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crack_van2008-10-07 03:19 pm
malabud.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2008-10-07 03:19 pm
Entry tags:
The Lesson of a Lifetime by Alicia M. (PG)
Fandom: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Pairing: Gen
Length: 3000 words
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: The Derbyshire Writers' Guild
Why this must be read:
This short story details the regrets of a certain Lady Mendelson regarding her choices and attitudes when she was younger. While Charles Bingley and Jane Bennet (or Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, depending on one's interpretation of the tale) are only peripheral characters in this story, their influence pervades it. Indeed, they are central to the character growth of Lady Mendelson. Although this story is bittersweet, it holds out the hope of a happy ending. Also, you may or may not be surprised to discover the original identity of Lady Mendelson.
I enjoyed this story for its original twist on the fate of a certain canon character. Some Austen sequels and rewrites tell essentially the same story, just in different ways. This tells a unique story that I have not seen before in Austen fic.
* * *
Lady Mendelson sat on the window seat of her chambers at Lofton Manor looking out into the garden of her brother's estate, just below. Perhaps it was a sense of morbid curiosity that kept her riveted to the view. It was not the early spring blossoms that captured her attention, but rather a couple who walked arm in arm in contented harmony along the path, talking and laughing together, obviously delighting in one another's companionship. It might have been a young couple, with the vivacity and spirit and cheerfulness often bestowed by youth and innocence. It might have been any two of the young guests currently residing at Lofton. Yet, it was not. The couple was older, with children well beyond their first youthful bloom: the gentleman distinguishedly gray, the lady gracefully silvering. Their faces marked by the lines of time and experience. Their gait slow and careful. They were certainly by no means infirm, but the abundant energy of earlier days had vanished. Yet still, after all these years, there was a sort of glow about them.
The couple stopped to admire a bed of rose bushes, and the lady turned her face to gaze at her husband. The gentleman's face diffused with pleasure, happiness, delight. He appeared almost as a young man in the throes of his first infatuation. But there was something more. As he looked at his wife, he saw also the years of devotion with this same woman, the sorrows and joys of a full lifetime together, the hope and despair they had seen each other through. His was a look that encompassed more than what could be captured in even the most violently in love young man. No man had ever looked at Lady Mendelson in such a way. Certainly not her husband.
The Lesson of a Lifetime
Pairing: Gen
Length: 3000 words
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: The Derbyshire Writers' Guild
Why this must be read:
This short story details the regrets of a certain Lady Mendelson regarding her choices and attitudes when she was younger. While Charles Bingley and Jane Bennet (or Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, depending on one's interpretation of the tale) are only peripheral characters in this story, their influence pervades it. Indeed, they are central to the character growth of Lady Mendelson. Although this story is bittersweet, it holds out the hope of a happy ending. Also, you may or may not be surprised to discover the original identity of Lady Mendelson.
I enjoyed this story for its original twist on the fate of a certain canon character. Some Austen sequels and rewrites tell essentially the same story, just in different ways. This tells a unique story that I have not seen before in Austen fic.
* * *
Lady Mendelson sat on the window seat of her chambers at Lofton Manor looking out into the garden of her brother's estate, just below. Perhaps it was a sense of morbid curiosity that kept her riveted to the view. It was not the early spring blossoms that captured her attention, but rather a couple who walked arm in arm in contented harmony along the path, talking and laughing together, obviously delighting in one another's companionship. It might have been a young couple, with the vivacity and spirit and cheerfulness often bestowed by youth and innocence. It might have been any two of the young guests currently residing at Lofton. Yet, it was not. The couple was older, with children well beyond their first youthful bloom: the gentleman distinguishedly gray, the lady gracefully silvering. Their faces marked by the lines of time and experience. Their gait slow and careful. They were certainly by no means infirm, but the abundant energy of earlier days had vanished. Yet still, after all these years, there was a sort of glow about them.
The couple stopped to admire a bed of rose bushes, and the lady turned her face to gaze at her husband. The gentleman's face diffused with pleasure, happiness, delight. He appeared almost as a young man in the throes of his first infatuation. But there was something more. As he looked at his wife, he saw also the years of devotion with this same woman, the sorrows and joys of a full lifetime together, the hope and despair they had seen each other through. His was a look that encompassed more than what could be captured in even the most violently in love young man. No man had ever looked at Lady Mendelson in such a way. Certainly not her husband.
The Lesson of a Lifetime
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But it is, yes, a beautiful story.
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It's interesting to compare it with Persuasion, where Anne's sister Mary complains about Henrietta bringing bad connections into the family.
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(And the "former rival" comment made me think it was Elizabeth, although I can see how C&J would fit those descriptions too.)
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(Anonymous) 2008-10-09 01:46 pm (UTC)(link)This was too full of holes for me I'm afraid, I rarely read fan fiction based on novels and this has only confirmed my reluctance.