful and happy week at the Round House. She caught up on all the news from the Russell clan, and almost every afternoon she took the runabout out for short drives into the countryside. There was so much material to be gathered for her book, but the process was a pleasure to her. There were, of course, some thorns in the roses, such as the few 'calls' that Auntie Madge had arranged for them to go on, but a couple of hours of small talk didn't much dim the holiday.

Saturday morning, at a hot breakfast of bacon and eggs, Jem laid out the plans he had for their day at the San.

"If we leave now, we can get there for elevenses, and you can make the acquaintance of some of the doctors and staff there while they are on their break," he said. "After that, a tour of the grounds, then lunch, and finally you can take as long as you like going around the house itself, while I catch up on some meetings. That sound O.K. to you?"

Beaming, Con nodded. After spending a week on the surrounding landscape, she was dying to get to the house that would be the central focal point of her book.

"Are you coming, Auntie Madge?" she asked.

Madge shook her head. "Not straightaway at least, dear. I have some appointments with the W.I. this morning, but I do hope to join you for lunch."

"Super," answered Con. She excused herself and then went to tidy her hair and outfit, before slinging her writing-bag over her shoulder and striding out to Jem's big saloon car.

"Are you settled comfily?" he asked.

"Yes thank you!"

"I remember driving your mother up and down to the San," laughed Jem as he steered. "Under somewhat more snowy conditions, on occasion. Do you know, I really can't believe it is that long ago either."

They drove at a steady pace along the Welsh lanes. The roads slowly rose and the vista grew more and more magnificent. Finally they pulled up before a large, stately manor house, set in huge gardens. Con gasped at its beauty.

"Come along," ushered her uncle. "It's just five past."

He parked in a haphazard manner and then led Con through the big doors into a hallway. There were still many original features but the building had most definitely been turned into a Sanatorium, noted Con. The long corridors held patients' rooms now, and the great drawing room and morning room were operating theatres. She walked on with Jem, and saw that the canteen they were entering had once been a medium-sized sitting room.

"The kitchens are still where they used to be," added Jem, guessing the gist of her thoughts.

Con nodded. Without thinking, she had taken out a little jotter and was almost unconciously taking notes as she gazed around her.

She woke up a little during elevenses. Matron had directed some welshcakes and some black coffee towards her, and they were delicious.

"I'm afraid it was myself and Gottfried Mensch that were responsible for the Austrian coffee," laughed Jem. "That's one thing you would notice about the San here – most of the doctors are from the United Kingdom, whereas there is quite the mixture at the Swiss branch."

"Has Dr Mensch retired too?" inquired Con politely.

"Just about! Now, Con. I'm afraid I'll have to leave you a little earlier than I said – one of the operations I'm due to watch has been bumped up the schedule. You won't be alone though – I've arranged for someone to look after you. He's your own age, don't worry! He's been with us for nearly six years now, and knows the place very well. And I believe he's into your type of history – do you know, I saw him reading one of your books in this canteen yesterday!"

Con blushed and giggled. "He sounds marvellous!" she joked.

"Ah, here he comes now," said Jem. "Con, this is Dr Fitzwilliam Darcy. Darcy – this is my niece, Con Maynard."

***

#140: Author: babycassied,

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:21 am
—
Shocked

Eeeee!

#141: Author: Ruth B, Location: Oxford, UK

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:16 pm
—
ROFL!

#142: Author: Mona, Location: Hertfordshire

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:42 pm
—
Very Happy

#143: Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:43 pm
—
Con I thought you were being too hopeful at leaving Dr Darcy. Glad he is reading another of her books though.

#144: Author: Elbee, Location: Surrey

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:54 pm
—
Does he have a dripping wet shirt Laughing

?

Thanks, Roisin, this is brilliant!

#145: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:30 pm
—

Elbee wrote:

Does he have a dripping wet shirt Laughing

I hope so!

#146: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:34 pm
—
I hope so too Smile

thanks!

