Revelations

by Kirsten Bij't Vuur

  'How do you know it's hers?' Elizabeth asked, also of two minds.

  'It had her name on it, but when you see it you'll instantly recognise it. One might say it looks like the mirror, stylish, of the very best quality, and above all, timeless.'

  The next two days they had a very busy honeymoon again, getting up rather early but not without some passionate loving, having breakfast, riding in the paddock for an hour, having lunch, soaking their punished muscles, reading Pierre's story and loving each other again as a result, then rambling, driving to a village, visiting neighbours, dining, talking and reading, possibly loving each other one more time that day. Or just snuggling or cuddling until they fell asleep. Then they repeated that the next day.

  But on the third day, Peter suggested they ride in the paddock for half an

  hour, then ride out, he had confidence that Elizabeth could handle gentle Daisy and Darcy agreed wholeheartedly. And then he had another wish come true, they started by striding over the road, crossing the bridge without problems, then entering the park straight across a large flat grassland. Darcy proposed they try a canter, and Elizabeth consented. They started out slowly, and soon she called out that he could go faster if he wanted to, she was not scared since she had excellent balance riding astride. They couldn't hold hands, of course, but riding was a wholly different way of being together, Darcy started with showing Elizabeth a fabulous view over the farmed fields just beyond his park. They had covered so much ground in such a short time, he could see Elizabeth's pleased surprise at the speed at which everything flew past, even at a trot or a canter. The ride was fabulous, everything Darcy ever dreamed of, he really needed to force himself to keep it short, or Elizabeth would suffer muscle aches again. But of course there would be tomorrow and a whole week after that, no need to rush things.

  After their lunch, and their bath, and the things that usually followed that bath, Darcy proposed they try fishing, and Elizabeth consented, though it was rather cold and the water would be freezing. They walked by the stables to find the huntsmaster, hoping he was in and not doing his rounds on the estate. Though it was a bit of a gamble they were lucky, for he was just back from inspecting the southern end of the park, and very pleased to set them up with tackle and bait. Darcy could teach Elizabeth how to cast, they were not likely to catch many fish anyway in winter, but practice made perfect, and it was a suitable activity for a honeymoon.

  'Do you mind being active all the time in our honeymoon?' he asked Elizabeth, 'wouldn't you rather laze about? We could, you know.'

  She smiled cheekily.

  'If we laze about in bed we'll only become active again in a different way, giving the housemaids even more reason to gossip. And besides, I like sharing your sports with you, will you teach me to handle a gun as well?'

  'Sure, why not. I'd like to keep the mornings for riding, but in the afternoons we can do whatever pleases us. Do you want to drive to a town some day?

  It's not London, but there is some amusement, music, theatre.'

  Elizabeth didn't even have to think about that.

  'I suppose we'll have plenty of that in London, I'd like to enjoy the country as much as we can. We'll be without all winter.'

  'If you get fed up with town, Elizabeth,' Darcy said seriously, 'we can be back here in three days. I won't have you unhappy.'

  'We'll have Jane's marriage anyway, that will put us back in Hertfordshire for at least a week,' Elizabeth observed, 'I think I'll manage, if your staff there is as liveable as the people here.'

  'I've never noticed any difference. Theo, the butler, runs the household, there is no housekeeper there, and there is just one maid who hires help to do the cleaning and washing. Then there is Simon, my valet, but he only lives in my house when I'm in town. It'll be difficult for him to see me married, he used to spend a lot of time attending to me, but of course we cannot have him around all the time anymore. The stables are much smaller, with only one pair of very sedate carriage horses trained for city traffic, sedate but not very fast. It's difficult to exercise the spirited carriage horses in town, Bob does that, but I'll probably send him back to Pemberley once we've arrived and have him pick us up for Bingley and Jane's wedding. Or we can use the slow team for that, it's less than half a day's drive to Hertfordshire. Of course there is a boy to keep the city team.

  If you wanted a personal maid I'd hire one, though Simon is very good at helping ladies dress as well, the few times Georgie really wanted to make an impression he has helped her choose her attire. He has no interest in women, so he's safe around a maiden, though that is not something that should become common knowledge, he'd be in deep trouble.'

