Author's Note: Apologies for the length of this piece! But I found that i really can't shorten it! Please, again, critique. It is much needed and much appreciated.
Miss Adrianna Barker
(Second Half)
In the weeks after Lady Bradford’s ball, Miss Adrianna was plagued with ill-health. However often the Barkers attended Matlock, she remained at the Park, reading extensively and taking brisk walks cross-country. Leonard tried desperately to coax her, but the absence of Mr. Landon Griffiths, and the recurring visits from Mr. Owens, left her dispirited. Never had she been so long from Mr. Griffiths, or so dissatisfied by a person as Mr. Owens.
One afternoon, as the others were out, Miss Adrianna heard a knock at the door, short and loud as before. She approached and opened it to find an anxious Mr. Owens upon her doorstep, well-colored from the cool weather.
“Mr. Owens, why have you come at such an hour? I was certain to expect you no earlier than two hours from now, at dinner. Is there some news you wish to share?” He stared blankly.
“What—Oh, why no, of course not. You see, I found myself at Northfield in earnest need of discourse, and concluded to visit early. My aunt is out and—is not your family present?” He stuttered and paced about the rooms, appalled by the sudden foolishness in his decision.
“I apologize for your misfortune, Mr. Owens. You see, I was about to take a walk about the Park.” She frowned apologetically and strode toward the door.
“How delightful. May I ask to accompany you?” Adrianna faltered. But she agreed, finding no other suitable form of civility. They enjoyed the lush scenery of the Park and conversed occasionally, though often finding no common ground upon issues of art and literature. As the hour grew later, near sundown, Mr. Owens reduced his pace to a halt and Miss Adrianna did the same.
“I have yet another favor I may request, though much more substantial than the previous,” he said in the most awkward mouth possible. Adrianna awaited his continuance. “My aunt, Lady Bradford, has long suggested my attachment to a lady since my graduation from Oxford. She believes no man is of worth without a decent wife…” He surveyed the cloudy sky and rustling trees. “And I must agree with her; no man may claim material in this world without a strong attachment to one of his opposites, bound forever in unity.” Owens knelt before her with earnest eyes and whispered, “I find you, Miss Adrianna Barker, the most suitable woman I may ever come to know for the position of my wife. You have the beauty of a fair autumn day, and the ability of the noblest madam.”
“Mr. Owens, you are too kind.” She colored.
“And you are too modest. I must ask, then, as you are my most suitable match, if you will take my hand in marriage.”
The heart of both fluttered erratically. Adrianna felt her liveliness being stripped away by the moment and the veil of her future masking over the beautiful air. Her heart longed for Mr. Griffiths. Without thought her decision was made, and her mind became a wild clutter of invariable quarrel.
“I am sorry my dear Mr. Owens; I may not accept your offer for… I fear my hand has been promised to another.”
Mr. Owens was silent. What decent countenance he had had disappeared. “You must be mistaken, madam. It was made clear you were open to accept my proposal. What profound foolery this is! How may you deny my hand? I, a most acceptable bachelor, a man of Oxford! Your family is of the lowest stature; for my very consideration! How can you offer me such ungratefulness?” He strode toward the house. “What charity I have given your parents! To ask for the hand of their eldest daughter, and without debate, grant them a higher life than ever before possible! Have you been raised to be so? Is it that incessant mother of yours, for which you inherited such foolery?”
“Indeed! Mr. Owens, I beg your continuance on such a subject, for I dearly wish to know your observations!” Adrianna’s voice reached a high, sarcastic tone before they reached the doorstep. “Why, if my mother be incessant, what say you of my father, of dear Leonard? Do you have opinions of all my family, or, perhaps, only of the females?” Adrianna now stood before the door, hardly towering over him as she stood upon the steps and he upon the earth. “My dear Mr. Owens, in the weeks we have known each other, I have found nothing but malice in your true air. Even upon the dinner we first engaged, I recognized your snobbery and judgmental ways, and new I could never be to marry such a man!”
With this proclamation Mr. Owens stalked away, and Adrianna took to her room, latching the door and dispersing what idle words had not yet been declared. An hour later, the rest of the Barker family returned, effervescent with merry spirits. Only, upon a great, ecstatic exclamation, did Adrianna remove from her room. It appeared that her youngest sister had gone upon picking up a letter placed upon the dining table. At seeing the signature, she had exclaimed.
“What is this?” Mrs. Barker demanded after reading only a sentence of the letter. Adrianna must have missed its delivery during her great spell. “You have rejected Mr. Owens proposal!” A great bustle took over the house. Miss Adrianna explained in great detail the events of the afternoon, and her mother listened with sparse attention to the discrediting of Mr. Owens, and more to the insolence of her eldest daughter.
The remainder of the night consisted of the same arguments repeated continuously; Miss Adrianna remained unchanged. The next morning she traveled by horseback to Mr. Griffiths home, only to find him away. He had gone to London, unlikely to return for several months. She returned to Norton Park by noon, and regained her proper senses by the brisk morning air. Redressing herself into more appropriate attire and priming her hair, she took the chaise(3), and traveled to Northfield Park without a word to her family.
A servant answered the door and led her to the drawing room where Lady Bradford and Mr. Owens were seated. The countenance she received from Lady Bradford need not be described; Mr. Owens showed apprehension, without outrage. Lady Bradford left them to converse and Adrianna began.
“I cannot describe the sincere folly I feel in my heart at this moment, dear Edgar. I must only say that my heart was at battles within itself upon the losing of my raw freedom. I, with no real expectation, request your forgiveness on my irreparable conduct, in exchange for my dismissal of the attacks you have made toward my family. I very willingly will retreat if you feel I deserve no such mercy, but I beg for it, for of nothing else is there worth.” Adrianna met her eyes with Mr. Owens with noticeable desperation.
For a long while Mr. Owens remained silent. Obvious perplexity waited in his wrinkled brow and pressed lips. He spoke in a voice less awkward and more stable than Adrianna had ever heard from him. “I accept your apology, while in exchange for your acceptance of my offer in marriage.” She did not falter.
“You make a most agreeable offer, Mr. Owens, Edgar.”
Thus was the freedom of Adrianna Barker ended. She married Mr. Owens in June, two months earlier than Mrs. Barker had predicted. Mrs. Adrianna Owens and Mr. Owens remained married for the remainder of their lives; Adrianna bore three children, all healthy, and all dearly loved by their mother and ignored by their father. Adrianna never remained happy but with her children; after a decade or so she grew distant from her family, even dear Leonard.
Mr. Landon Griffiths was scarcely to be heard of again, except on the once prominent gossip that he had married a very wealthy Miss Price of twenty thousand pounds. He was said to lead a prosperous life with few children. Adrianna forever dreamt of her dear Landon, and remained endlessly attached by heart. But her life remained grounded in the rooms of Longsfield Park, the Owens estate, where she forgot all family and past dreams, and lived as the wife of dear Mr. Edgar Owens.
Index
1. Out in society: in the 19th century, this meant a young lady was ready to be married, therefore going out in society actively.
2. Whist and Loo: card games
3. Chaise: a carriage
I've been trying to get a bit more research done on this time period and such, and trying to get used to writing longer works!
I think you need to address the issues I have mentioned at the end though. Other than that, great work 
