Duty and Desire

CHAPTER 1

Natural Frailty

". . . through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen."

Darcy recited the collect for the first Sunday in Advent, his prayer book closed upon his thumb as he stood alone in his family's pew at St. ------'s. The morning had dawned reluctantly, appearing determined to shroud its rising with a fog drawn up from the snow-covered earth. It seeped, cold and pitiless, into the bones of man and beast and seemed to cling to the very stones of the sanctuary. Darcy shivered. He had almost forgone the services, his temper unimproved by the passage of the night, but habit had pulled him out of bed, and knowing his staff had arisen early in the expectation of his attendance, he had dressed, broken his fast, and departed.

His dark green frock coat buttoned high against the chill, Darcy surveyed the richly appointed hall, its architecture and furnishings encouraging his eye to travel upward to the soaring ... read full excerpt from: Duty and Desire: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman ebook