Even though Richard had answered all the questions, we were not really done talking over the events at Hunsford and Rosings. Richard and I sat together and listened while the others discussed the bits of the story they found most interesting, only speaking up if asked a direct question.

Finally Richard quietly asked, "How are my socks coming along. Does it take long to knit one?"

"I have had a great deal of knitting time this week. One is done and the other nearly so. I could finish it this evening, only I seem to be short one hand." I squeezed his hand, which still gripped mine.

"Well that is a dilemma," he said with a wink. He lifted my hand and kissed it, then let go. "I love holding your hand, but I would like to sit and watch you as you finish up if you have no objection."

"None at all." I took the nearly finished sock from the workbasket sitting under the sofa on which we sat. I also pulled the first sock I had completed out and handed it to him, along with the one he had sent as a pattern. He compared the two, examining the stitches and feeling the texture.

"I like the one you made better," he said. "It feels softer and I like the shape of the heel better."

"I could see this one has been mended a few times. The heel of the new sock should not wear out as quickly. I have used a tighter stitch and the shape will make it less likely to rub, which causes the wear."

"Hmm. Where are you at with that one?'

"You see how the toe of the one in your hand curves in to fit your foot? That is what I am doing here." I set to knitting and he quietly watched me. Occasionally he would pat the finished sock he held. He almost jumped when Lydia asked, "Why are you holding a sock, Colonel?"

"Sophia made this for me," he said a little indignantly. "She is just finishing up the second one."

"Miss York is teaching us to make stockings. I had only done very plain knitting before, but she showed me how to make patterns that look like lace."

"I am learning to turn the heel on the stockings I am knitting," Kitty added.

"Sophia made me a lovely green pair of stockings. They make me happy when I wear them," Grace said. I rewarded her with a smile, but kept knitting. I only had a few more rounds to go before I could graft the toe, weave in the ends and hand Richard a completed sock.

"I expect these will make me happy when I wear them," Richard said. He patted the finished sock again. "It is just not the same when you buy something. These have love knitted into them. That is what my Aunt Anne said when she made socks for me."

"Very true," said Mrs. Bennet. "Your aunt sounds like a wise woman."

"She was. I still sometimes have trouble believing she was truly related to my father and Aunt Catherine. Of course, I would rather not be related to my brother and hope I am nothing like him either."

Mrs. Bennet nodded. "Most people wonder how my brother Edward can be related to my sister and me. We have always been different and not just because he was the boy. Families can be strange that way."

Lydia laughed. "We learned about that in our cooking class with Mrs. Evans."

I smiled, but Richard was confused. "What connection is there between cooking and different personalities in families?"

"Mrs. Evans showed us how you can take the same three ingredients – flour, sugar and butter – and depending on whether the butter was cold, soft or melted when you mix it with the other two, the biscuit you bake with the dough comes out different. Families are like that. We start with the same ingredients, but everyone is mixed up and baked a little differently."

Richard turned to me. "I did not realize you were teaching philosophy as well."

"We take the lessons as we find them."

"What does philosophy mean?" Lydia asked.

Mr. Bennet answered, "It is from the Greek philosophia, meaning love of wisdom. A philosopher could be someone who studies or comes up with ideas about why five girls who all have the same mother and father and grow up in the same house turn out very differently. Using an example like the way the state of the butter changes the biscuits is a tool a philosopher would use."

"My father said Sophia means wisdom." Grace offered.

"Then I am certainly a philosopher," Richard said with a smirk, "because I love Sophia."

I am sure my cheeks were deep red with embarrassment, especially when everyone laughed. I kept my eyes down and focused on the stitches I was grafting together. Richard noticed my silence and the blush and quietly said, "Forgive me, dearest. I did not intend to embarrass you."

I kept my eyes on my stitching, making sure the graft was firm and neat so it would not make a ridge against his toes. After a moment of waiting Richard uncertainly said, "Sophia? Are upset with me?"

I finished the graft and began to weave in the ends of my wool. "No, Richard. I am not upset. I am embarrassed, but I was also at a point that required concentration."

"What are you doing with the sock now?"

"It is all knitted and I am weaving in the ends. There. Let me just cut the wool here and your second sock is complete." I snipped the tail of wool and handed him his second sock.

