THURSDAY THREE HUNDRED ~ MARY

Welcome back, my lovelies. My Thursday 300 is from my next novel ~ Mary ~ which follows Georgiana. Now that my health is building strength, I hope to have her finished/published early next year. I may be healthier but I'm still a SLOW writer. Thank goodness you've stuck with me through all this.

I'm having fun, dabbling with Mary's story. She is a character I've come to love and I hope you will too. This scene takes place fairly early in the story, although as I flesh it out a bit more this scene could move down a few chapters.

Richard arrived late for Elizabeth’s dinner party and could hear that everyone had gathered in the front drawing room. Not wanting to draw attention to himself, he slipped in through one of the servant’s doors, which brought him near where the pianoforte was positioned.

Upon entering he glanced around the milling guests and only turned to see who was playing when a discordant note was heard, followed by what could best be described as a soft growl. The pianist blew out a soft puff of air, rolled her shoulders and began playing again. Time stopped. There was no other way to describe the moment.

She was beautiful. How had he never noticed before how beautiful Miss Mary Bennet was? He paused in thought and realized that in all the family gatherings over the past few years he’d really never been properly introduced to her. He reasoned it was because the Bennet family was, in the loosest sense of the word, family. And if he were honest, he’d never taken notice of her because she always stayed in the background.

Now that he thought about it further, she usually played so the rest of them could dance. Had he seen her dance? He had a terrifyingly good memory and not once did he recall seeing Miss Bennet dance. Ever. Still unobserved by any of the guests, he took his time to assess the young woman seated at the pianoforte.

Her hair was lustrous and dark, similar in color and texture to Elizabeth. In fact, she favored her elder sister in many ways, with a heart shaped face and dark eyes, which at the moment were glaring at the music sheets as though they offended her. Another discordant note was heard. His heart almost thudded to a stop when she bit her lip in consternation, and as she mangled that full bottom lip with small white teeth, he determined that one day he would kiss her. The only question was when.

 Well? Do you think he's well on his way to being in love?