Guest Post from Christine Combe

 Hello Again, Christine! It's always a pleasure to welcome one of my favorite fellow Janeites back to the blog, especially when it means celebrating a new release!

 

Thank you for having me, Jayne — I am so very happy to be stopping by today.

 

Greetings fellow Austenians, and welcome to the next stop on my blog tour! I am very excited to be visiting Do Not Faint once again to talk about a new book. A Promise of Forever is my second standalone Austen variation and the fourth novel I’ve published since I began in the genre in 2018, and I really hope you’ll like it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.

 

 

In this new Austenesque tale, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner are Elizabeth’s parents and she grows up happy and carefree in Lambton. At sixteen, Lizzy meets and falls in love with Fitzwilliam Darcy, future Master of Pemberley. The couple decides to elope but they are torn apart by their closest relatives, and when reunited must determine whether the pain of the years that have passed can be overcome to regain the love that was lost.

 

Now, to further intrigue you, here’s the third part of chapter one:

 

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Darcy paced under the willow tree—their willow tree—waiting for her. Hoping she got the note and not one of her parents. He knew they would approve of his relationship with Elizabeth no more than his own parents would. They’d tell their daughter to give up any hope of his marrying her. That he was too far above her station.

 

It was true, of course. He and Elizabeth both knew that was how society viewed things. But it wasn’t how they viewed things—not anymore. He loved her. She loved him.

 

To Darcy, that their attachment was genuine was all that mattered. He had enough money for both of them.

 

He whirled as the branches rustled behind him; Elizabeth was here. He’d hoped that she would come to him at the start of her daily walk and not the end of it, and nearly ran as he crossed to her and took her in his arms, pressing his lips to hers. She stiffened, resisted for a moment, then melted into him and returned his passion with equal fervor.

“My love,” he said when at last they parted for breath. “Whatever is the matter? Did your mother or father try to prevent you from going out?”

 

Elizabeth shook her head, but wouldn’t meet his eye. “No, neither tried to stop me leaving the house.”

 

“Then what is it? Something has happened, I can tell.”

 

At last she looked up, and he noted tears in her eyes. “Fitzwilliam, what are we doing?” she asked. “This is madness—you and I both know that your family will never approve of me.”

 

“What happened?” he pressed again.

 

Elizabeth sighed. “Mamma spoke to me yesterday,” she confessed. “She is aware of my attachment to you but reminded me that a match between us is unlikely to be accepted. She said I should not set my hope of happiness so far above my station.”

 

Darcy lifted her chin with his finger until their gazes met. “My love, did I not promise you I would think of something?”

 

“Fitzwilliam, what can we do?!” Elizabeth cried, pushing away from him. “We are fools, blinded by our passion and the impetuosity of our youth!”

 

“Gretna Green.”

 

She spun back to him, her shock evident. Darcy stepped closer and took her hands in his. “Elizabeth, I have it all planned! In fact, we really must be going if we hope to put enough distance between us that no one will catch us and prevent our marrying over the anvil.”

 

“Fitzwilliam, you’re not serious!” Elizabeth said.

 

Darcy nodded, his face split with a huge grin. “I am. Call me an impetuous youth if you like—I call myself a man in love! If we go now and marry in Scotland, my family will have no choice but to accept you.”

 

“Your father will disinherit you, surely,” she suggested.

 

“Unlikely. I am his only son, and Georgiana is still a child,” Darcy replied. “The family will be angry, I do not doubt, but when we are married it will not matter! Now come, George is waiting, and likely to be getting very nervous.”

 

“You mean the steward’s son?”

 

“I sometimes forget you have been my sister’s companion for less than a year,” Darcy said as he took her by the hand and began to lead her away from the tree. “Yes, I mean George Wickham. Though he is the son of one of our servants, he has been a friend since my childhood—my father is his godfather. That is how I just know that our marriage will be accepted once my parents realize it cannot be undone.”

 

He paused then and turned back to her. “Do you not want to marry me, Elizabeth?”

 

Darcy stumbled back a few steps when she threw herself at him forcefully, wrapping her arms tightly about his waist. “Oh, Fitzwilliam, of course I want to marry you! I want to be your wife more than anything else in all the world! I’m sorry, I just got scared when you seemed to be avoiding me this last week, and then my mother spoke yesterday of sending me away so I could get over you—”

 

Darcy silenced her by pressing a finger to her lips. “Forgive me for causing you to doubt,” he said. “Had you gone away, I would only have followed you.”

