PART ONE
An Invitation
Chapter 1
Steventon Rectory
3 May 1799
Dear Flissy,
I trust you have recovered from your nasty cold? The weather here in Steventon has been atrocious, and we have not escaped illness ourselves. Cassie has a sore throat that has lasted for three days! As you know, she hates being ill and insists on being up and about but thenwillcomplain about feeling poorly. She will not gargle, and short of tying her to the bed with strong ropes, I am not sure what else I can do. But she will recover soon enough, I hope.
But on to brighter news! I have just this morning received a letter from my brother Edward telling me he and Elizabeth are going to Bath in the middle of the month. They will stay in 13 Queen Square and reside there for six weeks. The reason for the visit is not purely pleasure—he has gout and plans to takethe waters often. They know I enjoyed my visit to Bath two years past (indeed I talked about it to Elizabeth incessantly), so they have generously said I can join them. But that is not the most exciting part—brace yourself, dear—Edward has said there is room enough for me to invite a friend!!! Of course, my dearest Flissy, I immediately thought of you ...
My stomach leapfrogged as I read further down the page where the dates and logistics of the trip had been outlined in detail. Jane had ended her letter urging me to write soonest with my decision and that she hoped I would think of it as an ‘adventure rather than a burden to be endured’.
Oh yes, very funny indeed. I was sure she was laughing to herself writing that! She knew I would be squirming with delight upon reading her words; and I had to admit, her invitation had come at a most opportune time, though it was naughty of me to think that.
My sister-in-law, Seraphina Fitzroy, had taken it upon herself to visit us from York for a month; and I was longing for a respite. It was a visit that had been foisted upon Max and I, and neither of us had had any say in the matter.
With her tall imposing figure, jet-black hair, and determined chin, Seraphina was a force from the north to bereckoned with. Max always joked that Seraphina had ‘whipped’ his eldest brother, Tobias, into shape; and I would not have been surprised if she had taken a literal whip to him.
Both Seraphina and Tobias scared me. But at least this time, she had left her irascible husband at home and brought along her eldest daughter, Lucinda—a quiet dark-haired girl of eighteen whom I liked a lot. She called me Aunty Fliss even though I was but four years older.
Seraphina’s latest visit to Derbyshire—I had surmised from her various comments—was to escape Tobias’svigourin the bedroom as she was nearing forty, already had five children, and had no wish to become pregnant again. That was something I was glad I didn’t have to worry about—Max and I were happily childless. But it was a state I knew Seraphina thought should be rectified forthwith, if her remarks were anything to go by—remarks such as ‘These big rooms could do with the pitter-patter of little feet’, ‘Max is so good with his nieces and nephews—he would make such a wonderful father’, and so on were par for the course whenever she stayed.
At first, I let my feelings of guilt overwhelm me, but now I followed Max’s lead and ignored her. Or if that was not possible and she expected a reply, I said something noncommittal and then changed the subject. As Max said, itwas our marriage and our choice not to spawn child after child, as was the custom; and frankly, it was none of her business what we did or didn’t do in the bedroom.
But Seraphina was one of those women who liked to make other people’s business her own. And Jane’s letter now fell under her scrutiny as we were having breakfast.
‘I am curious to know who your letter is from, Felicity. Why, you have read it at least ten times in the space of five minutes.’
I folded the letter and placed it on the table, reluctant to say anything. But as she was looking at me pointedly, I had to say something.
‘It is from my friend Jane Austen, who lives in Steventon,’ I said, returning to my uneaten toast, now cold since I had been perusing the letter.
‘Ah, yes. Clever Miss Austen whom I have heard so much about. What on earth could she have written that has engaged your attention so entirely?’ Seraphina smirked to herself, and I knew what she was really thinking:Whatever could happen in Steventon that would be deemed remotely interesting?
With this comment, she managed to annoy me immensely. Though I had been settled in Derbyshire for over two years now, I was still a Hampshire girl at heart, and I hated it when people looked down their noses at my smallvillage. Steventon was where Max and I had met and fallen in love, after all; and ifhecould now appreciate the delights of the countryside, anyone could. Besides, Papa lived there; and with my sister, Harriet, now settled in London, I liked to visit him as often as possible. Suffice to say, it was a failing in me, but I couldn’t help divulging the letter’s contents to make her jealous.
‘Actually, it is quite exciting news. Jane is to take a trip to Bath with her brother and his wife in a couple of weeks’ time. And she has invited me to join their party,’ I said, quelling the urge to add ‘so there’.
The rustle of a lowering newspaper and Max’s piercing blue eyes appearing over the top told me he’d heard what I’d said.
Blast!I’d hoped to talk to him about going to Bath in private, not under the watchful gaze of his sister-in-law. My heart sank, and Lucinda gave me a sympathetic grimace. She and Max were very similar in temperament: quiet, introspective, and sensitive. At first, I had thought Max arrogant and cold, but now I knew better. He was, as Jane had correctly surmised, painfully shy in the company of people he didn’t know well. Lucinda too sometimes came across as aloof as she bore the same affliction as her uncle and had needed time to become acquainted with me. But with my natural inclination to make friends, I had brought her out of herself, like I had with Max. However, as he wasalso stubborn, getting him to agree to this trip to Bath would likely take all my powers of persuasion.
‘How long for?’ he asked.
‘Six weeks,’ I replied carefully, knowing instantly from his tone that he didn’t like the idea. He hated me going away, and I from him. But sometimes it was a necessity, like when my sister was about to give birth. She’d needed me to stay for a few weeks to manage her husband because he was in a flap and making her feel anxious. Everything had gone smoothly for Harriet, much to our relief. But Evan had needed much hand chafing and wine to get through it.
As expected, Max’s eyebrows now shot up. ‘Six weeks,’ he echoed, looking aghast.
‘I may not stay that long, dearest. That is just the length of time Jane said they are going for.’
He did not look happy about me going for any length of time.
Seraphina had been in thoughtful silence during our exchange, which should have alerted me that her mind was working overtime.
