From Pemberley to Manhattan [COMPLETED]

Chapter 76

17 DAYS IN PARIS

Fortunately for common sense and unfortunately for the readers, the couple eventually agreed on keeping things friendly with no benefits. Before they had dot-dot-dot and their romantic status became so complicated one couldn't even find its definition on Facebook, Fitzwilliam Darcy and Nathalie Estevez Brown settled on behaving as adults who belonged to different eras and, therefore, not with one another.

Yet, they were still having some trouble sleeping, and Nat was still waking up in the middle of the night startled, crying a certain gentleman's name. Well, people can't control what they dream about, nor who they dream about. The gentleman in question, proving he deserved to be thus qualified, didn't make any more jokes or provocations about the lady's nighttime.

Not many, anyway.

"Is this your first time in Versailles, Darcy?", Nat asked as they prepared their picnic. The visit in the Palace had been unforgettable, but tiring as well, as had been their walk in the park, and now Nat was famished.

"As a matter of fact, it is not. I have had the opportunity of visiting this fine property back in my times", he was using his aristocratic tone, one that he mastered very well. "I was invited once to a ball here, and danced with a very fine lady who told me how the people complained about not having bread to eat, and how she believed they should eat brioche instead."

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny. And, by the way, many people say Marie Antoinette never even said that. Besides, when she lost her head – quite literally, I'm afraid – you were but a little child, were you not?" His smirk was answer enough. "So, I guess this means it's your first time here."

"Yes, it is. I have been in Paris before, yet I had never had the opportunity to come to Versailles." He offered her a melting-like-butter smile. Nat shook her head, as if the movement would exorcize the image from her mind.

"We should go. There are a lot of places here I still wanna visit", Nat told him. "Let's find out what surprises await us in Versailles."

Little did she know the former home of Marie Antoinette would offer them more surprises than they had anticipated. And not all of them would be pleasant.

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