by Nicky Roth
'Hm, then I guess I will have to make it up to him somehow.'
'So it would seem. But I gather that for the time being, he is perfectly happy to have you back and follow you around.'
'As I have told you, Miss Bennet, animals do not judge.'
'No, they do not,' she smiled before turning around on her heel and walking off, this time in an altogether different direction.
He really had to take care not to stare after her as she wandered through the fields with a spring in her step, in obvious enjoyment of the morning with the sun just breaking through the clouds which had gathered in the sky overnight and with the mist slowly lifting only leaving the morning dew on the grass and leaves. It was a sight he was pretty sure he would never get enough of. There was such enjoyment in everything she did, and especially in walking, that it was impossible not to feel some of it as well.
Besides, the fresh air did him good and the scratch at the back of his throat from the morning was now almost completely gone. He was still admittedly slower in his work than he normally was since, by half past ten, all the daily tasks were yet to be done. Together with Peters, who in the meanwhile had been taking care of the saplings in the greenhouse, he started to lay out the rows in the vegetable garden to plant the first beds with parsnips, carrots and beets for an early harvest, and though it was perhaps a bit optimistic, also a row of beans and peas each for good measure.
Peters had long since explained to him that occasionally this could pay out, and had the additional benefit that Smith would be not be burdened with the work of preserving all the vegetables at once.
Chapter 29
Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.
- Confucius
Two days had passed since Mr Darcy had recovered and if she was honest with herself, she had tried her utmost to avoid him. That she had run into William the very first day after his illness had been due to her not having expected him being out and about so soon again, and while she could not bring herself to ignore the man then, she again had felt the danger. He had looked pale yet cheerful, engrossed in his work until he had turned around and spotted her standing there.
Sitting in front of her mirror, Elizabeth tried to find the motivation to get changed, before walking over to Jane to do her sister's hair when suddenly the door was flung open.
'Lizzy, can I borrow your pink sash?' Lydia asked excitedly, bobbing up and down on her feet. 'I think it would look very becoming with the dress I am going to wear tonight, do you not agree?'
She held up a beautiful made over silk-gown that had once belonged to Jane, all eagerness for her first ball that would take place tonight. Elizabeth was still not all that certain that it was such a good idea to bring her youngest sister out into society at the age of just fourteen, though Lydia herself insisted that, after all, she was now much closer to her fifteenth birthday than to her fourteenth.
'Yes, you may Lydia, for I intend to wear my blue frock anyway so I will not need it for tonight.'
'Thank you!' was all her sister's reply, before she reached into Elizabeth's bandbox in which she kept all her ribbons and lace and quickly dashed off again.
'Lydia!' she heard Mary exclaim in some anguish before with a clatter something fell to the ground. 'Do take care where you are going!'
'Oh, I am so sorry Mary. What is all this stuff anyway and why are you not getting ready yet?'
'This, Lydia, is my sewing basket, as you can clearly see and now I have to tidy it again. See what a mess you have made; all my yarns are now in a pile whereas they were neatly rolled up before.'
'La, it is not my fault that you did not hold on to it tightly, what have I to do with it?'
'If you had not run around like that, there would have been no need for me to hold on to it tightly,' Mary replied testily. 'How was I supposed to know that you were to come along barging through the corridor without paying attention as to where you were going?'
Oh dear, it was like a cat chasing its own tail... - Had you not done this, had you not done that. It was the same old story pretty much day in day out.
'Do not worry, Mary, I will lend you a hand,' she heard Jane say quietly and judging by the sound of hasty footsteps, Lydia just carried on as she had moments before.
With a sigh, Elizabeth rose and went to help her sisters with the sewing basket, still not much inclined to get changed. Oddly enough, she had never looked forward to a ball as little as this one but it seemed as if Lydia's enthusiasm had quenched all hers.
'I really do not know what all this fuss is about,' Mary still grumbled.
'You must know how hard it was on Lydia to be the only one having to stay at home,' Jane answered softly while picking up a couple of pins and needles.
'She has been looking forward to this day for a long time, so it is only natural that she would be excited,' Elizabeth added, though to an extent she had to agree with Mary.
'If it were for me, I would rather spend my evening reading a book!'
Neither Jane nor her replied to this statement and suddenly Elizabeth got the feeling that perhaps the reason why Mary disliked dances so universally was that during most of them, she spent her time sitting in a corner watching as the others danced one dance after the other. Thinking about it, Elizabeth could not remember if Mary had ever danced after her first ball, which truth be told had been somewhat of a disaster with her sister's awkwardness and their mother's well-meant exclamations of 'Do watch your step lest you stumble, Mary!' had not exactly helped either.
'Are you about to get ready, Mary? If so, perhaps all three of us could help one another,' Elizabeth remarked as off-handedly as she could so as to not make it too obvious that she took pity on her sister and almost expected a refusal.
