The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy Blog Tour ~ Excerpt & Giveaway ~ Plus, Bonus Giveaway Winner Announced!

Hello, Friends! So, I'm the last stop of The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy Blog Tour! I hope you have enjoyed it! I'm definitely adding The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy to my ever growing TBR pile!

Be sure to read down to the bottom of the page! You'll find the Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway! There are EIGHT copies of The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy up for grabs! Plus, the winner of The Many Faces of Fitzwilliam Darcy is announced! Woot!

Hello Readers, thanks for following us to this final stop on our blog tour! What a lovely time it’s been. We’d like to give a huge thanks to So Little Time... for being a part of it! To give you all a setup for this excerpt, we find Mr. Darcy at the end of his rope, drowning his troubles and conversing with an interesting character he’s met in the Tavern.  We hope you enjoy! 

Excerpt 

The tavern was a dark, blessedly cool relief. He ordered a bottle of brandy and took the same seat he had taken the last time he had gone there. The barman brought the brandy, the bread, and cheese. Acton Standish dozed in the corner of the room. Lady Sheep-eater sat beside him, looking at Darcy with interest.

Here we are again, he thought, watching as Eleanor Wray rose from her seat and approached him.

“Pardon me, sir?”

“What do you want?” He took a swallow of brandy, inhaling sharply as it burned a path through him.

“I am sorry. I ought not have disturbed you, but I fear I am in the most dreadful predicament.”

“’Ere now! Don’t be bothering this fine gent!” the tavern keeper shouted, emerging from his place behind the bar. Darcy waved him off.

“Quite alright. Let this lady have a seat and explain her dreadful predicament.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. He saw the shift behind her eyes as he spoke, the understanding that he was not some bosky fool ripe for plucking. She sat anyway. He pushed the food towards her. She took a piece of bread and nibbled. Darcy took another drink.

“Forgive the impertinence, sir. My name is Lady Eleanor Wray of Devonshire.”

“Perhaps it is, perhaps it is not.” He smiled indulgently. “Tell me then, lady, what part have you to play in this hell, this unfolding horror I find myself in?” Her eyes widened at his strange speech but soon a sly smile stole over her handsome face.

“Hell, sir? Per’aps I’ve been sent to you by Providence to guide you back to calmer waters.”

Darcy snorted a laugh into his brandy. “A siren dragging me under the water more like. I have read Homer. I know no good can come of it.”

He stared into his glass for a moment, deep in thought. “Perhaps you were put on my path for a reason.”

“Oh, the man hears reason! Are you not afraid I will…what was it? Pull you down into the deep?”

He raised his glass in a salute, a sardonic smile gracing his handsome face. “Nay, I am confident that you will, madam, given half the chance.”

The sly smile appeared again. Darcy sighed and removed his purse, throwing it on the table in front of her. She paused, a bit of bread still in her hand. A predatory light gleamed in her exotic eyes.

“Take it, Lady Brimstone,” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Much good it will do you.”

Her delicate brows rose at the moniker. “And what service might you expect in return?”

“Only that you depart, take your companion, and leave me in peace. That is every bit of coin I brought with me down to the last farthing. It is enough money for a woman as clever as yourself to get quite far. Money matters not to me, only this bottle and my solitude.”

“You wish to trap me? So that you might tell the constable I made off with your purse? I might be a thief, but I’m an honest thief.”

Darcy laughed. He hailed the barman, who quickly approached him. “You want me to throw this one out, sir?”

“No, my good man, I only wish for you to act as witness. I am Fitzwilliam Darcy, nephew of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, mistress of Rosings Park.”

“Sir!” The barman made a clumsy bow. “I am honored!”

Darcy nodded impatiently. “Yes, yes. I wish you to witness I am giving Lady Eleanor Wray of Devonshire this item, containing fifty pounds, six shillings, and a twopence. I give it of my own free will and under no stipulation other than she leave this place with that fellow dozing in the corner and not return.”

The barman’s mouth opened. “Mr. Darcy, sir, are you quite certain?” He eyed Eleanor suspiciously. She seemed to be enjoying the spectacle.

“I am sure,” Darcy said calmly. “Please send a bill round to Rosings for this bottle of brandy and I shall see that you are compensated from Her Ladyship’s own stock. It is only English, I am afraid, but good quality nonetheless.” 

“Very well, sir,” the barman said reluctantly. He eyed Eleanor. “You heard him! Take your prize and wait for the next coach outside my establishment!”

Eleanor nodded, regal as a duchess. She made the purse disappear in a thrice, her reticule now bulging. Instead of going to rouse her partner and depart as requested, she held out her hand, palm up.

“If you like, I shall read your palm before I go. My bună, my grandmama—” she corrected herself quickly “—she taught me the art of it. Would you like to know your future, sir?”

Darcy threw his head back and laughed openly. It felt a very fine joke.

