Pride and Prejudice
And here I thought I murdered the English literature with this story, poor Jane Austen is probably hating me at the moment... Thanks for all the appreciated feedback you've been giving me, so... this is the second installment of this fic. Another big fat thank you to Audrey for beta-ing this. Read and review
Chapter 2
Dear Friend,
I hope you could join me and my sister, Rachel, for lunch today at Netherfield. Both our brother and Mr Taub are away till dawn and we would love to spend some lovely hours with you.
Always yours,
Remy Wilson.
Julia kept reading the letter as if her life depended on it; she smiled at her sister before lowering her eyes to once again read the letter. Lisa shook her by the shoulder a little concerned for her sister.
"Are you okay?" she asked, and Julia nodded in return.
"Yes, I am. Never been better Lise. Miss Wilson invited me over for lunch today, thus both Mr Wilson and Mr Taub are not home," she informed her family, a huge smile coming back to her lips. Lisa smiled at her warmly, knowing that this meant that her eldest sister might have a high opportunity to be the future Mrs Wilson.
"This is great, my dear," Mrs Cuddy told her daughter, walking closer to her and planting a kiss on the crown of her head. "This is really really, really good," she repeated.
"May I take the carriage?" Julia asked her father.
"Your dad needs the horses to be here," Arlene replied. "But I think you could ride your own horse to their manor..." Julia nodded and followed her sister to their room. Mr Cuddy stared at her wife from behind his book.
"You really want this wedding, don't you?" he asked. His wife huffed before sitting on the armchair next to him.
"Of course I do," she replied.
"You want this so much that you're willing to risk your daughter's health..." he commented, looking out of the window, noticing that the weather was getting worst and a storm might be coming soon.
"She is going to be fine," she assured him, before smiling. "Mr Wilson will make sure of it and so will his sisters," she concluded before joining their daughters.
Lisa stood at the window watching, looking outside as her sister rode her horse along the path, directed to Netherfield Park.
As soon as Julia left, rain started pouring down, making the Jersey countryside an enormous puddle of mud. Later that night, Lisa was still at the window, staring at the rain as it fell from the sky. She was worried for her sister, worried that she would get hurt or would fall ill in a house she was only a guest. Her mother, on the other hand, was happy because her plan was going perfectly fine. That night Julia wouldn't come back home, Mr Wilson's sisters would never let her ride through a storm; her mother made it possible that the only possibility was that her daughter would spend the night at the Wilson's estate, under the caring eyes of Mrs Taub, Miss Wilson and possibly of Mr Wilson himself.
Lisa woke up early the following morning as a man came tapping on the window, intended to leave her a letter. As soon as the man handed it to her, she bid him farewell and opened the envelope to find a note from her sister.
Dear Lise,
This morning I am not feeling fine, probably because of the cold wind and the rain. Miss Wilson and her sister insisted to have Dr Foreman checking up on me, so don't worry if you heard about him visiting me: it's only a cold and a mild migraine, I will soon be perfectly fine.
Yours,
Julia
"Are you happy, Mom? Julia's sick and that's your fault." Lisa told her mother.
"Lisa, don't use that tone with me," Mrs Cuddy replied angrily. "What I did was aimed to have Mr Wilson to take care of her, and as you see I succeeded. He won't let a single thing happen to Julia as long as she's there," she concluded, finishing her breakfast.
Lisa gave one last bite at her toast, before standing up announcing that she was going to Netherfield to visit her sister.
"I'll go check up on her even if it means I have to walk till the Wilson's estate."
"Lisa, what are you thinking? With all the mud out there, you will be covered in dirt," Arlene said, trying to make her daughter change her mind.
"Julia won't care and that's what matters," she said.
"Is this your way of asking me to give you a horse?" Mr Cuddy asked. Lisa smiled at him sweetly, shaking her head no.
"No dad, it's no big deal. I'm not afraid to walk 3 miles for such an important reason. I'll come back late this afternoon," Lisa said, before walking out of the room under the impressed look of her father and the disappointed one of her mother.
Lisa saw Netherfield park from above the hill and rushed down the side, walking as fast as her tired legs and the mud on the path allowed her.