  Darcy could see Elizabeth had no idea what he meant by his valet having no interest in women. She might be highly intelligent, and educated to an incredible level for someone who mostly schooled herself, she was a typical country girl in the ways of the world. Never mind, a winter in London would remedy that altogether. She'd catch on quickly.

  By now they had reached the river and Darcy was ready to explain how trout fishing worked, and his beloved was soon practising her cast. She didn't have much reach yet, or much speed, but that was no problem, fish were slow in winter so they needed plenty of time to strike the bait. After ten minutes of instructing his beloved, Darcy could make a few casts of his own, and he was lucky, he caught a reasonably-sized trout almost instantly.

  Since he didn't know how Elizabeth would handle his killing a fish, he released it back into the river, they probably wouldn't catch enough for dinner anyway. Casting a rod was very tiring for someone not used to it and it was rather cold, with a slight drizzle slowly drenching their coats, so after

  an hour Darcy was ready to call it a day. But Elizabeth really wanted to catch a fish, and they stuck it out another quarter of an hour before she decided to give up and try another time.

  'I had a great time nonetheless,' she said, 'next time I'll catch one.'

  The next morning they rode out again, by now Elizabeth was so used to riding that she didn't need a bath anymore to loosen her muscles, so they just washed and changed afterwards, and yes, read a little in Pierre's memoires, who was travelling across the island in search of commissions and instruction to improve his art as painter of portraits.

  But those exploits were sketched superficially, only his quest to improve his skills in his true art, the art of loving, was described in great detail, and it must be said that the techniques he learned were often very stimulating, as well as the way in which he acquired them, taught directly by married ladies, light women, anyone female that he could convince to give him

  'lessons'.

  Of course their reading was usually followed by more physical exercise, of the kind almost exclusively practised in the bedroom, though Pierre would certainly object to that statement since he managed very well in parks, bushes, against trees and his favourites, in the labyrinths and follies of the rich and noble.

  And then Fitzwilliam told Elizabeth he had a visit in mind for the afternoon.

  Before long they took the carriage to visit Peter's missus, as everyone apparently called her. The young couple lived in a picturesque cottage just outside a small village, rather close to the boundary of the park, but due to the size of the park it had to be a good half-hour's walk to get there. There were no horses around the house, nor any other livestock except a few chickens, but behind the house Elizabeth discerned a large paddock, and there were several carefully fenced fields, suggesting that she usually did keep a few of her father's horses close to her house.

  Peter's missus' actual name was Sarah Norman, and even with a huge belly she was quick on her feet and rather slender of limb. She had dark red hair pinned to her head tightly, lively grey eyes and a snub nose. Elizabeth found her oddly attractive, she could imagine what Peter would see in her, there was so much energy in his athletic young wife. Mrs Norman was not as humble as Peter, she showed Fitzwilliam the respect he was due as her landlord and the master of her husband,
and she was very nice and outgoing

  to both him and Elizabeth, but it was clear she had the independent spirit of a farmer's daughter, that certain awareness that everyone in the world needed food, and farmers provided it. Elizabeth liked her a lot.

  Of course Mrs Norman loved talking about horses, she knew a lot about them, even about Fitzwilliam's horses. She had one skirt all ready and observed, 'Peter told me you ride every day, Mrs Darcy, so I asked my mother to help to get it finished as quickly as possible. We made it exactly as Mrs Reynolds told Peter to, I hope it fits perfectly. The other two will follow next week, I'll give them to Peter.'

  Fitzwilliam said, 'Thank you very much, Mrs Norman, you have made me very happy by enabling Mrs Darcy to ride with me. With your permission Mrs Reynolds will give your payment to Peter to take home to you, as well as the skirt you lent Mrs Darcy.'

  Mrs Norman smiled charmingly.

  'My pleasure, Mr Darcy, and please let me thank you as well, for allowing Peter shorter working days, I'm often lonely being unable to walk much or ride at all. It's so good to have him around when I'm having difficulty with the work here. I can't wait for the baby to be born, and be able to move properly again, and do my own duties. I'm used to taking care of myself.'