#147: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:06 pm
—
Thanks Roisin. Love to see the look on Con's face when she realizes she can't escape Mr Darcy! Laughing

#148: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:39 pm
—
Con almost spluttered but held herself in admirably.
“Dr Darcy and I have met before now,” she said tightly. Glancing at Fitzwilliam’s face, it was obvious he had known she was coming. Brazenly, Con raised her chin to him. “I thought you would still be on the Platz, Dr Darcy? I’m sure I never dreamed that it was at my uncle’s Sanatorium that you were employed!”
Darcy grimaced and blushed. “It never came up in conversation,” he said curtly. “We usually had... other... matters to discuss,” he added.
Jem smiled broadly. “So you two have met before? Excellent! Well, Con, Darcy will take good care of you, and I’ll see you at lunch. Your aunt should be in by that time too.” He clapped Darcy on the back. “Six years I’ve known this fellow, and a more considerate gentleman I’ve yet to meet.” With that, Jem took his leave, and Con was left alone with the doctor.
She looked at him. His eyes were almost as dark as her own. He looked uncomfortable, she thought – almost as uncomfortable as she felt. She was reminded of his letter, his proposal, and most embarrassingly, of how she had been so taken in by Wickham.
“Look...” she began. At precisely the same moment, he started speaking too. They both laughed and the air started to clear a little.
Darcy smiled in a more relaxed and friendly manner than Con had ever seen in him before. “Con,” he said. “Let me show you around. Your uncle is right, you know – I’m not quite the stiff ogre you imagine me.” Without waiting for an answer, he took her elbow and led her gently towards the door. “Now, this is my absolute favourite room in the house,” he began. “The grand hallway. Do you see the balcony? The story goes that Elizabeth would wait behind that pillar there...” He continued talking earnestly as he showed her around, and Con lost herself in his words. He seemed to know exactly what kind of detail she needed for the book, before she even knew herself, or thought to ask. They exchanged some excited conversation on different interpretations of one of the wall-plaques. Too quickly, the house-tour was over, and Con found herself back in the canteen again.
“Con!” she heard a sweet, deep voice call.
“Auntie Madge, over here!” she replied.
“Dr Darcy!” exclaimed Madge, as she walked over to the pair. “How wonderful to see you again. Con, is this who has been showing you around?”
Con nodded.
“How is Kevin, Mrs Russell?” inquired Dr Darcy.
“Oh, he’s doing marvellously,” answered Madge. “Con, do you know that this man has been giving up his Friday evenings since last Christmas to help Kevin in his exams?”
Darcy reddened a little. “Well, it’s always encouraging to see a student show an interest in one’s specialism,” he swallowed.
“I didn’t know,” smiled Con. “Dr Darcy, that’s really good of you.” She turned to face him and their eyes met. Con didn’t turn away, or let go of her smile. Slowly, Darcy started to smile too, and Con made the delightful discovery that he possessed two deep dimples in each corner that smile.
Madge was not wholly unaware of the moment that was passing between the two. Discreetly she moved towards the coffee counter to place her order for lunch, and to see if her husband had turned up yet.

***

#149: Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:49 pm
—
thanks glad I came back on the board to catch up with this tonight.

#150: Author: Elder in Ontario, Location: Ontario, Canada

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:53 pm
—
Pride and Prejudice is not my favourite book - in fact, I'll confess here and now that I'm not a 'Janeite" at all hiding

(ducks for cover), but I'm really enjoying this. Only one complaint - every time I read about Dr. Darcy, I 'see' Colin Firth!!!

Thanks, Roisin.

#151: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:30 pm
—
ditto re. Colin Firth. thanks Smile

#152: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:48 pm
—
This is great!

Just wibbling at the expectation that Felicity will shortly run off with Wickham Laughing

#153: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 6:05 am
—

Elder in Ontario wrote:

Pride and Prejudice is not my favourite book - in fact, I'll confess here and now that I'm not a 'Janeite" at all hiding

(ducks for cover), but I'm really enjoying this.

Me too. I've read and/or studied most of her books in English Literature at High School but haven't touched them much since Embarassed

But your now tempting me to reread this book at least. Thanks

#154: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:15 pm
—
Freudesheim,
The Gornetz Platz,
The Oberland,
Switzerland.

Dear Con,

Has Len written to you yet? She said she would, but I swore I’d get there first. What a joke! You really won’t believe what happened last weekend. You know that Roger and Wickham were leaving on Sunday to go to Milan for that training camp? Well, Mama told them about the Company’s Recital down in Interlaken on the Saturday night, and of course she simply had to suggest that they come. I didn’t mind – thought Wickham was a bit of a fox – but Lucy was terribly nervous. Turns out she had a crush on Roger! Our Roger! Not that that’s what I’m writing about. No, something far funnier. Well it turns out that The Fox had a bit of a crush on yours truly!

