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 Mary meets James, Lydia is suspicious and Mrs. Gardiner is taken aback
Shropshire
Elizabeth
Melissa had finishing nursing and, with a cloth strategically thrown over her shoulder, Mary was carrying her around the nursery. Martha had started to cry, and Elizabeth had just picked her up when Sarah knocked and opened the door.
"You have a visitor, Missy," said Sarah. Seeing Mary, she continued, "I beg your pardon, I did not know that you had company."
"Come in, Sarah! Mary, do allow me to introduce my valued companion-in-arms, Mrs. Sarah Stevens. Sarah, this is my sister, Mary, but I do not know how she should be addressed."
Sarah curtseyed and opened the door fully to reveal Lady Anne.
"Lady Anne!" the two sisters cried in surprise. Elizabeth handed Martha to Sarah and asked of her, "Will you stay with us or would you prefer privacy?"
A second knock came at the door.
"My, we are busy today! Come in!"
"Mamma!" cried Sarah.
"Mrs. Reynolds!" cried Elizabeth. She looked around. "Sarah, why not take your mother next door? Further introductions can wait."
As she closed the door behind them, Elizabeth remarked, "I infer from Mary's greeting that I shall not have to introduce her to you, but do allow me to introduce my daughter!"
"Missy, you must think me so impolite. I ought to greet you and your sister properly and ask how you fare, but confess that I am most keen to meet the little one."
"Of course you are! I do not suggest that you take her from Mary just yet as I should not wish for your first meeting to necessitate a change of clothing." Elizabeth said, wryly.
"Oh, I should not mind at all! This is but a travelling dress."
Rather reluctantly, Mary passed Melissa to Lady Anne.
"Worry not, Mary. You will have many opportunities to walk about this room and others while you try to settle her," said Elizabeth.
"And it would do me good to stretch my legs after being squashed in the carriage with two men."
"You travelled with two men, my lady?"
"I did. I left them downstairs with William."
Mary shook her head. "Oh, woe is me, again. I am slow to catch on today. Lizzy's husband is your son."
"He is and this little darling is my granddaughter."
"Oh, Lizzy, what is going on?"
Elizabeth explained her unusual betrothal and subsequent marriage, much as Darcy was doing below them.
"Does this mean that, when Pappa told us that you were staying with a distant relative, he was lying?" asked Mary.
"Yes and, though I can understand his reasoning, I am not happy about that. It is yet another piece of the 'great secret'."
"You believe that these secret betrothals and marriages — and children — are part of something more?" Mary started to ask, then, with sudden understanding, continued, "Secret marriages? Am I here to be wed, to have my own secret marriage?"
Elizabeth looked at Lady Anne for confirmation and replied, "I believe so, dear sister."
"Oh," said Mary, uncertain.
"And, unless I am very mistaken, Lady Anne's companions include your young man."
Lady Anne nodded. "Yes, with his father, my brother."
Mary looked shocked. "I— I— I do not know what to say; I am not ready!"
"You have been writing to James for two and a half years or more. You know him well," said Lady Anne, trying to reassure her.
Elizabeth forestalled any questions that Mary might have by saying, "Mary, you and I, and William and James, and who knows who else, are akin to the pawns on Pappa's chessboard and are being moved around by some unknown hand. I was fortunate in that I had Lady Anne and Aunt and Uncle Gardiner with me when I wed William. Similarly, I shall attend you.
"Now, you have an advantage over me; I first met William at the altar— "
"'At the altar'?"
"Yes," Elizabeth confirmed, smiling in remembrance. "I had guessed what was to happen that day from clues in a letter from William, and as he had sent some flowers earlier that morning. As I said, you have the advantage that you can meet James beforehand." She looked fondly at her daughter, now asleep. "If the doting grandmother is prepared to relinquish my little honey bee to Sarah, perhaps we can prevail upon her to perform the introductions."
Elizabeth had a further surprise as the Bennets' nanny, Mrs. Jameson, came into the nursery. "Nanny! What do you do here?"
Mary laughed. "Nanny came with us, I thought as my companion, but now I see why."
