The Assignment, Pride and Prejudice Fanfiction
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For my friends at Hyacinth Gardens
May you always have
something to read!
This story is a special assignment...
I gave myself when the Hyacinth Gardens
main board went down and left us without a place
to scratch our Jane Austin Fan Fiction itch.
~ ~ ~
This story was not thought out or planned.
It was written off the cuff and posted on the HG
Backup Board within a period of days.
No spell checking or grammatical proofing was done.
You will find MANY errors in this story and I am
proud to leave them there!
©2007 G. A. Reinhart Avery
dward Gardiner examined the cover art
for the next issue of
Living Home
. He liked
the variation that he found with this
month’s feature photographer. He seemed
to have an eye for architecture. It was a
shame that he had no hope with the personal element.
And the personal element was just as important as the
architecture. After all this was
Living, the Magazine of
Homes
and not
Architectural Digest
.
“Mary! Tell me again, what is the aim of our maga-
zine?” Gardiner shouted across the large conference
table.
“To present the world’s classic homes and the people
that live in them.” His dutiful niece and secretary
replied.
“Okay, so tell me why, Mr. Denny that I see wonder-
ful shots of great architecture and not a single shot of
the occupants of the house?”
“Um... well...” Denny wasn’t ready to answer. He
was great with a camera, but not the brightest flash
bulb in the package.
“Interesting answer, Mr. Denny! But NOT the one
I’m looking for! Why is it that I have a staff of twenty
eight photogs and I never seem to get what I ask for?”
Mr. Gardiner demanded.
“You have twenty-nine photogs,” a voice grumbled
from the far end of the room.
“WHAT WAS THAT?” Mr. Gardiner yelled.
“I
said
you have twenty-nine photogs!” Elizabeth
Bennet stood with her hands on her hips and sneered
back at the man sitting at the head of the table.
“Twenty-nine? So Miss Bennet, you think you can do
better than Mr. Denny, do you?” Mr. Gardiner didn’t
expect an answer but wasn’t surprised when the reply
came nonetheless.
“Yes, I can!” Elizabeth had no problem standing up
to Edward Gardiner. He was her uncle though he
made her call him
Mister
Gardiner and never
uncle
.
“Lizzy! Shh. You are going to get into trouble!” Mary
whispered to her. Mary was Elizabeth’s younger sister
and not one to make waves. She liked her job and
thought it was better not to rock the boat, get the job
done, pickup a paycheck and keep her distance from
her uncle.
Edward Gardiner loved his nieces and had given
each a job at the magazines as a favor to his sister
Frances, or Fraffy to most of the world. Fraffy had
been a model in her younger years and, after she mar-
ried Thomas Bennet, gave up her career to raise her
daughters. That didn’t mean that she didn’t come back
to Gardiner Publications to relive her younger years
even though the Edward no longer published the
teenage fashion publications that brought his sister
fame. But Gardiner Publications did publish
Living
Home
and a number of other publications that fea-
tured investment and business news, just the type of
publications that would feature rich men as well as be
read by them.
“Living Homes” was Edward’s baby. He had studied
architecture in college and though would have loved
continue in that field, took over the family business and
added his first love into the monthly tabloid collection.
1
The Assignment:
Part On
e
E
What made ‘Living Home” so popular was that it not
only featured the home, but the owner. The owner, usu-
ally a rich businessman, actor or someone else of mone-
tary standing, was what drew in the readers. Where a
few really enjoyed the architecture, many enjoyed the
look into the life of the rich and famous. The rich and fa-
mous, in turn, liked the magazine because of its focus.
They didn’t exploit the owner, but featured the owner
and their relationship with their home.
The popularity of the magazine seemed odd, but the
fact that is sold out in twelve countries every month
spoke volumes.
“Okay, Elizabeth. Since you are
so sure
of your abili-
ties, I’m sending you to shoot next month’s cover
home. Pemberley.” Gardiner stared down at the
woman who had more nerve than any other photog in
his employ. She also never had shot an assignment on
her own. The rest of the room gasped.
Pemberley was an old estate in England that was
owned by the Darcy family and had been for over
three hundred years. It was also the one home that
never made it to the cover of the magazine. Though
magazine staff had made preliminary appointments
for several different photographers to shoot the home
and owner over the last three years, the owner, a
Fitzwilliam Darcy, either cancelled or scared every
photographer away before they even made it within
five miles of the home.
“This is our last chance to photograph this home. I
had to talk to Mr. Darcy myself to make the prelimi-
nary appointment. He isn’t going to deal with us
again, so Miss Bennet I would suggest you play nice
and schedule a specific time and be there.”
“You’ve
got
to be kidding? Isn’t this the guy that
scares off every photog and over the phone yet!” She
retorted.
“Well, Elizabeth, you seem to be our lion tamer for
the other photogs, so let’s see if you can tame this lion
and
take photos that showcase not only the home,
but
the owner
as well!” Gardiner stared at Denny when he
spoke the last part.
