I don't own Pride and Prejudice
It was a few days later Elizabeth found herself walking down the isles of the warehouse her uncle owned. Her aunt was walking along side her, and the two were watching the two younger girls discuss different bolts of fabric.
"I have never seen so many different colors!" Georgiana said as she looked around the warehouse, her eyes unable to focus on just one thing. "This one is beautiful, but not really in fashion at the moment." Georgiana held up a periwinkle bolt of silk, looking at it dejectedly.
"What do we care if it is in fashion or not, if someone is going to judge us by what color our dresses are, they must not be worth knowing." Elizabeth told the girl, before smiling, "Besides, I think this color would look wonderful on you." She said, making note of the bolt, and how many yards they would want.
"Kitty dear, what do you think of this color?" Her aunt asked, holding up a light coral bolt of fabric.
"It's beautiful, do you think it would look well on me?" The younger girl asked, and agreed to have a dress made in said color, once everyone approved.
Inevitably the girls all started picking out less flattering colors and suggesting them to each other. Georgiana didn't catch on to the game right away, looking horrified when Kitty suggested a shade of yellowish brown for her. However, once she caught onto the game her laughter filled the warehouse.
What should have taken an hour at best, ended up taking them three, but they were able to get their fabrics chosen. "Do you think Mme Escoffier will allow us to bring in fabrics from outside her shop?" Georgiana asked as they were leaving the warehouse.
"I don't see why it would matter, as we will be going to Mme Bellamy." Elizabeth said kindly. She knew Mme Escoffier was the most sought after modiste, but Mme Bellamy was her aunt's modiste, and had been her's and Jane's ever since they were old enough to accompany their aunt for fittings. Her dresses also seemed to hold up better than most, which was important to an active young woman.
Kitty had borrowed one of Georgiana's dresses for the day as it was more suitable for a girl not quite out yet, and Kitty had bit changed her mind about being out. Lizzy had noticed that while the material was of good quality and the stitching wasn't horrible, it also left less excess fabric to be altered, and had less reinforcement at the seams and hems. She realized that this would not affect the wealthy as much as they had their own maids to repair dresses, as well as funds to ensure said dresses would only need to be worn a few times.
They made their way over to the modiste, enjoying pouring over fashion plates. Georgiana even started relaxing when she realized no one was fawning over her, in fact, it appeared no one recognized her, making her less self conscious.
"Mme, I have an additional order for this Christmas here with me, would it be possible to have it by the end of the month? I should like to have it before we head to my husband's estate." The girls looked confused, but her aunt knew what it was she was asking about. It was something she and Jane had done for the last few years, and that Jane would be finishing without her this year.
"Of course Miss Lizzy, I mean Mrs Darcy." The modiste said with smile, taking the slip of paper Elizabeth handed her.
The four decided to head out for tea at one of the finer tea houses. They had just been seated when they saw a young lady on the street out side the shop being harassed by a finely dressed young man. Standing, she told her aunt and sisters to remain seated as she made her way out of the shop, a footman following not far behind.
"There you are, we were starting to worry that you'd gotten lost." She said, liking arms with the young lady, "My new sister, Miss Darcy, quite despaired at the thought."
"I'm sorry for my tardiness Mrs Darcy, it was never my intent to keep you all waiting." The lady almost sagged in relief, and Lizzy was glad to see she had picked up on the clue she had left so the woman could make it seem like they were known to each other.
"No harm done, I assure you." Lizzy said as she ushered the girl inside, and found her aunt had already had a chair added to their table. She turned briefly to see if the gentleman was still outside, and saw him glaring through the window at the group of them. "I apologize for accosting you like that, but it appears you will have to put up with our company a bit longer." She whispered to the girl.
"Not at all, I am grateful to you for saving me." The young lady said as she sat in one of the empty seats, Elizabeth taking the other.
"Allow me to make our introductions, as I alluded to before I am Mrs Darcy, and these are my sisters Miss Darcy and Miss Bennet, and this is our aunt Mrs Gardiner." She smiled kindly at the young girl.
"I am Miss Harrington." The young woman returned the smile, "I can't thank you enough for saving me from Viscount Milton."
"He did seem rather insistent." Lizzy offered an opening to the girl to see if she would feel comfortable opening up to them.