 

Elizabeth smiled brilliantly and hummed happily as he took her hand again and led her toward where their transportation waited.

 

“Fitzwilliam, you said you planned for this all last week, yes?”

 

He chuckled. “Not in those words, but yes. Why do you ask?”

 

“Well, by that I assume you have a trunk with a few days’ worth of clothes for yourself, or a bag packed, but what about me?” Elizabeth pressed. “If we leave now, I shall have nothing to wear but this one dress!”

 

“Not true, my love!” Darcy replied with a laugh. “Did not you take my sister into Kympton on Wednesday last to be measured for three new gowns—and did not my mother gift you the funds to commission three new gowns for yourself also?”

 

“Yes. They were to be ready this afternoon, but you know Miss Darcy was unwell today. I had planned to take her there again tomorrow to collect them if she is feeling better.”

 

“Not necessary—I sent George for them already. He claimed my sister’s also so as not to arouse suspicion; yours are in the trunk with my things,” Darcy told her.

 

“Goodness, Fitzwilliam, you really do have it all planned!” said Elizabeth with a laugh.

Several minutes’ walk let them to a little-used trail that ran through the woods, which Darcy then led Elizabeth along at a fast clip. She asked where they were headed, and he informed her that he had told his father he would be at the hunting cabin for a night or two, and that was where his friend waited.

 

“That covers you, my dear,” said she, “but not me. When I don’t return from my walk, someone is bound to come looking for me.”

 

“Ah, but I have covered that as well,” Darcy said. “In front of my father, I asked Wickham to fetch you and take you to Kympton to pick up the gowns you commissioned, as Georgiana has been eager to see them; I said having them early might brighten her spirits. That will take you some time, surely.”

 

Elizabeth laughed again. “Your sister has been rather vocal in her excitement about the gowns. I’m only sorry you had to involve her in this scheme, even peripherally.”

 

“As am I, but she will forgive us. You know she adores you.”

 

It seemed forever before they finally arrived at the cabin, where Darcy and Elizabeth found Wickham pacing before the chaise.

 

“It’s about bloody time!” he cried. “I was beginning to wonder if your father saw through our ruse or something.”

 

The young man, who was Darcy’s junior by one year, looked to Elizabeth with a smile. “’Ello, Miss Gardiner. Must say, I never thought stodgy old Darcy here would be willing to elope with a maid.”

 

Elizabeth stiffened beside him. “I am not a maid, sir,” she said. “I am Miss Darcy’s companion.”

 

Wickham laughed. “So you get paid more for doing less work—either way, you’re still one of us little people the likes of him usually ignore the existence of.”

 

Darcy growled. “Wickham, watch your tongue!”

 

“You call this boy your friend, Fitzwilliam?” Elizabeth observed archly. “It’s a wonder he’s not revealed your plan to Mr. Darcy to prevent us going away, with a mouth like that.”

 

A guffaw that had him bending over erupted from Wickham, who slapped his thighs before standing straight and holding his hands up in a position of surrender. “All right there, put the verbal pistols away. I mean no offense, truly. I’m just genuinely surprised. My old friend never seemed the type to elope, especially with a girl he’s only known a few months.”

 

“Time alone does not determine intimacy, Mr. Wickham,” Elizabeth said firmly. “Fitzwilliam and I are in love.”

 

“I’ll say, Miss Gardiner, if Darcy here’s willing to risk the earl’s wrath by running away to Gretna Green with you,” Wickham replied. “Well, come along you lovey-doves, let’s get going so we’ve a good head start before anyone realizes I did not find you on your solitary ramble and take you into Kympton for Miss Darcy’s dresses.”

 

***

 

Oh my — ODC are eloping with the help of Wickham! Tell me what you think in the comments below, and enter for a chance to win an ebook copy of A Promise of Forever, available for purchase from Amazon on Kindle — also in paperback and hardcover!

 

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA

 

 

Contest open until January 25, 2022. Good luck!

 

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Christine, like many a JAFF author before her, is a long-time admirer of Jane Austen‘s work, and she hopes that her alternate versions are as enjoyable as the originals. She has plans to one day visit England and take a tour of all the grand country estates which have featured in film adaptations, and often dreams of owning one. Christine lives in Ohio and is already at work on her next book.

 

Links:

Blog: All That They Desire / Facebook: (1) Christine Combe | Facebook