A New Hero for Jane!

I am working away on 'In Want of Connections', and am very pleased with a new character ~ Mr. Joshua Morgan. Actually, two new characters, he has a lovely sister named Gabriella, but her vignettes are small in comparison to her elder brother, who is Miss Jane Bennet's new love interest. Catch your interest???? I hope so. Today, I'm sharing a small scene, which exposes Bingley as a cad and Mr. Morgan as the hero.

So, no further delays, let us get on it like a bonnet!

IN WANT OF CONNECTIONS

Mr. Bingley gestured for Jane to resume her seat, then sat next to her, pulling his chair much too close for her comfort, and reached for her hand. She instinctively recoiled to create more space and fiddled with the tiny buttons on her glove to keep him from gaining purchase of her fingers.

“Mr. Bingley, I am uncomfortable with your attention. Please move your chair away from mine.”

He frowned. “What? Why? You welcomed my attentions in the past.”

“Precisely – in the past. Eight months ago, to be more accurate. We have both moved on, and I do not appreciate you sitting so close to me.” She dared not mention their lack of a chaperone. When would Uncle and Mr. Morgan arrive, or her aunt and Lizzy?

To her great relief, he grudgingly shifted the chair back. With a petulant sigh, he asked, “Why are you so distant? I thought our time in Hertfordshire was delightful.”

“Mr. Bingley, you have been gone from Meryton since November last. People do not remain stagnant while you live your life in another part of the country.” His eyes widened at her chastisement, but he remained silent. “I must inform you that, while I enjoyed your company last Autumn, I am now betrothed to another gentleman.”

“Betrothed!”

“Yes, and we are on our way to visit family and finalise the wedding arrangements.”

“Who would have you?” He sneered, echoing his sister’s tone. “You bring nothing to the marriage but a pleasant smile and a fetching bonnet.”

“Mr. Bingley!” Jane rose to her full height. “You reproached your sister for her rude behaviour, while forgetting to examine your own reflection. I bid you good day.”

She turned to leave, but he seized her from behind, spun her around, and pressed his lips firmly to hers.

“I presume you have no plans of leaving today, sir,” came the voice of Jane’s beloved, “for I will meet you at dawn, at a place of your choosing.”

Jane wrenched away from Bingley and ran to Mr. Morgan, allowing him to wrap one arm around her slender shoulders while she sobbed into his chest.

“I have compromised Miss Bennet, and demand that we marry,” Bingley said, ignoring the challenge which had been laid at his feet.

“You cannot marry a woman who is betrothed to another, compromise or not. Now, choose your weapon of choice and find someone to be your second.”

“I shall not duel you.”

“Then you declare your honour as forfeit.”

“I do not.”

“You cannot have it both ways, Mr. Bingley,” Morgan said, ignoring Bingley’s look of astonishment that he was known to the gentleman even though they had never met. “Either you are a coward, seeing as you will not meet me on a field of honour after attacking a gentlewoman in a public inn, or a rake in the first order, also because you attacked a gentlewoman in a public inn. Which shall it be? Coward or rake?”

“I took nothing that was not offered!” he blustered out. “Ever since I have known Miss Bennet, she has thrown herself at me. Everyone knew she wanted me to marry her, and today, she all but asked me to kiss her.”

“Is that true, my dearest Miss Manners?” Morgan asked softly, glancing down at his fiancée.

“No, and you know the reasons why,” she replied, returning his gaze of deep love.

It was at that moment that Uncle Edward entered the room.

“Well, Morgan, the horses and carriages are ready to depart; we just need to round up our ladies and be off.”

“We may be delayed by a day,” Morgan said calmly. “I came across Mr. Bingley opportuning Jane, and have called him out. He has yet to decide if he is a coward or a rake.”

Uncle Edward turned a gimlet eye in the direction of Mr. Bingley.

“Is he aware that you hold the fencing title at Cambridge, and the only person to defeat you more than once was Mr. Darcy?” Mr. Bingley’s eyes widened at the same time his face turned the colour of chalk. “Or, that you are a crack shot, once again, on par with a military sharpshooter

“We had not gotten that far in our discussion, and I will concede that Darcy has out-fenced me more times than I care to admit.”

Jane stifled a smile at their seemingly innocuous banter, knowing it was sending a chill to the very marrow of Mr. Bingley’s bones. She felt no remorse or sympathy for the man – she refused to call him a gentleman, a point Mr. Morgan was making in an obvious manner.

There you go. I anticipate publishing this new story in May. Stay tuned for exact dates and purchase links. Until then,