“Wash me out?” Miss Darcy asked, screwing up her nose.
“Yes. It means that they make you look even paler than you already are. And you need colours that will also play on the brightness of your eyes. You want to draw attention to your features, and your eyes are stunning,” Elizabeth encouraged her.
Miss Darcy looked down at her hands, wringing them with embarrassment at the praise that Elizabeth was lavishing on her.
“Ah, let this be your first lesson, my friend.” Elizabeth stepped in front of the mirror and faced Miss Darcy. “Never fear meeting anyone’s eyes, do you understand? A lady always keeps her chin up, carrying herself with confidence. You have beautiful eyes; you should allow people to see them.”
Miss Darcy’s face fell. “But I am so clumsy. I am afraid that I will trip over my long hems, or my own feet, if I do not watch where I am going when I walk.”
“That is the last thing you want to do. You are causing the very thing you are trying to avoid by looking down at your feet when you walk.” Elizabeth drew her away from the mirror. “Now, watch.” Elizabeth walked while Miss Darcy looked on. “Now, see what happens when I walk with my head down.” She demonstrated and then looked to Miss Darcy for her thoughts.
“Well, you looked as if you were running from something. Or hiding from something.”
“Exactly. Now, watch this in contrast.” Elizabeth demonstrated again, only this time, she kept her chin level and her shoulders back. “What do you say to that?”
Miss Darcy gave a small clap. “Oh, that was wonderful! You looked as regal as a queen!”
Elizabeth highly doubted that, but she was glad her new pupil was catching on so quickly. “That is how you must speak to yourself. ‘I am a queen. I deserve to be here. As everyone present is a valued guest, so too am I.’ But most importantly, you must say this to yourself, ‘I have a voice. I have something important to say.’”
Miss Darcy bit her lower lip. “I am not sure if I could say that. I wouldn’t really mean it,” she said shyly.
“It will come in time, do not worry. Every morning, I want you to stand in front of that mirror and say that over and over to yourself, until you begin to believe it.” She smiled. “Now, let us take a look at these gowns and see if something can be done.”
“I do not think I can salvage any of these. Mrs Younge helped me pick them out, you know. She was not on my side —” Miss Darcy let her words trail off, but Elizabeth did not think it would be right to press her. Not with the sadness that so quickly seeped into her eyes after bringing up the mysterious Mrs Younge.
“Well, we could have a seamstress alter them. I am sure they could take off the collars and rework the styles. It would not alter the colours, but it would still be an improvement.”
Miss Darcy sat down on the edge of the bed and gave a huff of defeat. “Would it not be easier to start over from the beginning? I do not like any of these gowns.” She picked up a dull grey silk gown, then let it drop back to the coverlet with a scowl. “Besides, it would be good to leave the past behind.”
“Are you certain you want to start over completely? That will take quite some time, and would be very expensive,” Elizabeth replied. Especially for the gowns that Elizabeth had in mind. For Miss Darcy to truly make the best of herself, she would need a complete redesign of her wardrobe.
“It could not be done all at once, perhaps, but why do we not go into the village and see if there is a seamstress who can work up a few gowns for me while I am here?” Miss Darcy’s face lit up, and Elizabeth hated to crush her hopes. Instead of speaking to the young and inexperienced Miss Darcy about financial responsibility, perhaps it would be better to speak to Mr Darcy — if only he would listen to her, and not blame her for encouraging his sister to incur such an expense on his purse. Elizabeth hoped she had not got in over her head. She genuinely wanted to help Miss Darcy, but it would not do to allow the young, inexperienced Miss Darcy to saddle her brother with a greater expense than he could readily bear.
Elizabeth let the subject of gowns lie for the time being and took Miss Darcy over to the vanity. She rang for a maid and asked if there was someone who knew how to arrange hair. Luckily, one of the upstairs maids had worked with arranging hair for the late Mrs Sinclair many years before. Since her mistress’s passing, she had been demoted to upstairs maid, but she seemed eager to help Miss Darcy.
“What do you think, Mairead? She has such beautiful blonde locks and a heart-shaped face. It would make her look so much more elegant if it were piled up on her head, with perhaps a few curls hanging down to frame her face. What say you?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yes, I think you are right. May I, Miss?” Mairead asked Miss Darcy.
“By all means,” Miss Darcy replied.
She and Elizabeth continued to talk as Mairead worked. “Thank you for taking the time to help me, Miss Bennet. I really cannot put into words what this means to me.”
“It is my pleasure, Miss Darcy.” Elizabeth sat beside her, watching as Mairead’s expert fingers arranged her curls into an elegant coiffure.
“It must be fun having so many sisters. I have to admit I am a bit jealous of you, Miss Bennet.” Miss Darcy sighed. “I wish my father had remarried, and they had had at least one more child. Perhaps I would not have felt so lonely growing up.”
“Your brother seems to dote on you,” Elizabeth stated mildly, curious about what it had been like growing up with such a complicated man for a brother.
“My brother is wonderful. Please do not misunderstand, I love him dearly. But he was grown up when my father passed. He was already twenty, and I was only eight. When I was born, he was already away at school much of the time. We did not really have the luxury of growing up together. We are close now. But I wonder how differently my life would have turned out if I had a sibling closer to my age.”
Mairead finished a moment later and beamed at Miss Darcy through the mirror. “What do you think, Miss Darcy?”
Elizabeth nodded, and Miss Darcy looked as if she were on the edge of tears. “It is beautiful,” she breathed. “I never knew I could look so grown up.”
She stood, and Elizabeth took her over to the mirror. “Miss Darcy, you and I are much the same size. Tonight, you shall wear one of my gowns to supper, if you like.”
“Oh, may I?” Miss Darcy breathed eagerly. “That would be divine. But I do not wish to impose. You have done so much for me already!”