She was lead into the living room where everyone but Julia was gathered; everyone turned around surprised at her sudden appearance. Mrs Taub and Miss Wilson couldn't believe that Lisa had walked three miles only to be with her sister, and Lisa understood that that wasn't admiration for such a lovely gesture in their eyes, but mockery. However she was welcomed by everyone with kindness and she could see how affection Mr Wilson reserved towards her sister, his words were underlines with love and she smiled, knowing that Julia had won the nice man's heart. Mr House was there too, his tall figure stood out from the little crowd gathered in the room. He gave Lisa a small nod of the head before looking out of the window. Mr Taub on the other hand, gave no sign of having seen her.
"Miss Cuddy," said Mr Wilson. "Your lovely sister is upstairs, I'm sure she'd love to have you here." He then called one of his servants and asked him to lead the girl to her sister's room and do whatever she asked. Lisa was lead upstairs. They climbed up a long white marble flight of steps and entered what seemed to be a huge ball room. Lisa stood speechless at the stateliness of the house; the man cleared his throat, signaling the woman to follow him. They walked through the room and into another hallway. Portraits adorned the walls with their golden frames; every now and then a widow opened onto the immense park, interval by doors, leading to the guest bedrooms. At the end of the hallway, the man stopped and pointed to the inlaid door on the left. Lisa nodded and opened the door to find her sister in a huge canopy bed. Julia was surprised to see her sister entering the room and as soon as she got closer to her bed she draw her into a tight hug.
An hour later they were joined by the Wilson sisters, who spend the majority of the day with them, entertaining themselves with Julia.
It was almost three in the afternoon and Lisa decided that it was time to walk back home. Miss Wilson offered her to have a carriage taking her home, Lisa was about to accept the offer when both Miss Wilson and Mrs Taub saw Julia's disappointment upon being away from her sister once again and decided to extend Lisa's invitation to stay for a couple more days. Lisa gladly accepted after her sister's insistence and a servant was sent to their parents, informing them of the new plans.
At five, the two women left to get ready for dinner and almost half an hour later, Lisa was called down for dinner. Everyone asked updates about her sister's health and sadly she couldn't five any good news: Julia wasn't getting better, her fever had gone higher and Lisa was really worried even if the doctor had visited her earlier and gave her some meds. Upon hearing the news, both women expressed their concerns a couple times before changing the subject to a more suitable one: on the other hand, Mr Wilson was truly interested in the poor girl's condition and every now and then he would ask a servant to check on the girl.
Out of the whole company, the only person who Lisa found herself willing to talk to was Mr Wilson: Miss Wilson was always next to Mr House, talking to him or trying to get his attention and so was her sister; Mr Taub had only eyes for food and games.
Lisa excused herself and went to her sister room to check on her before coffee was served. As soon as she left the room, Miss Wilson started the conversation.
"That girl truly has no good qualities and her manners! Oh, don't let me start on them. She walked three miles alone in the mud just to see her sister and when she got here her dress was covered in dirt," she said, receiving a nod from her sister.
"Remy, your description could be true but I didn't look at her dress when she arrived here. I was completely surprised that she walked all the way here to visit her ill sister," Mr Wilson told her sister, disapproving her words.
"You didn't pay attention to her appearance but I'm sure Mr House did," Miss Wilson said with a wicked smile. "Of course you wouldn't want your sister to behave like this," she continued turning to look at House.
"Actually, I didn't," he replied. "And no, I wouldn't."
Miss Wilson laughed. "Of course you wouldn't. I think she's so proud of herself for walking so many miles for her sister and didn't realize that she made a fool of herself," she concluded, still laughing.
"She surely shows great affection toward her sister, which makes her very nice to my eyes and heart," Mr Wilson said, trying to dismiss the argument.
"I'm afraid, though, Mr House," murmured Miss Wilson, "that this so called adventure might have changed your opinion about Lisa's beautiful eyes." House could hear her mischievous tone and it sounded so annoying to his own ears.
"Not at all," he replied coldly. "When she got here, her eyes were even brighter," he smirked at his friend and silence filled the room as he slowly made his way out.
A/N: I do plan on following the novel's storyline, cutting of course the less interesting parts. I'll try to focus more on Mr House/Miss Cuddy... I'll try my best. Leave a review and let me know :)