[Con sighed as she read, at the amount of italics, underlining and exclamation marks she had come to accept from her little sister’s writing. “Twenty years old, and hardly any decent punctuation in sight!” she glowered at the page, her writing sensibilities offended. Then she read the last line of the first paragraph and shivered inside. Surely nothing had happened between Wickham and Flix! Impatiently, she read on. Thank goodness she was leaving Wales and returning to Switzerland on Wednesday...]

The dance went well – you know that Lucy had won the lead, so she was presented with flowers and so forth, and we all took our bows before leaving the stage on the usual high. I had bagged backstage access for Roger so that he could show Wickham how the ballet works etc etc. They came behind, and while Lucy’s father was showing Roger how the limes worked, Wickham came into my dressing room and practically accosted Yours Truly!!! Really! I was changing out of my tutu into your new red maxi-skirt (thanks, by the way – sorry for borrowing it without you being there but was desp.) – and he came in after the barest scrape of a knock. I hid behind my bouquets! He demanded that I meet him that evening, before they left, so that we could “get to know each other”, if you know what I mean (you know what I mean, right Con?).

[Con sighed and thought back to when she was twenty – she had thought that thirty was a different stage in life altogether – the preserve of spinsters and mothers. Silently thanking heaven that Roger had been present and that Len had been in the country, she read on.]

Well I picked up those roses and threw them at his Stubbly Old Head. I mean, really. Men these days. That’s it, I am swearing off them, forever this time. When are you home by the way? Thursday? Had planned on going shopping then, can meet you from train for coffee if poss.

Love lots! Flix xx

Giggling, Con folded up the letter and resolved to show it to Fitzwilliam when they met for dinner later that evening, thinking he would get a laugh out of it.

***

#155: Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands

Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:25 pm
—
Hope Flix keeps that attitude to Wickham.

#156: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:08 pm
—

PaulineS wrote:

Hope Flix keeps that attitude to Wickham.

I doubt it, though Wink

#157: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 12:56 am
—

Alison H wrote:

PaulineS wrote:

Hope Flix keeps that attitude to Wickham.

I doubt it, though Wink

So do I, though, she deserves better!

#158: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:40 am
—
Laughing

thanks! hope she maintains that attitude!

#159: Author: Mona, Location: Hertfordshire

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 8:25 am
—
Laughing

#160: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:04 pm
—
Dr Darcy threw down his napkin and started to rise angrily from the table.
“Fitz! What are you doing?” cried Con.
“How dare he,” fumed her dining companion. “How dare he?! He won’t get away with...”
“Dr Darcy, what do you mean by that? Now listen to me. He is in Italy. You are here in Wales with me. There’s nothing you can do right now. And there’s nothing that needs to be done either. Felicity is a big girl now, she knows how to handle overbearing men like Wickham!”
Darcy calmed down a little and began to reclaim his seat. His brows were still drawn tightly together though. Con didn’t think she had ever seen him so angry. She reached over the table and laid her hand on his.
“Darling, it’s fine,” she said softly, and without thinking.
Shocked, Darcy looked up at her from beneath those knitted brows. Con, realising what she had just said, blushed fiercely. She stood her ground however, and tilted her chin defiantly. Broadly smiling now, Darcy gripped her hand.
“Do you mean it?” he questioned her.
Con nodded. “I’ve... I’ve come to know you quite a bit more than I thought was possible,” she almost whispered. “I’ve come to ... really admire you,” she continued.
Dr Darcy, wise in the ways of his kind, did not reply, or refer to the matter again that evening. He simply picked up his cutlery again and turned the conversation to milder matters.

***

#161: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:12 pm
—
Oooohhh! Smile

thank you

#162: Author: abbeybufo, Location: Romsey, Hampshire - UK

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:18 pm
—
lovely Very Happy

Thanks Roisin

#163: Author: Rosalin, Location: Swansea

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:45 pm
—
This is really funny, and very cleverly done.

Thanks Róisín.

