[ neverparted ]

                     ❝ Then the maintenance of one’s home can be assumed
                        a reflection of its owners’ SENTIMENT towards it. I
                        find home to be an…abstract concept. ❞

Others automatically thought of ‘home’ as a structure. For Thomas, his home was in the arms of his sister, Lucille. Their bond was stronger than most siblings, but he believed that it was only JUST. Society didn’t know – or CARE – what they had been through, and that gave them no right to dictate whether he and his sister could be together or not.

In the other’s case, his home was well-maintained because he had the wealth and the love for it. He could imagine the man relishing the love of his parents, and oh, he would be LYING if he said that he didn’t ENVY the man for a brief moment!

    The look of distaste on Mr. Darcy’s face lasted no more than the space between heartbeats, though it surely portrayed his express feelings on the other’s statement. Abstract, indeed. He understood well enough the implications behind such wording. Ridiculous, he found, the trappings of one’s heart when concerned with the abstract makings of a home.

    Of course, Mr. Darcy hardly had time for fancy whims and the company of warm arms to truly give such a precise or meaningful opinion on the matter. Still, he schooled his features and turned from the other to observe the covers of books shelved along otherwise bare walls.

“ Do you mean to accuse me, sir? Of what, might I ask? Does caring for my estate make me less of a man than the one who cares more for a woman? ”