"Miss Lizzy," Mrs. Jameson greeted her former charge with a fond embrace and a kiss and asked to meet her new one.
"Oh, Nanny! This is the best surprise of many, today! I am so happy that you are here to care for my daughter as you did me!"
Lady Anne handed Melissa to the nanny, looked down at her travelling dress and said, "I see no reason to change as it is not long until we shall be changing for dinner."
Wiping her tears, Elizabeth helped Mary to her feet and pulled her into an embrace. "To stretch the game-of-chess analogy, Mary, you can see yourself either as a pawn to be sacrificed or as the queen about to meet her king."
"Chin up, your majesty," said Lady Anne. "Let us greet your courtiers."
Darcy
Still watching, with some amusement, the rapidly changing expressions on James' face, Darcy heard female voices approaching. Good, they are laughing.
"James. Uncle. Mr. Gardiner."
The men stood and Darcy opened the door and bade them enter. His mother led the way, Elizabeth and Mary arm-in-arm behind her. Darcy assumed that, as he was the host, he should perform the introductions. Lady Anne clearly thought so too, as they both started to speak at once. He deferred to her with a slight bow.
"Your majesty, Missy, may I present my brother, Bishop Richard and his son, James?" She began with a smirk.
"'Majesty'?" asked Darcy in confusion. What has Missy been up to, now?
"A proper, courtly bow, please, gentlemen," Lady Anne ordered.
With varying degrees of amusement and perplexity, they obeyed.
"Gentlemen, it is my honour to make you known to Her Majesty, Queen Mary, and her attendant, Mrs. William Adam."
Unable to keep straight faces, all three women laughed as they curtseyed.
"I thought that I was to be your handmaiden, Mary. I am grateful to be promoted to attendant," said Elizabeth. Turning to her husband, she added, "William, would you mind performing more formal introductions?"
"'Tis not necessary, my dearest wife: look."
James had made his way to Mary and had offered his arm to lead her to a sofa.
Elizabeth took Darcy's arm. "Were you not amused? My own father could not have done better than your mother. I wish that I were there to see his face when he receives my next letter!"
"If this is the influence that your family has on mine, I shall not allow the entrance of any more of your sisters," he replied haughtily, but winked at her as he bestowed a kiss on her hand.
"Well done, Anne," said the bishop. "I remember that you enjoyed play-acting when you were but a girl." He turned to address Elizabeth and greeted her with a kiss to her cheek. "I am glad to see you again, niece, and to be able to offer my congratulations on the birth of your child. I do hope that you will permit me to christen her."
"Thank you, Your Excellency. We should be honoured," replied Elizabeth.
"Now, now, I shall not have my niece address me as formally as that. I insist that you call me 'Uncle Richard'."
Elizabeth smiled. "We should be honoured, Uncle Richard."
"Uncle, we should tell you that our servants' child is to be christened at the same time. Their own daughter is but a few days younger than ours," said Darcy.
"Then, if they do not mind, I shall christen her too. Have you and they chosen godparents?"
Darcy and his wife exchanged looks.
"I believe that we shall ask James and Mary," said Elizabeth. "Sarah has asked me to stand godmother to Martha and her brother is to be godfather."
The bishop left Shropshire a few days after the wedding and christenings, but Lady Anne stayed with them until early summer. Neither Darcy nor James could stay with their families, but both returned as often as they could.
At the end of the summer, Mr. Bennet summoned Elizabeth and Mary back to Longbourn. Elizabeth knew that Mary shared her unease about portraying Melissa as her ward, but was grateful that she had agreed to the scheme.
Longbourn
Lydia
Lydia Bennet stood with her father and sisters outside the front door to greet Elizabeth and Mary. As Elizabeth climbed out of the carriage, their eldest sister ran to her and swept her into a fierce embrace. Kitty and Lydia were not far behind.
"Oh, Lizzy! I am overjoyed to see you at last! Exchanging letters is not the same as having you here with us," cried Jane.
Jane turned to Mary next, embracing her too. All of the sisters gathered round, hugging and kissing each other. Their laughter and exclamations were silenced by a cry from inside the carriage. Lydia noticed that Elizabeth caught their father's eye.