"Sadly, my brother is one of his best friends, and very desirous for us to make a match, but I am less so." The young woman answered, "Luckily my father is willing to take my feelings into account and is not trying to force the match."
By the coloring of the girl's cheeks it was clear the rumors of her own marriage were circulating quite quickly. "Do not let the nature of my marriage make you uneasy, I have married a kind and honorable man, which is more than some ladies can boast." She smiled at the young woman who returned it, "Besides, it also brought me a sweet new sister." She smiled at Georgiana.
"If you don't mind us asking, how did you come to be on the street by yourself?" Her aunt asked the young woman, and Lizzy turned her attention on what she was hoping was a new friend.
"Not at all, you see, I was out shopping with my mother and sisters, and somehow got separated. We had planned on coming here for tea, so I made my way here to meet them." Seemed like a sensible plan to Lizzy.
They visited a little while longer, before a beautiful older woman entered and made her way toward their table upon seeing Miss Harrington, "Camille, thank goodness we found you." She then turned to look at the rest of their table, "Thank you for keeping my daughter company while she waited for us." She addressed the comment toward Mrs Gardiner.
"Not at all, she is a delightful young woman." Mrs Gardiner replied, and Miss Harrington preformed the introductions. It turns out that Miss Harrington's mother was actually the Duchess of Leinster.
Mother and daughter joined their group and visited as they drank their tea, before the group split up to finish their shopping. After hearing what Lizzy had done for her daughter, the Duchess requested permission to call at their townhouse, which Lizzy granted.
They finished their shopping, at the bookstore. Kitty had never been much of a reader, but Lizzy noticed she took interest in the romance novels Georgiana suggested. She made a note to talk with the girls about the fact that romance novels are not a good depiction of real life. She didn't want to stop the girls from reading them, but she also knew that many a naive young girl had been taken advantage of because she put too much stock in said novels.
Once they had decided on their purchases they walked to the counter, and Lizzy asked if her husband had any book waiting to be picked up. Georgiana had said this was his favorite book shop in town, so she thought there was a possibility he had some books on order. The proprietor couldn't contain his smile when one of the books he had been holding for her husband appeared in her stack of books. She blushed, but bought both copies, in the hopes that she and her husband could read and discuss them at the same time.
Once they arrived home she sent the girls to their rooms to put away their purchases, while taking the books she had purchased to her husband's study. The door was slightly open when she arrived, but she still knocked out of politeness, entering when he called out for her to.
"I brought you something," she said as a greeting, and put the books wrapped in brown paper on his desk. She noticed his look of surprise when he opened the package so she explained, "Georgiana said _ was your favorite shop, so I thought there might have some books you had ordered. I figured it only made sense to pick them up while we were there."
"Thank you, I had been meaning to get them, but had other stuff on my mind." He seemed truly touched by her gesture, and she couldn't help but wonder how often people did things for him, if he was touched by such a small gesture. She had noticed many of the things he did for others, for she truly had married a kind man.
"I purchased a second copy of the book on crop rotation, it would appear our taste in books is more similar than we thought, I was wondering if you would want to read them at the same time, and discuss them as we read." She stopped for a second before adding, "That is, as long as you don't mind me reading on the subject." She had always been allowed to read whatever she liked in her father's study that she forgot that some men don't like when their wives and daughters read books that were deemed proper for only gentlemen to read.
"Elizabeth, your intelligence is one of the first things that attracted me to you." Her eyes widened to hear him say he was attracted to any part of her, last she knew she was barely tolerable. "You may read anything you like, I will not stop you. Also, I would enjoy discussing the book with you. Shall we strive to read the first three chapters before bed tonight and discuss them then?"
He smiled when she gave her consent, but nothing more was said, as Georgiana burst into the room with Kitty hot on her heels. "Oh Brother, you will not believe the day we had!" The young girl went on to tell her brother everything, pulling Kitty into the conversation. She spoke of the warehouse and how amazing the fabrics all were, and how much fun she had finding the truly awful ones to show each other. She spoke of the modiste, and how much she preferred her to all others as she treated everyone with the same kindness. She spoke of their tea, and how Lizzy had saved a Duke's daughter, and how friendly the family members they had met had been. She spoke of the book shop, giggling when she told him Lizzy had picked the same book that he had.
"It really was the best day I've ever had." The look of gratitude he gave Lizzy was one she would always remember.