“I have broken some, but not all. I am a better man now than I was a few months ago. I would not have held this conversation then. I would have been afraid to even walk with you. More importantly, I will be a better man a few months hence. You see, I fully expect your sister to reject my first proposal. Nobody with a scrap of sense or pride could accept it. My hope is that she will allow me to court her properly, and humbly, and show her that I am not that evil twin. It will be a chance for me to grow, to improve my character, and by the time I eventually wear her down, I hope to be worthy.”
“I wish you every success.”
“Now, let us discuss your chains. I will be honest. I hope one day to be your brother, and your concerns would be mine, but I am not that yet and may never be. I do however have an idea you might like—friend to friend. I hope I may call you that?”
Mary fell silent for several paces, turning the idea over in her mind. “Yes—friends.”
“If you are in no particular hurry to meet eligible men, what say you to meeting a friend who is a bit less… err… less… well, I will not say it. I suppose my question is, would you like to meet my sister? I believe you could teach each other some things.”
“You would introduce me to your sister?”
“Of course. As you know by now, I am the laziest man you know, with the obvious exception of your father. My sister is timid, shy, and astonishingly short of female influence her own age. That is my fault, but now that I have identified it, I plan to fix it the easiest way possible. If I just have you in my house for some months, then all would be resolved without my lifting a finger. I cannot imagine why I did not think of this before.”
Mary stared at him in perplexity. “Your sister?”
“Yes. She is but sixteen. She is astonishingly good at the pianoforte, and I have masters engaged that you could share. You have talent but need training. You have energy and application, but it needs direction. Socially, you and Georgiana are both a bit awkward, though far be it from me to criticise. Georgiana learned it from me, and you probably from your father. You might form a close bond, something like your two elder sisters share if possible. Then after a few months, if you are not lively enough, I can just drop your other two sisters into the mix. Problem solved, and with so little trouble and expense. It is the perfect solution. Even better, Georgiana will come out in society next year. You will come out with her. Yes, it is all arranged. I shall write to my aunt, Lady Matlock, at once to set the matter in motion.”
“You are mad!”
“In that, you are absolutely correct. What say you? Will you come to Derbyshire for a few months?”
“Let us see if you are still mostly intact and willing to meet with anyone named Bennet after you rejoin Lizzy. Whether she objects to you or not, I will be happy to meet your sister. I am afraid you cannot command us to befriend each other. We will have to work that out ourselves, but I will try.”
“That is all I ask.”
Mary nodded, and asked casually, “By the by, do you have any idea where Lizzy is?”
“North is all I have heard. For all I know, she could be ensconced in the blue parlour at Pemberley, talking about me at this very moment.”
Blue Parlour
Elizabeth dropped onto the sofa in the blue parlour, sighing in satisfaction, exhaustion, or likely both. Four days of nonstop madness at Pemberley had left her fatigued but exhilarated.
She had spent a lot of time thinking about Mr Darcy, but only between furious bouts of mad activity. Georgiana coined the term ‘triumvirate’ to describe their merry little band that made up what Elizabeth calledone good sort of mistress.She had no idea why Lord or Lady Matlock had not appeared the next day, but Pemberley still stood, so she could claim temporary victory.
The five days since the villagers’ arrival were full of bustle, noise, confusion, and activity. Stuffing a few dozen traumatised villagers into a ballroom produced behaviour both wonderful and atrociously bad. It was almost as bad as sticking a few dozen gentry into the same room and telling them to dance. There was all the one-upmanship and backstabbing you would see in a ball. There was all the fighting for territory or attention. There were the kindly and energetic people who made the whole thing work. There were the rough equivalents of everything from the vast majority who acted properly, to the strutting peacocks, to the drunkards, to the men whoshoulddance but did not
Of course, Elizabeth had never seen fisticuffs in a ball, but was assured they happened with some regularity in London. Georgiana had been horrified the first time Elizabeth broke up a scuffle between two youths by picking up a nearby blanket and throwing it over them, but she got over it. Most of the villagers were everything one could wish in a visitor, but a few hotheads could spoil the atmosphere if you did not check them. Most of the time, the more sensible visitors took care of it, but they could not be everywhere at once. Thus far, she had not expelledanyone to the stables, but there were a few people an inch from the edge.
Each day, Elizabeth started with the same bath, and yet another new borrowed old dress. On the third day, she asked if they were too busy to do laundry and received a dark look from Stewart for her impertinence. On the fourth day, she suggested she just wear the dress from the second, and got a rap on the knuckles, though it was done affectionately. On the fifth day, she just accepted that she had absolute authority everywhere in the estateexcepther own dressing room. Margaret had abandoned her the very first night in favour of Georgiana’s room, and Elizabeth was indifferent, since both girls were short on sisterly experience and she had a surfeit.
After five days of chaos, Elizabeth was rather proud that nothing bad had happened for several hours, no major decisions needed to be made, and nobody was angry with the world at large and Elizabeth Bennet in particular. She intended to sit for an hour with tea and biscuits.
The morning of bright sunshine right after she arrived had lasted only half a day, and the villagers spent the rest of the time trying to get by in torrential rain. Some of the men went back to the village to begin rebuilding. Mr Breton and Mr Wythe went along with most of the outside staff, but they mainly found there was little to be done. They managed to clear some of the bigger debris, but it was a muddy mess and impossible to do anything other than measure or plan on the burnt section. Doubtless, the torrential rains had slowed Georgiana’s express riders to a crawl, and she hoped neither of them became injured or ill, though there was nothing she could do about that except show some patience.
One of the measles patients died on the second day, while three more maids and two footmen became ill, one deathly so. Two of the older men brought in on the first coach likewise died,but everyone else in the family wing seemed to be recovering nicely. She had the apothecaries from both Lambton and Kympton visiting Pemberley regularly, and also arranged to pay them to visit Sudbury nearly every day.
Elizabeth had, quite boldly she thought, engaged blacksmiths, builders, and a few tradesmen from the nearby villages, and some labourers from Pemberley’s tenants, promising them payment from Pemberley’s coffers. She had nearly panicked about the expense at first, until Georgiana dragged her into an anteroom and insisted that so far, Elizabeth had not even made a significant dent in Georgiana’s pin money for the year, so she needed to quit being so timid.
All in all, things were about as well as could be expected. Elizabeth was tired and dishevelled, though she would not dare let anyone else see, lest Stewart appear inadequate in her duties. With that in mind, she made Georgiana handle the pouring of tea and the like. All she wanted was a few minutes relaxation, and a chance to go to bed before midnight, which all things considered, seemed unlikely.
She vaguely heard the door open and was somewhat startled by a loud announcement.
“Lady Matlock.”
The announcement shook her out of her lethargy and invigorated her. She wondered when the traditional functions of the butler had been replaced by somebody else, since the butler was still recovering in the guest wing, but since odds were that she herself had ordered the change and just forgotten, she did not worry overly much.
Elizabeth jumped up from the sofa, nearly spilling her tea, faced the door, and hoped the lady would be merciful.