“Indeed I would like.” He placed his own hand in her waiting one. She took it, pulling his arm so that his palm rested inches from her nose. Her gloved fingers kneaded the small mound of flesh at the base of his thumb. Darcy did not protest as he rather enjoyed the sensation. Eleanor stared into his palm, her strange eyes losing focus. After a moment, she began to sway slightly. Darcy raised his brow but remained otherwise motionless.

Then, suddenly, she dropped his hand, so quickly his knuckles rapped against the wooden table. She shivered, looking up at him.

“You poor sod,” she said, her voice distant, as though she were speaking from another room. “You’ve got miles to go before you’re home.”

Wordlessly, he removed his ruby signet ring and placed it in her hand, knowing full well it would be on his finger when he woke the next morning. An empty gesture for an empty fortune. 

“Go, Lady Brimstone,” he said gently. “Do not come back.” She shook her head, her eyes clearing.

“I must say, you are rather a surprise, Mr. Darcy,” she said as she stood, her gaze clearly admiring. “I should have enjoyed pulling you to the depths.”

He raised his glass in salute. “Of that, madam, I have no doubt.”

The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Beau North & Brooke West 

Publication Date: September 16th, 2016 
Publisher: Beau North 
Pages: 242 

“He could no longer claim to be Fitzwilliam Darcy of Derbyshire, brother to Georgiana, master of Pemberley. In that moment, he was but a man. A man filled with more frustration than most souls could bear. A man torn asunder by his desperation, his fruitless dreams and desires.” 

After Elizabeth Bennet rejects his marriage proposal, Fitzwilliam Darcy finds himself in the most unusual of circumstances. At first believing the extraordinary turn of events has granted him an inexplicable boon, he is eager to put the humiliating proposal behind him. 

He soon discovers that he is trapped in the same waking dream with no end in sight and no possible escape. All that he holds dear—his name, his home, his love—remains ever out of reach. How will he find his way back to his normal life? Will one mistake haunt the rest of his days? It will take all of his fortitude to weather the storms of his strange new fate, and all of his courage to grasp the promise of his future.

Buy: Amazon • B&N
Add to Goodreads.

About the Authors

Beau North is the author of Longbourn’s Songbird and a contributor to the anthology Then Comes Winter. Beau is a native southerner who now calls Portland, Oregon home with her husband and two cats. She attended the University of South Carolina where she began a lifelong obsession with Literature. In her spare time, Beau is the brains behind Rhymes With Nerdy, a pop culture podcast and website, and a contributor at the San Francisco Book Review.

Connect with Beau North

Twitter • Facebook • Podcast • Instagram

Brooke West is a contributing author to the anthology Then Comes Winter. Brooke has a naturally creative soul that pulls her into myriad artistic endeavors.  While writing fiction always has been her life's passion, Brooke also finds joy in silversmithing, sculpting, and costuming. Between projects, she runs and practices yoga.  She lives in South Carolina with her husband, son, and three cats.  

Connect with Brooke West

Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads Author Page

Here is the list of blogs on this tour. If you missed one you might want to go back and check it out!

October 8/ My Jane Austen Book Club/Launch Post & Giveaway

October 9/ Just Jane 1813/Interview with Beau and Brooke

October 10/ Pemberley to Milton/Book Review & Giveaway

October 11/ A Covent Garden Madame Gilflurt's Guide to Life/Guest Post

October 12/ Austenesque Reviews/ Excerpt & Giveaway

October 13/ Margie's Must Reads/ Book Review & Giveaway

October 14/ Babblings of a Bookworm/ Book Review & Giveaway

October 15/ The Calico Critic/Excerpt & Giveaway

October 16/ Obsessed with Mr. Darcy/ Guest Post

October 17/ Diary of an Eccentric/Book Review & Giveaway

October 18/ My Kids Led Me Back to Pride and Prejudice/ Book Review & Giveaway

October 19/ More Agreeably Engaged/ Fitzwilliam Vignette

October 20/ So Little Time... / Excerpt & Giveaway

* * * Blog Tour GIVEAWAY! * * * 

Today is the last day to enter the giveaway! Beau North and Brooke West are giving away EIGHT copies of their book, which includes FOUR eBooks and FOUR paperback copies. To win a paperback copy, the winners must have a U.S. mailing address. To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter below.

Good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Many thanks to Claudine Pepe @ Just Jane 1813 for organizing this Blog Tour! And a big thanks to Beau and Brooke for their generous giveaway! 

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It's my privilege to announce the winner of The Many Faces of Fitzwilliam Darcy contest! 

Drum roll, please! 

The winner is Priscilla Teh!!

Woot! Woot! Congratulations!! {{throws confetti}}

Thanks so much to ALL who participated! You made this contest a fun experience! 

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So, what'd you think of the excerpt? Did your heart drop when Darcy gave away his signet ring?? Mine did!