Mr. Darcy's Dream
A Novel
Chapter OnePhoebe Hawkins was twenty years old, handsome, well-born, and with a fortune of fifty thousand pounds. Here she was, at the start of her second London season, the world at her feet, and yet if there were a more miserable young lady in all of London, she would be surprised.
It was mid-morning. Phoebe was standing in the study of her family's London house, a fine building in Aubrey Square, looking across the desk at her father, Sir Giles Hawkins, with a mixture of despair and hatred.
Phoebe had been fast asleep, lost in dreams of present andfuture bliss, when her maid abruptly awakened her, saying thatSir Giles wanted to speak to her at once. And with the quicksensibility of a young woman in love, she knew exactly whyher father had summoned her. Mr. Stanhope must have called,just as he said he would, to ask for her hand in marriage -- "Asto my heart, you already have it," she had told him. Perhapshe was downstairs now, at this very moment, waiting for her.Phoebe shrugged herself into a morning gown with more speedthan care, and stood, wild with impatience, while Miniver didup the hooks and coaxed a ... read full excerpt from: Mr. Darcy's Dream: A Novel ebook