But Jane, with a gentle smile, added: 'Yes, that is a very good plan seeing that Kitty and Lydia are so busy with themselves. What gown are you intending to wear?'
'My green one, as always.'
Yes, indeed as always. For some reason which was quite beyond her, it was Mary's favourite, though the colour made her look rather sickly and the cut was not very flattering either.
'You know, I had thought about wearing my pink one, but then thought that I actually prefer the blue one,' Elizabeth blatantly lied, 'if you like, I can lend you the pink dress just for a change. Pink suits you so much better than me anyway and seeing that you are the same height as I and just as slight, I dare say it will fit you perfectly.'
Again that was not exactly true, for she had never seen Mary in any other colour than browns, greys and greens, none of which were flattering to her pale complexion.
From her sister's expression it was clear that she wanted to object but knew not how for she was obviously speechless and so instead she hesitantly nodded. Ha, so far so good, for once they had managed to outwit her, and with a little luck, it would not only be Lydia who enjoyed this evening. If only they had thought of this before!
Dragging her along into Elizabeth's room, Mary did not quite know where to sit once they had all piled in, and finally chose to take the window seat, making her hair once again glow in the sun of the late afternoon, illuminating it like a halo while she watched on with a frown as Jane began to dress Elizabeth's hair and then vice versa. When it was Mary's turn, Elizabeth almost expected that she would finally object, but to her great surprise, Mary did not. Instead she graciously sat down in the chair in front of Elizabeth's vanity and though still frowning let her sisters have their way with her. The effect of a more flattering style instead of her usual stern bun, was already quite astonishing and thankfully, the dress indeed fit her almost perfectly only requiring a little alteration at the bust which was done by Jane in no time at all.
'I hope you are happy now,' Mary remarked coolly as if they had done her harm but it was easy to see that she was actually quite pleased.
'Very happy, Mary,' Jane, most beautiful as always, smiled, catching a quick glance from Elizabeth. 'You do look lovely.'
'Yes, but I am not
!' Mary heatedly exclaimed before storming off, much like Lydia had not two hours before.
Chapter 30
A bachelor's life is no life for a single man.
Samuel Goldwyn
The Assembly Hall was already packed with people when they arrived and the humming of many voices filled the ballroom. Just as she had expected, there were all the usual faces, some excited, others joyful, and some bored. Casting a curious glance around, Elizabeth quickly spotted Charlotte standing together with her mother to the side of where the musicians were occupied with tuning their instruments and walking over to them greeted her friend with a brilliant smile and a small and rather mocking curtsy.
'How are you this evening, Charlotte?'
'Oh, very well. And you will not believe the news! But it appears as if my prediction has come true and Netherfield Park will be let at last. Apparently, there is a young gentleman in town who came to have a look at it by recommendation of a friend and he supposedly closed with the attorney directly.'
'Has he indeed,' Elizabeth asked, raising her eyebrow sceptically.
'Yes, and as it is from what I hear, he said since he is staying at the inn for the night, that he will be attending the ball.'
'So that is why everybody is staring so eagerly at the door?'
'Well, he must be a man of some consequence, Miss Elizabeth,' Lady Lucas remarked before leaving to greet Mrs Bennet and compliment Lydia on her coming out.
Surely, in town, a coming out would be more than just attending a ball for the very first time, but in the country, it was nothing but the young lady being allowed to lead the first dance and be done with it. Needless to say that Lydia was beaming as brightly as at least ten chandeliers at the prospect while her sisters had all rather dreaded this for fear of them exposing them all to ridicule.
'And do you know the name of this mysterious stranger?' Elizabeth asked when Lady Lucas was out of earshot.
'No, unfortunately, I could not find out, which vexes me greatly,' Charlotte replied laughingly. 'And it is also quite a mystery who his friend is, who suggested he should take a look at the house. As yet no-one has admitted to it.'
'Well, I would wager it is one of the families who spend their winters in London.'
'Yes, that seems likely,' her friend admitted and left it at that.
Not that she would have any chance to add anything for at that very moment, the young man himself stepped through the door with a most amiable and open expression on his handsome face, smiling broadly at the prospect of being in their company faltering only for an instant when he caught sight of Jane as if startled. And presumably he was, for it was hard to not admire her eldest sister. That he should be so young surprised Elizabeth, however, as did his eagerness to please and dance. What was less of a surprise was that Jane was the first woman he stood up with, much to Lydia's dismay, who had to make do with Frank Lucas instead. Not that it bothered her all that much seeing that a moment later she was happily dancing.
'I see that as always gentlemen are scarce,' Charlotte remarked wryly. 'I wonder why we never seem to have enough young men around here. I have to agree with you that here is a decided shortage of dance partners. Our new neighbour seems to be quite taken by Jane. Just look at how he never takes his eyes off of her!'