#164: Author: ness, Location: LANCS,ENGLAND

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:55 pm
—
I'm really enjoying this, its very clever

#165: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 7:46 pm
—
Thanks Roisin. This is wonderful

#166: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 3:38 pm
—
Sighing, Con removed her snow-covered mac and handed it to Anna so she could dry it in her big, warm kitchen. Con had just arrived back from Wales. She was cold, tired and feeling more than a little world-weary. Halfway through another big sigh, she heard the clatter of heels on waxed parquet floors, and then Len was upon her, bright-eyed and happy. She said nothing however, merely hugging her triplet.
Con drew back and squinted at her sister. Then she narrowed her eyes as understanding began to dawn.
“Mary Helena Maynard,” she gasped. “You don’t mean...?”
Shyly, Len brought forward her left hand and showed Con the glittering diamond it held.
“It happened just last night,” she said happily. “I really didn’t see it coming, Con. One minute we were playing with Bruno, the next thing, I was engaged! I’ve written to Margot already – I didn’t want her to feel as though she were the last to know.” Con grinned inwardly – Len had never grown out of making sure that the Maynard family dynamics ran smoothly. She grabbed her sister again and hugged her tightly.
“I’m so pleased for you, Len, so very pleased. Charles is a great man – I know you’ll be happy.”
“I will be,” enunciated Len. Neither triplet could conceal a little tear at the thought of leaving each other for marriage.
“Con! You’re back!” Joey entered the hall. “Give me that bag and go into the Salon,” she ordered her second child affectionately. “Anna has just laid the table for Kaffee und Kuchen.”
Smiling, Con followed Len into the pretty sitting room, and they settled in for a long confab with their mother about Len’s wedding plans. Con had forgotten how weary she had felt on coming home. In fact, her thoughts had taken an entirely different direction.

***

#167: Author: Mona, Location: Hertfordshire

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 3:50 pm
—
Another lovely update. Thanks Roisin!

#168: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 4:01 pm
—
Yes, Dr Bingley is a much better bet than Reg!

#169: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 6:01 pm
—
Thanks for a lovely update Smile

am happy for Len

#170: Author: Caty, Location: New Zealand

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 12:24 pm
—
I have just caught up on this. Thank you Roisin, I'm really enjoying it. The mind boggles at the thought of Kevin Russell specialising in multiple births. Given his family history, he might end up with quads or even quintuplets.... Shocked

#171: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 6:48 pm
—
March sunlight flickered through the French windows of the Freudesheim salon and played on the natural highlights in one head of chestnut, one of deep black and one of flaxen fair. Len, Con and Felicity were bent industriously over masses of the rich wood-violet colour that Len had chosen for her bridesmaids to wear.
“It’s funny,” said Len. “That I should be getting married first, though Ruey has been engaged for longer.”
“Well, she and Reg are waiting for a house to become free on the Platz,” said Felicity.
“Whereas you and Charles are going to settle in Die Ehe,” added Con. Privately, Con thought it a blessing that Dr Bingley was going to be working at the Swiss branch of the Sanatorium – that way Caroline and the Hursts would be at a safe distance! She said none of this to her more charitable sister, however.
“I do wish that Margot could get back,” broke in Len again. Felicity bit her thread. “Oh, Flix! Do you want to leave a groove in your teeth!” admonished that girl’s eldest sister.
Felicity grinned. “Hope you aren’t getting cold feet, sis!” She unfurled her legs and sighed deeply. “Well, that’s it for me, I’m afraid. I have mine and Phil’s sleeves cut out, at any rate. Got to rush if I’m catching the three o’clock to Interlaken.” And she sprinted up the stairs to make herself tidy before her afternoon ballet lesson.

Len and Con continued working in silence, listening for and then hearing the big front door bang as Felicity left. Then they heard it open, and shut, again.
“That’ll be her umbrella,” murmured Len wisely. “She’s always forgetting it.”
Con grunted somewhat unglamorously in reply. At the room door, which had stood ajar since Felicity had exited, stood a tall, dark, well-groomed man, now grinning as he witnessed the exchange. Some extra sense warned Con to look up, and when she did she gasped.
“Dr Darcy!” exclaimed Len. “What a surprise! I thought you were in Wales?” Immediately, she began to gather her needles together and rearrange her skirt. Darcy smiled graciously at her.
“I had reason to return,” he said, somewhat formally. Con noticed with amusement that he must be feeling shy and awkward – she knew him well enough now to know that this was not his normal tone.
Len rose. “I’m sure Mama didn’t notice you arrive – I’ll go and tell her, and put on some tea.” She winked at Con on her way out, making Con blush furiously and think unutterable thoughts about her triplet.

