Madam and Missy — A Pride and Prejudice Variation

This is dedicated to all the writers both here and on KU who've released their stories for free! As I enjoy reading them so much, I thought that I'd have a go, and here it is.

[Note that I'm a Brit, so have written with British spelling, punctuation and terminology 😏]

In which Elizabeth contemplates oak leaves and William attempts nonchalance

Longbourn

Elizabeth

It rained for the next few days.

Elizabeth was happy to stay inside.

Elizabeth was diligently working on her embroidery.

Elizabeth was concentrating so keenly on decorating a handkerchief with oak leaves that she did not notice Mrs. Annesley silently watching her with a mixture of puzzlement and satisfaction until she looked up to ask, "Do these look more like brown clouds than leaves?"

London

Mrs. Gardiner

Mrs. Gardiner received a soft package from Elizabeth. She noticed, with a smile, the oak leaf impression in the wax seal and guessed that that had been the gift from Fitzwilliam Darcy. Mrs. Gardiner removed the outer layer, rewrapped the inner, addressed it to Pemberley and gave it to her husband to post on.

Pemberley

William

William received a soft package from Mr. Gardiner. Trying not to draw attention to this second communication from Missy, he strolled nonchalantly up to his chambers.

He unsealed the Gardiners' outer layer to find a second package inside sealed with an oak leaf impression in the wax. He grinned at this and was about to open it when he heard a knock at the door.

"Enter!"

Not at all surprised to see both parents, he bid them good morning and invited them in. Clearly, he had not been as nonchalant as he had hoped.

"Is that a letter, I see before you?" asked his father, deliberately misquoting Macbeth.

"Yes, it is, Father, but you are to wait, though waiting so be hell," he misquoted in return. "As I have not yet opened it."

Watching his parents' eager expressions, he pushed the package into a pocket and teased them. "I think that I shall keep this until later."

"He's your son, indeed," said Lady Anne sotto voce to her husband, sitting on the sofa.

"Yours, I think," Mr. Darcy replied in kind, joining her.

William pretended not to have heard them and turned to look out of the window. He paid a lot of notice to the gardeners below. Eventually, his father said, feigning acute disappointment, "I am certain that you understand our curiosity, but your dear mamma and I shall leave you in peace."

William sighed and turned back to face them. "If you will wait but a few minutes— "

"Yes, my boy, we shall wait." Mr. Darcy and his wife nodded eagerly.

William sat by the window and, just as Elizabeth had ten days earlier, carefully tore the paper rather than break the seal on the inner package. Inside was a sheet of writing paper, again sealed with wax and the imprint of the oak leaf. I think that Missy likes the stamp! Seeing his parents pretending not to look at him, he got up and handed them the paper showing the seal.

Breaking this final seal, he opened the letter to reveal a piece of fabric. Again, teasing his parents, he turned his back on them to examine the fabric in the light near the window. It was a handkerchief embroidered with brown clouds. Or are they oak leaves?

Taking pity on his mother and father, he shook the handkerchief in their view. Very swiftly, a hand appeared to take it from him. He could hear them exclaim about it.

Smoothing out the letter, he read:

'Letter number 2

'Dear M

'How should I thank you for such wonderful gifts? My Pappa and I have hidden them in his book-room, (1) but I can get them out to look at them whenever he has not closed the door. When the door is closed we are not to interrupt him unless it is very important.'

What does '(1)' mean?

'We both enjoyed looking at the little shapes made in silver, (2) seeing that you were very clever to use my own drawing of the oak leaf. Did you draw the horse? I think that you are accomplished at drawing if you did. Did you know that 'Tall oaks from little acorns grow'? Is that why you chose an acorn?'

'(2)'?

'I am particularly fond of the little stamp which I shall use two times when I seal this letter to you. I have not decided if I shall use it when I write to other people like my aunt in London. Oh, (3) have I revealed too much by telling you that I have an aunt in London? You might have an aunt in London too, (4) but it almost certainly will not be the same aunt, (5) so I do not think that it matters that I have told you this.'

I do have an aunt who is sometimes in London, but she is not Mrs. Gardiner.

'When I asked my Pappa about crop rotation, (6) he was surprised but took me out on his horse to show me the fields of wheat, (7) turnips, (8) barley and clover, (9) and pointed out which fields they each had been sowed in last year. He offered me Mr. Townshend's book to read but I took a book about sheep instead. It has drawings of the sheep in it so is easier to read.'

I am not surprised.

'I should write more but cannot as you did not send sufficient commas.'

Oh! She has been counting the commas!

'Please send more commas in your next letter! I thank you again for the gifts and hope that you like the handkerchief that I embroidered — very ill — with oak leaves.'

Not brown clouds, at all.

'I cannot draw horses for they simply will not lie still on the table long enough for me to copy them.'

William laughed out loud.

'My second youngest sister drew a horse for me which I shall try to embroider next. Perhaps I should not have told you that as it will not be a surprise. Would you pretend to be surprised when I send it?'

Indeed.

'It was lucky that we had a few days of rain as I should not have stayed inside long enough to finish it otherwise.'

So, she prefers to be out of doors.

'Please thank your sister for choosing the ribbons. It did not surprise me that my youngest sisters squabbled over which colours they wanted. My very youngest sister always wants what everyone else has so Pappa was clever and asked us each to name our second favourite colour. I was the only one who wanted green but my sisters each received their second choice.'

Mmm, clever. I shall send more green ribbons.

'I am glad that you bothered to write to me and hope that you do again soon. God bless you,'

God bless you, too.

'Missy'

After reading this second letter, William found that he would not have to work hard to cherish and respect his betrothed. He sat still as he considered this. He was not falling in love with this eleven-year-old, but he was finding it easy to be fond of her. That was a good first step.

As he turned and looked at his parents, he saw their expressions change to concern at his pensive look.

"Is there aught amiss?" asked Lady Anne.

He brightened and stood to hand the letter to her, and said, "No, not at all. I have just realised that, having received only two letters from Missy, I am becoming fond of her already." He sat again. "I find this feeling to be unexpected."

Still clasping the letter, his mother came over to him. She bent to hug him and to kiss him on the forehead. "That is a wonderful beginning — let us all hope that this seed of fondness grows."

"Indeed," chorused his father.

"Now, would you mind if your father and I read the letter that has induced your fondness?"

"Please do," he answered, distractedly.

A few minutes later, having read the letter twice, his father raised his eyebrows and said, "I expect that the next two shapes for her charming bracelet might be a comma and a sheep."

"Will she be expecting a new shape with each letter?" William was a little alarmed. "I do not mind the cost, but feel wary of raising Missy's hopes of finding one every time I write to her. What if I cannot think of anything and she becomes disappointed?"

"I should not think so," said his mother reassuringly. "Your father was teasing you."

Still slightly alarmed, William said, "I should have counted the links in the chain; then, if one shape could be attached to every second link, I should know how many shapes to send altogether." Scratching his head, he continued, "Dividing that number by the number of years until we wed, that is ten, would be the number of shapes to send each year."

"Or," countered his father, "you could send shapes as you will, together with a new chain to attach them to when the first is filled. There is no need to have but one charming bracelet."

"Mmm," said William, struck by the idea. "A sheep and a comma it is — even if they are not made in time to send with my next reply."

Please don't copy, but please do let me have comments/corrections 😏