"Ah, this must be your young ward, Lizzy," said Mr. Bennet.
Mrs. Jameson passed Melissa out to Elizabeth who announced to her sisters, "Please meet Melissa."
Again the sisters gathered, this time to admire the baby. Sarah passed Martha out to Mary and climbed down.
"Are they both your wards, Lizzy?" asked Kitty.
"No, Kitty, they are not. This is Mrs. Stevens and her daughter Martha. The babes are the same age."
The wet nurse, I suppose, thought Lydia.
As the Bennet girls included Sarah and Martha in their joyful welcome, Elizabeth introduced them all.
"Remind me how Melissa is related to us, Pappa," said Lydia.
"A distant aunt," replied her father.
Lydia noticed her father's evasion and was suspicious. "So she is a cousin of sorts?"
"Mmm," he replied, pushing his way through the gaggle to admire the babes for himself.
Lydia and Elizabeth looked at each other for a long moment, then Lydia briefly nodded and said, "Let me cuddle this new cousin of ours." Though I do not believe that she is a cousin.
As Jane, who could not dissemble, and Kitty, who could not keep a secret, both accepted and presented Melissa as their distant cousin, any thoughts that their neighbours might have had otherwise were forgotten. It was obvious to all that Melissa was attached to Elizabeth and Mary because they had cared for her in the wilds of Shropshire.
At Christmas, the Gardiners came to Longbourn with their children. In early January, they returned to London, the Shropshire party following them. The three women in the second carriage were excited as they all hoped to see their husbands there. Two of them had certain news to deliver.
Gracechurch Street
Mrs. Gardiner
"He said what?" Mrs. Gardiner asked in shock, her darning needle paused mid-stitch.
"He said that he misses being with his wife — he intimated day-to-day closeness rather than intimacy — and asked if he should rent a house nearby," Mr. Gardiner replied.
"'Rent a house'?"
"Mmm. Or might he take Lizzy and Melissa to his own house in Grosvenor Square, where they could stay as Lady Anne's guests?"
"What did you say?"
"I said that I should discuss it with you."
"Hmph!" She put her mending down, unable to concentrate on it. "Hmph!"
"I find that I understand his wishes. I can come in here and put my arm around you as we sit together — he cannot do this with Lizzy."
"Yes, I see that," Mrs. Gardiner agreed. She took his hand. "They cannot do this either."
"Do you have any thoughts?" he asked while kissing her hand.
"I have many," she answered, wryly.
"Any that you care to share with me?"
"My first thought was to curse this secrecy. I anticipate, with great keenness, its removal."
"As do I, my dear. As do I; but there is no point wishing it away, we must play the cards that we are dealt."
"Hmph!" She drew a slow breath and continued, "I see two possible solutions — other than renting a house — we convert one of our rooms into a sitting room for them, though Mary and James might be envious— "
"They could share it."
"True; they could. If you would share your study, we could put a sofa in there."
Mr. Gardiner wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "I am glad to share it as an office but shall not as a boudoir."
"If Mr. Dar—, Mr. Ad—, William was being delicate and would like to stay here with Lizzy, we might juggle a few chambers around. He might find it Spartan in comparison with his own house— "
"With no dressing room or space for his valet," Mr. Gardiner nodded. "But their first few years in Tenston were hardly luxurious."
"Oh, Stevens will share with his wife, I am sure. I am more concerned about our children."
"In what way?"
"If they discover that William is sleeping in the same chamber as Lizzy, and, perhaps, James in Mary's, how do we let them know that this is not normally acceptable behaviour?"
"We tell them the truth!"
"Is it fair to ask them to keep such a secret?"
"Who would they tell? And who would know 'William' or 'James'? We have never mentioned surnames."
"You are right," she sighed. "I understand William's wishes — James' too, I expect." She sighed again. "Very well, I shall talk with Lizzy and Mary."
Two days later, Darcy and Stevens moved in, Darcy presenting Mrs. Gardiner a generous amount of money 'for their board and lodgings'. James followed.
Please don't copy, but please do let me have comments/corrections 😏