https://mybook.to/AccidentalScandal
A Note from the Author
An Accidental Holidayfollows canon until November the 27th, when Elizabeth refuses an offer of marriage from Mr. Collins, and Mr. Bingley ought to be halfway to London.
DuringAn Accidental Holiday, Darcy refers to something Elizabeth says when she is staying at Netherfield to nurse Jane (before our tale begins). The relevant passage appears in Jane Austen’sPride and Prejudice, Chapter 10:
“You used us abominably ill,” answered Mrs. Hurst, “running away without telling us that you were coming out.” Then taking the disengaged arm of Mr. Darcy, she left Elizabeth to walk by herself. The path just admitted three.
Mr. Darcy felt their rudeness, and immediately said—
“This walk is not wide enough for our party. We had better go into the avenue.”
But Elizabeth, who had not the least inclination to remain with them, laughingly answered, “No, no; stay where you are. You are charmingly grouped, and appear to uncommon advantage. The picturesque would be spoilt by admitting a fourth. Good-bye.”
You may know this already, but just in case: Elizabeth is calling them cows.
According to Austen scholar David M. Shapard, Jane Austen was a fan of Gilpin and his theory of the picturesque, where he claimed that in natural landscape paintings, three of something was the “ideal number to form a picturesque grouping, and that the effect would be spoiled by adding a fourth.” Elizabeth uses almost this exact wording.
To offer visual proof of his theory, Gilpin also references a specific painting which he labels “a picturesque grouping of cattle.” In this painting, three cows are grouped together and a fourth wanders some ways off. Given the formation of three (Mrs. Hurst, Miss Bingley, and Mr. Darcy) and her own freedom to wander away, it appears that Elizabeth is referring to this painting. Shapard suggests that “It is possible Mr. Darcy, as a reader, might catch Elizabeth’s allusion to Gilpin; it is doubtful that Miss Bingley or Mrs. Hurst would.”
Yes, sometimes there really is that much research involved in a single joke!
In addition, this information is how readers know that Elizabeth, despite protesting that she is “not a great reader,” in fact does think deeply about philosophical ideas such as artistic theory. She may only hold a book once or twice in the novel, but readers are to understand that she, like her sister Jane, has an “improved mind.”
If you are interested in learning more, you may want to buy or borrowThe Annotated Pride and Prejudice(Shapard’s remarks on Gilpin are on page 101, along with a copy of the painting). I recommend reading all the annotations, of course—they are both enlightening and great fun. For those who really want to delve into the original source, William Gilpin’sObservations, on Several Parts of England, Particularly the Mountains and Lakes of Cumberland and Westmorelandwas published in 1808 and is available online.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my beta, cold, and ARC readers—those brave souls who read the "almost" ready manuscript and catch the errors, inconsistencies, and the occasional plot hole large enough to swallow a carriage and four because I added things after the manuscript was edited. (I can't seem to stop). If I could gift you each a barouche, I would.
To my critique partner extraordinaire, Sarah Courtney, who gently reminds me that I’ve used the same word 437 times (just in Chapter 3), patiently helps me work though the staging of action scenes, and makes me laugh even when I want to toss my manuscript into the pond at Pemberley. Yeah, that pond.
To Sarah Pesce of Lopt&Cropt Editing, who fearlessly dives into the drafts I finish precisely twelve hours before the developmental edit deadline and somehow emerges with feedback that is organized and clear.
And finally, thank you to all my readers. Your support, enthusiasm, and kind words keep me writing. You're the best kind of people.
About The Author
Melanie Rachel first read Jane Austen’s novels as a girl at summer camp and will always associate them with starry skies and reading by flashlight. She was born and raised in Southern California but has also lived in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Washington. She currently makes her home in Arizona where she resides with her husband and their two rescue dogs who generously allow her to share their house as long as the treats keep coming.
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Books by
Melanie Rachel
Unwrapping Christmas
The Princess Problem
The Briar Bargain
The Slipper Scandal
Mr. Darcy's Folly
The Same Noble Line