“So after I charm this old guy with my phone voice,
make the appointment and get the shots you want,
you’ll give me more assignments? Real assignments
and not equipment carrier to George “smooth as Ek-
tachrome” Wickham?” Elizabeth asked. She
was
a
good photographer and Uncle Eddie knew it, he just
couldn’t think of her as a grown woman, he still
thought of her as a cute twelve year old tomboy who
loved to climb the highest trees and drop acorns and
pine cones on unsuspecting passersby
“Hey!” Wickham sneered.
“Oh, shut up George! Yes, Elizabeth, I will give you
more assignments...
if
... and I mean
if
you can sched-
ule an appointment and keep him to it.” Edward Gar-
diner stated matter of factly.
“You got it!” Elizabeth shouted.
Edward Gardiner ended the meeting and everyone
filed out of the conference room as he retreated to his
office and closed the door. “Well, we’ll see if you can
do, Lizzy. You are my last chance. You have the deter-
mination, but I’m afraid that he is determined to win
another round. The last round.” Gardiner said to him-
self. “Well, maybe a determined Lizzy can break
through. She seems to be able to charm all the old farts
into letting the other photographers. Let’s see if she
can charm a young fart!”
Gardiner and Darcy had been playing tag for two
years now. Every time a tentative appointment was
scheduled, Darcy would contact the photographer and
reschedule or brow beat them until they ran back to
Gardiner with their tales between their legs.
Fitzwilliam Darcy, William to his family and
friends, didn’t have anything against Gardiner Publi-
cations but he did enjoy a good game as well as his pri-
vacy. Where he would consider letting Gardiner’s pho-
tographers take photos of him and his home, they
would have to be a bit more creative then the typical
paparazzi. So far every photog Gardiner sent failed to
be creative enough to convince him to keep the ap-
pointment, let alone do the photo shoot. He decided to
give Edward Gardiner one last try and then call it
quits. The game had been fun, but it was boring now.
It was too easy to win.
2
“
The Assignment:
Part Two
about him.
“No! You sure
aren’t,
George said with a leer. It was
enough to stop Lizzy in her tracks.
At twenty-six, Elizabeth Bennet knew what she was
about. She was a graduate of the Brooks Institute of Pho-
tography and had a special way with people, especially
the elderly. She was short and feisty, mature and witty
and had a face that made her look not a day over six-
teen. When she dressed formally and wore make up, she
could pass for her age, but it took work on her part.
Work she was rarely inclined to do.
“What do you want, snake?” she growled at the man.
“Oh, Lizzy. You wound me! Can I help it if Mr. Gar-
diner feels I’m better qualified as a photographer? I do
have more experience than you do,…” George said as he
backed her up against a wall.
“I doubt that he feels you are more
qualified
and I’m
not so sure about your
experience.
I’m pretty sure you
padded your résumé,” Elizabeth said as she tried to
keep her composure. She was confident in any situation;
well any except in those occasions she found herself
alone and in close quarters with handsome men. Espe-
cially young handsome and
virile
men.
“Ah, come on, Lizzy,” George said as he lightly traced
his finger along her jaw. “Everyone pads their résumé a
little and you
know
that I am
experienced.
” Wickham
ey kid!” Wickham shouted.
“Stop calling me
kid
. I am
not
a kid!”
Elizabeth yelled over her shoulder. She
knew she shouldn’t even acknowledge
him, but she was too riled up to worry
was definitely aware of Elizabeth Bennet’s personal
“flaw.”
Finding the strength in her disgust for the man, Lizzy
pushed him away before she said, “I do NOT know
whether you are experienced or not. Perhaps Mary King
knows, but I sure don’t nor do I want to.”
“Oh, so you
are
still angry about Mary King! I told you
it was nothing. I just got a little drunk and she made a p
†ass at me!”
“Really? So you were drunk for three months
straight? Were you drunk when you gave her that en-
gagement ring too? Really, George. Don’t think I’m so
stupid as to believe that!”
“Well, it is all water under the bridge, darling.”
“Oooo, you
really
want to piss me off, don’t you
George? Well, I have no use for you so just get lost.”
“Oh, but I could help you! That’s just it. Let’s say we
work a trade,” George tried pushing her back toward
the wall, but Elizabeth sidestepped him.
“I don’t think so,” Elizabeth glared as she spoke. “I
know all about your
attempt
to get into this Pemberley
place. It wasn’t even
your
assignment. Didn’t you land
in the pokey, George? Something about wooing the
man’s daughter or niece or was it his mother? Grand-
mother? No, it was his brother!” Lizzy made sure she
stood as far as she could from him and said, “I wouldn’t
be surprised if you tried to sleep with the man’s entire
family and all of his employees. Knowing you, you prob-
ably propositioned the man himself! I don’t like you,
George. I don’t trust you and I want nothing to do with
you! Now get lost!” Elizabeth huffed and strode down
3
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