“I apologise, Fitzwilliam,” he said, making an effort to smother his smile. He did not quite succeed. “But Miss Elizabeth is right. I know you dislike attention, but she offers a perspective that might possibly alleviate some of your discomfort.”
“While I would like to invite you to ruminate on my wisdom, perhaps in the meantime we can change the subject,” Elizabeth offered with a tilt of her brow. Turning to Mr. Darcy, she said, “To ancient Rome?”
The rest of the journey to the Inn at Leicester was spent in a lively debate over the merits of various Roman emperors and their military campaigns.
Amelia was asleep when the Darcys escorted Elizabeth into the parlour at Barlow Hall. After the gentlemen said their farewells, Mrs. Gardiner offered to take Elizabeth up to the nursery. It was love at first sight for them both. Elizabeth held her cousin every chance she got. Though required to leave Amelia in the house with Mrs. Gardiner when she helped the servants and Mr. Gardiner gather boughs of holly and other greenery to decorate the main rooms, she reclaimed her quickly upon return. Whenever Miss Gardiner was not in her nursery or being fed or changed by her nurse, Elizabeth was holding her or sitting with whichever of her parents managed to snatch her before Elizabeth was able to.
On the second day of her visit, Elizabeth was forced to relinquish Miss Amelia to her nurse when Mrs. Gardiner insisted she had a surprise for her niece she might enjoy almost as much as holding her cousin. Elizabeth followed her auntinto her chambers, where Anna, Mrs. Gardiner’s lady’s maid, stood next to a large mirror which had been placed against an armoire and a small rectangular box stool. In her arms was what appeared to be a green wool gown trimmed with off-white lace.
“Lizzy,” Mrs. Gardiner said, her excitement evident. “I have asked Anna to help us alter this dress of mine from last season for you.”
Lizzy stepped closer and lifted the skirt of the dress, feeling its weight between her fingers. It was heavy and finely made with three ropes of thin, off-white lace adorning the hem and bodice. As Anna held it aloft for Lizzy to inspect it further, she saw that the long sleeves were gathered as they met the bodice, lifting them just slightly. It seemed to shimmer in the sunlight which streamed in through the large balcony doors. The green was dark but not dark enough to be sombre. Lizzy thought it looked quite festive with the addition of the lace. It was also exactly the colour she would have chosen for herself.
Mrs. Bennet had insisted on dressing Elizabeth in yellows and pinks at the fall assembly, where Elizabeth “came out.” This was not so much an occasion as a necessity, according to her mother, as Elizabeth had turned fifteen that July. For her part, Elizabeth would have been happy to honour the tradition of waiting for the eldest sister to marry before she, as the younger, came out. Not only did her mother have other ideas, but Jane, too, urged it. Having Elizabeth out, Jane thought, meant less attention for herself and a companion at balls and assemblies. The latter had proved to be the only real consequence of this inauspicious movement from girl to eligible-husband-seeking-lady. No one looked twice at Elizabeth while Jane was a possibility. And though she knew this was not entirely the faultof her pink and yellow wardrobe, causing her to resemble the candy shelf at Mr. Otis’ shop, it certainly didn’t help.
But in this dress, she thought she could look quite well. Elizabeth knew she was not half so beautiful as Jane; what was more, she still looked more like a girl than a woman. Her small stature certainly contributed to this, but her face was still quite full and her figure gave few hints at her newly out status. So lost was she in all of these musings regarding the dress it took her a minute to comprehend her aunt’s meaning.
“Am I to attend a ball here in Derbyshire?”
“It is not exactly a ball, but a small Twelfth Night gathering. And yes, you are invited! We have been attending for several years now. It was a tradition for many years—hosted at Pemberley, but after Mrs. Darcy’s death, the family spent the holidays elsewhere. Mr. Darcy revived it two years ago, and now it is something the whole county looks forward to. There will be dancing but also games and feasting, of course!”
“It sounds delightful. Will Georgiana attend?” Elizabeth asked, thinking it odd her friend had not mentioned this occasion.
“As she is not out, she will not be allowed to attend in its entirety, but her father has agreed that she might greet the guests and dance the first with Fitzwilliam. Then she will be sent to her room with Miss Baxter, who is returning to Pemberley on New Year’s Day. It is my understanding they have not told her of these privileges yet and plan to surprise her at some point.”
“I imagine that she will be disappointed in the protracted nature of the privilege, especially given that I will be attending.”
Perhaps because the girls saw each other only during the summer months and Elizabeth had not been out until now, the three-year age difference had never seemed important. Many times, due to Georgiana’s serious nature, superior education and innate intelligence, Elizabeth felt like the younger of the two.
“Miss Darcy will understand,” Mrs. Gardiner replied. Then, in response to Elizabeth’s dubious expression, she added, “I did not say she would like it, but she will understand. It would not be appropriate for one so young to attend an event like this in its entirety. That she is being allowed to participate in any way is a testament to her maturity and also her father’s desire to please you both.”
Elizabeth absorbed this compliment before asking, “I could offer to leave with her when the time comes.”
“That is very kind of you.”
“I do not want Georgiana to feel left out. We could have great fun in her chambers with Miss Baxter.”
“You can decide all that later.”
“Very well. And you are loaning me this gown for the occasion? It is beautiful, Aunt. Thank you.”
“I mean for you to have it. To take it home with you and wear to any local ball or assembly you might attend this winter.”
“No, that is too much. You will likely have more occasion to wear it than I will back in Hertfordshire,” Elizabeth insisted, although she was already imagining wearing it to the winter assembly in place of the yellow silk gown, with yards of lace fromhead to toe that her mother had pulled out of the closet just before she left, indicating she would remake it for the occasion.
“I will insist Edward purchase new gowns for me next season, so you will, in fact, be doing me a favour by taking this one,” her aunt assured her. Guiding Elizabeth to turn around, she began to unbutton her stays. “Now let Anna take some measurements so she may have it ready in time.”
Several days later, Amelia and her nurse waved goodbye as the rest of the family made their way to their carriage. Despite Elizabeth’s pleas to the contrary, Amelia was not permitted to accompany them to the Christmas Eve dinner at Pemberley. It was the first time the Gardiners had left her for an entire evening. As they entered Pemberley’s foyer—decked out with holly, mistletoe, boughs and candles—the party was eager to celebrate with their friends, but each also felt that slight tug towards home and the baby who remained there.
“Lizzy, it is so wonderful to have you here for the holidays,” Georgiana said.
The girls sat side by side on the settee across from the Gardiners.
“I am happy to be spending more time with you,” Elizabeth agreed. “I was beginning to think of you all like some sort of fantastical summer fairies who existed only when the weather was warm and the landscape in bloom.”
“Are you disappointed to have your fanciful supposition proven wrong?” Mr. Darcy asked.
“A little,” she teased. “It would have been nice to be on intimate terms with fairies.”
