Lizzy's income is £10000/year, the same as Darcy. Bingley initially got it wrong; he assumed her fortune was a lump sum in the form of a dowry, which was a more common arrangement for heiresses then.
Thanks to alix33 for corrections.
Suggestions for the title of chapter 9 were:
"Settling in" by Deanna27,
"Something in the Heir" by suddenlysingle,
"First impressions" by Laure Saint-Yves,
"Of New Hopes and Crushed Dreams" by Chica de Los Ojas Cafe,
"Lap of Luxury" OR "Strange Men in Need" by Emily Woods,
"Highs and Lows" by Dizzy Lizzy.60.
I thought of "Of cousins and correspondence".
Oh, very good suddenlysingle! I'm not sure that it entirely fits, but I do love puns. I may recycle it for a later chapter though, if a more appropriate one comes up. Actually I was watching Jane Eyre recently with my husband when he pointed out her name was a pun!
Chapter 10 New-found friends
When Lizzy came down to breakfast on the next morning, with her hair carefully coifed by her new maid in a dashing style of the latest mode, she was feeling more cheerful. The sun was shining and there was every prospect that today she would get out of the house and see more of London. Her cheer was short lived. Upon entering the parlour she was informed by Mrs Samuels that the mistress would be sleeping in, as she had been up tending to the master's gout again in the middle of the night.
Having consumed a hearty breakfast of ham, eggs and tea in stately solitude, Lizzy could not bear to be inside a moment longer. Slipping up to her room, she was relieved to find her maid absent. She pulled on her boots and redingote with all haste before her abigail could return. It was her intention to walk in the Green Park which, from her aunt's saloon, had been so temptingly displayed before her beyond the press of vehicles on Piccadilly. She thought she might possibly go as far as Hyde Park. Lizzy knew enough to keep away from that part of the park that abutted St James Park, which was predominantly a gentlemen's area.
However she was rather in dread that if her project became known, she might be thwarted or, almost as bad, have her footsteps dogged by a footman. But when the baron's secretary Mr Peabody arrived at eight as she was coming down the stairs from her bedchamber, Lizzy contrived to slip out the front door when the footman followed him into the study.
Once in the street she looked in dismay at the traffic. The crossings were by no means as dense in this more open area of Piccadilly as they were in Cheapside. Nonetheless, by walking towards the City,* she found a kindly crossing sweeper* and pressed a shilling into his surprised hand.
Green Park* turned out to be rather underwhelming, displaying neither the expected manicured formality of the gardens of Netherfield nor the wild beauty of her rambles in Hertfordshire. Thoroughly disappointed by the time she arrived at the gates of Hyde Park, Lizzy felt tempted to go further.
Through the gates she went and was soon pleased by the sight of the Serpentine. Finding a bench, Lizzy sat down and contemplated the waterbirds going about their business. This was better! But she had not long been there, drinking in the sunshine and more pure air to be found in the vicinity of nature when a bark behind her announced a newcomer. She turned to see a huge something bounding towards the water, dragging a bonneted lady, who staggered behind him, unable to get any purchase on the ground. Lizzy at first thought the animal was a small bear but on closer inspection, it revealed itself to be a Newfoundland dog.
Quite unafraid of the animal, which Lizzy could see was only in high spirits, she stood to render what assistance she could and thus distracted the dog from its mad rush towards the water. It came bounding instead towards her, wagging its bushy tail enthusiastically. Before the young lady could do more than utter a shriek of dismay, the dog launched itself at Lizzy. She was quick enough to put her hands up to catch the dog's paws, sparing herself the worst of the muck. But the dog's momentum was too much for her and she went staggering backwards before she found her ground, her gloves thoroughly besmirched.
"Oh, Newfie! How could you!" cried the lady. "Oh, ma'am, I am so sorry! Your gloves are likely ruined!"
Lizzy meanwhile was trying to avoid being licked. "Sit! Stay!" she commanded fruitlessly.
Using all her weight, the young lady managed to drag the dog back down onto its four paws with the leash, whereupon it obligingly 'sat'. By this time Lizzy had managed to get hold of its collar. The young lady thanked her profusely and, releasing the leash so that it merely hung rather precariously round her wrist, began to rummage around in a large reticule. The dog looked at her expectantly and its jaws opened to a huge smile when she withdrew something wrapped in a wax cloth, which revealed itself to be a large bone.
"There!" she said, throwing the bone down on the ground.
The dog fell upon it with gusto.
"Oh dear!" she said turning to Lizzy, clearly distraught. "Are you all right? I am so sorry about your gloves!"
"Do not concern yourself!" Lizzy assured her. Despite the lady's admirable height, she was clearly quite young, probably only just out. Her clothing was of the first stare.* It seemed surprising she was not accompanied by a maid or footman but Lizzy supposed she was unlikely to be waylaid due to her canine companion. "It is just a bit of dirt and some grass stains," Lizzy went on. "My maid should be able to get it out."
