Mrs Darcy (Complete)

Chapter 1

- 7 Years Later -

It was the spring and all of my beautiful flowers were beginning to bloom. Lady Catherine had granted me my own private section of her vast gardens to plant my own flowers and vegetables and I had enjoyed it for many years. It was a place where I could go to think and clear my head during the war against the zombie apocalypse. "Lovely day, Eve" I heard my little sister Annabelle say in her normal sweet voice.

I looked up from my exhausting work and sat straight, the sun beating down on my back and making me hot. "It is, Annabelle" I replied with a smile as I took off my gloves.

"Mother told me that you'd be out here. You always are during the spring" She said and kneeled beside me.

"Well, it is time for the flowers to start becoming beautiful again, isn't it. I would take some to Lady Catherine, but she would huff and puff and blow them away" I said and giggled as Annabelle and I took pleasure in creating imaginary opposites to our household. Lady Catherine was a kind, generous warrior, but her opposite was mean, spiteful and vengeful.

"Mr Darcy and Fitzwilliam are coming back today" Annabelle suddenly blurted out as though her life depended on her telling me this. "Are you excited?" She asked me, beaming with goodness even though she was already engaged.

I leaned over the flower bed to reach a new bulb into its new place and used my other hand to steady myself in the heat of the day. "No more than I usually am when they come from London" I replied. Mr Darcy and his son made frequent visits to the house to visit Lady Catherine and her daughter as well as our family. Annabelle's marriage date was two weeks away and she liked the younger Mr Darcy more than her fiance. If mother found out, she would have her thrown into the moat.

"You must marry soon, Eve" Annabelle told me, passing me another flower from my basket beside my legs. "Father will be dead soon and your inheritance will go to Cedric and I because I will be married and you will not"

"I don't see why I should marry, Annabelle" I replied, receiving the purple flower. "A woman must be trained in fighting. A woman must have knowledge of modern music, art and literature and speak with modern languages - I understand that as well. However, I never wish to be married because it will mean being parted from you, dearest" I complained whilst setting the soil around the flowers.

Annabelle laughed and playfully nudged my arm as I made a romantic gesture to her with my one naked hand and my one gloved hand.

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat behind us and I looked up and over my shoulder, shielding my eyes to see the person standing in front of the sun was the elder Mr Darcy, his son and 6 year old daughter and a footman standing a few steps away from their father. My sister and I gasped and got straight to our feet, giving a quick curtsy to the gentleman and standing properly. "Mr Darcy!" I spoke, as Annabelle looped her arm in with mine. "How lovely to see you and the younger Mr Darcy and of course little Elizabeth" I looked to the six year old child with a joyful expression that she Fitzwilliam who almost instantly shrank upon making contact with my eyes. He had always been shy.

"Not as lovely as the Baasch daughters here before me" Mr Darcy bowed his head in respect to us with a smile. I always loved it when the gentlemen behaved like gentlemen around me and my sister. "I trust your flowers are blooming properly this season, Miss Baasch" Mr Darcy said and stepped forward to the edge of the flower bed to examine my handy work.

"Excuse me. I'll see whether tea is ready" Annabelle said and left to walk up the garden toward the house and a footman followed her.

"Yes, we don't want a repeat of last spring, Mr Darcy" I replied to the old man and turned to look at my plants.

"Which flowers do you enjoy the most, Miss Baasch" I heard the younger Mr Darcy ask as he came to stand on the other side of me, his hands clasped behind his back just like his father. He was only a year old than me, although our tastes were different.

I was taken aback a little, as nobody had asked which were my favourites before. "Oh, Mr Darcy, that would be like suggesting to a mother which of her children was her most favourable" I replied to the stone faced young man who stared at the flower arrangements, obviously thinking about something. I earned a chuckle from his father though and that made me happy. There was silence for a moment as I clasped both of my hands in front of myself and remembered that I had only one glove on. I spoke again to break the silence. "How was your journey from London?" I asked either Darcy.

"Long, but not too bad" The elder Mr Darcy replied, sounding interested in speaking to me. "And we had plenty of books to keep us busy"

"In fact, I passed the time reading Evelina--" Fitzwilliam said rather abruptly. That was my favourite novel. "By Frances Burney..." He trailed off, probably feeling as uncomfortable as I was.

I didn't know what to do, so I nodded my head and said, "Yes" politely. "Shall we go for tea, Mr Darcy?" I suggested to the elder man after glancing quickly down to my shadow, which showed the sun to be at its peek in the afternoon.

"Yes, that would be splendid!" The elder Mr Darcy replied. "We'll have time to catch up with your father about his business with my sister, dear Eve" He said as I was kneeling down ad collecting my gardening tools to put them in my basket. Fitzwilliam kneeled down in front of my on the other side of the wicker basket and helped put things away for me. I momentarily glanced up at his and met his eyes, which threw me off course a little and I didn't realise I had grabbed Darcy's hand on the handle of the basket.

"Are you ready, Miss Baasch?" The elder Mr Darcy asked and awoke me from my daydream.

"Yes, of course" I replied and broke away from Fitzwilliam. I took Mr Darcy's arm which he offered me and carried my gardening basket on my free arm as we began strolling back toward the house. I glanced over my shoulder to see the younger Mr Darcy raise his hand and politely wave to me. I still had only one glove on.