“Would you like to sit?” she asked her visitor.
Darcy shift some silk and buckram from a prettily embroidered cushion and sat down on a nearby couch. Con frowned a little. “He looks... strange,” she thought to herself. “Preoccupied.”
Darcy spent some moments staring into the climbing flames of the great fireplace, while Con continued to sew placidly. Then suddenly, he jerked his head up and looked at her fiercely.
“Come here,” he said, patting the sofa next to him. Obediently, Con laid down the material that was filling her lap, and removed herself so that they were next to each other. Awkwardly, she perched on the cushion’s edge, and imitated his fire-watching, to avoid talking. They continued in this manner for quite five minutes before Con felt her hand abruptly taken up by his. She spun around to face him, their eyes met, and she inhaled sharply at the intensity of his gaze.
He leaned forward. “I’m... sorry if this is unexpected,” he began. In her heart, Con realised that it was not unexpected at all. She started to try and form some sentence that would convey this, but he laid a finger on her lips – a gesture that he wanted to continue speaking. She leaned in to catch at his hand and move it, but before either knew what was happening, they were embracing, and then kissing.
A sharp whine from Bruno, who had been sitting before the fire, interrupted them, and both broke out in laughter, though neither moved away. Their foreheads still touching, Darcy kissed her briefly twice more.
“Yes,” whispered Con, smiling broadly. Darcy’s brow furrowed in confusion –“Yes?”.
“Yes,” repeated Con. “You asked me a question some time ago, in a restaurant in Interlaken.” Understanding dawned and Darcy’s eyes began to light up with hope and happiness.
“May I understand, that you would like to revise your reply?”
Con giggled and nodded, and was immediately showered with lots of small, delighted kisses by her new fiancé.
“There is so much to discuss!” she protested, laughing.

“There is indeed!” came a voice from the doorway, where a puzzled Jack and Joey Maynard stood standing.

***

#172: Author: Mona, Location: Hertfordshire

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:20 pm
—
Thank you!! Very Happy

#173: Author: JackieP, Location: Kingston upon Hull

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:29 pm
—
Yes, thank you. Having just finished reading Pride & Prejudice for the first time, and managing to catch the first two parts of the BBC adaptation on BBC4 tonight - its' good to see your take on it.

JackieP

#174: Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 11:22 pm
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thank you glad they are all getting on so well.

#175: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 8:26 am
—
Thanks so much for that lovely update! Smile

#176: Author: Jenefer, Location: London

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 10:41 am
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Thank you, I am enjoying this

#177: Author: abbeybufo, Location: Romsey, Hampshire - UK

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 12:29 pm
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Thanks, Roisin

#178: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 6:59 pm
—
Supper that evening was a splendid affair. Anna went all out to provide every kind of sweet and savoury delight she could conjure. There was chicken salad, tiny sandwiches and, to finish, bowls of an indescribably delicious pink creamy affair – the recipe for which she had learned from Karen. She had planned this menu to welcome home Cecil and Phil from School, but now that everyone had decided to get married, she told herself, it would do for those older of ‘her’ children too. The huge Freudesheim dining table was crowded, even allowing for its size. Drs Bingley and Darcy sat beside one another, and on either side of them sat their Maynard fiancées. Roger had dropped in on his way back from Milan (this time without Wickham) and he sat by Felix. Dreamy Cecil (“She’ll grow out of that,” thought Con to herself) and delicate Phil were there, as was little Marie-Claire. Mike had left that day for a sailing commission to the Caribbean, but Geoff was due back the next day. Stephen sat across from Charles Bingley and made polite, gruff conversation. Gentle Charles Maynard seemed to be the only one of Con’s family that Dr Darcy felt entirely comfortable with.