Relieved of her immediate concern, the girl frowned down at the dog. "Heavens! I'm not sure if one is allowed to feed dogs in the park! I only brought the bone as a treat afterwards, to help me get back into the townhouse." She glanced around anxiously. "Do you think the ranger will object?"
"I think he would object more to having a few of his waterbirds plucked," Lizzy assured her. "The bone shows enormous foresight."
The girl grinned appreciatively. "Do you mind if I join you? I expect we won't be going anywhere until he has finished that bone."
"Please do," said Lizzy, now wishing she had worn her newer pelisse after all. "And forgive my attire, I was not sure how dirty it would be after all that rain."
"Oh! That shows great foresight! And it is just as well!" said the girl, "—given what has happened. My maid will not be happy with me," she said, ruefully inspecting the wet and dirty hem of her beautiful pelisse. Her attention slid to Lizzy's footwear. "Those look like very comfortable boots!"
This compliment sat very well with Lizzy. Finding a lady of her own heart, they conversed very amiably in the sunshine for what seemed like a short time, watching the waterbirds and occasionally looking at the dog when it uttered some guttural sound as it worried the bone.
But when the dog's interest in the waterbirds reanimated, Lizzy was forced to grab for its collar when it rose on its haunches.
"Oh dear!" said the girl consulting an expensive-looking pocket watch. "It is almost ten! How time has flown! I had better be getting back! I did not tell them I was going out! Thank you ever so much for helping me! I am Georgie!"
"Nice to meet you, Georgie. I am Lizzy!"
They shook hands. Then the girl got up, picked up the forgotten bone in an old newspaper she had retrieved from her reticule and turned in the direction from whence she had come. Her companion had other ideas.
"Come on, Newfie!" she called encouragingly. But the dog was watching the waterbirds with pricked ears, clearly intent on extending his promenade.
"Let me help you get him started," suggested Lizzy, releasing the leash.
Getting up, she ran in the direction the pair had come from, then turned and slapped her thighs. "Come on, boy! Come on!" she yelled encouragingly.
Gratifyingly, it was enough to garner the dog's interest. He set off towards her. Lizzy turned and continued to run in front.
"Which way should I go?" she yelled over her shoulder.
"Towards the Grosvenor Street gate!" returned the girl, pointing.
Lizzy continued to jog steadily ahead of her companions until she reached the gate, then stopped to allow them to come up with her. It had been her intention to bid her companions goodbye there before walking back towards Piccadilly inside the wall along the edge of the park. Straining at his leash, the dog greeted her with an enthusiastic bark. While he had clearly found the sedate lope he had adopted to keep up with her quite invigorating, Lizzy was dismayed to find her new acquaintance quite out of breath.
"Oh dear!" said Georgie, clutching her side. "I am not used to such vigorous activity and these shoes were entirely the wrong thing to wear," she said, inspecting the soles of her footwear which had Louis heels*. "They have no grip on the flagstones, twist on the cobbles and sink into the turf!"
Lizzy now more fully appreciated Georgie's previous compliment on her footwear. "Perhaps I could take him for a while?" she offered.
"Oh! Would you?" asked Georgie eagerly. "I must admit I completely overestimated my ability to control him! I live in Grosvenor Square. Is it very far out of your way?"
It immediately flashed into Lizzy's mind that Mr Darcy lived in Grosvenor Square. Miss Bingley's constant allusion to it during Lizzy's stay at Netherfield meant it was hardly a fact that would have slipped her mind in the short interim since that event.
"No, not at all. I am on Piccadilly," she continued smoothly. She supposed she could enter his square with impunity. It was not entirely his domain, after all. Indeed, the chances of actually meeting him were remote and should he even chance to be looking out his window, he would merely see two bonneted ladies walking a dog.
Georgie gratefully handed over the leash. After the dog had refreshed himself from a puddle after his run, they set off over the crossing on Park Lane.
"Are you staying at the Pulteney?" Georgie enquired.
Lizzy laughed. "You guessed I am but newly arrived in London?"
"Well," admitted Georgie, feeling she had been a little impertinent. "I have not seen you before."
"I am staying with my aunt at Mickleham House."
"Oh! You are a relative of Lady Mickleham! I wish my aunts were so elegant! My aunt Catherine is so old fashioned! And poor aunt Matlock is sadly faded. Your aunt always looks so young and fashionable, even though she still wears those court gowns!"
"Yes," said Lizzy, considering this. "I suppose it is because she has her gowns made up in the latest fabrics and never wears caps. She told me she does not think high-waisted gowns flatter any but young willowy damsels—much like you, I suppose."
"Me!" squawked Georgie. "I may be tall, but I have no figure at all! My maid is put to great lengths to fashion any sort of décolletage at all for evening functions!"
Lizzy smiled but was unable to make any reply to this, for at that moment a carriage went past and she was hard-pressed to stay on the flagstones when Newfie suddenly lurched towards it. Georgie grabbed for the leash and their combined weight proved enough to stay him.
"Sorry!" Georgie apologised once the emergency was over. "I forgot to say that he likes to bite the wheels of carriages!"
