Page 80

Rather than be offended Lady Maria immediately confirmed her silence.

“There are three things, and all of them deal with sex. The first is I have been propositioned to be the mistress of a gentleman three times. That is three separate gentlemen once each not the same man three times. After the third time, I do not let myself be led away from the hearing of Claire. I now remain chaperoned not just physically but verbally and aurally. No gentleman gets a private talk.”

She sighed.

“Well until Mr. Collins in November. Anyway, that is the first side of the triangle of my experiences. The second is even more unusual. There is a house of ill-repute, the Sailor’s Delight, between my uncle’s house and the offices of Gardiner Import/Export. There is a longer way to get to the offices that avoids that street but on occasion time has been of the essence and I have walked past it. Since I moved to London I have never once left my uncle’s home without at least a maid and a footman. And since before Christmas ’07 it has always been Claire and Robert. Often I would have a second footman as well.

“I never spoke to anyone who worked there, but I have eyes and ears, and so got a furthering of my rudimentary education from growing up on an agricultural estate. There were days when it felt like my blush would never subside.”

Lady Maria was exhibiting that blush right then.

“We will return to the Sailor’s Delight shortly. Now you might think this was the most outrageous thing a young maiden could be exposed to. Well I am sorry to tell you that is not the case. Let me explain the layout of my uncle’s offices. There is a reception with his team of clerks working in the open area behind it. Off the reception to the right is a short corridor with two doors. The first leads to my uncle’s waiting area with the door to his private office on the inside wall. It is here that visitors are led if they are unannounced or early for their appointment. The second door in the corridor is where all of his books and records are stored. It was also where my desk was. Think of it as three large rectangles, with the middle one split in two. My uncle’s office has doors not just to his waiting area but also to the files and out to the clerks. The reason for telling you the layout of a tradesman’s office is that there were windows between the storage room with my desk and the waiting area.

“I am sorry to say I heard more vulgar remarks, comments and observations from the men in the waiting area than I ever heard from the women who worked at the Sailor’s Delight.”

Lady Maria did not gasp but merely winced at the revelation.

“If it does not distress you can you share some of them?”

“I am still a maiden, I do not doubt your discretion rather it is embarrassing, bordering on mortifying.”

“We are both maidens but over 50 years I have been exposed to more than my share of inappropriate talk. Mostly from cousins who were not aware I was listening.”

“That is similar to my situation. The windows were sited high on the wall, just below the ceiling for ventilation, they were not masked, this was not some nefarious plot to eavesdrop. They just did not seem to care.”

Elizabeth fought her blush.

“I will get the worst out of the way first, everything to do with me. My physique, whether I could be persuaded to be a kept woman, and worst of all, speculation as to what I would be like in the. I was about to say the marriage bed, but none of them were that honourable, so the mistress bed.”

Elizabeth waved her hand over her face, trying to lessen the mortification of this admission.

“The rest was just an insight into how men act when they are alone. When ladies withdraw at the end of the meal, I now wonder if the polite men from the dinner table talk in such a manner? There were discussions of new debutantes, those in their subsequent seasons. These were often horrifyingly blunt. Endless speculation and gossip over lovers and mistresses, both men and women were commented upon. Other than the comments about myself, I think the worst were discussions on bets recorded at their clubs. Many of the bets were not honourable.”

“They talked about all that in your uncle’s visiting area?”

Elizabeth nodded.

“Of course it was not everyone, it was not even the majority. But it was not just a wicked few either. Probably something between a quarter and a third.”

“And they saw the open windows?”

“I would occasionally wonder whether they did in fact notice them. When I stood in the area and looked around, they were clear and obvious. It was as if they did not care. There were no windows between this room and my uncle’s office. And sadly, they were gentlemen and everyone there was not.”

What Elizabeth did not mention to Lady Maria was the intelligence she gathered over the years. In amongst the caddish behaviour there were interesting nuggets that, at least monetarily, outweighed the embarrassment she suffered.

“I can understand your reticence. You do not think it will change?”

“That I cannot answer. Perhaps the best way I can describe it is that if I am introduced to someone I do not immediately think the best of them and upon later acquaintance am then disappointed. Rather I think very little of them initially and am pleasantly surprised if they do not disappoint me. The key moment is how they deal with an intelligent and inquisitive woman.”

“You have explained that, despite his poor first showing, you enjoyed the discussions with Mr. Darcy.”

It was not phrased as a question but Elizabeth understood the comment.

“He listened to me. He did not question why I chose to read what I did. But at the same time, I made continual reference to my uncle, how I had acted as the mistress of his home, and that the reason for my curiosity was to aid him in his business. I did not know his background, that his uncle was an Earl, but I was sufficiently aware that he travelled in circles superior to my own. He also witnessed my outbursts against Miss Bingley. I was happy to converse with him but I had, have, no aspirations towards him. Unlike Miss Bingley, who could not be more obvious if she took out an advertisement in The Times.”

There was a comfortable silence between them for close to a minute.

“Do you wish to join and further the efforts of the Blue Stocking Society?”