"Can I get you anything, Miss Jenna? Coffee or tea? Some juice perhaps?"
"I could go for a cup of tea, Percy," said Jenna. "But only if I make it and make one for you too. After all, you made the popcorn."
Over the past couple of days, Charlie had been doing some work with his father, and Jenna had politely declined Helena's invitations to help her organise the coming party. This left Percy as her sole companion.
Jenna had enjoyed a few good conversations with the elderly butler since their initial awkward introduction and he had quickly become her favourite person in the Bingley household (after Charlie, of course). She'd discovered that Percy's prim exterior hid a delightful sense of humour and an unexpected love of romantic comedies. Tonight they were bonding over She's the Man.
"That moment when Viola and Duke see the tarantula…" laughed Jenna.
"Oh, I don't blame them – I'm not too fond of creepy crawlies myself," Percy admitted with a shudder. He winked at Jenna. "Neither is Master Charlie, you know."
"Yes, I do know," Jenna said wryly. "We've already agreed that I'll be the spider-killer when we get married."
She paused. "If we ever do."
Percy looked concerned. "What do you mean, miss? Of course you will!"
"Sometimes I'm not sure," Jenna confessed. "And since Charlie's mum clearly doesn't like me…." She trailed off, quietly hoping that Percy would scoff at the notion and allay her fears.
But he simply sighed. "Cold as ice, she is. I never understood why Mr Bingley married her."
"So you've been Mr Bingley's butler for a long time?"
Percy smiled. "Since his eighteenth birthday."
"Wow. I asked for a butler for my eighteenth birthday and all I got was a subscription to Cosmo."
The hint of a smile flickered across the old man's face.
"You see, we really do come from two different worlds," Jenna said thoughtfully.
"That doesn't have to matter, miss," Percy consoled. Now he looked wistful. "Once I thought it did."
Jenna stared at him curiously. "What do you mean?"
"You must keep this confidential, miss."
"My lips are zipped," she promised as she mimed pulling a zipper over her mouth.
The elderly butler hesitated briefly. "You see, I have been acquainted with the Bingley family for a long time. My own father was butler to Mr Bingley's uncle – Master Charlie's great-uncle. To simplify things, I will refer to him as Master Theodore."
Jenna didn't want to interrupt Percy's reminiscing. She merely nodded.
"Master Theodore had a younger sister." Once again, he looked wistful. "Her name was Alexandra." His voice took on a reverent tone.
"Every time I saw her, I thought of Lord Byron's poem – 'She walks in beauty like the night'. Her hair was raven-black, her smile dazzling, her eyes the most incredible shade of green…"
"She sounds beautiful," Jenna ventured timidly.
"Oh, she was, miss. She was. And not just her appearance. She was loving, kind and playful. We played together often as children, and by the age of fourteen, I fell completely in love. But I was afraid to say anything to her. We lived in such different circumstances, you see."
"You never told her how you felt?"
"Oh, I did," Percy reassured her. "When she was sixteen, her father asked me to teach her how to drive. I had taught Master Theodore, but he had left for university by this time. During her first lesson, she accidentally stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake. We nearly swerved into a tree. She was badly shaken and I comforted her. Without any warning, the words 'You're amazing' tumbled out of my mouth."
"How did she react?"
"She was stunned for the first couple of minutes," Percy reminisced. "I was very close to laughing and telling her it had been a joke. But then she leaned over and said, 'I think you're pretty amazing too.' From then on, our driving lessons turned into secret courting."
"How romantic," Jenna murmured dreamily. "It's just like Romeo and Juliet."
"Yes, and knowing the fate of Romeo and Juliet, it is perhaps no surprise that we did not have a happy ending."
"What happened?"
"When Alexandra turned nineteen, her parents began pushing her towards particular beaux. All friends of the family - wealthy and well connected. By that point, they were becoming concerned. As far as public appearances went, she was not in a relationship. And as I'm sure you're aware, Miss Jenna, women were expected to marry significantly earlier at that time."
"Like in Austen novels?"
"Yes, exactly. When her parents arranged her first dinner with a potential suitor, Alexandra was angry. She told me we should run away. Somewhere where nobody knew us, somewhere we could start a new life. We could get married and raise a family. I refused."
"You turned her down?" Jenna was aghast.
Percy sighed. "I knew I couldn't give her the lifestyle that she was accustomed to. She might have put up with a cheap one-room flat for a few days but eventually she would have come to resent it – and me – for taking away from her family and all the privileges that being a Bingley afforded. I told her that our entire relationship had been a fantasy – that I had no interest in marrying her or running away with her. Three weeks later, she was engaged to the eldest son of an American oil tycoon. They were married by the end of the year."
"Was she happy?"
"From all reports, her husband was kind to her and she did grow to love him," said Percy. "They had three children – two girls and a boy – and they visited Master Theodore often. By that point, I had begun working for Master Charlie's father. He and Master Theodore had a falling out, so there was no contact between their families. As for me, I never loved another woman the way I did Alexandra."
He looked directly into Jenna's eyes. "Take it from this old fellow, Miss Jenna – true love is hard to forget. Don't you let go of Master Charlie."
"I won't," Jenna promised. And for the first time in a long time, she felt complete peace about her engagement and her future.
"Mum! Have you seen my yellow bikini?"
"It's on the clothesline!"
"But I wanted to wear it to the beach today!"
After only a few days of living at home, I'm reminded of why I left it in the first place. Lisa and Mum have been yelling at each other all morning. My door is closed, my headphones are in my ears and I don't know what else to do.
I think longingly of the two-bedroom flat I share with Charlotte and silently vow that I'll move back there as soon as I can, whether Mary comes home or not. It's the only way I'll ever get any writing done.
Yes, writing. I recently decided that I needed a break from academic writing and I've enrolled in a short creative-writing course not far from Mum and Dad's place. I thought it would be something fun to do and it definitely is fun. But it's also a tremendous challenge.
My latest task is to write a murder mystery in 200 words. I don't know how I'm going to do that when introducing the first character has already taken 147.
"Mum! Have you seen my sunnies?"
I groan.
Fast forward three hours and the house almost seems peaceful. Lisa has gone out to La Perouse Beach, Mum is out grocery shopping and Dad… well, if I know Dad, he's holed up in his study with a pile of books. I've finished my assignment for the next creative writing class and have turned my attention to my next task – daydreaming about Darcy.
Sad as it sounds, I haven't been able to get that guy out of my head. My imagination is far too vivid for that. Even though I haven't heard from him since he abruptly left Pemberley, I'm imagining him coming to his senses, remembering our total chemistry and…
Sigh. I need to snap back to reality. My fantasising about Darcy is just that – a fantasy. It's not like he's really staring thoughtfully at his phone right now, looking at my number, finger hovering over the dial button…
And then my phone begins to ring.
Author's Note: Who could be on the other end of the line? Feel free to make your guesses, dear readers.