On Equal Ground: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary E-book

From a country girl to a countess. From a wife to a widow. From grief to love.   Tropes in this story: ❧ Age Gap Romance ❧ Rags to Riches ❧ Single Mother Finds Love ❧ Enemies to Lovers ❧ Widow Rebuilds Her Life   Excerpt: “You are a supporter of the Harrington Orphanage, are you not, Lady Asheland?” Darcy asked after some time of idle chatter. “Yes, I am. Why do you ask?” “My aunt is as well.” “Yes, I am acquainted with Lady Matlock.” “She was telling me recently about a new initiative some of the board have suggested.” He plucked another sweet cake from the tray before them and continued, “It seems they want to start a school of sorts.” “That isn’t so unusual, Mr. Darcy. Surely educating orphans to support themselves has been going on for some time,” she said patiently. “Yes, but generally they are trained to be servants or seamstresses, or in the case of the boys, craftsmen of some sort. Higher learning has always been thought to be wasted on them.” “Define ‘higher learning,’ sir,” she said crisply. He leaned back comfortably and crossed one leg over the other. “I define it as everyone defines it. Foreign languages, music, debate, classical studies. What use would they have for such things?” “Is your objection then that they would learn useless topics?” she asked. “I wouldn’t call it an objection. I do wonder if it is a worthwhile endeavor. What will they do with such knowledge once they have it? Would their time not be better spent learning something of use?” “Like how to iron a shirt or shoe a horse?” she quipped. “Precisely.” He flashed his smug smile again before he took a sip of tea and she had a strong urge to dash the cup from his hand and let the tea stain his silk waistcoat. “Tell me, sir, how often do you speak Latin with your friends?” “Excuse me?” “You were at Cambridge and I assume some sort of school before that. Perhaps your parents brought in tutors for you at home.” He nodded, a suspicious look on his face. “So you must have learned Latin, like most gentlemen. Tell me, do you speak it together at the clubs? Do you have secret conversations in full view of the servants, knowing they can’t understand you?” “Of course not!” “Then what was the purpose of learning it? Would you not have been better served learning something useful?” Audiobook Narrated by Stevie Zimmerman *This is an E-book. You will not receive a paperback copy of this book. A digital download link will be sent to the email you provide at checkout from our partner, Book Funnel, with instructions to download the file to your preferred reading device.