  Fitzwilliam proposed they step outside, which was a rather strange suggestion, but Mrs Norman acceded to it as if they had an arrangement of some sort. And when they did go outside, to the paddock behind the house, Elizabeth realized they actually had, even though they had never met before.

  For in the paddock she could see a horse that had to be Daisy, from the colour and the markings on her face, and Peter was just removing her usual saddle and replacing it with another, a beautifully made lady's saddle.

  Before Elizabeth could become nervous that they wanted her to just get on, Peter was finished and called out.

  'I sure hope Daisy remembers, for I've never ridden like this and it scares me half to death. Like those spiders I saw when searching for it in the attic.'

  That probably meant he was looking forward to doing it, and his expression seemed to confirm Elizabeth's suspicion. Fitzwilliam asked Elizabeth, 'Since neither of us knows how to use one of these, Elizabeth, will you tell Peter how to mount and sit? Then Mrs Norman will take over the instruction.'

  He was really going to do it, try whether Daisy still remembered carrying a sidesaddle! Elizabeth searched her memory, and pictured how one got on,

  and was supposed to sit. Peter was undoubtedly very nimble and not very heavy, so she cupped her hands and stood next to Daisy, and told him, 'If you'll just mount astride, then move your right leg to the opposite side without changing your seat. Your seat should remain right above the middle of Daisy's back, facing forward.'

  Of course humble Peter had real trouble using his mistress as a mounting block, but the only alternative was to use his master, and that idea daunted him even more, so he took a good hold of the saddle, then quickly and lightly stepped in Elizabeth's hands and found his seat.

  Elizabeth moved his leg to the right position, Peter's other foot already had the stirrup, and he let Daisy just stand still for a moment to feel the correct way to sit. It didn't even look too ridiculous seeing a man on a lady's saddle, but that was also because Peter didn't seem to feel awkward at all. He was busy. Daisy didn't move an inch, or a muscle, and Peter picked up the reins.

  'How do I get her to move, Mrs Darcy?'

  She told him, adding, 'Though I've learned in a very unsubtle way, you might want to adapt that to your own style.'

  Which he did, since Elizabeth only saw his heel move a little, and as Daisy indeed set off, Mrs Norman fell into stride with horse and husband, and they talked a lot. Fitzwilliam smiled at Elizabeth, and she couldn't help kissing him, he was so very attractive. When they looked back towards the action, Peter was showing just how good he was with a horse, for even in a totally unfamiliar position he had Daisy striding perfectly, and happily, she seemed really content as she was.

  Mrs Norman called out a few words, and Daisy performed an exercise they had practised, Elizabeth couldn't see Peter doing anything, but he must have.

  After a few more laps he clearly decided it was time to make some speed, and Daisy trotted off. Trotting was not pleasant without two legs to use as springs to catch the movement of the horse, his teeth were probably rattling, Elizabeth remembered the feeling, and also never managing to get her father's horse in a canter. That, too, was so much easier astride.

  But Peter now moved his leg back slightly and Daisy changed to a canter, which looked just awesome, even with a fellow in trousers on the beautiful saddle. For a short moment, Elizabeth imagined herself up there in that beautiful dress she ordered, and she almost felt eager to try this in a few days.

  After riding a few figures, and speeding up and slowing down, again

  without obvious signals to the horse, Peter, being a man, had to try a full-blown gallop as fast as the paddock allowed, then halted Daisy, unhooked his legs and slid down the saddle.

  Then he just put his foot in the stirrup and mounted again, and Daisy stayed rooted to the ground. As he slid down again, Elizabeth applauded him and called out to him.

  'Bravo Peter, you really are a superb rider!'

  Peter smiled shyly, and added, 'And, Mrs Darcy, Daisy is a fabulous horse.

  She did everything I asked, I didn't miss the use of my right leg very much.

  It wasn't scary, except trotting is something one needs to practise, in very tiny portions, that is very tiring.

  I'm very sure you will be able to enjoy riding in London, despite having to use a lady's saddle.'

  Mrs Norman observed, 'She is a truly great horse for this. And I thought it looked very elegant, I can imagine why a lady would choose to ride like this, in a proper riding dress the image will be so charming. Even Peter looked almost elegant in a canter.'

