Page 61 of Conundrums & Coincidences

“I shall stand, thank you.”

“Kitty is so odd. La! I cannot abide rooting in soil like a pig after truffles. Nor can I abide muddy hems. Hereabouts there is little point in wearing such a fine gown as yours, Miss Darcy, to trudge along muddy cart tracks. How I long for the clean, raised walks of Brighton and the company of officers in their scarlet coats.”

“I regret,” said Darcy, with not a whit of remorse, “that it was necessary to curtail your Brighton sojourn. But I assure you it was done with the very best of intentions.”

Best of intentions, indeed. Such had been the case when he had warned Bingley away from Miss Bennet and when he had withdrawn from the tournament at Oakwood.

But this is different. “Mr Wickham is not to be trusted. And you, young lady, were in peril there…and, perhaps, here, should he return.”

“You are wrong about him.” The girl’s tone was both defiant and smug. “And I hope the lieutenant does return for me. Then we shall wed, as he promised.”

One glance at Georgiana’s concerned face convinced Darcy that she, too, feared for her future sister. “Should Mr Wickham discover my affiliation with your family,” he said, “the reprobate may try to destroy our happiness by coercing or tempting you into a situation that ultimately would result in your ruin and risk the good reputation of all your sisters. I am sorry to say that the lieutenant will not willingly marry you. He is a scoundrel of the highest degree.”

“It is well known, sir, how badly you treated that dear man.” Miss Lydia’s tone had become as cold and sharp as icicles.

You take an eager interest in that gentleman’s concerns. “My sister wishes to have a private word with you, but whatever Georgiana tells you must remain a secret. She will be entrusting you with what could be incendiary information. Miss Elizabeth knows of it. Otherwise, we have been able to keep the matter strictly confidential. May I have your solemn promise that you will not tell a soul, not even Miss Catherine? May we depend on you?” Am I mad, thinking Lydia Bennet might be trustworthy?

“Why should I keep this secret of yours? What shall I gain by doing so? Besides, I shall not believe a word said against my dear Wickham.”

Georgiana’s eyes flew wide at such impertinence. “What will you gain? My brother just explained that very thing to you. It is not what you will gain. It is what you will not lose. Our aim is to keep you safe from harm.” She sat beside Miss Lydia and made a shooing gesture at Darcy.

While the two young ladies spoke within the garden, he paced outside its gate. Finally, he heard them bidding one another ‘good day’. Miss Lydia ran off towards the house without so much as a glance at him.

Looking enervated, Georgiana approached. “I told her all, Brother. Then, I am ashamed to confess, I bribed her.”

“You did what?”

“If Miss Lydia does not breathe a word of all that I have revealed, I promised to purchase a lovely new gown for her.”

As they walked towards the house, Georgiana added, “Every quarter day.”

29

MUSICAL MAGIC

At Longbourn on Wednesday, between the fragrant cutting garden and the shrubbery, Kitty chatted with Elizabeth while they took turns on the swing suspended from a massive oak. The tree had been there for over three hundred years, the swing since Mary had been a young child.

Seated but not setting it in motion, Kitty said, “I did not admit as much to you yesterday when we were chatting, but I was angry and jealous when Lydia went to Brighton. Then, after three or four days of vexation and moping round the house, I felt free to do as I pleased rather than follow wherever Lydia’s fancy might take us. I did a bit of gardening and, you may be properly shocked, read an entire novel while she was gone. Lydia never has patience for either reading or needlework, but I rather enjoyed sitting by the open window, embroidering handkerchiefs and listening to Mary play the pianoforte. I even begged her to teach me a few simple tunes. Just imagine what I might have accomplished had Lydia stayed away the anticipated three months instead of one.”

“My dear sister, I am exceedingly proud of you.” Imagine. An entire book in one month!

Kitty scuffed her feet on the patch of dirt beneath the swing and glanced about uneasily. “Lizzy, what can you tell me about that nice Mr Hadley? I understand you met him at the country house in Buckinghamshire. Your country house.” She heaved a sigh, then coughed. “How very fortunate you are to own a grand old manor and possess a huge fortune.”

Elizabeth kept to herself the fact that she had decided to use most of that wealth to provide dowries for her four sisters. “I first became acquainted with Mr David Hadley in Cheapside during the autumn of the year ten, a twelvemonth before we met Mr Bingley. Similar to his cousin in looks and in amiability, Mr Hadley is a delightful young gentleman…emphasis on young. His ambition is to become a barrister until he inherits Eastmeadow Park, a modest estate in Eton Wick, where his elder brother lives. Why do you ask about him?”

Standing behind her sister and pulling on the ropes, Elizabeth eased the swing towards herself. Then resting her chin upon Kitty’s shoulder, she whispered, “As though I cannot begin to guess at your interest.” Releasing the ropes, she watched as her sister’s legs pumped to and fro, propelling the swing higher and higher into an azure sky.

Shading her eyes, she watched as the top of Kitty’s head touched the bottom rim of the sun, which was not quite at its zenith. “In several hours you will have a chance to become much better acquainted with Mr Hadley. He and the Netherfield party have been invited to dine here this evening.”

Her sister uttered a surprised squeak. “Why was I not told of this?” Her feet flailed as they sought to gain purchase with the earth. “I must make haste! The seam on my peach muslin needs mending. And I shall ask Patty to dress my hair differently. And Lydia will be wrestled to the floor if she does not return my pale-green ribbons, and…”

Clad in her altered and embellished primrose gown—the one last worn the evening she had been trapped in Oakwood’s garret—and with all her sisters in pretty muslins, Elizabeth thought the five of them appeared to great advantage. Lydia was in white with green dots, Kitty in peach, Jane in pale blue, and Mary in cream with brown stripes.

Then Miss Darcy entered the drawing room wearing an elegant ivory satin with dainty lilac and green sprigs.

I shall purchase bolts of silk in each of my sisters’ favourite colours and have them made into lovely gowns by London’s finest dressmakers. And for Mama too. A thrill ran through Elizabeth at the thought of having deep enough pockets to do such things for her family.

Rushing over and latching on to her new friend’s arm, Lydia cried, “La, Georgiana, I just realised something. Today is Midsummer quarter day. What a laugh! You now owe me an elegant new gown, like yours, for I have not yet breathed a word about…you know what.”