He patted the new sock, then held them both up. "My socks!" he declared joyfully, sparking another round of laughter.

"Very nice, philosopher," teased Mr. Bennet. "I remember the first pair of socks Mrs. Bennet made for me. I wore them until even the darns had darns in them and they fell to pieces. Nothing has ever kept my feet warmer than that pair of socks."

It was Mrs. Bennet's turn to blush and she did, right to the roots of her pale blond hair. "Oh, Mr. Bennet!" she said fussily.

All too soon Richard declared he needed to be on his way back to camp. I gave him the handkerchief he had wrapped the sample sock in and he carefully folded the new socks, then wrapped the old one around them followed by the handkerchief. I even had his twine there, which he used to tie it all together. He patted the bundle happily.

"May I have a few moments to speak with Sophia in privacy?" he asked.

"You do not want to speak with her," Mr. Bennet said, prompting a grin and a shrug. "You know where the back parlor is. No more than 5 minutes." He took out his watch and tapped it meaningfully. Kitty, Lydia and Grace all giggled quietly.

Richard pulled me up from my seat and out into the hall. The back parlor was too far for him. He turned into the music room and drew me close for a good, long kiss. It was still not long enough before we heard the voice of Mr. Bennet through the closed door to the drawing room.

"Colonel! Time is up."

Richard pulled away slightly, answered, "Yes, sir." Then he leaned back in and gave me another quick kiss before we returned to the drawing room. Mrs. Hill was in the hall.

"Shall I have your horse readied and your saddlebags brought down, Colonel?"

He nodded, "Yes, I must return to camp. Thank you."

Richard collected his sock-filled bundle from where he had left it on the sofa. At the door the servant helped him into his greatcoat, which had been dried by the kitchen fire and brushed clean. We were all a little surprised when Teddy accompanied the groom who brought Old Satan around to the front door.

"Teddy? You should be in bed," Richard said.

Teddy smiled at him. "I will be soon. After dinner I went out to talk to your horse some more and give him half an apple. We are friends."

"I can see that. Well, off to bed with you now." Richard ruffled his hair. He took a step forward and then turned back to give me another quick kiss on the check before he fastened his saddlebags behind the saddle and mounted in preparation to leave.

"I will be back soon," he said before riding off.

I would count on that. It came to me that I still had a quite a bit of the soft green wool. Perhaps Richard would like a pair of green socks as well. They would be hidden in his boots and only he would know their color. Smiling, I went up to get the ball of wool. There was still a little time to knit this evening.

0o0o0o0

Elizabeth, Georgiana and Mildred walked over from the dower house Tuesday afternoon accompanied by Abner, the imposing groom from Darcy house. The rain had stopped in the night and things had pretty much dried out by that time.

Georgiana was immediately taken in charge by Grace, Kitty and Lydia. They were making good on their promise to support her any way they could in the matter of Anne's death.

"Will has gone to talk to Charles," Elizabeth told me. "I needed a walk and he said it would be fine now as long as Abner came with us to scare off any lurking villains."

"I am not sure we have any villains left to lurk around here. None that we know of, at least." Mildred noted.

"That is probably why he said it would be fine," she answered with a grin. She then indicated the younger set. "From the way they are gathered around her it looks like Richard told you all the news from Rosings"

"Yes, we had a long discussion yesterday after dinner."

"How do you feel about becoming the Mistress of Rosings Park?"

"Conflicted. I would have accepted him with nothing. You know that. I do not mind knowing we will have enough to live in comfort and support any children that come along. However, I had the impression that Richard does not like Rosings Park. It makes him very uncomfortable. How can we live happily in a house that has all those difficult memories?"

"You will have to make new memories there," Mildred told me. "You will have money to redecorate, it seems. Mr. Darcy told us about the vault in the wine cellar. Change the look of the place enough that it does not spark the memories, then set about filling that house with love."

"From what Will says you will not really need to buy anything new, you will just need to cart off all the gaudy furniture and ornaments to make it look like a new place. Will admits the house makes him uncomfortable as well, but he says that is more about memories of his aunt than anything to do with the house itself."

"I offered the option of living somewhere else, but Richard insists we must be there, on the spot, in order to help restore the estate to the proper condition and support the tenants and villagers."

