Page 65 of Mr. Darcy Comes to Town

“Why do you say so?” Lizzy asked, surprised.

“You are not truly interested in anything other than your animals,” Mary pointed out.

“I could read a few every night before I go to sleep,” Lizzy protested. “You will see. I will make headway through them.”

Mary shook her head. “They should be savored, not rushed through.”

Lizzy crossed her heart. “I solemnly swear to savor every one of Rumi’s poems in that book. You may test me on them, if you like?”

“I will do so,” Mary warned. She reached out and pushed the door to the breakfast room open. “What will you purchase today?”

“I need to see the chemist for some lanolin,” Lizzy explained. “I must make some more hand cream before I run out. I mean to make some that smells like lavender this time. We have some dried lavender in the still room.”

“I like the smell of it,” Jane remarked, joining in on their conversation and smiling a welcome. “Mama is not yet down, and Papa has already eaten. Kitty and Lydia are with him, attending to their studies.”

“I suppose they wish to go to town?” Lizzy asked, picking up a plate from the sideboard. Because today was market day, the Bennet household ate buffet-style. Many affluent families ate that way every day, but their parents preferred to sit down together and eat family-style except for Saturday.

“They do,” Jane said. “They stopped in at Aunt Phillip’s house yesterday. She told them she had seen some militia officers about the town.”

“So, Kitty and Lydia mean to spy them out?” Lizzy asked. She filled her plate with slices of ham and scrambled eggs containing mushrooms. She placed a slice of nicely fried eggy bread on her plate and topped it with stewed apples and pears. Lizzy sprinkled the fruit with cinnamon and sugar before she carried her meal to the table.

“From their giggling, I am presuming that is their intention,” Jane said, shaking her head in a discouraged way. “If the militia is coming to town, I am afraid Papa will lose any hope of giving their thoughts a more serious turn.”

“Hmm,” Mary hummed, rolling her eyes and stabbing her food rather violently. “I think we three must find husbands before Kitty and Lydia ruin our chances through association.”

Lizzy grimaced and clicked her tongue. “We have almost no influence over them. They will behave the way they wish to—or, should I say, Kitty will follow Lydia’s lead.” The three sisters sighed mournfully. However, Lizzy soon rallied and asked Jane what she meant to purchase at market this week.

“Some embroidery needles,” Jane said. “I have bent two of mine. I would also like to add some new colors to my silk thread collection.”

“You had better remember to take your sample card, then,” Mary mentioned. “Remember the last time you forgot to take it, and came home with a pink almost exactly the same as the one you already had?”

“I do,” Jane said, chuckling. “I have already put the sample card in my reticule. That pink proved to be a happy accident because I used it for shading a rose motif.”

“Do you think Mr. Bingley will enjoy looking at silk threads with you?” Lizzy asked, grinning at her sister.

“Mr. Bingley is interested in anything I am interested in,” Jane vowed simply.

Lizzy swallowed a giggle and attended to her meal.

“At the tea salon, Miss Bingley told me her older sister, Louisa Hurst, and her brother-in-law will be coming for a visit this upcoming Thursday,” Jane informed them as she buttered a piece of toast. “They meant to arrive today but changed their plans when they heard about the Meryton assembly. They mean to attend that night as a family.”

“Do the Hursts have children?” Mary asked.

“Miss Bingley did not say.”

Lizzy picked up a knife to cut her ham. “How much older is she than Miss Bingley?”

“Approximately three years older,” Jane said. “Miss Bingley is eighteen months older than Mr. Bingley, who is two-and-twenty, and Mrs. Hurst is soon to be seven-and-twenty.”

“Seven-and-twenty with no children yet,” Mary said in a pensive fashion. “She must be getting desperate.”

“We do not know that she has no children,” Jane pointed out. “I said Miss Bingley did not say.”

Mary nodded and shrugged. “So, you did. I have a feeling, that is all.”

“I expect you will have the opportunity to ask her,” Jane replied. “If you do not, Mama will certainly discover it.”

“What will I discover?” their fond mother asked as she swept into the room, heading directly to the sideboard.