  So Mrs Norman teased her husband too, and from the looks of him he liked it as much as Fitzwilliam liked to be teased.

  Peter having exchanged the saddles once more, Fitzwilliam showed Elizabeth the sidesaddle, it was indeed a marvellous piece of work, dark brown leather with leaf-like ornamentation in a lighter shade.

  'We're going to leave it here, Peter will work with Daisy and his missus for a few days, until he has found the perfect way to guide Daisy with just one leg. And then he'll teach you, so you'll be safe.'

  That arrangement gave Elizabeth a twinge of excitement, with such training she would not feel afraid to ride on old Mrs Darcy's saddle, she would feel like she had accomplished something. On their way back they snuggled a little, and talked about Mrs Norman's little house and her love for horses.

  'She has no staff at all, Fitzwilliam, how will she find the time to ride with a newborn baby claiming constant attention?'

  'I suppose her parents will mind the wee thing, love, remember, her dad really wants her to work with his horses, so he will take care to free her to do so. Or pay someone with less talent to train his horses. Somehow I'm certain that Mrs Norman will not be stuck at home with a baby, no, that is not her purpose in life at all.'

  Chapter 19

  The rest of their honeymoon passed too quickly, reading, talking, making love, riding, fishing, shooting at targets, trying out the sidesaddle. It was much easier now Elizabeth had a lot more experience riding, and a better horse. Also, Peter was as good in instructing her to ride sidesaddle as he was teaching riding astride. After two days Elizabeth dared to leave the paddock and go out, though trotting was still a bit much to ask, she preferred to go to a canter straight away.

  A lot of clothes were coming in, riding skirts, blouses and gorgeous dresses, and the two winter coats, which was just in time for the weather turned to freezing temperatures and even snow.

  'How can one seamstress make so many items in so little time?' Elizabeth asked Mrs Reynolds, as she tried on the coats over one of the dresses.

  'I let her know everything needed to be finished within the week, sh
e probably hired a lot of help. That coat is perfectly fitted, she is very skilled, she probably sewed those little tucks herself and let someone else do the simpler jobs, like hemming. Can you do any sewing at all, Mrs Darcy?'

  Elizabeth admitted she could and had.

  'I'll probably be ridiculed, censured and despised for it if Mr Darcy's connections ever find out, but actually I'm very good at it. We couldn't afford a really good seamstress, and I've always been fond of needlework, and when my youngest sister tore her best gown and there was no servant who could repair it credibly, I tried, and I did such a neat job and I felt so good about it that I've stuck to the habit. Also, we used to improve the fit of the dresses we ordered made, my eldest sister Jane and I. But I'm very impressed by your seamstress' skills, I couldn't do it that well.'

  Again, Elizabeth seemed to have made a good impression on Mrs Reynolds by admitting to having mended and fitted her own gowns, something Miss Bingley would undoubtedly find deeply disgraceful.

  The housekeeper commented, 'So you know good fitting from bad, and how

  much work is involved. Excellent. The riding skirts look very well-made, too, Peter's missus has a deft hand with fabric. And they look much better than the one you borrowed, the fabric you chose makes the skirts flow much more naturally and they look very feminine on you, Mrs Darcy, especially combined with the new blouses. I saw you ride out on old Mrs Darcy's saddle, when your riding dress is finished you will look just like the old lady's portrait, the master will be so proud!'

  Such warmth could not but make Elizabeth feel really at home here, and in a way she regretted leaving again so soon, and for such a long time. Mrs Reynolds was still admiring the quality of the new dresses.

  'These dresses, Mrs Darcy, it may seem as if we live in a backwater here, but the master's newspaper is delivered within a day, and the magazines with the latest fashions are also quick to be ordered and delivered. A good seamstress can draw a pattern from a picture, within three days she is ready to make the first try-out dress. No, your clothes will be fine for the city, but there are some city folk who will try to look down on you, not even for your lineage but for being from the country. They will snub you and try to make you feel naïve and unsophisticated. If they do, don't hesitate to tell the master, he will set them to rights. And in matters of style and fashionable manners, trust to Simon, he is forthright and always aware of the latest affectations.'