"I know that is true here at Longbourn. I expect it was true at your father's home as well. The estate employs the family members of the tenants and supports the local tradesmen. That gives the families money to spend in the village. I know it is always felt here when Netherfield is not occupied. The whole area welcomes a tenant of the estate even when he does not come and marry one of their daughters." We laughed at her reference to Mr. Bingley.

"I think you are both right," I said. "We will have to live there and make the estate prosperous again and we will have to be sure we make many happy memories to turn it into a home our family will be proud to live in. Did Mr. Darcy tell you about Mr. Collins?"

"Yes. I think it poetic justice that they buried him in the garden after they killed him. He did so love those gardens and waxed on and on about them when he was not praising Lady Catherine to the skies."

"Will his death create a problem with the entail here at Longbourn?"

"It might, but I think we need not worry about it for a time. Uncle Gardiner is researching another possible heir. If something should happen to my father and the family loses Longbourn Will, Charles and Daniel will help look after my mother and sisters. If there is no heir we will sort it all out."

We discussed the other happenings in Kent for a while, then I noted, "Charlotte will be glad to hear the men have returned. She worried they might not be back before the wedding and Lieutenant Andrews wanted to be sure Richard was there."

"I expect she knows by now. The lieutenant would have sent a message to her yesterday evening or this morning. It just astounds me the time has passed so quickly and she is getting married this week. I am so happy for her."

"You mother is already planning for my wedding. She says a June wedding will be nice and she is hoping to borrow Netherfield for the wedding breakfast."

Elizabeth laughed. "How did that happen?"

"Your father asked when Richard planned to resign his commission. When Richard answered that it would be no later than the time the militia moves to summer quarters your mother started planning my wedding. You should have seen the look on Richard's face. It was so amusing."

"Do you mind?"

"Not really. She said that she will actually have Kitty, Lydia and Grace do the planning under her guidance. If they become too extravagant I will rein them in. Otherwise it is a good learning experience for them."

"We will be at Pemberley by then, but I am sure we will come back for the wedding. Will and Richard are too close for anything else."

"When do you plan to leave for Pemberley?"

"We really should go next week. I do not know if the situation at Rosings will delay us. Will has doubts about the current steward and he will want to find a replacement for Richard. If he thinks he can do that better with the resources in Derbyshire we may leave as early as Monday or Tuesday next."

"It will seem strange not having you close by, all of you."

"The distance will give us more reasons to have the young ladies practice their letter writing," Mildred said.

"While we practice ours," I chuckled. "Which reminds me, I owe Mary a letter. How much of this mess in Kent should I tell her?"

"Whatever you feel like. I told her the whole story in a letter I sent this morning, so you can reference my letter if you do not want to explain everything."

"I probably will gloss over some of it then. I can tell her more about my engagement and about our plans, or your mother's plans I should say."

"A June wedding?"

"Early June, I think."

"It is March now. It will go by more quickly than you think, although less quickly than you will want."

"I still do not feel quite right leaving your sisters without a governess."

"As Mama said the other day, you have put them on the right path. They do not just act better in company, they understand why they need to behave well. Uncle Gardiner can find someone to help them continue to gain polish and to hear their French lessons and coach them on singing and the pianoforte. You have taken care of the difficult part – you have changed the way they think about the world. We will plan on having them all come out in London together next year – Georgie, Kitty, Lydia, Grace and possibly Maria Lucas as well. They will support one another in society."

"It sounds like you have a plan. I will be happy to have Grace join them. Richard has already mentioned dealing with Grace's future suitors. He told me if he was being oblivious or getting in the way like Sir William did with us then I should give him a sharp hint." We all laughed at the image.

"All will be well, Sophia," Mildred told me after the laughter quieted. "I have told you that before. You are part of a large family now, in spirit if not in fact. We will all work out the problems together."

What she said was true. It was just so different from all my life before that I still had trouble taking it in. I needed to get that letter off to Mary. I was interested to hear her perspective on all that had been happening.


AN: I considered holding this one back and posting it tomorrow, but then I figured what the heck. You get three chapters today. We go back to one a day tomorrow. I am also not allowed to type any more tonight. I have to finish the sock I am knitting as a Christmas present for my uncle. TTFN