In all honesty, this time around Elizabeth was almost glad she had not yet been asked but unfortunately neither had Mary who once again sat in her usual spot right in the corner of the room where it was most difficult to see her and her much-improved appearance.
'Well, Jane is without a doubt the prettiest girl in the room so I am not in the least surprised that he should ask her first.'
'True. Mary looks lovely this evening. She should wear pink more often. It suits her complexion.'
'Yes, but it was only by chance that we managed to persuade her to try it on and I am almost certain that for the time being it was also the last time,' Elizabeth sighed.
Seeing her mother beckoning her towards herself, Elizabeth made her excuses and joined Mrs Bennet who was still busily talking to her dear friend.
'Lizzy, did you know that Netherfield Park has been let at last? Well, this young man dancing with Jane has taken out a lease and he is said to be very well off indeed. At least a couple of thousand a year! His name is Bingley and he seems such a dear. Quite charming how he excused himself, seeing that he did not know anybody around here who could introduce him, graciously apologising for being so bold and without ceremony. But who could be offended by such an amiable handsome young man? And it is not as if we pay much heed about such things as a formal introduction here, is it now?'
Well, at least her mother was not and at any rate, her statement that his amiable ways made it quite easy to overlook that with doing so himself, the introductions were not quite proper.
'And that he should ask Jane for the very first dance! What a compliment!'
This went on for some time, as always. After all, her mother was an excitable person both in the good and not so good sense.
As the music ended, it was fortunate that her mother changed the topic from Jane and Mr Bingley to Lydia and how well she danced and how pretty she looked for otherwise, Elizabeth was quite certain, that it could have been embarrassing. It was nothing but compliments for her youngest once the couples either made space or re-assembled on the dance floor. And when, after bowing deeply to Jane, Netherfield's new tenant asked her second oldest daughter for the next, and not before making yet another claim for Miss Bennet's hand later in the evening, their mother's happiness was almost complete. It appeared as if he intended to dance with all her daughters seeing that he also asked Kitty and Lydia when they were free and not only that, but he also carefully inquired after Mary.
'So, I have heard you have taken Netherfield,' Elizabeth started when the dance had begun shortly thereafter, quite puzzled by the man's knowledge about her family.
'Yes, I see I have not been here for four and twenty hours and am already the talk of town,' her partner grinned back in his cheerful manner that indeed seemed to be habitual.
'And, is that so surprising seeing how small Meryton is?'
'Certainly not. And obviously not as well, seeing that everybody seems to know at least my name already.'
He was a good dancer and despite chatting merrily, he did not miss a step even once. Would William, well, Mr Darcy, be just as good? She had not meant to think of him at all, but before she knew it, her own mind had betrayed her once again.
'Your sister is a most charming young lady,' Bingley carried on his eyes looking to where Jane was dancing with William Goulding now.
'Yes, she is,' Elizabeth absent-mindedly acquiesced. 'And she is as good at heart as she is beautiful.'
For a moment Bingley fell silent before making an odd comment about his mysterious friend, the one who recommended that he should take a look at Netherfield, having been right about Jane as well as herself and basically all her sisters. Elizabeth would have liked to make further inquiries, had he not with what seemed like a guilty conscience, changed the topic to the ball in general and with that making the conversation rather uninteresting. Yes, the assembly hall was nicely laid out, could even be considered grand for a town as small as Meryton and yes, gentlemen were always lacking. It was too vexing to be denied an interesting conversation, though without a doubt, he was a cheerful and enthusiastic conversationalist even now.
'So when will you take possession of Netherfield?' she finally managed to steer the conversation back down more interesting paths, if only for a short moment.
'Oh, I do think by the end of next week. Right after my eldest sister’s wedding. As soon as I am back in town on the morrow, I will send my servants over to have everything prepared. Now that I at long last found a house in the country, I am quite eager to move in,' Bingley replied to her inquiry and with that, the second dance of the evening ended leaving Elizabeth once again to the company of Charlotte Lucas while he went on to dance with Lydia and then Mary who, much to h
er surprise and pleasure, was currently engaged elsewhere. Who would have thought?
Chapter 31
It is only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the Spring, who reaps a harvest in the Autumn.
- B. C. Forbes
The week had passed in no time once again and while at first Darcy had still felt slightly under the weather, the tremendous amount of work waiting for him had made him soon forget about his cold. With the ploughing, sowing, and planting of the first crops, both Peters and he along the other lads and various hired farmhands, had been incredibly busy to say the least. Needless to add that the lessons were suspended for the time being. There was just too much to do to bother much about education. Aside from the fieldwork, there were still the usual daily chores to be taken care of, and in order to get them out of the way more quickly, John had been made to help them. Not that he was of much help, truth be told. If anything, he stood more in the way than assisting with any of the tasks at hand and did as little as he possibly could. Yes, he still had a lot to learn, there Peters was perfectly right.