Elizabeth lay aside her shawl and turned curiously. “Has anything new been discovered?”
Lydia pouted. “I don’t know, that horrid Lady Catherine threw me out of the room. I was looking for you to give her a set-down.”
Elizabeth ignored the last remark, walking past her sister in the direction of Georgiana’s favourite sitting room. “How long have they been speaking? Oh, it must be serious!”
“It sounded that way. The steward said a horse had been stolen, and then he talked about Mrs Annesley and that footman—it is too bad he cannot afford a commission, for I should like to see him in a uniform.”
Elizabeth stopped. “Lydia, were you listening at the door again?”
“Of course not! They post footmen at every door here, do you know, but they had not thought of the window. That dreadful woman wants them all covered, so they could not see me, but I could hear them plain enough. The old groundskeeper saw me, but he only offered me a flower from the hothouse, and said it was nice for a change to see ladies taking an interest in the hedges. I think I might have torn my fine new cape.”
“Oh, Lydia,” Elizabeth groaned, shaking her head. “Well, what else did you overhear?”
“Ha! There, I knew you would be pleased that I took it upon myself to listen in! I thought it would be useful, since you were not here. By the by, wherehaveyou been these three hours? I told my maid that you liked to take walks, but it would be the first time you had done so here. What do you not like about Pemberley’s grounds? I should have thought you would have roamed the whole of the estate by now, but y—”
“Pemberley is not Longbourn,” Elizabeth interrupted. “Yes, I did take a walk, but I may not be so free here as elsewhere. Please, Lydia, let us speak of one thing at a time. I would rather not listen to gossip, but was there anything particularly troubling about what you heard? Something that, perhaps, might be covered up before it reached us through proper channels? Only tell me what you think might help Georgiana,” she admonished. “Not every matter is our concern, but I do not believe I trust Lady Catherine.”
“Well,” Lydia frowned at the floor, “It was a few minutes before I got round to the window, so I may have missed some bits. Georgiana said hardly a word, but that is not so surprising. Let me see… oh, yes, there was a report of some man lingering around the woods last night, but the steward never said the name, nor if he ever knew it. They will have the dogs after him, you may be sure. Hmm… Lady Catherine sounded very put out with the colonel for going away, but she has said the same for days now.”
Elizabeth waited, but nothing more was forthcoming. “And…?”
Lydia stuck her lip out in thought, then shrugged. “Oh,” she brightened, “just as they were coming away, an express came for the colonel from his father, the earl. I think Lady Catherine knew she was supposed to give any letters for him to you, as the colonel asked, but she opened it anyway.”
“No, Lydia, she was right. Surely it was a private family matter, and none of my business.”
“Oh, that does not signify, for we all knew its contents a moment later. I think she is louder even than Mama! Anyway, did you know that the colonel has an elder brother?”
“As he informed me upon our first meeting that he was a second son, yes, I suppose I did.”
“Well! What a prize! I’d not thought of it. I wonder if he is more handsome than the colonel? Of course, he would wear dull black and brown coats like an ordinary gentleman, but I suppose being heir to the earldom would stand for something.”
“What has this to do with Georgiana, Lydia?”
“Why, I suppose nothing at all, but the brother’s wife has died. Lady Catherine was quite angry with her for doing so, said she had no consideration at all for the family’s interest, never consulted her or did her duty and bore an heir, second person in the family to die this year, and so on. What a long list of names she called her! Then she closed herself upstairs and we’ve not seen her for half an hour. I tell you, what a relief!”
“Where is Georgiana now? I suppose she might have gone to her music room? This must have come as a dreadful shock to her, losing a cousin while she still mourns her brother.”
“A footman told me she was in the library. That’s where I was going just now, and then I found you first. Lizzy, you really oughtn’t to disappear when such important doings are afoot!”
“I shall consult you next time I plan a walk, to see what you expect the morning to bring whilst I am away.”
“It is no good being tart with me, you know,” Lydia huffed. “It is not my fault if everyone turns to you.”
Elizabeth fell into step beside her sister, watching her carefully. “Lydia, how are you?”
“Hungry. That awful Lady Catherine has ordered such silly meals of late, loads of odd spices and small little servings! What I would give for a platter of plain, buttery boiled potatoes, and a pile of roast beef such as Hill always made, but at least Mrs Reynolds is a good sort. She had half a chicken and some sweet mince pie sent to my room yesterday before tea, and a whole quart of nice soup just before dinner.”
“I did not mean your appetite,” Elizabeth chuckled. “But I am glad that you are being well looked-after. Have you experienced much discomfort?”
“Oh, other than needing to relieve myself—”
“Anything alarming?” Elizabeth interrupted.
Lydia sighed as she walked. “No,” was the short answer. She frowned at her toes as they alternated back and forth, first one then the other peeping beyond the bulge of her stomach. Then, she glanced up at her sister. “But thank you for asking, Lizzy. Besides Mrs Reynolds and my maid, who are paid to look after me, you and Georgie are the only ones who ever do.”
Elizabeth offered a little smile of pity, but wiped it from her face when she realised that Lydia would not appreciate it. “I think Jane’s letters have been slow in coming because she has been ill. It seems she has not quite your fortitude, but you know Papa asked after you in his last letter.”
“He asked if I was behaving myself. That is not the same thing. Mama persists in thinking I have gone back to George, and only writes me here because she has not my address in Newcastle yet. As if I would ever so much as speak to that worthless cad again!”