Joey had taken her daughter aside after their discovery earlier that afternoon, and asked her if she knew what she was doing, and if she was happy. When she saw the light that gleamed in Con’s eyes, she had her answer and she hugged and blessed her second child. Jack had remained in the Salon with a distinctly embarrassed Dr Darcy. Con had been nervous of the outcome of their ‘chat’ but as she re-entered the room with her mother, it was to the sound of genuine laughter.
“I was just telling young Darcy here,” smiled Jack Maynard. “About how your mother had made a similar escape from a Dr Hunter in her young days on the Tyrolean Sonnalpe!”
“Except, of course,” interjected Darcy. “That Con didn’t quite escape!”
Con blushed and then turned to Joey, “Mama, what are they talking about?”
Joey frowned blackly at her husband but couldn’t keep up the pretence of anger. Lapsing into giggles, she retold the tale of her visit to India, just before the War. Len came in, pushing the tea-trolley and balancing a large coffee-pot precariously, towards the end of the story. Once her load was safely deposited, she grabbed her triplet and squeezed her tightly.
“I’m so glad, Con,” she whispered.

“Flix! Pass the salt!” screeched Marie-Claire down the long table. Felicity duly passed it up through a succession of hands before it reached her adopted sister.
“Mama, may I read Margot’s letter later?” called up Stephen.
“Chas, do you still have my Kipling?” berated an annoyed voice.
“Con! Show me your ring!” called down another. Con grinned to herself, thinking that her home could be a real tower of Babel at times. She slipped off the precious ruby that had only come so recently into her possession and handed it carefully to Cecil, for that lady’s particular examination.
“No chance of a double wedding, eh?” joked Roger. “Wouldn’t be half as hard asking Coach for the time off that way!” The table giggled, but some looked curiously at the two triplet sisters. It had been established that Len would have a family wedding that involved most of the Platz, including the School, but Con’s engagement was so new that nothing had been said.
Now her cheeks pinked and dimpled prettily as she replied, looking every so often to Darcy as she said, “Actually, we’re going to go away to be married. Well, away from Switzerland anyhow. I’d like to get married in Wales. You’ll still all be there, of course.”
Joey’s mind barely had time to fly off in the direction of preparations to be made at the Round House, when Darcy spoke.
“I have a house, though I haven’t lived in it,” he said stiffly. “I’ve boarded at the San. until now. But the house is all ready and has been kept up by a housekeeper I employed. It’s called Plas Pemberley, and is in the next village along from Howells.” His voice grew softer as he put his hand on Con’s. “I know you’ll like it, dearest,” he said.
“I think it all sounds marvellous!” squeaked an excited Marie-Claire. “Mama, you will have to put it in a book, you know.”
Joey grinned. “Yes, it’s all been quite exciting, hasn’t it, pet?”
“Most unexpected,” chimed in Dr Maynard. “Who would have thought...” He didn’t finish, but he didn’t need to – nobody could forget how disliked Dr Darcy had been when he had first arrived on the Platz.
“I have a title for you, Mama,” Len smiled wickedly. “First Impressions?”
Unaware of the subtext, Dr Darcy thought it was sweet that Len described their relationships as love at first sight. He smiled handsomely and raised his glass in a toast, “To first impressions then!” and they clinked in celebration.

THE END (and thanx for reading Very Happy

)

#179: Author: roversgirl, Location: France

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 7:03 pm
—
Thanks so much for what has been a fantastic drabble Smile

#180: Author: Mona, Location: Hertfordshire

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 7:10 pm
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Thanks Roisin, I've really enjoyed that!

#181: Author: abbeybufo, Location: Romsey, Hampshire - UK

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 7:13 pm
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Thank you so much Roisin - this has been a delight all through Very Happy

Sorry it has to come to an end, but what a satisfactory ending it was!
Glad too that Felicity was more sensible than Lydia Bennett Laughing

#182: Author: Elder in Ontario, Location: Ontario, Canada

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 7:34 pm
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Thanks, Roisin - this has really been a delight all through.

#183: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 7:36 pm
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That was a lovely ending - thank you.

So - will Joey change the title of her book from First Impressions to Pride and Prejudice as well ... Wink

#184: Author: Elbee, Location: Surrey

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 9:09 pm
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Thanks Roisin, I have really enjoyed this CS/Pride & Prejudice Very Happy

#185: Author: Torri, Location: Connecticut

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 2:35 am
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I have to admit to absolutely loathing Jane Austen, but apparently adding the Chalet School can make me read anything and I loved this, Roisin!

#186: Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:50 pm
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Thank you for a lovely drabble.

#187: Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 5:06 pm
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That was great. Thanks, Roisin.

#188: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 11:14 pm
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Have at last been able to read the end of this! It's been fascinating - thank you, Roisin.

The CBB -> St Scholastika's House

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