"What abominable manners your dog has!" observed Lizzy, straightening her coiffure, which had been knocked askew by Georgie's shoulder in the struggle.
"Oh, he is very young," explained Georgie. "I only got him two days ago from my cousin Henry. I do wish he had trained him a little better before handing him over. He cost me my entire pin money for this quarter! He is a birthday present for my brother!"
At that moment, they reached the place where the street opened up into the square and Lizzy saw that Grosvenor Square was enormous—much bigger than the nearby Berkeley Square where the Gardiners had taken her last summer to try an ice at Gunter's. She breathed a sigh of relief. The chances of meeting Mr Darcy in such an expanse of real estate were infinitesimal!
"What a good sister you are!" Lizzy joked, "—spending all your pin money on your brother!"
"I am afraid I am a very bad sister!" said Georgie. "My brother's birthday was in May!"
"Well," said Lizzy, jovially. "I expect there wasn't anything worth buying in May. November is a much better month for purchasing things! Indeed, puppies come in their own good time!"
"I'm afraid I was rather preoccupied in May," said Georgie. "And very naughty. Newfie is my attempt at an apology."
Lizzy caught the serious tone in the girl's voice and chose to steer the conversation away from the clearly painful topic.
"I'm afraid you will have to think of a better name for him than Newfie!" she said in the arch manner she employed when cajoling her father, which seemed never to give offence. "I demand you think of something more original!"
Georgie laughed. "It is only a temporary name. I intend for my brother to name him. What a pity Brother had to race off to Rosings and thus missed when Henry delivered him. Then I would not have felt obliged to take Newfie out for this walk! Poor thing! He has been cooped up inside for two days!"
At that moment they arrived at the base of the steps of a grand townhouse. "Oh dear!" said Georgie, confronted by the next problem. "I was going to sneak back in via the area steps, leaving the dog in the courtyard with his bone. Now he has already chewed on it, he'll probably make a fuss if I leave him alone outside for a few minutes while I contrive to unbolt the front door to take him through that way."
"Well, I could hold him for a few minutes while you do so," offered Lizzy.
Georgie considered for a moment. "Then, you must come in afterwards to fix your hair. I cannot let you go off like it is—the ribbon has almost fallen out! I know! Perhaps there is no need to sneak inside anyway. We can say that we went for the walk together! I met you at Lady Sefton's Ball last week!"
Lizzy would have demurred. She was not inclined to tell fibs. Nor did she feel she had any right entering Georgie's townhouse on so short an acquaintance. She would have preferred to first leave one of her new cards, which had been delivered from the printers yesterday. She had unfortunately not brought any with her because she had not yet purchased a card case. Her dilemma was solved when the townhouse's door opened of its own accord.
"Miss Georgie!" cried an aged footman. "What on earth are you doing out there!"
"Fletcher! I just took the new dog for a walk with my friend, Miss... Elizabeth!"
"Bennet!" added Lizzy.
Fletcher looked at them dubiously. "Well! You had better come inside! The master will have my head if he ever discovers you slipped out without my knowledge!"
Georgie merely smiled invitingly at Lizzy and, securing the dog's collar, proceeded up the steps.
"Well, as he is at Rosings, Fletcher," said Georgie as she stepped onto the parquetry floor of the vestibule, "I won't tell him if you don't."
Fletcher had no time to reply to this sally. He had immediately begun to search out a rag in the closet to wipe down the dog's paws, all the while grumbling about scratches and mess.
Lizzy had no sooner followed Georgie into the vestibule than a familiar voice rang out. "What won't you tell me, Georgie?"
In the resulting confusion, both ladies forgot themselves. Georgie let go of the collar with a gasp and Lizzy dropped the leash. Untrammelled, Newfie hurled himself at the promising newcomer, whose breeches and top boots announced him to be a good fellow of the same sort as his former owner and playmate, Henry. His paws landed squarely on the taught mushroom-coloured fabric that graced Darcy's well-muscled thighs.
For Lizzy, with her ribbon dangling precariously from one side of her head, it was a moment that seemed to stretch out to eternity.
"Happy birthday, Brother!" said Georgie, trying to put the best face on things.
Footnotes
*crossing sweepers cleared animal manure from passing vehicles out of the way for pedestrians. They might also lay planks over puddles.
*Green Park was landscaped by John Nash in 1820
*Bath gate—located near what is now Hyde Park Corner, the Bath gate was on the road to Bath and located close to the toll gates. The toll gates were dismantled and sold in 1825 because they were impeding traffic. In 1827, the Bath Gate was replaced by Aspley Gate by Decimus Burton.
*City—the capitalised form refers to the Medieval part of the city which was still bounded by walls in the Regency. It has its own government and police force and the Queen has to request permission to enter. Despite the gates now being removed, it still is a separate entity and the heart of the biggest financial district in the UK or the world.
*first stare—highest fashion
*Louis heels—heels made fashionable by the King Louis XIV (5ft 4''). See Pinterest board.
*Gunter's—a famous patisserie and ice cream shop.
*area steps—external steps leading downstairs from the pavement to the kitchens, the service entrance.