Grandmother Gardiner gave her a lesson in life, but mostly in the manner of its delivery, and Jane never quite forgot it. She did not always live up to her ideal of behaviour, but she always tried.
As her grandmother nodded in satisfaction, her friend Anne smiled brightly enough to dim the sun.
Her cousin Darcy, feeling bold, impertinent, or both, raised a fist and gave her the lightest tap on the forehead—more a caress than an assault. “May I call you Annie as well?”
Still basking in the happiness of Jane's ready acceptance, she nodded and replied mischievously, “Of course, Lunkhead.”
Once again, the ladies were treated to the sound of Fitzwilliam Darcy laughing his head off. “I always thought you were beautiful, Annie, but today you look extraordinary. Now, if you plan to maintain that smile, I will gather Mr Chamberlain and put out the fire you are about to start in yon woods.”
The group laughed at that, everyone feeling much less tense.
Ellen asked, “How did you appear like that, Miss—”
She faltered, realising she addressed someone of real consequence that she had not even been introduced to, but Darcy pitched in.
“Courage, Miss Taylor. Annie here is your friend too; she is merely not aware of it yet. I can assure you that the only person in this group to be rapped on the forehead is me.”
He stepped to a spot exactly halfway between the two women. “Miss Anne de Bourgh, may I have the great pleasure of introducing my friend, Miss Ellen Taylor.”
The entire operation astounded Anne. Miss Taylor wore Darcy’s greatcoat, but she was obviously a maid; yet Anne had seen her cousin Darcy treat peers with less consideration.
She followed his lead and offered the maid of all work a better curtsy than she gave her mother’s closest acquaintances; Miss Taylor, having no idea what to do, offered the best she had.
The woman was nervous, and Anne belatedly noticed a bandage on her wrist that had bled through. She would not bleed to death, but common sense suggested a better place for their meeting.
Anne laughed, approached the young maid, and took her arm.
“Miss Taylor, have you ever considered travelling to India to take up snake charming? I understand it is quite profitable, and you obviously have a talent for it.”
Darcy laughed with everyone else and even emitted an adequate hiss.
“As to your question, Miss Taylor, Anne learned to appear and disappear quietly when we were children. Let us just say she has a mother who makes such a technique essential. I have never once in fifteen years caught her when she did not wish to be caught.”
Anne laughed. “I will teach you if you like, Miss Taylor— may I call you Ellen?”
“To be honest, I’ve been confused this whole time. Mr Darcy calls me ‘Miss Taylor,’ but I am only a maid of all work. Everyone uses given names with downstairs maids and just surnames upstairs.”
Anne looked at Darcy and arched an eyebrow.
“I have not the slightest objection to enlightening you. You show something my cousin, an Army Colonel, calls ‘spunk.’ It is a sort of reckless courage. You have from the beginning treated me as an equal… or at least you do until you are frightened, and even that does not last long. I like it very much, so I call you Miss Taylor out of respect. I shall continue to do so until you change it to Mrs.”
The three women shook their heads in confusion, but concluded Darcy could follow whatever conventions he pleased.
“I thank you for that,” Ellen said. “I appreciate the honour. But for Miss de Bourgh and Miss Bennet, I prefer ‘Ellen,’ though I could never use your Christian names.”
“Shall we continue this in the coach?” Anne asked. “I can explain how I sneak up on people, but in this case, your discussion was so intense I could have been delivered by Napoleon’s seventh army. It was not one of my best efforts. I simply stood behind that bush until you were distracted.”
“How long have you been listening?” Darcy asked.
Anne held out her hand. “Give me that disgusting handkerchief. I can at least rinse it while I anxiously await your answers.”
Darcy laughed, while Anne whispered, “Do not worry. You will get your Lizzy’s handkerchief back.”
“She is not my—” Darcy grumbled, but fell silent under Anne's stare, as she pointed some hundred yards down the road.
“By some strange twist of fate, your coachman halted there for a problem with the carriage, and I did not notice your little meeting until I got out to stretch my legs. I believe he has repaired it, so if you would signal him, we can continue our discussion in greater comfort. It has four horses, so perhaps you can tell us about the Four Horsewomen.”
“Miss Bennet? Are you willing to appear in Meryton in my coach?”
